Is HAL looking to disappoint Have it All Passengers

[3rdGenCunarder]

33 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Multiple dining venues along with HIA is spreading the crew and therefore the sevice thin.  There is only so much room on a ship for kitchens, there is only so much capacity for crew.  I assume we have the same number of kitchen/dining personnel per capacity as we had 20 years ago.  How on earth do they think they can maintain standards with that math?

 

I had a chance to chat with a housekeeping supervisor on my recent cruise. He saw me going to my room and asked if everything was all right with the room. I said it was all fine and told him how wonderful my steward was. I also said that I knew they have more rooms than ever. He sighed and made a scissors motion with his fingers. So the people on board feel the cuts and are aware that we do, too. Shoreside, it's all about counting the beans.

 

[kazu]

1 hour ago, PACD_JG said:

IMHO, the problem is HAL could really give two damns about their loyal mariners.  They'll be back (or die first) regardless of how little HAL's loyalty program rewards.

 

You are in error in your second statement.  There are lots of 4 & 5* Mariners who sail other cruise lines and no longer consider HAL as their primary line and others who have left altogether.  That’s a fact.  I know a number of them & of others.  Please don’t generalize and paint everyone with the same brush.

 

 

 

[mfanderso]

45 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

You are in error in your second statement.  There are lots of 4 & 5* Mariners who sail other cruise lines and no longer consider HAL as their primary line and others who have left altogether.  That’s a fact.  I know a number of them & of others.  Please don’t generalize and paint everyone with the same brush.

 

 

 

You are correct @kazu  I just became 5* on HAL after my August cruise.  My last 2 cruises were with Princess and actually some of the best that I have had as far as service goes.  I guess I will see how my 31 day March cruise with HAL goes.  After reading this, I went ahead and purchased my 5* meals.  Just hoping it won't be difficult to get them refunded.

[HappyInVan]

2 hours ago, PACD_JG said:

IMHO, the problem is HAL could really give two damns about their loyal mariners.  They'll be back (or die first) regardless of how little HAL's loyalty program rewards.

 

IMHO, HAL is falling apart. They no longer value customer loyalty. Rather depend on discounts, HIA and $1 tricks to fill the ships. Not good. Very short sighted vision.

 

These types of customers are not loyal. They'll run over to the company with the latest discounts and gimmicks.

Edited January 28, 2023 by HappyInVan

[JeffElizabeth]

1 hour ago, kazu said:

 

You are in error in your second statement.  There are lots of 4 & 5* Mariners who sail other cruise lines and no longer consider HAL as their primary line and others who have left altogether.  That’s a fact.  I know a number of them & of others.  Please don’t generalize and paint everyone with the same brush.

 

 

 

I am down on HAL right now after a bad cruise to Hawaii in October,  but since we are 4 ****,  my wife will continue to cruise with them. 

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, HappyInVan said:

 

IMHO, HAL is falling apart. They no longer value customer loyalty. Rather depend on discounts, HIA and $1 tricks to fill the ships. Not good. Very short sighted vision.

 

These types of customers are not loyal. They'll run over to the company with the latest discounts and gimmicks.

 

I'm not sure all that many cruise passengers are "blindly" loyal any longer -- and personally I don't think it's a good practice to be so. 

 

I suspect some people are swayed by the high amount of HAL loyalists who post on this board -- and that in real life, far more people look at a number of factors when choosing a cruise other than the logo on the funnel....

 

[Cruiz'nBaers]

22 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I'm not sure all that many cruise passengers are "blindly" loyal any longer -- and personally I don't think it's a good practice to be so. 

 

I suspect some people are swayed by the high amount of HAL loyalists who post on this board -- and that in real life, far more people look at a number of factors when choosing a cruise other than the logo on the funnel....

 

You are right, some things of HAL’s loyal customers (us) have begun looking and choosing other brands.  We have cruised multiple times on Celebrity and enjoy it immensely.  A very different experience.

