The staff really give a "dam"

I was injured on a shore excursion on our recent cruise. I will write to HAL about the wonderful care I received from the crew, but thought I'd share my comments here as a draft of my letter.

In order of events (more or less)

The steward who met me shoreside and took me to my cabin did his utmost to minimize jarring as the wheelchair went over bumps along the way. He took his time and was very careful. Somebody must have called ahead because one of our cabin stewards was there to open the cabin door for us. One of the concierges was there a minute later. Both asked if I needed anything, what could they do, etc. I asked for a bag of rice for my wet cell phone, and DH gave him one of the giant baggies I use for packing.

Medical staff were great. I am sensitive to some pain meds, and the doctor took the time to discuss my pain management options and go over possible side effects of both the meds and the injuries.

As soon as they wheeled me back to the room, the concierge appeared with my bag of rice. I don't know if he went to the kitchen to get it or called down for it, but somehow he got it for me.

I wasn't very hungry, so I just ordered a room service sandwich, but told DH to go on to dinner. The cabin steward came back to see if I wanted anything done in the room, but I didn't need anything more than fresh towels. So he took care of that and once again said he hoped I would feel better and reminded me how long he would be on duty in case I needed anything.

DH came back from dinner, and before he could tell me what was going to happen, there was a knock at the door. Dessert from room service. The waiters had asked DH where I was, and he explained I'd had an accident. He noticed that one of my favorite desserts was on the menu, and commented that I'd be sorry to miss it. So the waiters sent me a piece of apple strudel--DH said they wouldn't hear of me missing my dessert!

Every time the cabin stewards and concierges saw me, they asked if I was feeling better, did I need anything. The next day the concierges sent me a fruit plate. I guess they noticed that I was always taking a dish of fruit at the lounge in mornings and wanted me to have my favorite snack without a trip to the lounge.

The next night, I went to dinner, and the waiters and wine steward welcomed me back as if I'd been gone for a week. The waiters were good about seating me and helping to push in my chair gently. I knew I would have to decline wine for at least a few days, and we'd bought a 7-bottle package. I asked the wine steward if I could drop it to a 5-bottle package and he took care of that for me. When I could have a little wine a few days later, he said "ok, just tell me how much you're allowed," and respected my limits.

I know that the stewards all say hello and how are you, all the time. But it isn't mechanical like the "have a nice day" you get from the bored checker at the supermarket. There is a genuine warmth and concern at HAL. They take good care of everyone, but they go the extra mile (nautical mile?) for someone who needs help.

You know how surveys often ask if the staff "made you feel like a valued guest" or something like that? Well, this is the kind of service that gives us that feeling. And keeps us sailing with HAL.

I hope that you have recovered from your injury and all is well. HAL would appreciate knowing their crew took good care of you! I have found on several instances, that the crew really does care! I have thanked them by naming everyone on board who was helpful and kind to me in a letter to guest relations. What you have written would mean a lot to HAL and the crew.

Karen

Nice to hear you were so well looked after! Hope you are feeling better soon!

Glad you are doing better.. very nice of you to send a letter of appreciation to HA. I have always felt the crew goes above and beyond for the guests without being forced to do so. Wonderful they took excellent care of you!!

Very nice to read. I'm sorry you were injured but nice to read such a positive and supportive follow up to your accident.

What a nice post!

So glad to hear that you got such wonderful care by the staff on board.

I agree with you 100% - the staff do give a dam.

Sorry you were hurt and glad you have recovered & delighted to hear the staff went the extra mile to help to try to still make your cruise enjoyable despite the pain.

Sorry to hear that you were injured on your cruise.

Hope you are doing better now.

Glad that the staff were so attentive to you.

I hope that I one day get the opportunity to meet you on a cruise. You have a great deal of class.

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I hope that I one day get the opportunity to meet you on a cruise. You have a great deal of class.

 

 

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Thank you. The one with class was the kind woman on our tour who offered me her coat when I was sopping wet and would have made a mess of it. Then she asked if I wanted an Advil for the pain. And when we got to the ship and the Excursion staff were no help at all, she was the one who told the gangway staff that there was a passenger in need of help. I never saw her again to say thank you. I hope she's reading this and knows how grateful I am!

Excellent letter, and very kind of you to send praises to HAL. Do you have names of the various people that could be added to the letter?

So sorry you were hurt, and especially sorry that the Shore Excursion people did nothing to help (I read your other post last night), but pleased that other HAL staff, and that one passenger, did rise to the occasion.

Hope you are feeling better, and future shore excursions work out better for you.

Excellent letter, and very kind of you to send praises to HAL. Do you have names of the various people that could be added to the letter?

 

So sorry you were hurt, and especially sorry that the Shore Excursion people did nothing to help (I read your other post last night), but pleased that other HAL staff, and that one passenger, did rise to the occasion.

