What Major Areas can HAL Improve On?

[gizmo]

As "challenging" as it sometimes is to get "AAA plus another A's" ideas straight(!), I immediately read it as a suggestion of improving HAL's office/tech/phone staff (with Americans...) and suggesting they have phone availability 24/7....

 

(One of the few I've gotten "right"! :D )

 

Paul ;)

 

"Challenging" You couldn't have said it better. ROTFLMAO:D

 

I also thought his post meant Seattle staff not staff on the ships.

[hammybee]

[quote=bepsf... Take control of the onboard shops! We don't sail a premium line to ........... Quit trying to be all things to all people!

 

[/size][/font]

 

Bespf, I am not sure of your intent but am thinking you hit the nail on the head with these two remarks. There is a disconnect between perception and reality. HAL markets themselves as a Premium Cruise Line yet it is necessary for them to go toe to toe with all the other mass market cruise lines to fill their ships, especially on 7 day Caribbean sails and increasingly, in Europe.

 

I took a quick glance at pricing for February 2007 Caribbean 7 day sails on all mass marketed cruise lines. HAL's least expensive cruise, at the moment, is the same as Costa, cheaper than some cruises with Carnival and more than half the price of some RCCL sails.

 

I think the original concept was for HAL to be the tween step from mass market and luxury carriers. At least that was my take on the matter. But this is not how it turned out, for the majority of its sailings. There are not enough passengers willing to spend more to get more, when the intinarary and duration of the cruise is common to many carriers. There are not enough passengers who can afford the time and premium per diem, for more exotic voyages.

 

And at the end of the day, I sometimes think what one cruise line might budget per passenger for so-called Las Vegas style shows, HAL may spend on flowers and art. In other words, HAL is different but it is a mass market cruise line. And this is hard for most of us to swallow.

[sail7seas]

Rita - we did the 14 day Southern out of Tampa last year on Ryndam and liked it well enough that we will repeat the same itineary this year on Veendam.

 

I agree, Jim.

 

We also did the 14 day Ryndam cruise from Tampa and loved it (April 2). We also booked Veendam to repeat that cruise (November).

 

I would like more of those sort of cruises.

We can only repeat the same cruise just so many times.

 

As it is, we repeated back to back this summer on Maasdam what we did back to back last summer on Maasdam.

 

Now, for 2007, we are repeating what we did on Ryndam 2006.

 

Then, come June, we repeat Maasdam again. At least for 2007, the itinerary is a little different.

 

We have no interest in Alaska and I haven't wanted to return to Europe in recent years so there aren't that many choices.

 

I would do a Mexican Riviera cruise but it really doesn't seem worth the cross country flight for what doesn't sound like anything that fantastically different than what we have in the Caribbean.

 

My DH is not retired so we can't be away more than about 16-17 days. That doesn't leave that many choices for us. Seven day cruises are something we try hard to avoid, when possible.

[FRANKIEDNYC]

:cool: MORE ROUND TRIP CRUISES FROM NEW YORK.

[kakalina]

More RT cruises from Arizona (LOL)

[SeaSharp]

I've often wondered why HAL hasn't offered a credit card where points can be earned towards future cruises, upgrades, shipboard accounts, shore excursions, internet useage, etc.

 

Nancy

[Copper10-8]

This too was my first take and as I was responding to it, it dawned on me that AAA plus another A (like this) has always been highly complimentary of the on-board HAL staff. This got me to thinking that he probably meant hiring more people in the Seattle home office, as opposed to outsourcing the Customer Service function to some distant land, as big business is prone to do.

 

( In my previous life, I had the good fortune to work with many highly skilled technology- business-management people, on Wall Street. Gleaming the intent behind their written words, often required some decoding:))

 

Thanks Hammy, Paul and Gizmo for the intel; your brains obviously sort and process information at a higher level than mine!;)

[crystal808]

Thanks Hammy, Paul and Gizmo for the intel; your brains obviously sort and process information at a higher level than mine!;)

 

John: I doubt that's so!! :)

 

Sometimes one has to read "some" posts v-e-r-y slowly...although that's not necessarily a bad thing, in many cases! :D (Some really, really more slowly than others! :eek: )

 

Paul

[cruiserfromohio]

HAL's wine pricing is too high! Markups can start at three times (3X) what I pay at retail in Ohio -- a high-priced state for wine. The servers know nothing about the wines on the winelist and when asked will try to get you to buy a bottle based on price -- the higher the better. I believe HAL could sell more wine and make more money by lowering the mark up to a reasonable level two times retail (use the paort where the cruise starts as the baseline for prices) and by having wine servers who know something about the wine they are poring and with what foods on the evening's menu pare with what wines.

[sail7seas]

Cruiser from Ohio........

 

Did you know HAL ships now have a position called Cellar Master. He is VERY knowledgeable about wines and he is there to help you with wine selections.

