luckiestlady21

Im sure you all remember me as the trouble maker who stirred up trouble with my posts. However you will be pleased to know that I am no longer with HAL and have ound a job that better suits me. However if anyone has any technical questions or needs advice on how to approach issues or complaints with the corporate ofice I would be happy to help. Please forgive anything I may have said in the past that upset you.

Just yesterday I spoke with my TA, she claims it is just like Princess and that she can log into the booking number and it tells you where you are on the waitlist. As of yesterday I was 180 for Early Upper Traditional. Your TA should only have to log into the HAL site with your number and it will tell her, maybe you need to advise your TA of that.

most agencies are set up to do just that. large agencies have special easier to use programs that interact with the cruise line booking systems which allow them to both book without calling the line and to view the reservations easily. other agencies sign up to use an online version of our booking system. but some of the smaller agencies may not have signed up to be able to use it, it is free to the agents. some may not have begun using it yet though.

LuckiestLady,

Why is it that some HAL reps will tell you where you are on the waitlist while others will not? I am booked with a TA and have not heard back from her regarding this. I am very curious about where we are so this is frustrating. I am not asking for any changes, just to know where I am.

Thanks,

Laura

some of the newer agents werent aware that they could give out dinning waitlist positions. best of luck i hope you hear back from your agent soon on this, it may also be that your agent may be trying to maneuver you into being prioritized, based on your cruising history or the standing of her agency

Sorry Hammy I don't agree with you..When one identifies themselves as being a member of a Company, they are on the clock..It makes no difference if they are in Customer Service or Management!

 

luckiestlady...Yes it's tough being in a Customer Service Dept. especially when major changes occur which you do not agree with..I was in Customer Service for more than 30 years & had to learn that "this too shall pass"...

 

One of the worst days of my life at work, was when I walked into our office & learned that a group of teenagers, Chaperone's & Coach's had been killed when our flight went down..We all were so terribly sad..For days our sadness was exacerbated while taking phone calls from distraught families & others who called in just to make horrible threats...Many times, one of us would break down & cry after some of these calls...It was an experience I'll never forget & the only one where I almost quit my job..But we did get through that horrendous period..

 

However, if one of our Res/Telephone Service Agents had ever identified themselves in a Public Forum & told any of our Passengers that they were just being angry complainers, they would have been fired...I agree with Rev. Neal if you identify yourself as an employee of a company, you are no longer off the clock...Hopefully, you now understand what some of these posters are upset about..I can accept your explanation that you were tired & did not mean to insult HAL' s Passengers... RuthC has been one of the HAL's Cheerleaders for many years, & I believe has more than 300 days as a Mariner... Suggest you get to know the posters on this board a little better..

 

I'm probably in the minority on this board as have no problem with trying out As you wish Dining, but I do respect those who only want Traditional! Also agree there is plenty of speculation going on here it but it could be stopped if HAL handled it differently & explained why folks are being wait listed..

 

JMO..Betty

answer to the waitlist they have decreased the number of confirmable spots right now since it is becomming increasingly difficult to confirm dinning ahead of time. and to an earlier post staff got the memo late after the decision had already been made and travel agents began receiving the info on it. so things were not well planned especially right after the announcement. it is a work in progress.

Like you, I have been waitlisted for my preference for Late Seating and occasionally had to dine early. This goes back as much as 15 years or whenever more passengers wanted a particular seating, than seats were available. This has happened on HAL and other cruise lines too.

 

Pure speculation on my part, but perhaps HAL is just going to waitlist almost all passengers to give themselves the greatest shot at satisfying the most passengers.

 

Should you want to cancel, your insurance can be transferred to another HAL cruise, without penalty. But if you want to go elsewhere, you will have to eat it.

The purpose and thought and lastly hope of AYWD was that by offering it more dinning requests could be accommodated. I dea being that if the dinning times werent so rigidly defined, some people would chose 5:15 some 6 some 6:30 and so on. the problem has always been getting people the early dinning that they request. the idea o staggering the crowd a bit was accepted to alleviate some o the pressure on the matrade to accomodate everyone who didnt get their desired dinning through traditional means. this was not designed to detract from traditional dinning.

one quick tip for those who like verandah suites if you upgrade to deluxe ones you get guaranteed dinning, not this may be common knowledge but remember with all the turnover in the travel industry the rep you talk to may not offer it, so dont be afraid to ask them to call ship services to get you confirmed. as many of you said money talks so if you are paying for a premium room dont be hesitant to ask for the premium services available to you. especailly if you want traditional dinning

The most challenging job is customer service interaction with the general public. Right off the bat, most callers are furious by the time they reach a human and it goes downhill from there. I have no idea how it works at HAL but I know that the giants ( phone/cable companies for example) time customer care calls and if a rep is spending too much time, over time, on each call, it's not good for them. They also award those reps who can upsell a caller on something, all the while towing the company line and script.