Edited January 28, 2023 by Cruiz'nBaers

[ger_77]

And just to throw a loop into this conversation, when booking online, go ahead and do so, but bring along a copy of the reservation with you.  We had booked the Canaletto for a specific evening to celebrate our friend's birthday, but when we got onboard, nothing appeared on the Navigator app.  We went to the Canaletto station and they knew nothing about the reservation.  I pulled out my trusty paper copy, showed them the confirmation and was able to get the pre-ordered date and time.  Sometimes you can trust technology, sometimes you can't.

[Florida_gal_50]

2 minutes ago, ger_77 said:

And just to throw a loop into this conversation, when booking online, go ahead and do so, but bring along a copy of the reservation with you.  We had booked the Canaletto for a specific evening to celebrate our friend's birthday, but when we got onboard, nothing appeared on the Navigator app.  We went to the Canaletto station and they knew nothing about the reservation.  I pulled out my trusty paper copy, showed them the confirmation and was able to get the pre-ordered date and time.  Sometimes you can trust technology, sometimes you can't.

So true.  I bring paper copies of everything.

[jaywoods678]

17 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

I’m currently on the Rotterdam and the hostess booking Specialty Restaurants is frustrated.  We are just finishing Day 3 on the Rotterdam and the hostess bookings all of the Specialty Restaurants is frustrated.  The Specialty Restaurants are nearly completely booked with people. Booking Have it All packages before they board and others that are cash paying customers.  The reality is that people show up to book a restaurant from the Have it all promotion or someone with a lot of OBC can’t book restaurants because there isn’t any room.  It seems like HAL has over promised the specialty dining under Have it All and is disappointing a lot of passengers that hope to book once onboard.

I completely agree. We've been on cruises where practically all passengers had the 'Have it all', and it was impossible for us to get into Pinnacle Grill.

[jaywoods678]

4 hours ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

Tough crowd.

Yes, same thing I was thinking. They don't have to be so harsh.

[HappyInVan]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I'm not sure all that many cruise passengers are "blindly" loyal any longer -- and personally I don't think it's a good practice to be so. 

 

 

Most customers have preferred restaurants, shops and stores, based on lifestyle, price and quality.

 

The lifestyle customers tend to be the most loyal. Pax who are focused on quality, offer the best opportunities for huge profits margins above production cost; and immediately complain when quality falls short. The price sensitive people aren't willing to pay 'reasonable' prices. They'll shop around for the low low price.

 

The worst are the shoppers obsessed with Deals! Deals! Deals! They're a transient crowd. 

 

 

 

 

[Hlitner]

3 minutes ago, HappyInVan said:

 

Most customers have preferred restaurants, shops and stores, based on lifestyle, price and quality.

 

The lifestyle customers tend to be the most loyal. Pax who are focused on quality, offer the best opportunities for huge profits margins above production cost; and immediately complain when quality falls short. The price sensitive people aren't willing to pay 'reasonable' prices. They'll shop around for the low low price.

 

The worst are the shoppers obsessed with Deals! Deals! Deals! They're a transient crowd. 

 

 

 

 

Perhaps you are right, but then again :).  We do not fit into your category nor do any of our friends.   For us, variety has always been a good thing.  If we cruise with the same cruise line too often we find that we have the same menus, same shows, etc.  Each cruise line (and we have been on 16) has their pros and cons and the variety does keep it very fresh.  While we do like reasonable prices, a majority of our cruises in the past decade have been on luxury line or on mass market lines in suites.  

 

I would say we are not "price sensitive" but are very "value sensitive" which are completely different things.  That is why we have suggested that cruising on a line like Seabourn is a much better value than a Neptune Suite on HAL.   As to being part of the "transient crowd," we have been cruising for over 50 years!  

 

And yes, we do fall into the category of complaining when quality falls short.  Life is simply too short to cruise on a bad cruise :).

 

Hank

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, jaywoods678 said:

Yes, same thing I was thinking. They don't have to be so harsh.

What exactly is being harsh?  You have the opportunity to book something ahead.  What would the reasons that you wouldn't? I'm not sure what the point is of this thread since it so easy not to be disappointed unless that's your plan. You don't even have to pay one cent to do that.

