WHY, not what, happened to HAL??

[albingirl]

9 minutes ago, LocoLoco1 said:

Been on a long HAL cruise lately? Trans-Atlantic Med cruise felt quite ‘spare’. Fellow guests offered this; ‘Is it just me, but THIS isn’t HAL.’ We agreed. 

Not lately, no. Shorter, yes. Sorry to learn how disappointed you were. I think that at every turn lately, there are cutbacks. The cereal box is half empty when new. No bang for a buck anymore.

[albingirl]

3 minutes ago, albingirl said:

Not lately, no. Shorter, yes. Sorry to learn how disappointed you were. I think that at every turn lately, there are cutbacks. The cereal box is half empty when new. No bang for a buck anymore.

But, I'd like to add, I'm kind of a sunny side up girl and try to roll with it. I'd love to be on a cruise right this minute!

[Mary229]

1 hour ago, LocoLoco1 said:

Been on a long HAL cruise lately? Trans-Atlantic Med cruise felt quite ‘spare’. Fellow guests offered this; ‘Is it just me, but THIS isn’t HAL.’ We agreed. 

22 days to Antartica in January, 35 days to Tahiti in Feb-March. There were experts onboard, a full enrichment program with topical and esoteric topics.  Regional fare on menus, plenty of special events besides the typical crossing the equator, there was a cultural team onboard to Tahiti and extra lecturers on the return.  There was an expedition team for Antartica.  Lots of top notch specialized shore excursions, some not so much but careful selection yielded an excellent assortment especially in South America.  Special little gifts, chocolates every night.  Classical music performances by seasoned, competent musicians. Neither of these were “Grand” which I have stated in the past are not worth the additional costs IMHO.  So yes I have sailed longer voyages and have been quite pleased with the innovations and return to service standards.  
 

please note all travel has misses and sometimes downright failures but on these there was nothing that I concerned myself with for more than 20 minutes or so. There was nothing that I felt the need to write HAL about.  Admittedly I couldn’t care two cents about the type of stage entertainment that has been on cruise ships in the last 25 years, it is not my cup and/ or not up to my standards and that has been true for years. .  When I want stage entertainment I go to the theater.  That said the crew show on my last cruise was absolutely superb and I was amazed at the level of talent among the crew.  

PS I did say “unique” in my first response.  There is nothing unique or special about a repositioning cruise except of course the relaxing days at sea. They are usually the cheapest cruises available and I myself enjoy them as a replacement for first class airfare to Europe

 

Edited April 8 by Mary229

[Skorpora]

7 hours ago, LocoLoco1 said:

I disagree. Seems HAL is headed for a ‘WalMart’ business model while pretending it’s something loftier. Booking a Penthouse Suite and dining in Pinnacle still doesn’t provide that guest the fuller experience of what it COULD be. In my opinion, they tipped their impoverished hand when they sacked the Librarian and the ‘Yum-Yum’ boy. 

Yumyum boy is back - at least he was on the Eurodam a month ago. Just on the dressy nights. 

[TRLD]

5 hours ago, albingirl said:

Ridiculous. Been out to eat lately? It's inflation in motion and discouraging to us all. I'll bet you find all vacation venues in the same boat, so to speak. I can no longer say that I have champagne taste on a beer budget. Even the beer is breaking my budget. No cutbacks there tho, lol.

On a trip to Norway last fall our guide at Tromso said that if you ever saw someone drunk in a bar you knew that they were rich because beer and other alcohol product were so expensive there.

[Iamthesea]

8 hours ago, TRLD said:

One thing about the travel industry is that it always changes. Otherwise  we would be staying at Howard Johnsons, and stopping a Stuckeys on road trips and flying on the Pan AM clippers. 

 

 

Those were the good ole days!!!  

 

My mother in the early 50's, before I was born. 😀

Edited April 9 by Iamthesea

[erewhon]

10 hours ago, sevigny said:

We are currently on the Noordam.  We have sailed for the first time since COVID on a 14 day Auckland to Sydney, and are now on the trans Pacific from Sydney to Vancouver, a back to back.

 When we first boarded in Auckland, we felt the service was excellent, especially our cabin stewards, who we think have at least 40 cabins to take care of.  They are running from one to the other.  The first few days the food was pretty good.  But, by day five or so, it was easy to see that, especially in the Lido, the emphasis is on quantify, not so much on quality.  The soups are all broth, with a little bit of meat/veggies at the end.  Last week we had chicken noodle soup without noodles.  The beef in the Asian area is the same every day, a different sauce, the same veggies, but it is tough and fatty.  When my husband gives up on a dish, saying the meat has a huge piece of fat in it, I know things have changed,

We had a Mariner’s reception on the 14 day.  We expected to go to the dining room for the traditional Mariner lunch afterwards, but no such thing.  When we inquired, we were told the lunch is now only for 15 day and longer cruises.  

The dining room unfortunately has also declined.  The service is very good.  Portions are bigger, but, the choices have become limited  Spaghetti and meatballs for dinner?  Turkey with sweet potatoes without the sweet potatoes?  Now we are on a “legendary voyage “, but the food doesn’t seem legendary.

