Jump to content

Holland America Line Launches New Electronic Cruise Documents


FIRELT5

Recommended Posts

Ok, I can live without paper documents and all. I travel a lot and am completely used to it now. Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but as a first timer on HAL to Alaska, how do I find out about things like the dress code on each night etc.? On my other cruises, all of this has been easily found online and sent in the documents. I've searched this site, HAL's site, etc., and haven't had any luck. I know it's two formal nights, but that's all I've found.

 

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have a lounge area with magazines, TV's showing the news, and freshly-baked cookies where you wait before walking over to a desk where you sit in a chair to converse with your banker who takes care of your business...

...

- It's kinda like doing your banking in the Neptune Lounge.

...

Further - they did say that paper documents can be requested, so HAL's elderly clients who don't use computers, etc. can still be looked after appropriately.

Wow! And I thought I had it good where I bank! No, we don't have a lounge with freshly-baked cookies and a TV, though. But I do get to sit down and deal face-to-face with my financial guy when I have a need.

 

But it is funny ... I was thinking this same thing today. They must have something that comes up in their computer when a customer does a lot of business with their bank because it never fails ... even when I stop in at the main branch downtown just to cash a check or make a deposit on my way home from work ... I'm just one face in hundreds there ... it's not my regular branch ... and as soon as the teller pulls up my account, she can't do enough for me ... calls me by name, ask if there is anything else ... anything else at all she can do for me ... thanks me for stopping in. I was thinking the same thing ... this must be like what banking at the Neptune Lounge would be like. :)

 

As for the paper docs ... yes, you can request them, but I'll bet there will be a charge ... unless maybe if you were dealing with one of their PCC's ... and frankly, I wouldn't blame HAL for that. If an elderly customer who has no access to a computer needs her electronic documents printed out for her ... or even needs the pre-boarding information filled out, the solution is real simple ... either her PCC or TA can take care of it for her at their office and then either mail them to her if she is not local, or have the customer come in to pick them up if she is.

 

Problem solved.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One piece of paper gets you on the ship now!

This is not a big deal -- trust me! :rolleyes::) Don't even miss the binder, and HAL saves a couple of bucks.

That binder ... especially since HAL went to those cheap blue ones ... goes right into the trash before disembarkation. I have no use for it.

 

As I said before, the woman at check-in on my last cruise didn't even want to see the documents. All she needed was that Priority Boarding Pass with the barcode on it, my passport, and my "have you been sick" questionnaire. She didn't even need to see my credit card as the hold had already been placed on it in advance.

 

No need for a document folder whatsoever as far as I'm concerned, and ... as you say ... the luggage tags would take less than a minute to fill out. Just your name and cabin number is all that's really needed.

 

Personally, I'm with you. I'd rather HAL save money on the expense of printing documents and putting them into the "pretty" blue folder ... than save it by eliminating something I may really like onboard. After all, I'm purchasing a cruise experience ... not a blue document folder full of unnecessary junk.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but as a first timer on HAL to Alaska, how do I find out about things like the dress code on each night etc.?

Not a stupid question at all. On 7-day cruises there will be 2 formal nights. The others will be smart/country club casual.

 

Enjoy!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, I can live without paper documents and all. I travel a lot and am completely used to it now. Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but as a first timer on HAL to Alaska, how do I find out about things like the dress code on each night etc.? On my other cruises, all of this has been easily found online and sent in the documents. I've searched this site, HAL's site, etc., and haven't had any luck. I know it's two formal nights, but that's all I've found.

Your documents will still be there. You will just print them out online if you want hard copies, or read them from the PDF file if you don't. Everything you get in that document folder will be available at HAL's website. And, the "Know Before You Go" book is on the website as well, as is a customized shore excursion booklet if you've booked shore excursions with HAL. It will contain all the excursions you've booked, along with their descriptions, as well as the port where you will take the excursion, and the date and time, etc.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

Link to comment
Share on other sites

how do I find out about things like the dress code on each night etc.?
I don't know any way of finding out in advance which days will be formal (other than asking a prior cruiser on CC), but on the back of your embarkation day Daily Program you'll find an Itinerary at a Glance section in the upper-right corner. It will show which nights are formal and what your expected arrival/departure times are for each port.

 

You can pretty much count on the first sea day as being formal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

worked ok but they mailed us 4 each luggage tags in advance w/preprinted cabin #. This was good. Just had to stick on name stickers (like free ones charities send) and we don't need all the garbage they send and don't need the folders. Rarely book tours from the ship. I guess I could check them on line if I was interested. I agree that 1st times should get all the paper ahead of time. They will just have to improve the web site to list all the formal nights, special events, celebrity chefs and how to pre book.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can see the cost savngs but I do not have a printer.

