i'm CREW OF HAL... any ??? go to me!

[HeatherInFlorida]

Jordan, I am enjoying your postings, so ignore the "older" folks who don`t seem to like someone young giving out advice

 

I second SDHalfan ... I'm one of the "older" folk, too, and said from the beginning I enjoy both the OP's and formercruisestaff's posts. It's always fun to get a little bit from the "inside" ... another view is always refreshing and often informative.

[CathieM88]

Jordan - Thanks for the info, I'll pass it on to her and hopefully I'll post one day she is working on a ship in their spa!

 

Personally I think it is fun to read an "insiders" view and information. This has been a great thread, please don't drop it, many of us are really enjoying this and very appreciative of your time!

 

Cathie

[niborHS]

To: The2ofus

Why don't you lighten up and leave Jason alone. I do not know if you are even as educated as Jordan, but certainly do have a very high opinion of yourself. I have 2 sons, age 21 & 18, who are wonderful, very bright, and well educated. If they wanted to use their spare time to try to educate members of cruise critic about some of the behind the scenes things on a cruise ship, I would applaud them for it, not reprimand them because they use terms that have become common to those who use e-mail or "IM" often. These are short cuts when writing alot on line. He isn't writing a term paper. Obviously, if you are a grandmother (although you may be younger than I am, although I don't think of myself as very old), you did not grow up using computers, so should not post your opinion of this as fact, or make Jordan feel badly about his postings.

I find it so interesting that "experienced cruisers" consider themselves authorities on everything there is to know about cruising.

[the2ofus]

I'm sorry I was misinterpreted. My intention was not to bash Jordan, merely to help him understand the reason I, for one, was hesitant to believe he was bonafide.

 

It is always helpful when people who actually work on the ships are willing to share their knowledge with us.

[WillK]

Jordan- The votes are clearly in your corner. Chin up old boy. Please come back and play in our sandbox.:)

[mim100]

Hi Jordan....thanks for offering to answer questions for us...it's really nice that a young person like yourself would take the time to do this...here's my question...if there was one thing that you would like passengers to do, or not do, or do differently, what would it be?:D

[Boatdrill]

you could cruise 40x a year, yet only know 1/100th of what you know when working on ships.

 

So true !

[Boatdrill]

Even company Vice Presidents who want to sail usually must go Standby.

 

Contrary to what Boatdrill posted, the salaries of service staff DID NOT go down with the advent of auto tipping.

 

About the Vice Presidents going standby...don't tell their wives. When the wives check in with their husbands, their suites certainly aren't on a standby basis !

 

And perhaps there is a misunderstanding about what I said regarding the salaries and auto tipping. My intent was to say that the salaries had to be lowered in order to meet rising costs which any business would do. As a result, in order to make up the difference, pax's gratuties then became automatic which helped to boost up the payroll. Wages weren't lowered BECAUSE of auto-tipping. It was a necessary business move to stay afloat. Sorry for the confusion.

 

Remember...most people tip on the basis of what the word means "To Insure Personal Service". It doesn't mean "to help cruiselines meet their payroll". Many pax prefer to give a gratuity in person, so at least let them THINK they are truly thanking that person (cabin steward, waiter, etc) for good personal service....and not the whole ship.

[gizmo]

Contrary to what Boatdrill posted, the salaries of service staff DID NOT go down with the advent of auto tipping.

 

It depends on what one considers "salary".

 

They now have to pay their own way home. Hal used to provide air fare.

They must buy their own uniforms/clothing. This also was provided by Hal before the auto tipping.

[Maryandi]

Let's get back to what we want to know !!

 

Tell us about ourselves - what does the crew think about the passengers? -any nicknames for a certain type? any ones you hate to see get off the ship?

 

I guess the way this thread evolved we could think of some nicknames but tell us how we look to your side ! We usually , by the end of the cruise, have nicknames for people we see all the time.

 

Have fun, MaryAnn

[EDnLISA]

For example he explained that many ships have plumbing problems. That is quite true. Most of the problems stem from passengers using their toilets for garbage disposals. They stop up the pipe that services about 60 other toilets and they all stop working at the same time. Then the Engineers go below decks with hacksaws and start cutting pipes, looking for the stoppage. A few hours later, they weld the whole mess back together and the system works again - until another idiot pulls the same stunt.

 

That seems like a very extreme way to deal with a stoppage. I find it hard to believe that there are no cleanouts to get into or flanges to break to get a wire in there to clear the obstruction. There would be a degree of guess work just knowing where to cut the pipes and who knows how easy it would be getting to the lines. Not only that, you would have quite a mess with the waste piping being full. More than likely they would have to use a grinder or burn the piping rather than a hacksaw and then to button up the piping they would either be welding or braising which means a firewatch is needed.

[NJcabanas]

:D Thank you, Jordan, for replying to my ClubHal question. I really appreciate your taking the time to help me out with my planning. I think my kid will enjoy this trip as much as I have enjoyed reading about HAL and Alaska on CruiseCritic! I wish you safe and happy sailings! - NJcabanas

[PrincessYoga]

Jordan, cheers for answering all the questions. You will have to let us know if you are going to be on the Noordam so we can go see your show.