NCL Hero Cards and Post Cruise Reviews

[seemoreroyals]

We are once a year cruisers and have been for the past 10 years with the exception of one year when we did two.  We are very loyal to NCL and would like to see them succeed and at the same time make improvements to their product and reward employees that provide their guests with exemplary service.

 

In regards to hero cards we filled out four of them on the cruise we just returned from a week ago this Friday on the Prima.  One of the cards went to a young waiter in the vibe beach club that always had a smile on his face,  kept our drinks coming, kept our carafe of water filled with ice cold water, and in general seemed to appear out of nowhere whenever we needed anything.  We gave another one to a bartender at the Metropolitan Bar who called himself Dr. Bong.  Whenever we ordered wine he would put the wine glass on top of his head and pour wine in it.  And considering the circumstances a pretty good pour I might add.  We also gave one to our room steward because he always met whatever request we had, and we gave one to the best entertainers on our ship IMO Familiar Strangers.  Don't recall the lead singers name but he can sing anything.

 

To what extent do these hero cards help NCL in recognizing which employees promote their brand the best?   Hopefully more than just a pat on the back as there were several instances mainly in the Hudson MDR where we encountered less than our expected level of service.  And also when filling these out,  in addition to name and cabin number,  they also wanted to know what our email address was for some reason.

 

In regard to post cruise reviews, we did our duty and filled one out like we do at the end of every cruise.  The manner in which the survey is written does not really allow you to go into detail unless you give whatever item you are ranking at the time the worst rating possible.  When whoever gets their hands on these post cruise reviews looks at them what happens next?  Maybe it is just me but when we filled out our post cruise survey I was unable to provide NCL with what I was hoping to provide regarding  our cruise experience.

 

In summary I want to see NCL succeed.  Just curious what part the Hero Cards and the post cruise survey play in this process.

[www3traveler]

Hero Cards have an impacted on that particular person.  Once the Card is reviewed by Supervisors and the Department Head, then the Card is given to the person.  Each month one person from each Department is honored as the "Employee of the Month".  The person could get some extra time(if possible), and/or considered for a better position during this contract or the next one.

 

Do not know about Post Cruise Survey.  I am sure that information is collected and evaluated.  I can tell that the complaints about the Prima and Viva layout, has caused some design differences in the Aqua and pushed back Her launch date.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[OBSESSIVEWORLDTRAVELER]

Time off and promotions are a direct benefit to the crew members that  receive hero cards. As for the survey, I do remember being able to describe in detail my good/excellent rating of the crew and the cruise.

[Fern Crest]

Hero Cards are even better than cash tips, as these go into their file, and they get considered when going for promotions, and they can also be used for hours or days off.

 

The post-cruise survey was one of the easier ones I've filled out, and they let you get as detailed or general as you wish. You aren't required to name names, but if some of the service in the MDR wasn't up to your standards, tell them what night you were disappointed, and they will know what table you sat at and who your wait team was.

[UKstages]

the captain and the general manager have a monthly meeting at which the hero card program is discussed and "heroes" are saluted across all departments. in addition to the reward aspect of the program, this recognition and honor can mean more to some than the time off or any monetary award.

 

yes, really.

 

people are motivated by many different things. and while there is another current thread in which some people say "cash rules," the fact is... not always. particularly within the filipino culture, recognition in the workplace is a major source of job satisfaction.

[BirdTravels]

11 hours ago, seemoreroyals said:

We are once a year cruisers and have been for the past 10 years with the exception of one year when we did two.  We are very loyal to NCL and would like to see them succeed and at the same time make improvements to their product and reward employees that provide their guests with exemplary service.

 

In regards to hero cards we filled out four of them on the cruise we just returned from a week ago this Friday on the Prima.  One of the cards went to a young waiter in the vibe beach club that always had a smile on his face,  kept our drinks coming, kept our carafe of water filled with ice cold water, and in general seemed to appear out of nowhere whenever we needed anything.  We gave another one to a bartender at the Metropolitan Bar who called himself Dr. Bong.  Whenever we ordered wine he would put the wine glass on top of his head and pour wine in it.  And considering the circumstances a pretty good pour I might add.  We also gave one to our room steward because he always met whatever request we had, and we gave one to the best entertainers on our ship IMO Familiar Strangers.  Don't recall the lead singers name but he can sing anything.

