They Do It so Well so Why Would They Change it?

[sail7seas]

At least three times, I have read on this board murmerings that HAL is considering changing to the Princess method of Debarkation which forces guests out of the cabins early, refuses room service on debark day and people have to do the squeezed into lounges routine that HAL got away from years ago.

 

HAL does disembarkation the best of any of the cruise lines IMO so why, oh why, would they consider changing when the way they do it now is so smooth, easy and appreciated?

 

 

IMO, it isn't broken. Does anyone have info that says they plan to change it?

[DAllenTCY]

I wouldn't want to see it changed.....who remembers their first meal or two, or how difficult embarkation might have been? All we tend to recall are the last few days and the debarkation. That is why HAL has always leaned towards putting the best foot forward at the end of the cruise.

David

[sail7seas]

We've already filled out the surveys before we debark.

 

[jaspersmycat]

I like it the way it is and hope they don't change it. While I would like to get in my room earlier, I would really hate to have to be out of my room on the last morning.

['The Bear']

'Sail' --- This is the first I've heard of this!!! I agree with you that disembarkation is smooth and seamless, as it is, leave well enough alone! :rolleyes:

 

Last year we experienced the disembarkation of the Millineum, and it appeared to me to be more congested than the Noordam the year previous. Similar size ships, why the difference??? :confused:

[Himself]

I think the way they do it now is just fine. I hope they keep it as is. I have a hunch they are being strongly encouraged by Carnival Corp to change the way things are.

[mamaofami]

Another vote for keeping things the way they are. Being able to have room service that last morning and staying in the room till called, makes leaving the ship relaxing instead of having to hurry up and then sit in lounges and wait.

[jhannah]

I hope this is unfounded. Current disembarkation is civilized and easy. I've seen many people who go to lounges and the atrium anyway; so getting in to turn the rooms can't be that big a deal. I hope they leave it as-is.

[pinnaclegirl]

We like disembarkation just the way it is. Having breakfast in the MDR and not hurrying is quite nice.

[Linda&Vern]

My take on this is as follows ... and disclaimer - I know nothing as fact - just speculation.

 

If you read the CC Reviews section, a common complaint is that "my cabin was not ready when I boarded the ship." While this has never bothered me, apparently it does bother some people. I think HAL has two alternatives to make this group of people happy:

 

(1) Empty the cabins early in the morning so they can be changed out faster. Or (2) and I hate this idea - eliminate the popular "early embarkation" - passengers board AFTER lunch time. Saves HAL that lunch cost and fuss ... and rooms are ready for guests because they board later.

 

Just "off the top of my head" thoughts.

[foodsvcmgr]

It was my impression that the only part of the final morning/diembarkation

routine being considered for change is the "silent" aspect.

 

That part has caused some confusion overall and often resulted in

thoughtless folks crashing the line earlier than their scheduled time.

 

So while HAL might revert to calling color codes again, that does

not require changing the more popular elements of the last morning

like not being forced out of your cabin.

 

I don't believe the silent thing has been done uniformly since its

inception anyway. Personally didn't care for it, seemed to add to the chaos.

[sail7seas]

foodsvcmgr.... Thank you for your post. I hope that is what they are talking of changing. I am not sure everyone understands how the silent debark works and wonder if everyone reads the letter that accompanies their luggage tags.

 

If all they change is that, GREAT. That would be wonderful to leave the rest the same. :)

 

[DutchByAssociation]

Nothing official I've heard from my end but consider this.

 

Some people will grumble about rooms not ready at embark. Some will grumble about needing to take the "anywhere EXCEPT your room on disembark day" approach. Those two things go hand in hand. So while I'm not aware of anything official, leaving the rooms early also means they can be gone to immediately when you board. Staying in them late at the end means you need to wait until they're ready.

[cruisinjudy]

I would rather wait for my cabin on boarding. The waiting in a public room to disenbark on other ships is really a pain and ruins the end of the cruise. At the beginning of the cruise you can just relax and have lunch.

[rochelle_s]

For myself as a passenerger I really enjoy the current disembarkation system. For those in a hurry they can be up and gone. For those that are not it can be a relaxing, although often sad, final morning.

 

But...

 

This system has to be much more difficult for the stewards. I would imagine that it would be quicker and easier for them to do all the necessary things to have the cabins ready for new guests if there was no current passengers around. With passengers still in their cabin areas the stewards will be interupted. A departing guest pops their head in the door of the cabin they are working on to say a final good bye and thank them once again for there service. The crew always take the time for the passenger..so five minutes here and five minutes there really add up.

 

My cruises on HAL so far have all been some sort of b2b. Since the first one, where I saw just how hard they work on turnaround day and how tired and exhausted they look, I have always told my steward not to service my cabin that day. They always ask me if I am sure and say it is okay they can do it. I just tell them if I need anything I will let them know. This seems to always be followed by a grateful smile and thank you from them...and sometimes an extra cholocate or two appears on my pillow afterwards.:p

 

It goes to reason that with code orange or worse code red, turnaround day is now even more diffilcult for these hard working men.