 

Having said all this, I continue to believe it represents some of the best business experience one can get, provided you don't burn out.

each of our calls are timed and i constantly take heat for the amount of time i spend on "direct guests" , making sure they are comfortable with all aspects of the cruise and reservation process before I finish the call, I also am in trouble for telling someone this past week that "while i cant guarantee the price i gave you during this call, if you need some more time to plan i recommend you do so and give us a call back if you need any more information or would like to sail with us." I dont like to forced anyone into spending their hard earned money on anything until they are ready to do so. so i guess this makes me a poor fit for my job, putting customers above my revenue percentage.

At the end o the day management see me as just a weak set of stats on apage b/c i really do care about what i do.

I am literally stunned ... and for a number of reasons. Clearly I went to bed too early last night:eek: .

 

I've just read everything since my last post. I'm afraid Luckiest Lady will likely get her wish and be let go or warned because I'm quite sure HAL employees are not supposed to post here as HAL employees which she has done.

 

Even more important, I don't like being chastised for phone calls she has received from other people. This is an open forum, we are free to post our feelings here, express our disappointments. To be told off by a HAL employee because some of us are not happy with the way the new system is going SO FAR is simply unfair.

 

I understand she's having some hard days. I was in Customer Service for years and had a lot of hard days. I'd get off one horrendous call and take the next and I couldn't let the previous call influence the next. The same holds true here.

 

We are reacting to something new on HAL. Yes, I resist change. I don't like it; most people don't. Maybe it will work out long term; maybe it won't. But just as HAL has told us that "the vast majority" wanted AYW and HAL listened, so should they listen to those of us who don't.

 

I believe HAL made this change too quickly. I'm sorry Luckiest Lady is getting the brunt of it by being on the other end of the phone, but at the same time it should tell HAL something. Maybe it isn't the great idea they thought it was; maybe they should take another look and tweak it.

 

Off the clock/on the clock doesn't matter. Luckiest Lady posted as a HAL employee ... had she not told us who she was and simply expressed her opinion (and maybe in a more sympathetic manner), that would be one thing. But by identifying herself, she is speaking for HAL.

 

 

 

Not really, Greg.:) But whether we know who they are or not, they don't identify themselves as clearly as LL did and that's the difference.

in response to anyones feelings about them having a right to express an opinion I agree, but I dont believe that I should be expected to never have an opinion just b/c i am paid a measly hourly wage by a company.

and those employees on the ship have the privilege of annonimity while still being recognizable as hal employees, what makes them any different why can they berate the line and give guarded company info out to people, and yet when someone in any other position says anthing less than positive and company scripted will get nothing but venomous reactions

guest were judging me by my company's policies and personally attacking me long before I had any opinions about this business, customer service people are hated by guests and travel agents everywhere for something as siimple as having the nerve to answer a phone they get paid to answer

 

Luckiestlady, I can sympathise with your frustration in having to deal with situations you have no control over, but that's a hazard of the service industry. I do question your judgment in some of your posts, and you had better hope that HAL doesn't find out who is hiding behind your CC screen name. They'll probably fire your a**. I know I would! Like it or not, you are never completely off duty as long as you represent your employer to the public.

You know bob I wish they would fire me. I am looking or a new job b/c I hate that m job has become about putting a pleasant spin on negative things that upset people, and putting out constant fires caused by policy changes. I feel that the customer service positions at HAL become less and less about customer service, and more about company not guest interest with each passing day. I desire to represent a company that wont step on their customers interests as much as holland does.

You sound like a class act to me. Remember, this too shall pass.

you know I hate it when I cant help someone, like when there are fees I dont agree with, or someone has a special request we cant fill, or especially people being neglected by travel agents who call in and cant get even basic info about their trip.

And I appreciate everyone who has showed understanding of the fact that I would solve this issue if I could and have patience with the times that my ability to help falls short o what people might expect. I an ideal world I could make every person happy, but I must accept that I cant, and do the best I can in this position I am in

<long whistle>

Boy, we really are naughty.

Watch out, or the next time we show our faces on a damship someone from HQ is going to slap us in the face. :)

I rarely slap I assure you. but I do have to admit I have been afraid to go on a HAL cruise. When people realize the have as you wish dinning, they might hang me off the back of the ship by my ankles.

(as I am now cautious about saying anything on this board, this is m attempt to poke a bit of humor at the situation)

 

 

 

Just a note about your previous post, everyone on this thread is aware of the implementation Schedule for each ship, as it was posted on previous pages of this thread..Perhaps you missed it.....

 

Betty

actually that post was to give better info on the ship abbreviations for anone who may not have felt like translating the travel agent and cruise line jargon in the copy of that memo that was posted I wasnt trying to insult anyone by that, I just noticed a post that i forgot to quote where someone mention deciphering the ship abbreviations

Luckiestlady is off duty( I assume) and is under no obligation to treat us like customers. I can't even begin to appreciate what her work day must be like.