 

To what extent do these hero cards help NCL in recognizing which employees promote their brand the best?   Hopefully more than just a pat on the back as there were several instances mainly in the Hudson MDR where we encountered less than our expected level of service.  And also when filling these out,  in addition to name and cabin number,  they also wanted to know what our email address was for some reason.

 

In regard to post cruise reviews, we did our duty and filled one out like we do at the end of every cruise.  The manner in which the survey is written does not really allow you to go into detail unless you give whatever item you are ranking at the time the worst rating possible.  When whoever gets their hands on these post cruise reviews looks at them what happens next?  Maybe it is just me but when we filled out our post cruise survey I was unable to provide NCL with what I was hoping to provide regarding  our cruise experience.

 

In summary I want to see NCL succeed.  Just curious what part the Hero Cards and the post cruise survey play in this process.

Hero cards directly impact the crew member and are used as part of their evaluation for advancement. NCL seeks feedback with hero cards, post cruise survey heros, and emails to the heros desk. We always take the time to recognize superior service. And crew are happy to let you take a picture of their name tag for use in writing cards. 

 

So,,, NCL really doesn’t want your written feedback. They get 10’s of thousands of surveys a week. And no one wants to read written feed back (especially about a cold potato). NCL is really looking for metrics created with numerical ratings. And they send out different surveys to solicit different metrics. (E.g., we have received one survey per guest on the past and they were different). 

[dbrown84]

Hero cards are indeed the way to directly make a difference to crew members.

[seemoreroyals]

5 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Hero cards directly impact the crew member and are used as part of their evaluation for advancement. NCL seeks feedback with hero cards, post cruise survey heros, and emails to the heros desk. We always take the time to recognize superior service. And crew are happy to let you take a picture of their name tag for use in writing cards. 

 

So,,, NCL really doesn’t want your written feedback. They get 10’s of thousands of surveys a week. And no one wants to read written feed back (especially about a cold potato). NCL is really looking for metrics created with numerical ratings. And they send out different surveys to solicit different metrics. (E.g., we have received one survey per guest on the past and they were different). 

Like your idea of taking picture of their name tag.  The young waiter who we received exemplary from at the vibe all I could remember was that his name was Made and he was from Indonesia.  He also told me he was one of several Mades on the ship as it is a common name for the part of the world he is from.

[ontheweb]

This did not happen on an NCL cruise (actually a HAL cruise), but the concept is the same as all cruise lines want to know what employees are going above and beyond to make your cruise experience special. There was a server in the buffet area who just kept keeping my lemonade glass full. I called her over and said I wanted to fill out the card saying how she had made my cruise special, but to do so I needed to know her name. And the only way I could do that was either stare at her chest where her nametag was which I thought was rather impolite or ask her. She told me her name, and in fact often after that even after I told her the card was filled out would come over refill my glass, cover her nametag, and ask me her name.

 

And BTW, even though this was way back in the summer of 2018, I still remember her name, Honeyeyeo.

 

 

[seemoreroyals]

45 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

This did not happen on an NCL cruise (actually a HAL cruise), but the concept is the same as all cruise lines want to know what employees are going above and beyond to make your cruise experience special. There was a server in the buffet area who just kept keeping my lemonade glass full. I called her over and said I wanted to fill out the card saying how she had made my cruise special, but to do so I needed to know her name. And the only way I could do that was either stare at her chest where her nametag was which I thought was rather impolite or ask her. She told me her name, and in fact often after that even after I told her the card was filled out would come over refill my glass, cover her nametag, and ask me her name.

 

And BTW, even though this was way back in the summer of 2018, I still remember her name, Honeyeyeo.

 

 

 

We had a couple of NCL over achievers we still remember from an Alaska cruise on the Jewel in Sept of 2015.  Ivana or Ivanka can't remember which and Agus.  Both gave us fabulous service in one of the bars throughout.  If hero cards were around back then we would have filled them out for them.  We still look for them on every cruise but so far have had no luck seeing them again.  