Hope you are feeling better, and future shore excursions work out better for you.

Yes, I will put the names in the letter. I made sure I had everyone's spelling right. Side comment--thee was a nice little lucite block on the dining room table, and inside the block there was a card with waiter, assistant waiter, wine steward listed on it. I don't remember seeing that before. Very helpful when you want names.

Actually, the excursion itself was great; the fall was entirely my fault. Fortunately, I fell at the end of the excursion. And even with my fall and my soap-reaction skin rash, it was a great trip. Ship happens, as we say. This trip just had more "ship" than usual.

Yes, I will put the names in the letter. I made sure I had everyone's spelling right. Side comment--thee was a nice little lucite block on the dining room table, and inside the block there was a card with waiter, assistant waiter, wine steward listed on it. I don't remember seeing that before. Very helpful when you want names.

 

Actually, the excursion itself was great; the fall was entirely my fault. Fortunately, I fell at the end of the excursion. And even with my fall and my soap-reaction skin rash, it was a great trip. Ship happens, as we say. This trip just had more "ship" than usual.

Kathy, you have a wonderful attitude and I hope you are feeling better and having a speedy recovery!

I couldn't agree with you more that HAL really does give a "Dam"! We take my Mom on a Cruise once a year. She's 90 now and has some mobility issues with her knees. The last couple of Cruises we rented a Wheelchair to make it easier for her to get around but the last Cruise she lost her balance in the Stateroom and fell. TG, she was not seriously injured but bruised her back. Our Waitstaff would have a pillow on her chair every night for her back (as did the Specialty Restaurants). The genuine kindness and great care by Medical, Front Desk, Room Attendants was not only amazing but touching.

Thank you for sharing and, again, wishing you a very speedy recovery and all the best!

... And when we got to the ship and the Excursion staff were no help at all, she was the one who told the gangway staff that there was a passenger in need of help.

I would nave expected the "gangway staff" (and not the Shore Excursion staff) to be responsible for assisting injured passengers ...

I would nave expected the "gangway staff" (and not the Shore Excursion staff) to be responsible for assisting injured passengers ...

Do you have that in writing from Hal Ship Services ???

I would nave expected the "gangway staff" (and not the Shore Excursion staff) to be responsible for assisting injured passengers ...

Nice try. But not in this case.

In the case of someone already using a wheelchair or scooter, yes the gangway crew do help them. (And they're very good at it.)

In my case, I didn't need assistance until after the accident, so I didn't have my own wheelchair or scooter. The vendor called ahead to say that I would need help. I didn't expect the Exc staff to supply the actual assistance. I expected them to ARRANGE assistance for me. The vendor's contact would be the Exc people, not the medical staff on board. The Exc woman on the dock knew that there was an injured passenger, so that shows she got the message from the vendor. All she (or someone on the Exc staff) had to do was make ONE CALL and pass on the information to the appropriate people. But Exc had made no effort to contact anyone who could help and she pretty much ignored me, despite the fact that I was obviously in pain and still sitting in the vendor's van after other passengers had headed to the ship.

I'm not sure if the steward who arrived with the wheelchair was from the medical department or some other service department. I only know that once he showed up, everyone I dealt with was wonderfully kind and caring.

My husband and I both recognized the staff who helped us (by name) in our surveys. And I will follow up with my letter of praise for the staff.

I, too, have been injured during a shore excursion. I also found the on-board staff, particularly the medical staff, provided excellent and compassionate assistance. My excursion had a ship representative with us (the Musical Director). While I was in his care, he did what he could to make me comfortable. Upon arrival back at the pier, it was very obvious to the Shore Excursion staff member meeting the tour that I needed wheelchair help to board the ship. I believe that person contacted someone on board and a Steward arrived with a wheelchair. He by-passed the long line embarking and I noticed some glances by a few fellow guests that said "how does he get such service". But, that was a cruise that had several "entitled" guests. (Or so they believed,) There was no further contact with regard to my accident from the Shore Excursion Office.

I commend the OP for letting HAL know about her satisfaction with the crew, I hope you are doing OK, by now.

How's the health of your cell phone?

DW had a fall one time on the RCL Oasis of the Seas. It required that she be in a wheel chair. While the crew was competent in handling our needs, they certainly did not go out of their way in providing any service. Having been on a couple of HAL cruises I have been impressed with the staff and believe that had DWs fall happened on a HAL cruise, they would have treated us as the OP was. Go HAL staff and crew! You rock.

Nice to hear the staff was helpful to you.

Good luck on your recovery.

