Ask Carnival Corp’s CEO: Call for Questions for Josh Weinstein

[HALcruiser2001]

On 3/5/2023 at 11:59 AM, rotjeknor said:

My questions/ requests:

• Why does HAL keep using amsterdam as a port in the Netherlands when on one hand the HAL stresses the historical ties with Rotterdam (obvious !!) and on the other hand the city council of amsterdam does everything to discourage cruise ships coming to town ( extra taxes , a new terminal in an industrial area ).By bus or train amsterdam is only 30-45 minutes away from the Rotterdam Cruise Terminal for those pax wanting to go there. And an unobstructed passage to see . No locks !
• Why is the volume of the music in BB King and the Rolling Stone Rock room so unbelievably high. We like the music but is almost unbearable to spend time there. Way too loud !
• Please stop the nickel and diming in the Greenhouse Spa and Salon and their so called seminars. It always ends with promoting a product to buy.
• Bring back the libraries as they used to be , not like on the Rotterdam VII with just a few books and 4 chairs or so. Like on the Volendam/Zaandam and how it was on the Rotterdam VII with lots of books about culture, destinations, shipping, art etc.
• More lectures on a variety of subjects not just the EXC talks.
  
  Thank you !

 

• Amsterdam is the main flight hub.
• Blues and Rock and Roll have to be played loud, if not most effects are lost and if soft, you just hear everyone talking.  Wear eargasms or plugs if necessary.  The musicians control the level of the sound.
• Greenhouse is cheap at $149 for a week.  Treatments are more than a cheap spa at home, but the service and facilities are generally much better, its a captive audience and they book out.  The "seminars" are promotions and it is made pretty clear.  Why even bother.  Just book a treatment.
• Libraries require a lot of space and weight and generally people bring the books they wish to read or use a computer for reading.
•  lectures are not well attended and lecturers are too expensive.

 

[OlsSalt]

9 hours ago, bdd123 said:

 

•  
• Libraries require a lot of space and weight and generally people bring the books they wish to read or use a computer for reading.
•  lectures are not well attended and lecturers are too expensive.

 

 

Libraries in the past utilized wall space in the public areas. Agree, now many do bring their own electronic readers but that does not take away from the value of an onboard library allowing more serendipitous discovery, particularly for the longer cruises.  

 

Never found lectures not well attended, until they started the canned lectures after the Oprah franchising experiment, and now the generic, canned repeats they have CDs offer.  

 

I would assume a "free or discounted cabin", like for casino offerings, is the compensation for the lecturers.  Typically they would offer three different lecturers on transatlantic or other more themed cruises.

[HALcruiser2001]

46 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

 

Libraries in the past utilized wall space in the public areas. Agree, now many do bring their own electronic readers but that does not take away from the value of an onboard library allowing more serendipitous discovery, particularly for the longer cruises.  

 

Never found lectures not well attended, until they started the canned lectures after the Oprah franchising experiment, and now the generic, canned repeats they have CDs offer.  

 

I would assume a "free or discounted cabin", like for casino offerings, is the compensation for the lecturers.  Typically they would offer three different lecturers on transatlantic or other more themed cruises.

Don't disagree at all.  In fact I would leave a book on the shelf if I brought one.  I cannot imagine a lecture that I would learn from.  Not against them, just no desire for me.  LOL.  I am a know it all.

[Colorado Klutch]

For "enrichment", boy would I like to see someone like Clay Jenkinson as Thomas Jefferson. I've seen him live once and he is infinitely interesting and fascinating. His radio shows are great. He could easily ride a ship for two weeks, give one presentation each day on a different topic and take questions from the audience. 

Yeah, I'm a geek.... 😀

[HALcruiser2001]

19 hours ago, Colorado Klutch said:

For "enrichment", boy would I like to see someone like Clay Jenkinson as Thomas Jefferson. I've seen him live once and he is infinitely interesting and fascinating. His radio shows are great. He could easily ride a ship for two weeks, give one presentation each day on a different topic and take questions from the audience. 

Yeah, I'm a geek.... 😀

He is cool.  I would go see that.  I don't see him on a ship though and even if so, he would likely bounce around.

