cbr663

3 hours ago, craig01020 said:

I recently tried to book a Princess cruise and was frustrated because I couldn't choose a cabin with occupancy of more than two. Now it all makes sense.

 

That's actually a better method than letting us book it and bump us later, but it still stinks.

I think it is a better method also.  

I have written on CC that HAL is making it very difficult to book a cruise these days and this simply adds to the frustration.  

With the unprecedented demand for cruising (over tourism being a problem for years combined now with revenge travel after the pandemic) combined with AI and Data Analytics I think we are going to see huge shifts in the customer service experience.  

6 minutes ago, Roz said:

I never realized how many triple and quad cabins there are until I read this thread and took a close look at deck plans.

 

I cruise solo more often than not, but occasionally cruise with one of my sisters.  One year 2 of her friends wanted to go with us to Alaska.  It never in a million years occurred to us to book a quad.  The only way it was going to work was to book 2 cabins.  We weren't 20 somethings looking for a cheap getaway. 😄

 

With HAL being more adult oriented, I would think there are more bookings for twosomes than 3s or 4s.  Maybe I'm wrong about this.  Do those of you who cruise with someone other than a spouse or significant other like to limit it to 2 in a cabin, or do you try to cram everyone into a triple or quad?  If this policy is strictly enforced, it really limits the cabins a solo can book.  

We are empty nesters so travel just as a couple yet I can tell you that I have siblings and lots of relatives who travel with their adult children.  All cram everyone into one cabin and one hotel room.

1 hour ago, retird said:

As stated by someone else “except for suites”

FYI - on Pinnacle Class ships there are 4 categories of Neptune Suites - SA, SB, SC, and SQ.  SQ are forward on Deck 10 and SC are forward on Deck 11 and both these categories appear to be for 2 passengers only.  

1 hour ago, AncientWanderer said:

This really is interesting.  Practically every cabin is a triple because there's a sofa that can convert.  The room is really designed for two, but it's sorta, "Knock yourself out if you want to jam another person in there."

 

I guess my big concern -- more than finding an available cabin -- is that along with this will come all the special deals for 3rd and 4th guests in the stateroom.  We've experienced that on some summer cruises, and the ships feel really crowded.   Not pleasant.   If that's to become the norm all the time, we'll probably rethink how we travel. 

That's our concern also - ships at more than 100% capacity are not a pleasant experience for us and we have paused our ocean cruising at this time.

Thanks for sharing.

This is concerning news as we are also in the category of liking to pick our specific cabin and as everyone who does this knows, HAL charges a premium to do this.  I can't imagine after paying this premium to then receive an email telling me that my cabin has been changed.

I wonder how the system selects whose cabin is being resold?  Is this AI at work?

It does though indicate to me that HAL is doing everything that it can to ensure that its ships are sailing at more than 100% capacity.  More passengers buying more drink packages, more spend in the shops, more HIA, more excursions.  Easy to see that spend on board increases when there are more people onboard.  

I think that it will vary from ship to ship and will depend on what you are asking for.  My DW loves escargot and we know that it will show up on a menu while cruising.  Last year we sailed on 2 different cruises on the Koningsdam and dined in CO for both.  DW asked for escargot on both cruises when it wasn't available on the menu and both times was told no.

20 hours ago, syesmar said:

 

HAL needs to proofread this and make the necessary edits.

I agree.  It's really bad.

7 hours ago, LLRS11 said:

I just booked a cruise yesterday on Rotterdam, and before I booked it I asked my travel agent to verify that Club Orange was available. She said she called HAL and was told that they are unable to verify that it's available until after a booking is in place. She instructed me to book the cruise, then to call HAL directly to add Club Orange.  I did that, and of course Club Orange was not available.  It's frustrating that they couldn't give me that information before I booked, so I could choose another date.  

Unfortunately CO is yet another HAL program that is the victim of being poorly administered.  It should be relatively simple to see whether CO is available on every sailing prior to booking as it is simply a bundling of amenities like HIA.  But of course this isn't the case.  Instead, you are forced to call HAL to request if it is available and your access to CO is 100% dependent on the knowledge and expertise of whomever happens to be on the other end of the call.

Every time I have called to determine if CO is available I have been told that the PCC has to call Ship Inventory to find out.  Perhaps your PCC was trying to meet a sales quota and wanted to create a sense of urgency for you to book?

1 hour ago, Mr. Boston said:

I agree on the lame excuse.  It sounds like the one they gave for getting rid of the libraries.  They need a better liar in Seattle!

Yet another example of here's what we want you to believe rather than providing what is most likely the real answer:  that with our ships understaffed all staff are needed during the embarkation process, especially luggage handling.

