Impressed with HAL after being unimpressed

[BJzink]

It would be interesting to know what "essentials" are not offered by "some cruise lines," and who those lines are. Mattresses? Food? After-dinner mints? And I don't believe sending out a form letter is the same as taking care of underlying problems that give rise to negative feedback.

Cruised NCL last Sept. - No bathrobes for passengers except in the suite cabins.

[chrispb]

Cruised NCL last Sept. - No bathrobes for passengers except in the suite cabins.

 

Appalling!!! Wot no robes?? - never sail with them again;)

[cbr663]

I agree that the best time to comment on service is while on the ship. Unfortunately, this does not always prevent future problems from arising.

[BJzink]

Appalling!!! Wot no robes?? - never sail with them again;)

That was just one thing we really were disappointed with; we are so used to having a robe we didn't take any. We like to have coffee & breakfasts in our room, had to get dressed for delivery. NCL has found a niche of passengers who seem to be happy with a very casual ship/service. So.....the solution for us is not to gripe, we have found out we will not sail with them again.

[BruceMuzz]

No -- I still do not believe that HAL reads surveys.

After our November cruise of 14 days on the Nieuw Amsterdam we each completed our online survey. (I actually got DH to use a computer.)

We had several comments -- and we never heard from Seattle. Just like when we had the surveys on the ship -- I know ours were never read. At the end of a cruise a couple of years ago, we didn't realize that we had not gotten the surveys until we were off the ship.

 

HAL ships carry about 25,000 passengers every week.

HAL recently joined the growing number of cruise lines that send out emails to get customer surveys completed online. Like the other lines they probably receive around 40% responses - most of them negative.

Even of ALL the HAL employees in their Seattle Office stopped doing their regular jobs and spent every day reading and personally responding to all the online comment cards, they still would not have enough time to do it.

[startwin]

HAL ships carry about 25,000 passengers every week.

HAL recently joined the growing number of cruise lines that send out emails to get customer surveys completed online. Like the other lines they probably receive around 40% responses - most of them negative.

Even of ALL the HAL employees in their Seattle Office stopped doing their regular jobs and spent every day reading and personally responding to all the online comment cards, they still would not have enough time to do it.

 

So why do they bother sending them out, giving passengers an expectation of a response? What an empty, useless gesture, given your explanation.

[RJ2002]

HAL ships carry about 25,000 passengers every week.

HAL recently joined the growing number of cruise lines that send out emails to get customer surveys completed online. Like the other lines they probably receive around 40% responses - most of them negative.

Even of ALL the HAL employees in their Seattle Office stopped doing their regular jobs and spent every day reading and personally responding to all the online comment cards, they still would not have enough time to do it.

 

All the more reason to try to have issues resolved onboard rather than after the fact.

[POA1]

The main reason for the electronic surveys is that it saves time and labor. There's no need to key/scan the responses. They can also automate the replies or at least streamline the reply workflow.

[Sow There]

All the more reason to try to have issues resolved onboard rather than after the fact.

 

Frankly, I agree with RJ2002. I don't understand the thinking here. If a problem or concern arises during a cruise, unless the matter is dealt with then and there, the problem/concern ain't gonna go away during that cruise.

 

Filling out a survey and/or writing a letter to Seattle may, or may not (most likely not), correct the issue for future cruises so the hapless passenger is left further frustrated if he/she books a later cruise hoping that the issue has been corrected.

 

By the way, it has occasionally been noted that HAL folks in Seattle read this forum (any smart business will watch websites like CC for feedback) so if a correctable problem is reported and commented on, it should get the attention of the Seattle folks with more impact than a single letter or comments on a passenger survey form.

Edited February 11, 2014 by Sow There

[sackman]

I'm with you on this one. I find Princess puts on a fine product and beats Hal to a fine pulp in the service area.

 

I find this comment interesting. We'll be taking a HAL cruise in March for the first time in 8 years. We've done a lot of cruises on Princess and have found them to be very much to our liking. We always had fond memories of HAL and decided to come back for this particular voyage. I'll be interested to compare/contrast the two. I hope HAL hasn't fallen too far.

[cruz chic]

I find this comment interesting. We'll be taking a HAL cruise in March for the first time in 8 years. We've done a lot of cruises on Princess and have found them to be very much to our liking. We always had fond memories of HAL and decided to come back for this particular voyage. I'll be interested to compare/contrast the two. I hope HAL hasn't fallen too far.

I hope so too. Every cruise I've taken lately on HAL they have been REALLY struggling in the MDR. I do open and go pretty early (btw 6:00 and 6:30). If you have traditional and it's later I assume that your situation will be better. I get told often that people don't experience mediocre service. Seems to me just because some folks do experience it, it happens to no one. I hope you'll come back and tell us how it went.