 

Things change all the time on cruise lines. I think people will be more accepting of this change as opposed to something like....oh let me see...perhaps removing trays from the Lido.....oops they already did that ;)

 

Just my thoughts....

 

Rochelle

[jhannah]

It was my impression that the only part of the final morning/diembarkation routine being considered for change is the "silent" aspect. ... So while HAL might revert to calling color codes again ...

On our recent Maasdam cruise, numbers/colors were called out. No silent disembark.

[rangeley]

There is a reason we sail HAL and if they keep taking away the reasons we do, then they will be just like all the others. We did one Princess cruise and having to be out of our room at 8am stunk. My hubby is in a wheelchair and it takes hours for us to get ready. We had to get up at 4:30am to be out of the room that early. Then sat in the casino for 2hours! Hated it! Who cares if you can't get to your room til 1:30, when you first get on the ship do you sit in your cabin? We have lunch and go exploring. Besides when each color is called, the stewards start cleaning those rooms. They can't clean every room at once. JMO

[sevenseasnomad]

Count me in on HAL keeping the current disembarkation procedure. Why is it such a problem to embark & eat a delightful lunch, then walk around looking at the lovely dam ship? We always try to take care of a little business before heading to the cabin, such as making spa appointments, dinner reservations, grabbing a good book from the library before the selection gets picked over, or just sitting in a deck chair making new friends and relishing the anticipation of leaving.

 

Yes, I'd like to unpack as quickly as possible, but often luggage arrives later in the day. No problem. If it comes to a trade-off between arriving in our cabin early, such as the minute we embark at 11:30, or lingering in our cabin over a leisurely breakfast that last morning, I vote a hundred times for the latter.

 

Please, HAL Seattle, if you're reading this, keep your current policy.

[ironin]

On our recent Maasdam cruise, numbers/colors were called out. No silent disembark.

 

Same was true on our September Eurodam cruise. I don't care about not getting into the cabin right away when embarking but do object to being herded like cattle into the public rooms to sit and wait for permission to get off on the last day.

[RuthC]

I love being able to stay in my cabin on that last morning; I don't mind not being able to go directly to my cabin when I board. People are embarking over a much longer period than they are disembarking. Anyone who does mind waiting to go to their cabin---well, they can just board later, when the cabins are ready!

It wasn't so many years ago that we all had to wait until the cabins were ready before boarding began. And we had to leave the cabins early on that last day, too. Now we have the best on both ends of the cruise. I can't believe anyone wants to go back to the way it was.

[FoxyTerrier]

Corporate HAL if you are reading CC please don't change a thing!!!

 

I love staying in our room until it's time to get off and love one last room service on our balcony.

 

As for room not being ready when we board - that's fine too as they are normally ready after a fabulous lunch.

 

If you love the current arrangement say so on your end of the cruise comments questionaire. If enough people let them know they won't change a thing.

[sail7seas]

Big deal we can't go to our cabins until 1:30 or 2:00? I'd far rather have use of our cabin until we leave in the morning than to be thrown off with the 'bum's rush' which is what it feels like to be forced out of our cabin so early. That is the last impression we have of our cruise...... how we were treated right to the end.

 

We are guests on HAL ships and are always treated that way. Let's keep it like that. :)

 

 

 

[sail7seas]

Why don't they add another sentence to the never ending smoking survey.......

 

After we complete that thing once again after all the years of doing so, they could add a box which asks, "Would you rather wait until 1:30 to go to your cabin on Embarkation day or be able to go directly to your cabin when you board but be forced out of it to wait in jammed lounges by 8:00 A.M. on Debark Day?"

 

Of course, some want it both ways but we know that is impossible.

[mr green]

I have no problem getting out of a bleak, bare cabin early, remember they like to make up the cabins as soon as possible.

I think it much better to sit, and or, say 'goodbye' to new friends, than sit in a bleak cabin. Princess serves coffee, juice, and cookies in the Platinum and Elite lounges too.

The speed at which one gets off is usually dependent on what is going on at the dock anyway, and no cruise line has any say in the matter. One time things were very slow, [a bomb scare], but we were not informed so as not to cause panic on the ship.

 

john

[jtl513]

It was my impression that the only part of the final morning/diembarkation

routine being considered for change is the "silent" aspect.

 

That part has caused some confusion overall and often resulted in

thoughtless folks crashing the line earlier than their scheduled time.

 

So while HAL might revert to calling color codes again, that does

not require changing the more popular elements of the last morning

like not being forced out of your cabin.

 

I don't believe the silent thing has been done uniformly since its

inception anyway. Personally didn't care for it, seemed to add to the chaos.

 

On our recent Maasdam cruise, numbers/colors were called out. No silent disembark.

It was also the case on our recent Nieuw A cruise, and it went very smoothly. That's a much better way IMO. When we debarked the Amsterdam in L.A. under the "silent" procedure, there was about a 45 minute delay getting the whole thing started because of a medevac and some other minor problem with CBP. There was never any announcement that everyone should "slip" their assigned times by 45 minutes, with the result that there was chaos, with a huge jam of people in the atrium and hallways leading to it.