Things that HAL could improve on....

[sail7seas]

[quote name='cruz chic']It's not just you that pays the high prices. It's pretty much anyone that's foolish enough to book early. I'm in that crowd.[/QUOTE]


[b] In the interest of being fully honest, I have also seen times when prices went up after we had booked early. It happened more than once that when I looked at prices a while later I found the price went up.

[/B]

[Wakepatrol]

[quote name='sail7seas'][B] The problem is us fools who are paying the full price for those "S" and "SA" cabins. We are paying high prices and keep getting a diminished product. If they price those cabins much higher than now commensurately with your suggestion to increase the price of Inside/Oceanview etc cabins, how much more can they charge for the higher end cabins? There are limits what people will pay and they will continue to give most of them away because few will be willing to pay so much more for what they know others are getting for $299 upsell. No one wants 'sucker' printed on their forehead.
[/B][/quote]


I agree with you. However these cheap cruises aren't ones leaving in 3 days. They're somewhat "Up The Road"

when an inside cabin is $249 an oceanview is $549 and a balcony is $699 and the next classes up are cheaper as well.yes if one books a year in advance and is dead set on a particular cabin, eating arrangements etc,then I guess there is no answer.

I mention this because a poster chimed in the other day ,
"Yea 'The cruise Is Cheap But It's On Such and Such a Week".

not true-- it's cheap all year round including Christmas,spring break

A two week Christmas cruise on Holland is $1800 for an inside cabin

on Celebrity it's $3400. Why such a difference? Edited June 23, 2014 by Wakepatrol

[sherilyn70]

[quote name='Mytime2014']Your opinion is what I have seen a lot of - it seems like the food is hit or miss, average or average +. And that's okay because I'm not paying for a 5 star cruise.
If I could afford the 5 star cruises, I would go formal because if I had that kind of money, I wouldn't have to worry about the cost of dress and all the accoutrements - and I'd probably not be working like a dog to get to take ONE cruise!!! Still, I can't wait to get onboard and enjoy everything there is to enjoy.[/QUOTE]
Everything tasted good so I won't really complain or say the food was bad. It just want what one would expect when ordering a filet mignon. :) formal night wasn't anything memorable or special when compared to the rest of the nights. The food was acceptable for what we paid for the cruise.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[cbr663]

[quote name='sherilyn70']Everything tasted good so I won't really complain or say the food was bad. It just want what one would expect when ordering a filet mignon. :) formal night wasn't anything memorable or special when compared to the rest of the nights. The food was acceptable for what we paid for the cruise.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk[/quote]

I think that you described it perfectly. The food on formal night isn't anything memorable or special when compared to the rest of the nights. Stating that something is special doesn't automatically make it special, and it certainly doesn't mean that it is special enough that you should wear a tux to dinner. Edited June 23, 2014 by cbr663

[cruz chic]

[quote name='sail7seas'][b] In the interest of being fully honest, I have also seen times when prices went up after we had booked early. It happened more than once that when I looked at prices a while later I found the price went up.

[/B][/QUOTE]

My last cruise was the only one I didn't see much price fluctuation on. That said, the price wasn't crazy high when I booked it ($5000). The Panama Canal for next year is very high. Clearly, the $5000 was probably the sweet spot for a balcony since it didn't fluctuate much. Did Hal learn a lesson from that? Nope.

[POA1]

[quote name='Wakepatrol']
A two week Christmas cruise on Holland is $1800 for an inside cabin

on Celebrity it's $3400. Why such a difference?[/QUOTE]

I just looked at a bunch of HAL and X itineraries that are comparable and the prices are very tightly clustered when you are doing apples to apples comparisons. (Ports, ship sizes, ages, departure ports, etc.) Can you post some links to the itinerary pages on each cruise lines' site? Thanks!

[cruz chic]

[quote name='Wakepatrol']I agree with you. However these cheap cruises aren't ones leaving in 3 days. They're somewhat "Up The Road"

when an inside cabin is $249 an oceanview is $549 and a balcony is $699 and the next classes up are cheaper as well.yes if one books a year in advance and is dead set on a particular cabin, eating arrangements etc,then I guess there is no answer.

I mention this because a poster chimed in the other day ,
"Yea 'The cruise Is Cheap But It's On Such and Such a Week".

not true-- it's cheap all year round including Christmas,spring break

A two week Christmas cruise on Holland is $1800 for an inside cabin

on Celebrity it's $3400. Why such a difference?[/QUOTE]

Is the $699 for the balcony before tax? I rarely see prices like that. Usually, that only happens in December, before Xmas and new year.