I don't interpret HAL's new additions to the T&Cs and FAQs as promising a minimum 2 day notice.  It states under FAQs:

"Guests are confirmed within the week of sailing (7 to 2 days prior to departure) in the order of when you are added to the Standby List. "  

The reason I don't see this as promising a minimum 2 day notice is this new statement to the T&Cs:

"If HAL does not confirm guest on the Cruise’s standby list at two (2) days prior to the Cruise’s depart have two options.  They can choose to have their reservation cancelled and will be refunded the full amount of the cruise fare that they were charged at the time they were placed on the standby list or they will have the option to remain on the Cruise’s standby list until 90 minutes prior to departure and their booking will be fully refundable if they do not sail."

2 hours ago, kazu said:

 

I don’t recall ever seeing that in the Neptune Suites.  I’ve always had to ask the concierge for this list.  I never saw it as a big deal and kind of liked it since I found that there could be more options than just what was on the menu if they weren’t to your liking 😊 

 

 

To the best of my knowledge it has never been there either and that is the point I am making.  Until the very recent website update HAL didn't list this as a Neptune amenity anywhere on its site.  How would anyone unfamiliar with HAL know about this amenity?  When I provided my review of the cruise there were posters who responded that they had sailed in NS and didn't know that this was available.  For some of us it is an issue when we are paying for amenities that we are not getting and even worse, not even aware that we should be getting.  A glaring weaknesss imo.

It's challenging to understand HAL's suite amenities as HAL isn't very transparent about them.  The link provided is a great source, but it doesn't capture all of the suite amenities.  Luckily during HAL's most recent website update it does provide a more comprehensive listing of the various stateroom amenities.  I've attached a screen shot of such a list for a Neptune Suite for you to compare to the link provided.

I wish to point out though that I have discovered a glaring weakness in HAL's service while on board is that many of these amenities must be requested and even then, there isn't any guarantee that you will receive it.  For instance, on our Alaska cruise sailing in a Neptune Suite we had to request the fresh fruit and the reply was they don't do that anymore.  I then replied it is still advertised as a suite amenity so the cabin steward asked what we want and they go it for us once, even though we requested that we have it every day.

On another note, for instance, don't expect to find in your cabin any literature or menu with reference to the pre-dinner hors d'oeurves available in the suite or anyone offering this as an option.  You will need to approach the Neptune Lounge Concierge for a list of what is available and you will need to order them 24 hours in advance.   Expect the service to be reactive and not proactive.

17 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

I agree with you completely @Fouremco. I was just commenting on the post by @cbr663 which was talking about so many "work from home" workers are actually at the coffee shop in a crowd of strangers, taking up valuable chair space. Rather than being sequestered at home which was the whole purpose of "Work from home" in the first place. I work in an industry where "work at home isn't an option. We are still trying to find new personnel for those that moved on over the last few years.

Just wanted to provide a correction.  My posted mentioned remote workers, not work from home.  Please don't quote me as writing something that I did not.  There is considerable difference between a remote worker and a worker that works from home.

Our Nov cruise on the K we had a 90 min wait on embarkation evening.  We went to GS and were quickly escorted to a table for 2 in the MDR.  After that we didn’t have any wait in CO.

Some suggestions:

1.  What has been the highlight of your day so far?

2.  What port are you looking forward to the most?

3.  What excursion are you most excited about?

I wonder whether the huge increase in remote work during the pandemic has had an impact on our mis-use of public spaces.  A little while ago I was reading an article of a coffee chain in my city that was recently sold and was closing some of its locations.  The owner was interviewed and stated that you can't look at the number of people sitting in the coffee shop as an indication of success as these are people who spend very little and spend hours working.  It seems like this has become a normal thing for some people to do.  Buy a coffee, grab a table and spend an entire afternoon using the free wifi.  It would seem that offering free wifi to attract customers has created unforeseen issues for many land based establishments.

I mention this as it seems like many people have forgotten, or don't care, that these establishments are profit seeking companies.  There is a need for them to turn over the tables often.  Customers hogging the tables actually cost them money in lost sales.  

This mindset of being able to use public shared spaces for as long as I want seems to be spreading to cruise ships, at the same time, cruise ships are introducing faster and faster internet connections at sea.  Many cruise passengers are now purchasing faster internet connections for working cruises and it is naive to think that these passengers will be working in their cabins.  Will the unintended outcome on cruise ships be the same as on land with more and more passengers claiming public spaces as their own to work all day or surf online all day?

11 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

I took this picture Sept 2023 in the Lido on a Carnival ship. 

Some cruises, not an issue. Other times, finding seating to eat during regular meal time is a challenge, no matter the cruiseline. I'm in favor of posting signs. 

I like the idea of more signage as it does work for some people.  Although, I must admit I would remove the "limit your" and replace it with "no" so the sign read "Sit and enjoy your food, but please, no lounging during busy hours".

Last night I watched a cruise vlog showing how the couple went from bar to bar on a X ship trying to find a cocktail that was included in the standard beverage package.  After 2 hours they found one in the casino bar.  It appears their standard beverage package is best for mocktails, a couple of wines and a limited number of beers.

I understand how sharing your cruising/travel history with others can be perceived as showing off or boasting.  Leisure travel is yet another form of conspicuous consumption and sharing your travel history is akin to sharing the square footage of your home, the brand of vehicle that you drive or the size of your closet.  The only person who really cares about your cruising history is you.