I really used to look forward to the little treats in the Neptune.  I always felt we could make a little lunch out of their food, if we weren’t doing lunch at the Lido.  Now, the poor little sandwiches are just that.  The nice little appetizers before dinner have given way to pita triangles and hummus, with an occasional bowl of shrimp.  
On the plus side, we had no classical music on the 14 day, but there is a classical trio on board now, and they are doing three short concerts per day.  They are very good, and each concert is very well attended.  Everyone in the service area is very good, and some seem almost desperate to please.  
I anticipated these situations, after following the HAL boards closely, but it’s one thing to read about it, and another to experience it. While the trans pacific cruise was definitely a bargain, the 14 day was not.  We will have to reevaluate if we want to do the Westerdam’s 28 day Japan trip in the fall of 2025.   

 

@sevigny,

We disembarked Noordam in Auckland the day you embarked.  We had spent 30 days on board, 16 days Auckland to Sydney, 14 days back to Auckland. This was our first cruising since covid.

We agree with most of your comments.We thought that the room stewards have far more rooms to service.

We also were invited to the Mariner reception on both cruises,  silver medallions presented,  the 1000 day passengers were acknowledged and on the second cruise a presidents club passenger also acknowledged.. Waiters offered drinks, the  orange juice was very diluted. There was no Mariner lunch after either reception.

Re the soups, yes broth, then the "Flavouring" was added, one day we did get lots of Noodles added to  the Chicken noodle soup.

You mention the little treats in the Neptune Lounge, I too was  disappointed with the selection available compared to pre covid, but appreciated the Pecans and Walnuts.  There were none of the little chocolates that HAL used to have, only what appeared to be clumps of rice bubbles covered in chocolate ( like what children learn to make)!

Not sure if you know that books are available to borrow from the Neptune Lounge, they live in the drawers behind the big table.

Are there any leaks in the Neptune? We were surprised one morning to enter the lounge to be greeted with 6 (six) buckets placed to collect the water.  There were a few leaks in hallways, towards the end of our second cruise a leak occurred in the hallway close to our room, leaks were always attended to promptly.

Is Kristina still the Concierge?

We had good waiters in the MDR and also at breakfast  in the Pinnacle Grill.  We noticed that with the  cooked breakfasts the meal no longer had a decorative triangle of melon or some other fruit as pre- covid.  Little things like that, we noticed.

 

Hope that you enjoy the remainder of the cruise, we have done the Trans Pacific three times, love all the sea days.

 

[retird]

On 4/8/2024 at 5:02 PM, sevigny said:

We are currently on the Noordam.  We have sailed for the first time since COVID on a 14 day Auckland to Sydney, and are now on the trans Pacific from Sydney to Vancouver, a back to back.

 When we first boarded in Auckland, we felt the service was excellent, especially our cabin stewards, who we think have at least 40 cabins to take care of.  They are running from one to the other.  The first few days the food was pretty good.  But, by day five or so, it was easy to see that, especially in the Lido, the emphasis is on quantify, not so much on quality.  The soups are all broth, with a little bit of meat/veggies at the end.  Last week we had chicken noodle soup without noodles.  The beef in the Asian area is the same every day, a different sauce, the same veggies, but it is tough and fatty.  When my husband gives up on a dish, saying the meat has a huge piece of fat in it, I know things have changed,

We had a Mariner’s reception on the 14 day.  We expected to go to the dining room for the traditional Mariner lunch afterwards, but no such thing.  When we inquired, we were told the lunch is now only for 15 day and longer cruises.  

The dining room unfortunately has also declined.  The service is very good.  Portions are bigger, but, the choices have become limited  Spaghetti and meatballs for dinner?  Turkey with sweet potatoes without the sweet potatoes?  Now we are on a “legendary voyage “, but the food doesn’t seem legendary.

I really used to look forward to the little treats in the Neptune.  I always felt we could make a little lunch out of their food, if we weren’t doing lunch at the Lido.  Now, the poor little sandwiches are just that.  The nice little appetizers before dinner have given way to pita triangles and hummus, with an occasional bowl of shrimp.  
On the plus side, we had no classical music on the 14 day, but there is a classical trio on board now, and they are doing three short concerts per day.  They are very good, and each concert is very well attended.  Everyone in the service area is very good, and some seem almost desperate to please.  
I anticipated these situations, after following the HAL boards closely, but it’s one thing to read about it, and another to experience it. While the trans pacific cruise was definitely a bargain, the 14 day was not.  We will have to reevaluate if we want to do the Westerdam’s 28 day Japan trip in the fall of 2025.   

