Why Would You/ Why Do You Continue to Sail?

[78232]

I guess some people like to complain as a way of making conversation or getting attention. A few years ago I was on a cruise with another line and I quietly decided there were things about that line I did not like and I would not sail with them again. No need to spread negativity or spoil the cruise for myself or others. I remain firm in the decision I made that day and that is how I came to HAL and feel it is a good fit for me.

Marcia

[nana51]

I am a retired Elementary School library clerk. My top salary was a take home of $1,500 a month. So no extra money there. My husband is a self-employed mechanic. He is now 62 and business has slowed to a crawl.

 

We finally went on our first cruise in 2008 to Mexico. We live in San diego and took the Oosterdam. We loved every single minute of it. When we normaly vacation we usually spend a week-end in Anaheim, or we go to Canada to stay with my sister at her lake cottage. A very cheap holiday. So the cruise was a HUGE deal for me. It was an even bigger deal for my husband as he has aspergers (high functioning autism). He loved it. We hope to go again this coming winter. He hates closing his shop as there is of course no vacation pay when you own your own one-man shop. People who complain make me want to scream. If it's a real complaint of course complain, but some of them are just silly. Call me, I'll use your ticket.

[sail7seas]

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

I didn't start this thread to tell anyone I didn't think they should post their complaints and dissatisfaction........

 

I posted it to try and figure out why people who more times than not only have complaints and negatives to post would continue booking.

 

There are a few folks who so often have only gripes and almost never praise. We never seem to hear from them about something they liked on their cruises or compliment the overall cruise.... they only tell us everything they think is wrong.

 

Again, entirely their right to do so. I just wonder why they book a future cruise if the last one was so unsatisfactory.

 

[arzz]

I love cruising -- never had a bad cruise

 

HAL is my cruise line of choice -- I feel at home when I board one of their ships -- no vacation adjustment time -- just click right in to vacation mode which is great for a short stress free getaway or also for an extended cruise. I am particularly fond of the large choice that HAL provides for longer and extended cruises -- especially those with itineraries that visit lots of great ports but offer down time (a sea day) every couple of days. Great way to travel.

 

At the same time, nothing is perfect. Without constructive criticism systems cannot adjust to fit our changing world. I find it important to read what others have to say and I am glad that this forum provides a place for them to comment. Remember, even our beloved HAL asks each cruiser at the end of their cruise for comments.

 

That said the threads that repeatedly beat the dead horse of someone's unfortunate on board experiences to death do get tiresome. But if we didn't continue to comment on these threads they would eventually disappear so they must be serving some purpose.

 

I also believe that the threads that dissect every proposed change by HAL are very important. It is important to consider change and "try it out" to see if it fits. It is important for HAL to hear what their most loyal passengers have to say -- even if I try to maintain an open mind, first impressions need to be shared, and later after changes are imposed they need to be revisited and re-evaluated.

 

All complaints are not bad -- constructive criticism provides an important service to help maintain and improve standards. Endless whining, on the other hand, serves no real purpose.

[DaddySteve]

"Where'd you get the ugly hairdo?

 

Copper 10-8......Truly love that story.....it explains everything....I was a tour escort for almost 40 years and "I've heard it all"......thanks for posting it.

 

Steve

[sail7seas]

I love cruising -- never had a bad cruise

 

HAL is my cruise line of choice -- I feel at home when I board one of their ships -- no vacation adjustment time -- just click right in to vacation mode which is great for a short stress free getaway or also for an extended cruise. I am particularly fond of the large choice that HAL provides for longer and extended cruises -- especially those with itineraries that visit lots of great ports but offer down time (a sea day) every couple of days. Great way to travel.

 

At the same time, nothing is perfect. Without constructive criticism systems cannot adjust to fit our changing world. I find it important to read what others have to say and I am glad that this forum provides a place for them to comment. Remember, even our beloved HAL asks each cruiser at the end of their cruise for comments.

