Disappearance of the medallion-presentation reception

[AV8rix]

We were having a discussion about this on the roll call for one of my upcoming cruises.  I'm pasting a copy of my comment in response to some of the other posts on the subject.  This forum is probably the more proper place for this discussion.  Following is the copy of my post:

 

Y'know, I'm due to get another medallion on my Christmas/NYE cruise (my next cruise after this one).  I'm planning to tell the Hotel Manager to just stick it where the sun don't shine.  There is absolutely NO POINT to continuing the medallions because there is ONLY ONE occasion where they are worn -- or were worn.  And that was to the medallion-presentation reception on the last sea day of any cruise.  Yeah, seriously.  We don't just run around the ship every day wearing our medallions.  That was the ONLY occasion that we ever wore them.  And now that is apparently gone -- for us ordinary folks anyway.  We have lost so much that made HAL unique -- the Yum Yum Man chiming us into dinner, the libraries WITH librarians, the crew show, etc, etc.

Actually I wasn't serious about giving the medallion back to the Hotel Manager.  What I'm really going to do is to mail it, along with my views on the subject, to either the Mariner Society or to the office of Gus Antorcha -- haven't decided which one yet. 

 

On my first cruise after the startup I packed my medallion in my luggage as I have always done, expecting to wear it to the reception.  Now, four completed cruises later, I don't bother with it.

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by AV8rix

[Mary229]

It must be up to the captain.  On the Zaandam in July my medallion was unceremoniously delivered to my cabin. On the Zuiderdam in September my husband was presented his at a very nice reception.  
 

of course this led to a lot of discussion about the superiority of one sex versus another😁

Edited September 29, 2022 by Mary229

[TiogaCruiser]

On Zuiderdam at the end of March, DH answered a knock on our door from our steward, and was handed a box with my medallion with the words “This is for Miss Tiogacruiser”. 
 

While it was nice to receive, it was far from special. The only one to wear it will be our Christmas tree.

[Homosassa]

Oh no!!!!

 

No Medallion Ceremony with the parading of the recipients from the ceremony location to the luncheon?

 

I always thought of the procession as HAL's version of the Kids Program Pirate Parade on other lines.

 

The participants are just as pleased with themselves and almost as cute as the children.

[BetsyS.]

57 minutes ago, AV8rix said:

We were having a discussion about this on the roll call for one of my upcoming cruises.  I'm pasting a copy of my comment in response to some of the other posts on the subject.  This forum is probably the more proper place for this discussion.  Following is the copy of my post:

 

Y'know, I'm due to get another medallion on my Christmas/NYE cruise (my next cruise after this one).  I'm planning to tell the Hotel Manager to just stick it where the sun don't shine.  There is absolutely NO POINT to continuing the medallions because there is ONLY ONE occasion where they are worn -- or were worn.  And that was to the medallion-presentation reception on the last sea day of any cruise.  Yeah, seriously.  We don't just run around the ship every day wearing our medallions.  That was the ONLY occasion that we ever wore them.  And now that is apparently gone -- for us ordinary folks anyway.  We have lost so much that made HAL unique -- the Yum Yum Man chiming us into dinner, the libraries WITH librarians, the crew show, etc, etc.

Actually I wasn't serious about giving the medallion back to the Hotel Manager.  What I'm really going to do is to mail it, along with my views on the subject, to either the Mariner Society or to the office of Gus Antorcha -- haven't decided which one yet. 

 

On my first cruise after the startup I packed my medallion in my luggage as I have always done, expecting to wear it to the reception.  Now, four completed cruises later, I don't bother with it.

 

I agree with you. I was on the Niew Statendam in August and my room steward

delivered my medallion - no reception and no Mariners luncheon. 

         I was on the Veendam in 2014, 2015 and 2016. We had the Yum Yum Man,

a big library with a librarian, and the terrific crew show. 

 

[JeffElizabeth]

I am worried the next few years of cruising will be all about penny pinching, and even before the pandemic,  the crews were saying the penny pinching they were feeling on their end. We might have to move to more upscale lines.

[leafsnation]

They are carnivalizing HAL . All about saving a buck.

No mariners lunch, no ginger or mints outside MDR, no orchids on lido tables, no wine stewards waiter takes drink orders in MDR, no more variety shows guest entertainers, drink package now includes non alcholic beverages like water in your 15 a day max!