We are also currently on the Noordam ttans pacific.  Are you sure you are on the Noordam.  So far dining room meals have been excellent and good portions.  Wait staff have been excellent.  Piano performers have been great and very well attended to capacity.  World stage has been full each night and performances have been IMO average compared to other cruises I have been on.   Rolling stone has been rockin every night.  I did an Alaska 14 day cruise on the Noordam in 2019 and I dont see any difference other than no production show.  I guess everyones expectations and observations can be different

[sevigny]

Hi Erewhon, 

Funny that you should mention the leaks in the Neptune.  I believe it was late Friday or Saturday evening, that we came into the Neptune as it was closing, only to find poor Kristina surrounded by buckets on a tarp. She looked horribly embarrassed.  I felt so sorry for her.  On the plus side, they have just instituted afternoon appetizers orders for the suites.  Less choices, but they were yummy, and evidently change every few days.  We are enjoying, it’s just an adjustment.  Thanks for your comments, I was afraid I was being too picky.

[foodsvcmgr]

So in the current scheme of things, would Rotterdam 12 nights Panama and 13 nights Westerdam transpacific to Tokyo be considered worthy of upgraded food or entertainment offerings?

Or not of sufficient duration to get anything beyond the 7 day base level described here?

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, foodsvcmgr said:

So in the current scheme of things, would Rotterdam 12 nights Panama and 13 nights Westerdam transpacific to Tokyo be considered worthy of upgraded food or entertainment offerings?

Or not of sufficient duration to get anything beyond the 7 day base level described here?

 

My experience (and that of many others who've posted) is that until you get to 15+ days, you don't seem to get anything much beyond what's on a shorter cruise. The possible exception being a lecturer on the trans-ocean cruises with lot of sea days.

[foodsvcmgr]

That’s what I was afraid of, will keep closely monitoring reports before I make final payment decisions on these.

Thanks.

[Mary229]

2 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

My experience (and that of many others who've posted) is that until you get to 15+ days, you don't seem to get anything much beyond what's on a shorter cruise. The possible exception being a lecturer on the trans-ocean cruises with lot of sea days.

Exactly.  Taking B2B is not a suitable replacement to a longer full cruise.  HAL even disallows bookings on their legendary voyages for a shorter segment.  They are being modeled as two distinct product lines.  The only exception would be the land and cruise tours in Alaska where you get an upgraded experience on the land portion

[Mary229]

2 minutes ago, foodsvcmgr said:

That’s what I was afraid of, will keep closely monitoring reports before I make final payment decisions on these.

Thanks.

For shorter cruises it is best to shop the competition. 

[shadow 123]

18 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

 

Those were the good ole days!!!  

 

My mother in the early 50's, before I was born. 😀

Nice picture

[CruiserBruce]

What hasn't changed in the last 5 or 10 years? Your favorite restaurant? Favorite store? Vacation spot? TV shows? What hasn't changed, including you? 

 

For that last question,  look very closely in the mirror.

 

@RICHARD@SEA, why are you yelling (typing all in caps) your opinions? It doesn't make them more factual. Typing all in caps violates Cruise Critic rules. 

[Kay S]

18 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

 

 

@RICHARD@SEA, why are you yelling (typing all in caps) your opinions?

His caps key is broken. 😝

[retird]

Kudos to HAL Noordam for their laundry service.  Sent out a stuffed bag for laundering at 3 pm yesterday and at 10 am this morning it was back in my cabin all nicely folded.

[amandas friend]

We are on a 7 day Alaska cruise in July. We will see how it goes. If it is good, as I believe it will be, I think the price HAL charges is much more reasonable that the high end cruise lines. And they seem to have very good service and good itineraries. So if all goes well, we will book HAL again. Thoughts? 

[Mary229]

1 hour ago, amandas friend said:

We are on a 7 day Alaska cruise in July. We will see how it goes. If it is good, as I believe it will be, I think the price HAL charges is much more reasonable that the high end cruise lines. And they seem to have very good service and good itineraries. So if all goes well, we will book HAL again. Thoughts? 

HAL does Alaska well and if the price is right you should be satisfied with the value you receive.  

[crystalspin]

1 hour ago, amandas friend said:

We are on a 7 day Alaska cruise in July.  ...if all goes well, we will book HAL again. Thoughts? 

Have done three HAL Alaska cruises: 7d northbound, 7d R/T Vancouver, and 14d R/T Seattle. Don't say I didn't warn you!

[Kay S]

I have done Alaska 8 times (but not all on HAL) and I have never gotten tired of that majestic scenery!

[Copper10-8]

On 4/8/2024 at 1:05 PM, albingirl said:

Ridiculous. Been out to eat lately? It's inflation in motion and discouraging to us all. I'll bet you find all vacation venues in the same boat, so to speak. I can no longer say that I have champagne taste on a beer budget. Even the beer is breaking my budget. No cutbacks there tho, lol.

 

 

Try a fast food joint for their latest uptick in pricing! 🤪 That is to say, at least here in Cali

[Mary229]

2 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

Try a fast food joint for their latest uptick in pricing! 🤪 That is to say, at least here in Cali

It is everywhere.  While traveling on a holiday we ate at McDonald’s.  As we left the restaurant I said to DH “for that price we could have lunched at the Pinnacle Grill”.  Actually, as 4 star Mariners I think the PG lunch is cheaper!

[Kay S]

6 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

 

Try a fast food joint for their latest uptick in pricing! 🤪 That is to say, at least here in Cali

So true.  Remember the "dollar menu"?  Me neither.