[KirkNC]

[quote name='MrOZ']This is likely true; my wife and I will be trying Oceania for our next cruise because food is very important to us. We didn't mind paying for the PG when the food in the MDR was not so good on our last cruise, but the PG doesn't have much variety. And frankly, even the PG overcooked the veggies.[/QUOTE]

My suggestion on raising prices is not go as high as the top lines. There is a big difference between the mass market lines and luxury lines. I see a niche in the middle. We are signed up for a Crystal cruise and even adjusting for the number of days it was easily more than double the cost of a comparable cruise on X. I think HAL could raises prices say 20% and invest that money in food, service, more time in ports and be successful. They in essence do that with the Prinsendam right now. She commands a significant premium yet has a very loyal following. HAL is trying to hard to compete where they only thing they can offer is price, I don't want to cruise on the Walmart of cruise lines.

[navybankerteacher]

[quote name='cruz chic']So you think they study pricing models but they are not bright enough to figure out that sailing from NY is not profitable. Alrighty then.[/QUOTE]

Well, they either know what they are doing or they don't. If they are business-smart in their pricing I might have to concede that they are right in giving up the New York market; on the other hand - if your view that they do not know what they are doing re: pricing is correct, then they may also be wrong in giving up NY.

[Wakepatrol]

[quote name='POA1']I just looked at a bunch of HAL and X itineraries that are comparable and the prices are very tightly clustered when you are doing apples to apples comparisons. (Ports, ship sizes, ages, departure ports, etc.) Can you post some links to the itinerary pages on each cruise lines' site? Thanks![/QUOTE]

There's only 3 true 14 days Xmas and New Years cruises (not 14 day back to back collectors cruises)

The Amsterdam, Maasdam and one of the newer Celebrity ships. All are further more exotic ports.

It should be an easy search on any online cruise site Edited June 23, 2014 by Wakepatrol

[Wakepatrol]

[quote name='cruz chic']Is the $699 for the balcony before tax? I rarely see prices like that. Usually, that only happens in December, before Xmas and new year.[/QUOTE]

No it's probably before taxes. I'm on your side by the way. Passengers that book a year out should be taken care of first before last minute Louie jumps on for $399. This booking early and only getting the perks of cabin and dining doesn't seem to be enough. Then all the wasted manpower with everyone calling in every time the fare drops $50 is ludicrous.

[navybankerteacher]

[quote name='sail7seas'][b] In the interest of being fully honest, I have also seen times when prices went up after we had booked early. It happened more than once that when I looked at prices a while later I found the price went up.

[/B][/QUOTE]

That has been my experience as well. Of course, it is more often the case that the prices come down as sailing date nears - but in my case the drops have usually not been so large as to offset the value to me of the choice of cabin and dining time, early air booking and simple comfort level for getting related plans in place.

Also, "booking early" can mean very different things to different people. For me the threshold is about six months out - usually after watching prices (on various itinerary possibilities) for several months.

[cruz chic]

[quote name='Wakepatrol']No it's probably before taxes. I'm on your side by the way. Passengers that book a year out should be taken care of first before last minute Louie jumps on for $399. This booking early and only getting the perks of cabin and dining doesn't seem to be enough. Then all the wasted manpower with everyone calling in every time the fare drops $50 is ludicrous.[/QUOTE]

I wasn't being critical. I'd just like to get that price. I take a guarantee so cabin selection means zero to me. I take open dining and that is usually the last to go so again it means zero. Booking early to me is more than six months out. I used to have two or three cruises booked. I see no reason to do that now because of Hal's pricing. I'm most likely going to do Princess next April because I can afford to wait on the air.

[trinaM]

[quote name='cruz chic']Canaletto is the weakest link in the specialty restaurants. [/QUOTE]

I used to Love the Canaletto. this was when it was an additional choice of evening dining WITHOUT a Surcharge.

I have to say that I would probably NOT want to pay for it as an additional charge.

I liked it because it was out of the way, not utilized a huge amount and very quiet and good food. (2010 and 2011.)

thanks for listening.

[sppunk]

I often question why someone cruises HAL's Neptune level suites. Unless the space is important - and really it's IMO oversized to the point of silly - and you have some personal connection to crew, you can get a much better product in nearly every aspect on other lines for less while maintaining many of the same amenities.

I am not questioning anyone's decisions or saying anyone is wrong/not smart for this, I just don't get it. Oceania, Azamara, Silversea are often cheaper than Neptune-level suites and provide a more refined experience.

We are cruising HAL to Norway and paying a significant amount more than other lines. I'm OK this one time but it won't happen again.

That is not a knock on HAL. It is simply a factor of other options being available.

[Wakepatrol]

[quote name='cruz chic']I wasn't being critical. I'd just like to get that price. I take a guarantee so cabin selection means zero to me. I take open dining and that is usually the last to go so again it means zero. Booking early to me is more than six months out. I used to have two or three cruises booked. I see no reason to do that now because of Hal's pricing. I'm most likely going to do Princess next April because I can afford to wait on the air.[/QUOTE]

I don't know much about plane tickets. Could you buy a plane ticket for a certain week and just jump on any ship and get the good price.