Bob

[aliaschief]

We had ceremonies on our Nieuw Amsterdam cruise last year and this year on the Rotterdam. Have no inkling where our medallions are!

[Crew News]

There was a small medal ceremony with the Captain on the Zuiderdam last April

[510picker]

There was a ceremony on the Nieuw Statendam in April of this year. We received an invitation to the ceremony as we were to receive our 100 day medallion. We didn't go and they were delivered to our room. 

[SeaCapt]

It's been been hit or miss- for us:

Koningsdam last October, no ceremony

Rotterdam this March, no ceremony

Koningsdam this June, yes ceremony, but no parade to lunch

Zaandam this Sept, yes ceremony, no parade

[taxmantoo]

20 minutes ago, SeaCapt said:

It's been been hit or miss- for us:

Koningsdam last October, no ceremony

Rotterdam this March, no ceremony

Koningsdam this June, yes ceremony, but no parade to lunch

Zaandam this Sept, yes ceremony, no parade

Very much HAL-like ... no consistency AND this has absolutely nothing to do with a pandemic or penny-pinching.  It is simply the result of shoddy work practices and a "whatever" attitude.

[AV8rix]

My goodness!  So much disparity between ships (and captains) for something that should...or used to be...a matter of corporate policy. 

 

Does anyone here have any objection if I email a link for this thread to The Mariner Society?  I don't believe that there is anything in our avatars or signatures that would enable anyone at HAL to identify any individual...well, except for me because I'll be sending the email.  Perhaps I'll also add a cc to Gus' office too?  Might not do any good but won't cost a nickel to try.

 

Lemme know, OK?  If anyone has any VALID objection (I will disregard pure snarkiness) I will abide by that.  Thanks.

Edited September 29, 2022 by AV8rix

[TiogaCruiser]

No problem here. I’m sure I could be fairly easily identified by HAL if they wanted to, but I don’t think that would matter.

 

One thing we haven’t identified is whether it’s the higher Mariners that are being invited to some of these. There may have been capacity limits earlier in Covid.

 

And I do realize that @510picker said it was their copper medallion on NS that they received an invitation. (So was mine,  on Zuidie, we got off the beginning of April.)

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

On our cruises on Koningsdam last year and this spring, there was a small Mariner's reception in one section of the Crow's Nest on each 7 day cruise.  The people who were invited were either President's Club members or those with a high number of days.  Those people getting their medals were also invited, but had already received their medals.  Anyone who wanted to were invited to have their picture with the Captain and the Hotel Director.

 

At the reception, there were drinks and appetizers were offered.  There was no lunch.  After the Captain's welcome and the introduction of a few Mariner's, the officers circulated and visited with the guests. 

 

It was our impression that this scaled down event was due to Covid protocol.

[dfish]

4 minutes ago, Quartzsite Cruiser said:

On our cruises on Koningsdam last year and this spring, there was a small Mariner's reception in one section of the Crow's Nest on each 7 day cruise.  The people who were invited were either President's Club members or those with a high number of days.  Those people getting their medals were also invited, but had already received their medals.  Anyone who wanted to were invited to have their picture with the Captain and the Hotel Director.

 

At the reception, there were drinks and appetizers were offered.  There was no lunch.  After the Captain's welcome and the introduction of a few Mariner's, the officers circulated and visited with the guests. 

 

It was our impression that this scaled down event was due to Covid protocol.

That is the exact same experience I had on Nieuw Amsterdam in September 2021.  I received a copper medallion and was invited to the reception.  It was a small affair.

[Mary229]

19 minutes ago, dfish said:

That is the exact same experience I had on Nieuw Amsterdam in September 2021.  I received a copper medallion and was invited to the reception.  It was a small affair.

I like the small, unpretentious affair.  It is much more conducive to socializing.  

[Sea42]

Could it be related to Covid numbers on each ship? You wouldn't want the captain mingling with guests if the numbers are high. Just a guess, as I really have no idea.

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

38 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I like the small, unpretentious affair.  It is much more conducive to socializing.  

 

I like them better too.  You get a chance to visit and get to know some of the officers, too.  We rarely went to the lunches anyway.

 

11 minutes ago, Sea42 said:

Could it be related to Covid numbers on each ship? You wouldn't want the captain mingling with guests if the numbers are high. Just a guess, as I really have no idea.