I got a bit heated about this issue b/c everything else at work has been overshadowed by this dinning concept, and i spend me whole day dealing with it, at times people physically scream at me over dinning. believe it or not I have had people threaten to personally sue me for not being able to give them their desired seating.

as hard as it can be i do enjoy my job, but after a year of it I wonder if I should have taken this job, it is not easy to let every insult and mean spirited thing people say to me over issues i cannot control, roll off me.

I dont feel like I have to treat any of you like customers on this board. I am off the clock and when I am not at work I dont like to think of anyone as a customer only I view everyone as a person with a right to their opinion, and as such I hope you will accept my right to an opinion as well. I am sorry about offending anyone

(above in bold added by this poster)

Doesn't sound like it's as I wish. How does HAL dare call it As You Wish if I am assigned something I don't wish? :mad:

If I can't be confirmed to late, fixed seating then it's a deal-breaker for that sailing. HAL has the responsibility to make that arrangement up front so I can make the best booking for me. :rolleyes:

hey HAL has more than just you to accommodate on any given sailing, and taking it out on the people who are just messengers of the info, is not a good option, my feeling is dont cruise then , see if a resort will guarantee you every desire is met up front

Advertising heavily the benefits of As You Wish I can see but.........blocking off traditional dining from day one to force one towards AYW is sneaky at best. I agree with those who say that one does not really have much of a choice if they are gently pushed into the inevitable and yet be told "You really do have a choice".

 

I would like to think that when I consider booking another HAL trip that I get a good chance at getting what I am booking since I do book many, many, many months in advance. A waitlist from day one is rather bizarre as far as I am concerned unless there is a real reason for it.

 

David

First people complained about not getting early dinning, now when alternatives are given to make it possible for more people to eat early without having to resort to the lido you complain.

reason dinning is waitlisted from day one is people who are opposed to change panic and complain to the agent who takes out a group dinning request immediately, and puts people who in no wa are associated with each other into this group just so they can get the dinning the agent wants them to have.

Hal is not forcing you into as you wish dinning. in order to facilitate the new dinning though the lower level dinning times had to be cut, and this can result in more waitlisting on the remaining times, and third be glad you can even make a reservation during as you wish. This was a concession made from the original plan after the outrage HAL phone staff got while explaining the dinning test on the Noordam. There is more to your cruise than just your dinning time, dont like the arrangement, then dont eat in the main dinning room.

I believe in tradition to an extent, but to do nothing but post messages on here trying to scare people out of cruises b/c the dinning has moved forward to reflect the general trend of the industry (pioneered by princess and NCL which everyone on here seems to practically worship) is dumb.

And in closing I have taken far too man calls in the past about how people wished the dinning was like Princess's to believe you guys are that opposed to it, I think you just are bored or angry and want to complain about something

RY = Ryndam 10/11/2007

VO = Volendam 11/13/2007

SA = Statendam 12/18/2007

OS = Oosterdam 1/5/2008

RT = Rotterdam 1/27/2008

ZA =Zaandam 2/3/2008

WE = Westerdam 2/24/2008

ZU =Zuiderdam 3/15/2008

VE = Veendam 4/6/2008

MA = Maasdam 4/24/2008

AM = Amsterdam 5/16/2008

PR = Prinsendam 5/23/2008

EU = Eurodam 7/5/2008 (implemented on its inaugural voyage)

NO = Noordam Has been offered on every sailing since the beginning of Alaska season this year

Here's Copper10-8's pronunciation guide from that link...

 

... the Dutch have accents and even dialects depending on what part of the country they're from so you might get a different pronounciation from someone from the province of Friesland (the far north), Amsterdam in the province of Noord Holland in the west and/or the southern provinces of Brabant and Limburg. Even the inhabitants of the three big cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Den Haag (the Hague) have their own accents.

 

Prinsendam "Princen-dam" as in "Prince"

Statendam "St-ah-ten-dam" as in "say Aah"

Maasdam "Maahs-dam" as in "say Ahh"

Ryndam "Rhine-dam"

Veendam "Veyn-dam" as in "hey"

Rotterdam "Rott-ehr-dam" as in Rotweiler

Amsterdam "Ahm-ster-dam"

Volendam "Vohl-en-dam" as in "Foal"

Zaandam "Zahn-dam" as in "say Aah"

Zuiderdam "Zey-der-dam"

Oosterdam "Oasterdam" as in Toast but drop the "T"

Westerdam "West-ehr-dam"

Noordam "Nor-dam" as in More

Im new to cruise critic, but as someone who formally worked for Holland America I am so thrilled to see someone post a pronounciation guide for the ships. A humorous list of the mispronounciations of the names might be a future post of mine.