 

That said the threads that repeatedly beat the dead horse of someone's unfortunate on board experiences to death do get tiresome. But if we didn't continue to comment on these threads they would eventually disappear so they must be serving some purpose.

 

I also believe that the threads that dissect every proposed change by HAL are very important. It is important to consider change and "try it out" to see if it fits. It is important for HAL to hear what their most loyal passengers have to say -- even if I try to maintain an open mind, first impressions need to be shared, and later after changes are imposed they need to be revisited and re-evaluated.

 

All complaints are not bad -- constructive criticism provides an important service to help maintain and improve standards. Endless whining, on the other hand, serves no real purpose.

 

 

Good post. I agree.

[DFD1]

OUTSTANDING, John. You never let us down!

[DFD1]

That there are complainers is human nature.

 

That they have a fourm where their identity is hidden assures that they will always be with us.

 

Using the ignore feature might save you some of the grief they peddle.

[ctsally]

I have a MAJOR complaint. After the cruise I have to get off the ship and come home. LOL There has to be some solution to such a problem.

 

S7S, if you ever figure out why complainers continue to cruise, I'd like to hear the reason. It has to be a "doozey". How could I possibly be unhappy living in luxury on a HAL ship?

[ANSalberg]

Sail; I am answering this without reading other answers first because I'm so passionate about it! We began sailing in 1978/Princess lines as vacation with our family. Then as they married/had OUR Grandchildren - we sailed again as vacation away from the responsibilities as the older generation-BOTH sets of parents - aged and died during a time that we BOTH had fulltime jobs etc; That was SO painful I wonder we survived it! - NOW we are both retired and are able to take longer cruises BOTH financially and time-wise. JUST at a time in our [uSA] history that the WORLD literally opened up and MOST places were welcoming Americans happily.

Cruising to us now is this absolutely ASTOUNDING adventure; China, Japan, Dubai, India, Egypt, Carribbean, Alaska, Croatia, Australia........I can't even name them all; places I NEVER in my wildest imagination thought we would be actually visiting! We figure there is a "Window of opportunity" when you retire; you are well enough physically and free of other incumberances, and have money saved....The WORLD is out there!!!!!

We've been on 3 "Grand" Asia cruises, the "World" and have 2 more for this Fall and next Fall, on the "Amsterdam" [ This Falls skips the Asia part and does just Australia/NZ after Pacific islands; we're excited about the itinerary but looking forward to Asia again NEXT Fall.] I can't even BEGIN to tell you the THRILL of seeing China, of going to Vietnam [ and being hugged by a young woman when we bought several purses for our girls at home] India, with its AMAZING culture - Japan.....all those places I mentioned.

We STARTED with short "local" cruising and will be in our 7th year of this AMAZING learning journey about WHERE we live [ EARTH] and HOW we live [ Hopefully in PEACE] seeing places that are awesome.

"Would we continue to sail?" Oh YES -I don't even want to think about the day when we CAN'T....and, Thank you for asking the question; There's a WONDERFUL adventure out there!

Anne

[kakalina]

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

I didn't start this thread to tell anyone I didn't think they should post their complaints and dissatisfaction........

 

I posted it to try and figure out why people who more times than not only have complaints and negatives to post would continue booking.

 

There are a few folks who so often have only gripes and almost never praise. We never seem to hear from them about something they liked on their cruises or compliment the overall cruise.... they only tell us everything they think is wrong.

 

Again, entirely their right to do so. I just wonder why they book a future cruise if the last one was so unsatisfactory.

 

 

Perhaps they are eternal optimists and hope the next cruise will be better?? :D

[Himself]

I NEVER complain about HAL and I continue going on this line because I love the line and the HAL ships. I think HAL is a classy line.