I crunched numbers and the $249 Alaskan cruise was still going to cost me $4000 at least when adding everything up. Flights hotels dog boarding etc.

Perhaps the airlines are breaking the cruise ships back. It's hard to find a non stop flight from Florida to Boston or New York.

This used to be easy peasy and cost $200-300
R/t

Now There's a stop and it's $400-$500

I can't figure it out? Edited June 23, 2014 by Wakepatrol

[prescottbob]

Good Afternoon!

I've only read through a couple of pages (attention deficit thing for me) and just thought I'd add my two cents addressing the original post.

Thinking, perhaps, out of the box and really not requiring any sort of labor intensive change I would suggest the usage of more interactive TV for a variety of customer services ( I believe billings, etc. have already been mentioned).

I would upgrade (well in HAL case start versus many Las Vegas hotels, world-wide upscale resorts and other venues) TV / in-room wireless keyboards for:

1. Current account information & payment options.

2. The day's menu's at all venues for breakfast, lunches & dinners.

3. The day's plans, activities & entertainment venues.

4. Condensed NY times articles (for those that like reading versus putting on CNN or Fox for news & don't want to go to the Library to log on for freebie news).

5. A scrolling TV guide by hour.

6. Available DVD's on demand (versus picking up / having delivered)

7. Ability to make reservations for specialty restaurants & current availability (& receiving an automated call within a hour to confirm & verify).

8. Ability to make excursion reservations & current availability (& receiving an automated call within an hour to confirm & verify).

9. Ability to order room service items by item (s) and delivery time window (& receiving an automated call within an hour to confirm & verify)

10. Ability to look through future cruises of interest and ability to make a deposit for said cruise via your account & payment option page.

These are just a few items I like to see.

Waiting at line at the front office for one thing or another or being on placed hold for 15 minutes for a room service request, etc. might be alleviated by upgrading current available technology.

It's time for HAL (& other cruise lines) to "think out of the box" and make customers a priority once again using the latest of technologies.

I think if such upgrades (& others) were put in place labor costs would be lessened and customer satisfaction would definitely be increased.

JMHO

Bon Voyage & Good Health!
Bob:) Edited June 23, 2014 by prescottbob
spelling

[cruz chic]

[quote name='Wakepatrol']I don't know much about plane tickets. Could you buy a plane ticket for a certain week and just jump on any ship and get the good price.

I crunched numbers and the $249 Alaskan cruise was still going to cost me $4000 at least when adding everything up. Flights hotels dog boarding etc.

Perhaps the airlines are breaking the cruise ships back. It's hard to find a non stop flight from Florida to Boston or New York.

This used to be easy peasy and cost $200-300
R/t

Now There's a stop and it's $400-$500

I can't figure it out?[/QUOTE]
I could do that but it makes me nervous. Right now the air for my November cruise is going for about $1200. It has to get better then that. Air is stupid high.

[iancal]

We are taking a different approach. We plan a land trip but leave the itinerary flexible. If a we see a cruise that we like at a good price point, and we are in the area, then we book. If not, we just carry on with the land trip as planned.


We have booked as late as a week prior to sail date but would not have an issue with an even shorter time frame. Planning to do the same this fall and again in the winter. When were working we wished we could do this. Now we are retired, we are actually taking advantage and doing it this way.

[cruz chic]

[quote name='iancal']We are taking a different approach. We plan a land trip but leave the itinerary flexible. If a we see a cruise that we like at a good price point, and we are in the area, then we book. If not, we just carry on with the land trip as planned.


We have booked as late as a week prior to sail date but would not have an issue with an even shorter time frame. Planning to do the same this fall and again in the winter. When were working we wished we could do this. Now we are retired, we are actually taking advantage and doing it this way.[/QUOTE]

Yes, and you have a lot more flexibility when you are retired. I'm picking up a ton a new responsibility at work. I have no idea how I'm even going to get away in November. I just can't pick up and go and tell my employe I'll see you later.

[POA1]

[quote name='Wakepatrol']I agree with you. However these cheap cruises aren't ones leaving in 3 days. They're somewhat "Up The Road"

when an inside cabin is $249 an oceanview is $549 and a balcony is $699 and the next classes up are cheaper as well.yes if one books a year in advance and is dead set on a particular cabin, eating arrangements etc,then [COLOR=Red][U][B]I guess there is no answer. [/B][/U][/COLOR][/quote]

[COLOR=DarkRed][B]Au contraire, my cherry picking friend![/B][/COLOR] :rolleyes:

[quote name='Wakepatrol']I mention this because a poster chimed in the other day ,
"Yea 'The cruise Is Cheap But It's On Such and Such a Week".

not true-- it's cheap all year round including Christmas,spring break

A two week Christmas cruise on Holland is $1800 for an inside cabin

on Celebrity it's $3400. Why such a difference?[/quote]
[quote name='Wakepatrol']There's only 3 true 14 days Xmas and New Years cruises (not 14 day back to back collectors cruises)

The Amsterdam, Maasdam and one of the newer Celebrity ships. All are further more exotic ports.