[mking8288]

We're have a shore-side breakfast last week with another CC couple discussing plans for 2024 as we'll all be on another cruise again, oddly enough ... they seldom, if ever, received those post-cruise NCL eSurveys and they are just short of reaching Diamonds.  They do fill out those Hero cards as they see fit and being friends in touch with some of the crew members over the years, some promoted to junior ranks since, reaffirmed the importance of those hero cards, that management onboard and even Miami do take into considerations the comments & feedbacks.  

 

We almost consistently received those eSurveys, cannot think of any single NCL cruises over the last 10+ years where we didn't get one, the format - contents - questions - and focus are always changing & seldom the same, dynamically to reflect what NCL's marketing & survey teams are looking out for.  Not an expert in statistics, but reasonable to conclude & believe that they are looking mostly for numerical scores and totals, and not necessary in details ... maybe a summary of 2 or 3 pages for each reporting period for a given ship, a given timeframe, that's a lot for a junior VP or AVP to go thru by itself, let alone reading some of the highlighted quotes, positive and negatives.  

 

As for the Vacation Hero, concur that taking a quick iPhone/smartphone photos is useful & helpful ... accurate in capturing their name spellings ... one can fill one out post-cruise, include all (as much as possible) details from the card, and email that directly to NCL - address on that "card" as follows: vacationheros@ncl.com  

 

 

On the other hand, if there are onboard issues, best to address it while on the ship - give the assistant or junior team supervisors or asst manager, etc. a chance to deal with it - and escalate to the GM (there is a note to write out, and drop off into a locked "mailbox" usually at / near Guest Services) for a response.  Oddly enough, that box and the card was on the opposite side of the atrium lobby area on the Prima, for whatever reasons.   

 

Now, curious who else were invited to join the "NCL Inner Circle" ??  apparently, fairly new ... 

[seemoreroyals]

18 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

We're have a shore-side breakfast last week with another CC couple discussing plans for 2024 as we'll all be on another cruise again, oddly enough ... they seldom, if ever, received those post-cruise NCL eSurveys and they are just short of reaching Diamonds.  They do fill out those Hero cards as they see fit and being friends in touch with some of the crew members over the years, some promoted to junior ranks since, reaffirmed the importance of those hero cards, that management onboard and even Miami do take into considerations the comments & feedbacks.  

 

We almost consistently received those eSurveys, cannot think of any single NCL cruises over the last 10+ years where we didn't get one, the format - contents - questions - and focus are always changing & seldom the same, dynamically to reflect what NCL's marketing & survey teams are looking out for.  Not an expert in statistics, but reasonable to conclude & believe that they are looking mostly for numerical scores and totals, and not necessary in details ... maybe a summary of 2 or 3 pages for each reporting period for a given ship, a given timeframe, that's a lot for a junior VP or AVP to go thru by itself, let alone reading some of the highlighted quotes, positive and negatives.  

 

As for the Vacation Hero, concur that taking a quick iPhone/smartphone photos is useful & helpful ... accurate in capturing their name spellings ... one can fill one out post-cruise, include all (as much as possible) details from the card, and email that directly to NCL - address on that "card" as follows: vacationheros@ncl.com  

 

 

On the other hand, if there are onboard issues, best to address it while on the ship - give the assistant or junior team supervisors or asst manager, etc. a chance to deal with it - and escalate to the GM (there is a note to write out, and drop off into a locked "mailbox" usually at / near Guest Services) for a response.  Oddly enough, that box and the card was on the opposite side of the atrium lobby area on the Prima, for whatever reasons.   

 

Now, curious who else were invited to join the "NCL Inner Circle" ??  apparently, fairly new ... 

 

No inner circle for us.  Don't even know what it is.  Guess we are not profitable enough to NCL.  We are loyal but we only cruise once a year and rarely play in the casino or purchase shore excursions and other extras.

 

 We did pay about $500 extra for our vibe passes this last cruise so maybe we are headed in the right direction and may some day be part of the inner circle.  Whatever it is.  

[david_sobe]

We love filling out the Hero Cards.  We always go to the front desk and ask for a stack.  There are so many people that perform vital roles that get over looked.  What about the guys that have your luggage to your door as you come back from lunch.  Grab their name.  Someone that comes to your table and just fills your glass without asking.  Grab their name.  What about the Maitri D that gets you the table you want.   Grab their name.