[happy cruzer]

Why do they rebook? They don't realize how critical they sound. The whole world is bad and HAL must be just a little better than the rest of the world. I know an entire family of pessimists than then end up being negative and doing alot of complaining. They don't even know they do it. And if you point it out, they can not conceive that there is any thing wrong with being that negative all the time. they all continue that way with no clue how unhappy they are making themselves and others. Pointing out bad things makes them smarter than others, in their own minds.

 

That's the group I know that fits the question.

 

If try to focus on

 

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so. Hamlet

 

when I'm around that negative stuff.

[kryos]

And I am so there! Why, oh why, do people complain all the time? I don't get it. I love, love, love to cruise. There, I said it.:) Except for the bingo stuff. That's something I don't get. But everything is is fantastic, don't you think? Might be human nature to complain?:confused: Not for me to ever figure that one out.

I don't think any of us "just complain." I think most of our complaints contain valid suggestions for improvement, and that's what makes us "cruise critics." I know that if a review I read contains nothing but "rah, rah, way to go HAL!" or insert any other cruise line's name in there ... then I pretty much file that review away as worthless. No cruise is perfect and no cruise line does everything right.

 

So if you look behind the complaints here ... if they even are, in fact, complaints rather than just observations ... nine times out of ten, you'll see valid suggestions for improvement, and that's why I think the dialogues we engage in here are so worthwhile.

 

Now, as to why one continues to sail despite the complaints? Well, while we may complain about something on HAL, we can also read other boards here and see complaints on other lines too. For now, HAL continues to meet my needs despite any shortcomings I may complain about. Overall, they are doing things right and for that reason I continue to sail with them. For example, in my case I complain a lot about the restrictive smoking policies on HAL that are getting more restrictive all the time -- we've most recently lost the Ocean Bar, a favorite haunt of mine. I don't like that. But as long as I still have some places I can go, and as long as I can smoke within my cabin, I will stick with HAL because, as I said above, they are meeting my needs. But, come the day HAL becomes totally smoke-free or eliminates all smoking in the cabins, then I may be "encouraged" to take a serious look at other cruise lines. Why not? If I can't smoke in my cabin on HAL, then even if I can't smoke in my cabin on one of those other lines, I'm still no worse off ... and who knows? I may very well discover a cruise line that meets some of my needs even better than HAL. It's all about finding the best vacation experience for your hard-earned dollars.

 

So, again, complaints are good ... hopefully the cruise lines are reading and considering them in their quest for ongoing (hopefully) improvement.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[bcd2010]

"People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." — Abraham Lincoln

 

We can choose to be happy or choose to be miserable. I think people who are happy know it, and live their lives finding things to be happy about, or surprised/delighted; not so sure people who are unhappy know they are, and they seem to find things to be unahppy about.

[Jana White]

OP I have often wondered the same thing. Why do they keep cruisings if they are so unhappy? Yes there is constructive criticism, but may posters are downright picky and incredibly negative. You never see these posters say anything positive. You see it on every cruise line forum. My husband and I cruise by the itinerary first and have been on HAL, NCL, Princess, Celebrity and RCCL for a total of 16 cruises. It does seem however that we usually end up on HAL or Princess. We have never had a bad cruise, though some have been better than others. Are there things we would like to have been different, yes of course, but my husband and I are optimists and our complaints are SO minor they are not worth mentioning. Do we think that the cruise lines have cut back, yes they have, but so have most all of us? The cruise industry is trying hard to stay afloat, yet still deliver the best product they can. I think they do an excellant job and my husband and I will continue to cruise. WE LOVE IT!

[aliaschief]

To the tune of The Musketeers.........H o l l a n d A m e r i c a....WHY? Because we love it!:D

[mamaofami]

I think we have a lot of loyal HAL tradionalists posting here who are concerned about the changes they see. Their complaints are a way of having the HAL people who read these threads know they are unhappy about changes being made. Does that mean they won't sail HAL again? Maybe yes, and maybe no. But I think it's OK to voice your concerns about reductions in service, entertainment, food selections, lack of trays, and even the new aft designs of some of the ships. etc.