Edited January 28, 2023 by Florida_gal_50

[*Miss G*]

The way I see it, he said

You just can’t win it

Everybody’s in it for their own gain

You can’t please ‘em all

 

There’s always somebody calling you down

 

- Joni Mitchell

[cbr663]

This indicates to me that the HIA promo is successful for some sailings. 

 

I have always noted in past sailings that HAL rarely fully books the speciality restaurants.  I wonder if that practice is still relevant?

[StLouisCruisers]

10 hours ago, PolythenePam57 said:

Have HIA for a July cruise and have already booked the included dinner (on the app). It would have been very disappointing to try and have been unable to book a prepaid dinner once onboard.

 

I just booked our 3 dinners on the website because I find it harder to locate complimentary dining credits on the app.  We have a late July cruise on Zaandam.  Nice to have it all set up.

[cbr663]

24 minutes ago, StLouisCruisers said:

 

I just booked our 3 dinners on the website because I find it harder to locate complimentary dining credits on the app.  We have a late July cruise on Zaandam.  Nice to have it all set up.

 

It is nice to have it all set up.  We had booked our Speciality dining a little while ago but were procrastinating on booking our excursions to use up the excursion credit with HIA.  This post reminded me to do it and we just finished booking it on the website also.

[ChinaShrek]

1 hour ago, cbr663 said:

This indicates to me that the HIA promo is successful for some sailings. 

 

I have always noted in past sailings that HAL rarely fully books the speciality restaurants.  I wonder if that practice is still relevant?

The real issue, for some ,is that the HIA promo participants will fill up the specialty restaurants on the ship and the 4* and 5*  Mariners will be unable to book their discounted or free meals. I suspect HAL has done this on purpose. 

[Florida_gal_50]

12 minutes ago, ChinaShrek said:

The real issue, for some ,is that the HIA promo participants will fill up the specialty restaurants on the ship and the 4* and 5*  Mariners will be unable to book their discounted or free meals. I suspect HAL has done this on purpose. 

Now that is a valid complaint because if you book ahead you'll be out of pocket then there is the very possible fight that you'll have with the front desk to get the refund.

[Radbooks]

On the Koningsdam in December, I just wrote a note on the app to the Front Desk asking them to refund the 50% of the specialty dinners that we had. It worked well and I didn't have to wait in the long line. 

[Florida_gal_50]

23 minutes ago, Radbooks said:

On the Koningsdam in December, I just wrote a note on the app to the Front Desk asking them to refund the 50% of the specialty dinners that we had. It worked well and I didn't have to wait in the long line. 

I have tried that and it hasn’t worked.  It did work to get a bottled water off my account.

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, Radbooks said:

On the Koningsdam in December, I just wrote a note on the app to the Front Desk asking them to refund the 50% of the specialty dinners that we had. It worked well and I didn't have to wait in the long line. 

In my experience, HAL is pretty good at refunding the 1/2 price due 4* Mariners, but still hasn't mastered the concept that 5* Mariners are supposed to get a FULL refund for the first two dinners. 
I have had a fairly easy time getting 1/2 back, but had to fight like the dickens to get the rest of the pre-paid amount still due me. 

How long has HAL had 5* Mariners, anyway? It shouldn't be such a hard concept to master. 

[Ipeeinthepools]

5 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

What exactly is being harsh?  You have the opportunity to book something ahead.  What would the reasons that you wouldn't? I'm not sure what the point is of this thread since it so easy not to be disappointed unless that's your plan. You don't even have to pay one cent to do that.

I’ll try.  People were disappointed that they couldn’t book specialty restaurants onboard  because everything was booked up. These were benefits that were part of a HAL promotion.  You said “too bad you should have booked earlier”.  That seems harsh too a 

or of us.  Where’s the compassion?

[Florida_gal_50]

21 minutes ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

I’ll try.  People were disappointed that they couldn’t book specialty restaurants onboard  because everything was booked up. These were benefits that were part of a HAL promotion.  You said “too bad you should have booked earlier”.  That seems harsh too a 

or of us.  Where’s the compassion?

I’ll try even though I mentioned it before. You had the opportunity to book all these things far, far in advance.  You chose not too.  No compassion required.   Sometimes we really need to take responsibility for things that go wrong instead of blaming the company or others.