I get it that a lot of cruisers like to wear their cruising days as a badge of honour.  Compounding this is that many cruise lines have customer loyalty programs that reward sailing days.  The more days sailed the higher the rewards.  And of course this makes sense for a profit seeking business to reward its customers who spend more.  It's important to remember always though that as cruisers we are still consumers and to share how much we consume and with what businesses is rather gauche.

Personally I steer away from any discussions on cruise history or even whether this is someone's first cruise, as to do is, imo, a social faux pas.

For the first meal you know that you all have at least one thing in common - the cruise.  Talking about the cruise, the itinerary and excursions should be more than enough to take you through the meal.

19 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

I think the length of the lines outside waiting for a table is related as it is affected by how well the dining room is functioning for those already seated and waiting for their meal and drinks. Too few staff for the tables you have is worse than having too few tables.

I also think that properly staffed dining rooms can also function poorly.  During our Nov cruise in the CO dining room I counted 9 staff for 19 tables.  They were not all waiters, yet it stands to reason that 9 staff for 19 tables and there shouldn't be a problem with service.  Something is not functioning well.

6 minutes ago, 2LoveBikes said:

We are on Nieuw Amsterdam Mar 2 sailing.  We were notified of confirmation on Tuesday for an inside cabin but took an upgrade offer to Oceanview for $98 for the cabin.  We accepted and were called to upgrade to a verandah for $149 pp which we accepted. Total additional upgrade was $396.00

Congrats.  So $396.00 + $686.00 for the Stand By Cost for a 7 day cruise is $1082 plus taxes and port charges.  I would consider that a great price.  It's been a long time since I have seen 7 day Caribbean cruises for a verandah at this price.

Safe sailing and wishing you a wonderful cruise.

5 hours ago, cranier2000@yahoo.com said:

Yes, I started receiving those offers and didn't pay much attention to them.  Then while on a Mexican Riveria cruise, I received one in my email. I called them next port stop and I have a free 9 night out of Ft. Lauderdale (leaving March) which I was able to upgrade for about $199.00 and I have a free * 35 night one to Canada, Iceland, Greenland, Ireland and Norway scheduled for July.  If I get offered an upgrade, I'll probably take it since they are so inexpensive.  *Nothing is for free however, don't forget you need to add gratuities, taxes, laundry (for the 35 night one), drinks, excursions, internet, etc.  My 35 day one will probably cost us over $5,000 after all is said and done but still - I've been on 10 day cruises that I've spent twice that.  

Do you by chance purchase a Future Cruise Deposit when sailing?

I'm wondering whether having a FCD would benefit for HAL's enticement, as in they want to come back so let's make it worth their while, OR, if it may work against you in that the algorithm considers the FCD as customers who are planning to return so they don't need enticement?

What you've described is how the Crow's Nest with its bar and the Explorations Cafe used to be prior to the introduction of the Pinnacle Class ships.  This was a wonderful area where you could go and play board games, card games, puzzles, read books (if my memory serves me correctly the library and computer area was adjacent to it also) and just socialize.  Whether you wanted an alcoholic beverage from the bar or a coffee and a snack at the Cafe, it was all within easy reach.  The Explorations Cafe is but a shadow now of what it once was.  

I think the changes were made to the Explorations Cafe to focus instead on the Grand Dutch Cafe.  Explorations didn't have hot foods, but it had the best coffee on the ship and plenty of sandwiches, pastries, tarts and other desserts.  I used to get up early to race to the Explorations for the best cinnamon rolls on the ship.  You could only find them there and when they were gone, they were gone.  Having sailed in Neptune Suites I frequently saw many of the food items available in the Neptune Lounge also available in the Explorations Cafe.

41 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

We have passed by Club Orange every night on our way to the Koningsdam MDR and every night there is a very long line.  I don’t know why this is but it seems uncalled for.  Is it because people are showing up before their appointed time or is it because the staff is slow?  Either way it dissuades us from ever using Club Orange 

A couple of systemic issues with CO:

1.  It is simply too small for the demand.  There are only 19 tables in the dining room. We don't know how many CO packages are sold on each cruise, but we do know that there are 46 Neptune and Pinnacle Class cabins that have access to the dining room.  If every passenger sailing in a NS/PS one evening, even staggered, were to show up for dining then I would think that alone would put enough demand on the dining room,

2.  It is very disorganized.  During our Nov cruise I noticed that wait staff were all over the dining room.  When seated at the rear of the dining room one night I witnessed our waiter also serving tables at the front of the dining room.  This simply doesn't make sense.

3.  No bar access means they have to send a beverage waiter to the Ocean Bar to fill all drink orders (they do this also for Rudi's).  That person has to navigate through the crowded hallways with everyone waiting for tables in the dining room.  It simply isn't very efficient.

I think that CO is a great marketing option for HAL, its execution hasn't been the greatest.