[Jana White]

I have no problem with people commenting on their concerns. I do have a problem when that is all they do. We just returned 6/28 from an Alaskan cruise on the Westerdam and it was one of the best cruises we have ever had. Yes, there were no trays in the Lido but we coped just fine, yes they kept running out of the beer my husband wanted, yes the spinach in the Pinnacle Grill was too salty for our taste, our room was made up later in the day then in prior cruises, and yes we arrived in Victoria an hour late because of weather. BUT, the evening entertainment was some of best we have ever seen on any cruiseline, the staff was always smiling and helpful, the captain was so friendly and often was meandering around the ship making sure we were having a good time, embarking and disembarking were a breeze, the food in general was very good, our room was immaculate, and we made loads of friends because we chose open seating. On a scale of 1-10 that cruise was an 11 because we made it that way!

[wander]

Mamaofami,

 

In relation to your last comments, I have a major concern about the way the boards are going these days. I personally think that the potential harm by all the repeated complaints, criticisms, and such is to scare new folks away from HAL. Now That could have serious repercussions for all of us and HAL!!!

 

It is one thing to give balanced reviews, some complaints, etc. but recently it has become repeated harping! I will no longer refer anyone to these boards, particularly folks new to cruising or HAL. Yes, they can get some good ideas, but they also get turned off from HAL. HOW DOES THAT HELP ANY OF US??? Like any business, as older customers die off the NEED new folks, and constants criticisms will NOT get new folks.

 

I also think that while HAL may read these boards and take the information in, I KNOW they realize what a small portion of their customer base are on cruise critic. (For example, there were about 70 folks on the 2007 World Cruise at the Cruise Critic gatherings on the cruise out of 1500 on the ship (includes segment folks). Heck, one travel agency had almost 5 times as many folks in their groups.

 

So, 70 out of 1500 is about 4.5 percent. I have never been on another cruise with that large of a CC group, usually more like 20-30 on the longer cruises.

 

I know that from other parts of my life 24 well written letters with reasonably stated objections or complaints mean a GREAT DEAL more that several hundred disgruntled website complainers. For prospective customers it is just the opposite. A few complaints on the internet can do irreparable damage, be the complaints accurate or not. Just my concerns and thoughts.

 

Jana White - I like your way of looking at things!

[suse]

your spinach was too salty. How on earth would you remember that.

just wondering. You seem to remember alot. That's the wowsa factor.:)

[Jemima]

Many of the negative reviews and negative posts are:

- New cruisers with unrealistic or incorrect expectations

- New-to-HAL cruisers who expected HAL to be just like ______

- Returning to HAL after several years and expecting no changes

- People with non-cruise problems that carry over to the cruise

- Those who let one negative experience spoil their whole cruise

 

None of our cruises have been perfect, all have been very enjoyable and all our HAL cruises wonderful.

[dandro]

We were first time cruisers, and I joined CC about a month or 2 before we cruised. We had already booked, and I already figured cruising could be a very subjective thing...it pretty much depends on a person's taste and perception. Certain things cannot be subjective, such as size of stateroom, amenities, etc., but there are many other things that are just opinions.

 

The DH and I were determined to enjoy our cruise and keep a positive attitude...and guess what? We loved it. Was it perfect? No, but it didn't matter. We loved our cruise, and would go back on another HAL ship in a heartbeat.

 

There are people out there that would complain about the color and crispness of the million dollars you handed them. :p

[pipedreams62]

your spinach was too salty. How on earth would you remember that.

just wondering. You seem to remember alot. That's the wowsa factor.:)

 

 

[Jana White]

Hi Suse,

 

I am absolutely sure that one of the chefs accidentally over salted the spinach that night in the Pinnacle Grill. It sticks in my mind because we love their spinach and have had it several times before. But I would never let something as crazy as spinach dictate whether I had a good time or not. :)

 

Thanks Pipedreams

 

You are awesome!