I, too, have been injured during a shore excursion. I also found the on-board staff, particularly the medical staff, provided excellent and compassionate assistance. My excursion had a ship representative with us (the Musical Director). While I was in his care, he did what he could to make me comfortable. Upon arrival back at the pier, it was very obvious to the Shore Excursion staff member meeting the tour that I needed wheelchair help to board the ship. I believe that person contacted someone on board and a Steward arrived with a wheelchair. He by-passed the long line embarking and I noticed some glances by a few fellow guests that said "how does he get such service". But, that was a cruise that had several "entitled" guests. (Or so they believed,) There was no further contact with regard to my accident from the Shore Excursion Office.

 

I commend the OP for letting HAL know about her satisfaction with the crew, I hope you are doing OK, by now.

 

How's the health of your cell phone?

Wow, I can't believe people would give the stink-eye to someone in a wheelchair. Having been both a walker and a roller, I would gladly stand in line instead of having to be rolled on board.

Health of the cell phone is uncertain. I don't mind so much losing the phone, but I had taken a lot of pictures that day, and I'm hoping the cell phone fix-it people can get my photos. My good camera is dead, too. But thank heavens, the memory card survived.

Travel insurance should cover my medical bills. I'm not sure about the phone or the camera. It could be an expensive one second of inattention, but that's my "punishment" for being careless.

I ended up with an extremely painful ankle on my Veendam cruise to Bermuda in 2015. (No injury or event that could be recalled). The staff was phenomenal!!!!! The steward (Putu) kept putting baggies of ice in our room to help ease the pain, the Doctor was very caring (Dr Gabana was her name I believe), staff would help me get my meal to the table at the Lido, the Pool Bar staff would check on me about every 1/2 hour when I was there to see if I needed a top up of ice and even arranged a pillow I had under my foot....... it's not fun to have something happen on a cruise, but a HAL ship is the ship to be on if something does.... They always asked me how I was doing, and if I wasn't there they asked my travel companion how I was. Even a maintenance worker asked if I was feeling any better than I was the day before.......Their crew is truly amazing.

Hey Kathy

Glad you're feeling better.

(What happened anyway? Hope it wasn't that serious) :(

I'm so happy t hear you are recovering from you accident and that you received such excellent care. I assume from the following:

Every time the cabin stewards and concierges saw me, they asked if I was feeling better, did I need anything. The next day the concierges sent me a fruit plate. I guess they noticed that I was always taking a dish of fruit at the lounge in mornings and wanted me to have my favorite snack without a trip to the lounge."

that you were in a Neptune Suite since the concierges were so familiar with your routine. Just wondering if anyone who has not been in a Neptune Suite were able to get this wonderful service. I don't fault the concierges for their care, just wondering what someone who is not in a Neptune Suite would be able to get care.

I'm so happy t hear you are recovering from you accident and that you received such excellent care. I assume from the following:

Every time the cabin stewards and concierges saw me, they asked if I was feeling better, did I need anything. The next day the concierges sent me a fruit plate. I guess they noticed that I was always taking a dish of fruit at the lounge in mornings and wanted me to have my favorite snack without a trip to the lounge."

that you were in a Neptune Suite since the concierges were so familiar with your routine. Just wondering if anyone who has not been in a Neptune Suite were able to get this wonderful service. I don't fault the concierges for their care, just wondering what someone who is not in a Neptune Suite would be able to get care.

Hey Kathy

 

Glad you're feeling better.

(What happened anyway? Hope it wasn't that serious) :(

I'm not certain what happened. One second I was standing on the dock and the next second I was standing in water up to my shoulders. I smacked my back against the dock as I fell, which caused deep muscle bruises and some rather spectacular surface bruises, too. No broken bones, didn't hit my head, so that's a blessing.

I get annoyed with posters who whine and try to place blame on someone or something. I have to own my carelessness. I wasn't paying attention, and I think I reached for something in the plane and ended up in the water. The vendor's staff were great. I think they were scared I was hurt worse than I was.

I'm so happy t hear you are recovering from you accident and that you received such excellent care. I assume from the following:

 

Every time the cabin stewards and concierges saw me, they asked if I was feeling better, did I need anything. The next day the concierges sent me a fruit plate. I guess they noticed that I was always taking a dish of fruit at the lounge in mornings and wanted me to have my favorite snack without a trip to the lounge."

 

that you were in a Neptune Suite since the concierges were so familiar with your routine. Just wondering if anyone who has not been in a Neptune Suite were able to get this wonderful service. I don't fault the concierges for their care, just wondering what someone who is not in a Neptune Suite would be able to get care.

The cabin stewards would probably have run errands for someone not in a Neptune Suite. I didn't rely on the concierges as much as I might have because we don't usually get concierge accommodations in hotels, or on other cruise lines. I'm very DIY and don't think of asking for help.

Funny thing is I know someone who always gets a suite on a cruise in case she gets sick--she doesn't want to be stuck in a small room all day. She doesn't have health issues, she has this "just in case" thing about wanting to have a nice space to be confined in.