If they would send the luggage tags and the boarding pass by regular mail I could see using the service. If it is all or none then I will stick to paper.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks. It would help me to know when the formal nights are so that we can better choose when to book a spot at the Pinnacle grill. It's not that important. I've filled in all the information for the online boarding, but it says that the final stuff can't be done until May. Am I to assume that this information will be available to me after that date?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I fear the response this will get me.. but I'm willing to take my chances:

 

Am I the only one who upon receipt of the "old school" docs, rips out the one page cruise contract and literally chucks the whole packet immediately into the trash (except for the luggage tags)?

 

By the time the docs arrive, I already know the itinerary, my shore ex plan and my cabin assignmnet, if not on guarantee. I never have had any use for the "phone the ship" cards, the tux rental into, the wine package flier, the Ocean Cruise News promotion, the onboard package list, the mariner button or the bulky blue folder they come in.

 

The last packet that arrived in the mail had about a $10 stamp on them (thankfully they didn't use FedEx to Alaska!)

 

I was so thrilled that the airlines have uniformally moved to etickets. Cruiselines, IMO, have been playing catchup to this trend for years. I dream of the day we can finally present our passports only at embark and be handed our keys... just like at a hotel, or an airport.

 

Fire away... I know I've asked for it!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The document that has your cruise instructions and itinerary in it tells you the number of (4)formal nights and (11) smart casual nights there will be during your cruise. I am reading from the last booklet we received for a 14 day cruise.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a little late, as I just returned from my Hawaii cruise :( -- missing it still! More on this later...

 

However, perhaps HAL could provide the TAs with a supply of tags for each ship, and we could get them from the TAs?

 

LoyHAL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Anchorage1977

 

That is exactly what I do and have done for years. Every once and awhile I review the "Know before you go" booklet to check if anything is different, but then that is tossed as well.

 

I too have done my shore ex. orders online long before the cruise and on the ship we get new Shore Ex. materials anyways.

 

For those bemoaning filling our the tags at the pier, all you need is your last name and cabin number at that time. All the rest of the materials is unnecessary at that time. Then, on the ship you can complete the return home information IF you want to.

 

Once onboard I have frequently found that the formal nights have changed anyhow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

However, perhaps HAL could provide the TAs with a supply of tags for each ship, and we could get them from the TAs?

That would work for people using local B&M TAs, but these days many people use on-line TAs or book direct with a HAL PCC over the phone. Many on-line TAs have not been forwarding the current packets, and might not send luggage tags either.

 

Local B&M TA's could also hand out other stuff as needed, such as the Know Before You Go booklet for first-timers, excursion booklets, etc.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

 

DBA,

 

Thanks for the update. They look good. The whole process sounds simple enough and enviromentally friendly with the e-doc concept. One more thing for the die-hards to collect. Do you think we will see listings on eBay for the old tags? :)

 

Rochelle

Link to comment
Share on other sites

DBA,

 

Thanks for the update. They look good. The whole process sounds simple enough and enviromentally friendly with the e-doc concept. One more thing for the die-hards to collect. Do you think we will see listings on eBay for the old tags? :)

 

Rochelle

 

I've seen the Mariner buttons and people's room keys for sale on eBay. (I've also seen Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese sandwiches on there)

 

Anything is possible in the world of eBay! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

*ding* *ding* *ding* We have a winner!

 

Let's see . . . . This saves HAL some $$$ (don't forget this will be, one way or another, reflected in your fair and services) and, some trees remain standing to exhale oxygen (used any of that lately?), YET you've managed to find a way to belittle it. Hmmmmmmmm ? ? :(

 

I can see the cost savngs but I do not have a printer.

If they would send the luggage tags and the boarding pass by regular mail I could see using the service. If it is all or none then I will stick to paper.

 

Now let's see again . . . . You are computer literate, on line, know how to post on a forum, cruise the world yet have no printer ? ?

You must also posses the secret to stopping Junk Mail and eliminating Spam

News flash : : : printers are a drug on the market. They are given out FREE with new computers. A used one has ZERO value. Charities won't even take them as a donation. Just exactly how have you managed to avoid having one ? :confused:

AND this is your only reason for not getting on board (pun intended) ? ? ?

 

I fear the response this will get me.. but I'm willing to take my chances:

....By the time the docs arrive, I already know the itinerary, my shore ex plan and my cabin assignment....

... I dream of the day we can finally present our passports only at embark and be handed our keys...

....Fire away... I know I've asked for it!

 

A nail has been hit upon the head ! :D

 

Filling out luggage tags at the pier sounds like a nightmare!!

I just hope that we can request them via snail mail so that we can fill them out before the cruise.

 

See my comments and final question below the last Quote.

 

Surprisingly, there are many people who don't use e-mail or the Internet, or, if they do, they have trouble navigating sites.....

 

There are many more cruisers out there who also do not write with quill pens, or ride in oxcarts, or use carrier pigeons, Yet they somehow manage to get reservations on a cruise, leave the house, find the airport, catch a plane, and get themselves to the port . . . . (wait a minute, back up, just what e-boarding pass did they use to catch that plane ???)