 

If your Wine Steward is not as helpful as you desire, request he/she bring the Cellar Master to speak with you.

 

We had a Cellar Master named Andy (Andrew) on Maasdam and he was fabulous. Aside from being a very pleasant young man, he was so knowledgeable and helpful and because of him we sampled and greatly enjoyed new (to us) wines we'd never heard of.

 

We also had help from the Cellar Master on Ryndam last April. I think his name is Rama..... a gentleman from India. Again, the nicest guy and very, very helpful. I'm afraid we enjoyed him so much we took up a little too much of his time. :( We didn't want to 'share him'.

 

HAL seems to know some people want more help with wine than the Wine Stewards can offer and they are now supplying a person who can provide that help. Ask for him.

 

 

 

[dakrewser]

Did you know HAL ships now have a position called Cellar Master. He is VERY knowledgeable about wines and he is there to help you with wine selections.

 

I certainly couldn't find one on Prinsendam this summer - and I even paid to go to the afternoon wine tasting/seminar (along with 3 other couples). It was fun, but most of us knew a lot more than the folks conducting the session.

 

Still - if they'd only get a better wine selection I'd be happy...

[sail7seas]

We haven't been on Prinsendam, Dave. Does that ship have the new Wine Cellar display where people can do wine tastings and pre-order their wine for dinner? If so, that is run by the Cellar Master on Maasdam and Ryndam. I don't know what other ships they have that position but have to think they will be adding them to all ships.

 

As I described above, the Cellar Master was very helpful to us on those ships.

 

On your next cruise, ask for him. He happened to come to our table to deliver some gift cards for wine that had been sent to us and that is how we met. We were aboard both those ships for 14 days and greatly valued his assistance.

 

You are very much more knowledgeable about wine than I am.

I know what I like and what I don't like. I am by no means a sophisticate but got to enjoy what pleased my palate because of the Cellar Masters ' assistance.

 

[Copper10-8]

I certainly couldn't find one on Prinsendam this summer - and I even paid to go to the afternoon wine tasting/seminar (along with 3 other couples). It was fun, but most of us knew a lot more than the folks conducting the session.

 

Still - if they'd only get a better wine selection I'd be happy...

 

Hi Dave, we had a cellar master by the name of Jean Jacques on Prinsendam last month so he must have come onboard ship after you left. He was very visible in the dining room every night and we also saw him in the PG on the nights we dined there.

[sevigny]

I would like to see HAL stop playing around with the dining times, and modifying the dress code. If I wanted personal choice style dining, I would cruise on Princess. I realize we sound like old fogies, but my husband and I cruise on HAL because we enjoy the traditional dining times, and we accept the dress code. On our repositioning cruise last year, everyone kept to the dress code until we hit San Francisco and 600 new passengers came on for the four day cruise to Vancouver. The dress code and a lot else went right out the window. The whole tone of the last 16 days changed completely. I didn't even feel as if I was on a HAL ship anymore.

Sail is right - we always choose a particular table at the 8:00 seating for two, and yes, we want that table, every night at that time! We always let our steward know if we won't be in the dining room - so if someone else wants it that night, okay by us, but I enjoy the feeling of having the same waiter and assistant every night. I suppose if they feel they need to do pc style dining - at least, don't put it on the smaller ships!

Why does HAL seem to feel they must constantly cater to new cruisers, when there are so many mariners out there who are happy with things the way they are? We are in our early fifties and have cruised over twenty times with HAL - we have many more years to cruise with them, God willing, but I would like to feel comfortable with HAL. We much prefer sailing on the R and S class ships, rather than the Vistas. There is nothing better than that wonderful feeling of coming home, when I step on to a HAL ship - I would hate to lose that feeling.

Also, BEPFS is correct about the really poor selection in the shops lately - I remember when HAL carried beautiful Lladros in their shops, and good quality jewelry, etc. Now, most of the stuff is cheap junk - the last five cruises, I think we have spent at the most 50.00 on board in the shops.

Just my opinion!

[happy cruzer]

Interesting. This is alot like other polls. What one person thinks need improving another will think is just fine.

 

Some will like traditonal and some will like open/free style seating for dinner.

 

some think the wine program needs improvement. I think it is great. Having been on another line where the wine can be marked up times 4 to times 7. and has almost no selection and you can't bring your favorites on board. I think HAL's wine policies are great. When I did a wine comaparsion, Princess did have slightly bigger/better wine list, but no cruiseline had better price points on wine than HAL except maybe Costa and that was on the wine special selected for that night's menu. I also cancelled a RCI cruise that had european ports because they do not allow you bring wine onboard so there went having great local wines at dinner and bringing home souviners.

 

Sorry I went on and on about wine but it's an example of how most of the areas of improvement may have two sides to them. They will tend to be very subjective.