It should be an easy search on any online cruise site[/quote]

[COLOR=DarkRed][I][B]You're right. It [U]was[/U] easy![/B][/I] [/COLOR]

I figured out a reason why you might not have wanted to post the links. You're comparing the [URL="http://www.celebritycruises.com/cruises/cruise-package-EC14L025?packageid=EC14L025&dest=CARIB&shipCode=EC&shipName=Celebrity-Eclipse"]14 Night Exotic Caribbean Holiday Cruise[/URL] on the Eclipse - which is [B]sold out [/B]in several categories - to two HAL itineraries which are not sold out.

If you open the search to all 14 Day, non-back-to-back Holiday cruises across all markets, you get a broken narrative.

[B]ASIA - 14 Day Holiday[/B]

[URL="http://www.celebritycruises.com/cruises/cruise-package-ML14I051?packageid=ML14I051&dest=FAR.E&shipCode=ML&shipName=Celebrity-Millennium"]X - Millennium:[/URL] $1,499 or $107.07 Inside, per person, per day
[URL="http://www.hollandamerica.com/find-cruise-vacation/CruiseDetails.action?webItineraryIdForAudit=O4I14H&fromSearchVacation=true"]HAL - Volendam:[/URL] $2,199 or $157.07 Inside, per person, per day


[B]NEW ZEALAND - 14 Day Holiday

[/B][URL="http://www.celebritycruises.com/cruises/cruise-package-SL14K063?packageid=SL14K063&dest=AUSTL&shipCode=SL&shipName=Celebrity-Solstice"]X - Solstice:[/URL] $1,849 or $132.07 Inside, per person, per day
[URL="http://boards.cruisecritic.com/www.hollandamerica.com/find-cruise-vacation/FindCruises.action?cfVer=2&destCode=C®ionCode=&dateCode="]HAL - Oosterdam:[/URL] $2,429 or $173.50 Inside, per person, per day

In conclusion, I am pretty sure that the Celebrity 14 Day Holiday cruise costs more because it's sold out several stateroom categories.

I'm not sure why Celebrity is so cheap in it's other 14 day holiday cruises. It costs 47% more to sail on HAL in Asia, and 32% more to NZ.

Thanks for the puzzle! :)

PS - All the links above should work if you want to double check my numbers. Edited June 24, 2014 by POA1

[cruz chic]

I've found that celebrity has better pricing further out so I'm not surprised they are sold out of many categories. They seem to value people that book early.

[CaveDiving]

[quote name='navybankerteacher']Return to the northeast winter market. It is too bad that HAL had essentially abdicated that market. Noordam to the Caribbean fro New York in the winter months was a great experience. I find it difficult to believe that there are not sufficient others to buy space at prices sufficient to allow profitable operation....[/QUOTE]

I imagine it would take around two full days and three nights to get from NYC to the Caribbean (20 mph times 60 hours equals 1,200 miles.) So if the ship embarked on a Friday evening for a seven-day cruise, it would get to the Caribbean on Monday morning. It would need to head back north on Tuesday evening to get back to NYC by Friday morning. This only allows 2 days in the Caribbean. Not an awful lot for a one-week cruise.

This implies the cruises would need to be longer and HAL might have some trouble constantly filling up a ship.

Scott & Karen

[CaveDiving]

[quote name='Wakepatrol']....Perhaps the airlines are breaking the cruise ships back. It's hard to find a non stop flight from Florida to Boston or New York.

This used to be easy peasy and cost $200-300
R/t

Now There's a stop and it's $400-$500

I can't figure it out?[/QUOTE]

I believe JetBlue flies non-stop from Boston to Ft. Lauderdale for around $300 - $400 R/T.

Scott & Karen

[POA1]

[quote name='cruz chic']I've found that celebrity has better pricing further out so I'm not surprised they are sold out of many categories. They seem to value people that book early.[/quote]

Years ago, Holland America (and everyone else for that matter) offered good discounts to early bookers. Someone must have done the load calculations and determined that the early booking demand is relatively inelastic. Sadly, that made the advance planning a nuisance because the airlines run the calculations in the opposite direction, barring any special sales.

The closest we've ever booked a cruise was 8 months, for our upcoming NA sailing. I suppose we really have to get over the whole advance planning thing. It's not like our transportation costs vary. We just prefer to plan.