Yes, I exaggerate, yet the comparison remains valid.

 

Luggage tags lost most of their usefulness years ago when cruise lines quit fetching bags from the airport carousel and transporting them to the ship for you. If you show up at the right pier for the right ship, the cabin number alone should be enough information to get your bags delivered properly. Writing four digits on a tag and affixing it to your bag at the pier will be a minor inconvenience for most.

 

The people who find it daunting to handle the tags at the pier are the same people ahead of me in check out lines that are surprised to find out that they need to pay after their purchases are rung up. "Oh, $46.18? I'll just get out my check book and start writing. It's here somewhere. How's your family Mavis? Was that $46.18? Just like it says there on the register? $46.18. You need my driver's license? Again? Every time? It's here somewhere."

 

E-docs are a great way for the cruise line to save money while not cheapening my cruise experience. The green argument does not carry much weight with me. That is marketing baloney. It's the bottom line, not the environment, that is behind this change.

 

AMEN ! (* mostly, see below)

 

IF you are at the pier and handing over your bags to some stranger, yet do not know what ship you are on, you are way beyond needing a luggage tag.

Those same people in line in front of you will have their money "ready" inside the coin purse, which is inside the zippered pocket, which is inside their purse, which is inside their tote, which is sitting ignored in the shopping cart.

AND, yes if HAL saves some $$$$ you may just still get those "Logo Chocolates" (from another thread) on your next cruise (or that extra Lido Steward to carry your tray) :eek:

 

(*) Would "Green" by any other marketing name not smell so sweet ? ;)

 

 

NOW, for MHO:

 

We are in the 3rd MILLENNIUM ! . . . .

I have actually seen first-hand one of them new-fangled computers . . . .

HAL has been rumored to even OWN one (or two !) . . . .

Unlike rjm1cc they might have it connected to a printer . . . .

They have my name (& Passport No. & Birth Date & Shoe Size ). . . .

They have my address . . . .

They have my Phone No. (or two !) . . . .

They have my email . . . .

They profess to know which DAM ship I'm going on . . . .

And even when ! (imagine ! ! ) . . . .

They actually want me to be in a cabin THEY assign ! . . . .

 

I dunnnnoo, can ANY of you think of a way to combine all this useless information ? :confused:

 

SILLY ME, of course not !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Let's see . . . . This saves HAL some $$$ (don't forget this will be, one way or another, reflected in your fair and services) and, some trees remain standing to exhale oxygen (used any of that lately?), YET you've managed to find a way to belittle it. Hmmmmmmmm ? ? :(
Belittle? Where do you get that? I was simply saying it was a bottom line issue for HAL ... not an environmental one. That's my opinion -- right or wrong. Aren't we still allowed that on this forum?

 

All the cruise documents passengers receive from all cruise lines throughout all time aren't a spit in the ocean compared to the junk mail that proliferates everywhere. And look at the major newspapers that have folded or are soon to fold. They are huge consumers of trees. But was it environmental transgressions that felled them? Of course not. It was the bottom line.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

IAm I the only one who upon receipt of the "old school" docs, rips out the one page cruise contract and literally chucks the whole packet immediately into the trash (except for the luggage tags)?

 

Who knows. I still have all my cruise documents from all my cruises, along with left over luggage tags, souvenir menus, etc. So I am the complete opposite. And to those who may ask if I really ever do pull them out and looks at them in the future?....you bet! A great reminder of a trip.:D

 

I do exactly the same for all my flights and land vacations....have lots of airline boarding passes, brochures, etc. :eek:

 

I do see this as the wave of the future and don't have a major problem with going e-doc in theory. Yes, I'll miss paper documents in the same way I missed paper airline tickets that seems more special as you actually have something handed to you announcing the name of some exotic place that you are about to head off to. You simply felt special. Its an emotional attachment and makes little sense but I have no problem whatsover with people feeling that way as it shows they have some emotion and are not robotic. But I am not going to say the world is about to end just because we modernizedthe way the system works. After all I use the internet to book hotels and airlines tickets and even cruises online.

 

What gets me around here is whether we really need people belittling others who may not be as 21st century as others? The real problem is that with any switch to a new method the people who make such moves forget to train those who feel left behind. I am sure the new system will work well over time.

 

I also agree 100% with jhannah in that this is strictly a business move. The airlines moves away from paper tickets decades ago simply to save costs. This new wave feel-good stuff about being environmentally friendly is all.......well you know.

 

I'll be one of the first under this new system as my cruise is in June and the HAL website is telling me to come back after May 10 to print off my new documents. Interested in finding out how it goes.

 

David

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • ANNOUNCEMENT: A Touch of Magic on an Avalon Rhine River Cruise
      • Hurricane Zone 2024
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...

If you are already a Cruise Critic member, please log in with your existing account information or your email address and password.