[rotjeknor]

On 3/8/2023 at 8:59 PM, bdd123 said:

Don't disagree at all.  In fact I would leave a book on the shelf if I brought one.  I cannot imagine a lecture that I would learn from.  Not against them, just no desire for me.  LOL.  I am a know it all.

Disagree. On the R and S class ships, libraries were always full with people reading. 
About the lectures: on the TA in October on the Rotterdam, Mr. Bill Miller had a full house every single day , actually two presentations in a row. 
The history lectures in the afternoon were very well attended as well.

But to each his own.

[rotjeknor]

On 3/8/2023 at 10:53 AM, bdd123 said:

 

• Amsterdam is the main flight hub.
• Blues and Rock and Roll have to be played loud, if not most effects are lost and if soft, you just hear everyone talking.  Wear eargasms or plugs if necessary.  The musicians control the level of the sound.
• Greenhouse is cheap at $149 for a week.  Treatments are more than a cheap spa at home, but the service and facilities are generally much better, its a captive audience and they book out.  The "seminars" are promotions and it is made pretty clear.  Why even bother.  Just book a treatment.
• Libraries require a lot of space and weight and generally people bring the books they wish to read or use a computer for reading.
•  lectures are not well attended and lecturers are too expensive.

 

Amsterdam may be the main flight hub , but Rotterdam the main port ! Rotterdam is seeing a lot more cruiseships  this year than ever before. Must be a reason for that 😉

[tinykygal]

Why have the APP when it doesn't work?  Our RCCL APP worked like a charm.

I have spent 5 days trying to plan activities and upload security photos.  Not working.

[objko]

Mr. Weinstein,

Social media, especially a company’s website is its forward face.  Not only the first impression, but one which provides all a guest or PCC needs to have.  It needs to be not a good, but great, experience..  A widely held opinion is that HAL’s website currently falls short of presenting a face you want the world to notice.  So, I would like to know the plans for bringing HAL’s website up to the level of professionalism, fun, and value HAL is trying to be noted for.  Not only as a marketing tool, which is it's focus now, but one for your loyal guests who need to use it not only to book but to research, plan, and track their trips - all in one place.  We need to enjoy the anticipation of being on board, not start out frustrated. There are so many questions that I currently see on Cruise Critic that could have, and should have, been answered on the website, but either are not addressed or the answer is too hard to find.   The site also needs to be a well-oiled tool for your Personal Cruise Consultants.   Good website design is a solid industry, it should not be hard to have a decent, if not excellent, site.  Thank you.  

[suzeshl]

Mr Weinstein:
Why is it impossible to reach anyone of authority (besides a reservation agent) at Holland America when you need a resolution to a problem?  Asking to speak with a supervisor is a useless excercise. It seems one can never be found. Calling guest services simply leads you in a circular  game of pressing buttons that leads you back to a res agent.  Emailing Guest Services gets you an auto-generated reply that reminds you how long it will take to get back to you. 

As a loyal Mariner and travel agent, I am frustrated by not being able to resolve some problems for my clients!

[tatabea]

How can you have a Voyage of the Vikings and not go to Norway?! Norway was advertised then canceled 

[OlsSalt]

6 hours ago, tatabea said:

How can you have a Voyage of the Vikings and not go to Norway?! Norway was advertised then canceled 

 

The Vikings that did come to the New World from Iceland-Greenland, so in a technical, nit- picky sense this Voyage of the Vikings.... to the New World.... does not need to include Norway. .

 

But certainly the Vikings themselves did come from Scandinavia originally.   Fascinating range of Norsemen (Normans) conquests all across Europe and Russia.  One of the great HAL cruise offerings.

[CCAubs]

Hello from Seatrade 2023 in Ft. Lauderdale!

 

The State of the Industry was held yesterday. Due to time constraints, we were limited to just one question per CEO, but it was amazing to have the opportunity to include the cruisers' voice in the conversation for the first time ever.

 

Here's a link to our recap of the event and CEO answers: https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/7330/ Including a photo, too 🙂

 

We received A TON of questions across all of the cruise line forums (and lots of fantastic feedback) for the lines, and are going to be following up by sending all of it their way as well. We'll also use it on the Cruise Critic side for future story ideas, too. 

 

A huge thank you to all of you for sharing your thoughts, questions and experiences -- this community is incredible.