[cruiseny4life]

1 hour ago, mking8288 said:

they seldom, if ever, received those post-cruise NCL eSurveys and they are just short of reaching Diamonds. 

Do they check their spam? That is where the survey lands in my inbox. I clear my spam out daily so as to make sure the messages I care about are responded to....now I want some fried spam. Mmmm! 

[UKstages]

well, once again, as somebody who has spent decades in corporate america in the contact center industry, i know a thing or two about customer service satisfaction scores and surveys. they have absolutely evolved over the years. most are now handled by independent companies hired for the task and internal NCL departments live and die by these scores.

 

while it's true that most comments are no longer read by a human being, it's not true that companies are not interested in their customers' words. in the same way they use voice analytics to monitor PCC phone conversations, survey comments and hero cards are scanned for positive and negative buzz words. anything outside the norm, on either side, is kicked back for human review for coaching purposes or to honor and reward the individual, or in the case of surveys, sometimes entire departments, policies  or practices need to be addressed.

 

the survey, however, is fashioned in such a way as to only solicit feedback after a negative score. and that is - in my view - misguided.

[laudergayle]

2 hours ago, cruiseny4life said:

now I want some fried spam. Mmmm! 

I didn’t grow up eating Spam but my husband did.  He recently convinced me to buy a can and fry it.  My Lord, that was one nasty smelling product…and the grease it left behind!  That being said, my husband, son and granddaughters woofed it down in an instant.

 

With regards to research in general, quantitative (based on metrics) probably won’t change much; however, it will be very interesting to see how companies begin using AI to capture qualitative insights.  It the past you would gather a group of people who self-identified as your target subject and ask them questions to find out what they thought.  With the increasing usage of AI, you can probably gather those insights with a “submit” of a well-thought question.  

[smillerholmes]

6 hours ago, laudergayle said:

I didn’t grow up eating Spam but my husband did.  He recently convinced me to buy a can and fry it.  My Lord, that was one nasty smelling product…and the grease it left behind!  That being said, my husband, son and granddaughters woofed it down in an instant.

For those that like to delve into the minutiae...consider yourselves enlightened.   😁

 

https://www.spam.com/museum

[marktwothousand]

has Anyone been asked to join the inner circle? I’m sure you can’t get into details, but just wondering if anyone’s actually been invited.

 

Of course whatever you can/feel like sharing would also be welcome

[RocketMan275]

On 12/29/2023 at 1:40 PM, laudergayle said:

I didn’t grow up eating Spam but my husband did.  He recently convinced me to buy a can and fry it.  My Lord, that was one nasty smelling product…and the grease it left behind!  That being said, my husband, son and granddaughters woofed it down in an instant.

 

SPAM fried rice is great.

[MohrPfun]

I’m so glad to have stumbled across this thread, as it’s on my to do list for our (1st time) sailing next month.

 

Is it ok to just ask our butler to bring a stack of them to our suite at their convenience?

[cruiseny4life]

53 minutes ago, MohrPfun said:

I’m so glad to have stumbled across this thread, as it’s on my to do list for our (1st time) sailing next month.

 

Is it ok to just ask our butler to bring a stack of them to our suite at their convenience?

I'm sure your butler would be happy to bring you a stack. You can also grab a stack from the concierge at any time you pass by the desk. That's what we typically do.

[MohrPfun]

4 minutes ago, cruiseny4life said:

I'm sure your butler would be happy to bring you a stack. You can also grab a stack from the concierge at any time you pass by the desk. That's what we typically do.

Awesome, I wasn’t sure where, thank you!

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, MohrPfun said:

I’m so glad to have stumbled across this thread, as it’s on my to do list for our (1st time) sailing next month.

 

Is it ok to just ask our butler to bring a stack of them to our suite at their convenience?

It's a good idea to fill them out while still on the ship while accomplishments are still fresh.  We also ask for people who we want to remember on the survey if we can take a picture of their name tag.  That way we get the spelling and title correct.

[MohrPfun]

3 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

It's a good idea to fill them out while still on the ship while accomplishments are still fresh.  We also ask for people who we want to remember on the survey if we can take a picture of their name tag.  That way we get the spelling and title correct.

Will do, thank you!

[roxette]

From what I have heard, it is much better to email than to hand in a written card.