[hammybee]

Why does HAL seem to feel they must constantly cater to new cruisers, when there are so many mariners out there who are happy with things the way they are?

 

Also, BEPFS is correct about the really poor selection in the shops lately - I remember when HAL carried beautiful Lladros in their shops, and good quality jewelry, etc. Now, most of the stuff is cheap junk - the last five cruises, I think we have spent at the most 50.00 on board in the shops.

Just my opinion!

 

Apparently there are not enough Mariners out there to fill the ships. While most on this board seem to prefer the traditional sailing experience, it is obvious that the majority sailing with HAL are telling them otherwise.

 

The reason why HAL does not carry the as much of higher end quality stuff as they once did, is that passengers looked but did not buy. The majority of current passengers seem content with inexpensive stuff. I have not spent a cent in any ship shop in years. I have plenty of $dollar stores in my area if I need junk. Until passengers cease to buy the stuff, HAL and the other mass marketed cruise lines, will continue to sell it.

[hammybee]

[quote name=Copper10-8

Enforce the 18 or over after midnight age limit in the night club! They do it on land! if you have such a rule' date=' enforce it! If not, don't have the rule! The DJ making one anouncement at midnight with no follow up is useless![/quote]

 

Carnival and NCL do a darn good job of enforcing the 18 and over rule, to the point that my then 16-17 year old DD, who was with me, was asked to leave music venues ( not clubs) at 10:00 P.M. We respected this and did as we were told.

[jimmy2x]

I agree, Jim.

 

We also did the 14 day Ryndam cruise from Tampa and loved it (April 2). We also booked Veendam to repeat that cruise (November).

 

I would like more of those sort of cruises.

We can only repeat the same cruise just so many times.

 

 

Agreed - you would think that they would vary the ports ( at least a couple of them). My wife and I tend to really favor the more tropical (mountains and jungle) as opposed to the beach (Aruba, Bonaire). We really enjoyed Granada and Dominica which were firsts for us last year.

[dakrewser]

We haven't been on Prinsendam, Dave. Does that ship have the new Wine Cellar display where people can do wine tastings and pre-order their wine for dinner?

 

I didn't see a Wine Cellar display, just the usual Lido table set up each afternoon.

 

John says he met the Cellar Master on his cruise (which was a couple of weeks after mine) so the position may be spreading through the fleet. Still, I'd rather see a better selection than a better selector :rolleyes:

[gizmo]

I would do a Mexican Riviera cruise but it really doesn't seem worth the cross country flight for what doesn't sound like anything that fantastically different than what we have in the Caribbean.

IMO Mex Riviera is not like the Caribbean, it is different. It was a nice change.

Not my favorite flight either but since I have already done the Mex Riv, I am looking into a Sea of Cortez for 2007. San Diego it great. :)

[sail7seas]

Specifically which Mexican ports do you like enough to make the trip worth it, Gizmo?

[Copper10-8]

Specifically which Mexican ports do you like enough to make the trip worth it, Gizmo?

 

S7S; if you're thinking about it at all, do the Sea of Cortez. Those ports are nothing like the Caribbean and haven't realy been discovered unlike the "regular stops" like Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco

[hammybee]

S7S; if you're thinking about it at all, do the Sea of Cortez. Those ports are nothing like the Caribbean and haven't realy been discovered unlike the "regular stops" like Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco

 

Agree. They are as different as can be and closer to the soul of Mexico. Timing is critical if you want whales.

[sail7seas]

I think the Sea of Cortez cruises are too long for us. DH cannot be away more than 16-17 days. We would never dream of doing a cruise without a pre cruise day and a post cruise day. I don't want any more travel stress than absolutely necessary. I prefer coming in 2 days ahead but will do a one day pre, if ncessary.

 

[pompey86]

The thing i would like Hal to consider is, for them to have some sailings from the UK- Southampton to be precise, i know they sail in and out of the Med during the Summer till Autumn, it would save having to fly to the Med,especially with the lower luggage allowance than the Atlantic flights, it would probably be not economical for a full season, but if they could divert a few of the cruises via the UK instead all from the Med, Plus they are not so well known over here in the UK, and i am sure more people would like to try Hals excellent ships- if given the chance. RCL have cruised from Southampton for 2 seasons now and are competing with the British based lines, so come on Hal- give them a taste of proper cruising. PLEASE dont make the cruises anymore expensive- as a solo cruiser who has to pay on average 150%, plus the high costs of flying from the UK, i am on my 10th cruise next month on the lovely Amsterdam, and have booked for the Tampa- Venice cruise in April, so no suggestions for price increases please. I dont suppose my wishes will mean anything to all my fellow cruise critics across the Pond and even less to Hal, but its good to put thoughts down on paper. kind regards audrey:) :)