 

It was our understanding the change was Covid related and due to protocols to lessen the spread.  All our cruises were on the same ship at two differnt times with two different captains.  All the officers and crew were masked for the entire reception.

[highscar]

Medalion was delivered to my cabin, reception in the crows nest with captain and officers. I was pleased with this. Who would want a stranger leaning towards  to your face placing the medallion over your head during Covid.     No complaint from me.  

[aliaschief]

Okay I respect the importance of medallion recognition and how some enjoy the recognition.

Out of respect to the Captain, and staff we attended the ceremony but would never bring our medallions to wear at such events no more than we would wear our military awarded medals.

To us it’s not look at me I have this medallion but a dam reminder we have spent a fortune on cruising!💰

I do know this. One should receive their medallion when earned and should have the option of receiving at some type of ceremony.

If it’s important to you accept it and wear it with pride.

Like I said before I have no idea where they are stored in our house.

 

[Mary229]

16 minutes ago, aliaschief said:

If it’s important to you accept it and wear it with pride.

Like I said before I have no idea where they are stored in our house.

I have no intention of wearing the thing, I added it to my collection of Gobble Hobble medals.  It is a nice gesture and having a quiet, intimate reception is a pleasant way to spend an hour with fellow passengers whom we likely have common interests such as travel to exotic itineraries and traditional cruising. 

Edited September 29, 2022 by Mary229

[AV8rix]

OK, I guess the change is a social-distancing type of thing.  And I suppose it is because there are officers present.  The "welcome back" thing that they always have on embarkation day surprised me post-covid because at a couple of them they also admitted the 3*s, which certainly made it more crowded than if they just had the 4*s and 5*s.  But, on reflection, there are usually no officers at that one.  So I think that all of you that commented recently are correct.  It does make sense.

 

And hi to my Daily-ite "sisters", @dfish and @Quartzsite Cruiser .  Debbie, your new house is GORGEOUS.  Congratulations!!  And Lenda, good luck to Steve.  Hope these procedures nullify the possibility of NPH.  <--I don't like to add to the heavy message load on the daily so I'll say all that here 🙂.

[Hlitner]

I have long been amazed at how important Medallions and Pins are to some HAL cruisers.  Do not get me wrong in that we are proud to be 5* Mariners.  But that is where it ends (for us).  We could care less about a tinny medallion, a silly pin (which we would never wear), etc.  We see no need to try and impress others that we are not on our first HAL cruise.  We do like the few 5* perks (such as free laundry and a free meal in the Pinnacle) but do not see the big deal about "loyalty" to a cruise line (we are loyal to family and friends).   I will add that this is not just about HAL since we have high loyalty status with several other cruise lines which has little meaning other than the perks.

 

So here is another shocker.  Years ago, we would go to the usual Mariner's luncheons.  For us this meant giving up our comfy deck chair, heading back to the cabin, and changing into something appropriate for lunch.  Sometimes the luncheons were fun, and other times they were boring.  The menus were limited (like any menu in the MDR) and OK.  But then we realized that when they have the Mariners Lunch we could go to the Lido and generally not have much of a line (because many are at the Mariners lunch), not give up our deck chair, not have to change out of our swimsuits, have a better selection of food in the Lido and not struggle to find a table :).  So, about 10 years ago we stopped going to all the Mariners functions because they were just inconvenient.  Some of our HAL friends have expressed their shock and cannot believe that anyone would skip a Mariners Club event..but such is life :).  By the way, probably the most valuable use of our Mariners Club status was that it got us a "status match"  (and a 5% discount from the cruise fare) the first time we cruised on MSC (Yacht Club). 

 

Speaking of "loyalty" we thought it was nice when we reached 4* and got some perks like priority boarding, priority tender, etc.  But now, anyone can pay a few extra dollars and buy all those perks for a lot less money than we spent to get to our loyalty level.  Go figure.

 

Hank

[dfish]

42 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I have no intention of wearing the thing, I added it to my collection of Gobble Hobble medals.  It is a nice gesture and having a quiet, intimate reception is a pleasant way to spend an hour with fellow passengers whom we likely have common interests such as travel to exotic itineraries and traditional cruising. 

I don't know where mine is either.  I might find it while I'm packing up to move.  Then again, I might not.