Hals New Formal Night Policy

[tgetz]

Not sure if there has already been a thread on this but I don't see one. We are booked on a 58 night HAL Volendam cruise leaving from Vancouver on September 24th sailing to Sydney and we stay on and sail around Australia and our friends join us on the last portion of this cruise going roundtrip Sydney for 34 days beginning in October 19th.. Our info says 16 formal nights for the 58 days and our friends and several others on the roll call for the 34 night say 5 formal nights. Well, I called Holland today to ask why we were getting such diverse information regarding how many formal nights. the first person I talked to was in the in the Mariner Society and she was very helpful and she was shocked to discover that as of October 1, 2014, HAL has changed its formal night policy. From then on,

trips 7-13 days will have 2 formal nights.

14-20 days will have 3

21-28 will have 4 and

over 28 it will vary and be at the ships discretion depending on how busy the itinerary is. SO , ok the stupid part is she kept telling me since ours was before October we would have 16 as stated, and that the circumvent cruise would have 5 as there info is saying. I explained that would mean we would have 11 formal nights in 21 days and I know that is not correct. She was as surprised as I was and when I asked where and when did we as passengers receive this information, she had no idea. She had not even been told until she went digging about the odd 5 days stated for the 34 day cruise. She suggested I call Ships services since they know more about dining, because I said I don't care what the number is , but I am quite sure it is not 11 for the first 24 days, but how many is it?. Well dumb me, I called ships services and spoke to Miss Rude. She kept saying I would have 16 on my cruise and our friends on the circumvent would have 5 like their info said. I kept saying we are on the same ship at the same time this cannot be. NO way would they have 11 formal nights in 24 or 21 days. She kept saying well what do you want me to do about it. I kept explaining I didn't think she could change anything, but I did think she could find out how many formal nights I would really have and I thought she could perhaps get her supervisors to realize they should inform everyone else, not only on this sailing but every other Holland sailing after October 1. She said well that will take a lot of work. We will need to change all our brochures and our website information. And I said yes, that is what it means. I explained the only way I even knew to call and question was because of cruise critic. well that really put her in a tizzy. It seems cruise critic is not a part of Holland. I said, no duh. I never thought it was, but it was a better way to get info that trying to get a straight answer from Holland. BY now, can you tell I was frustrated? I told her as nicely as I could that any information she could get would be appreciated and wished her a good. day. I then called my travel agent and asked her to please call her sales person with Holland and see if he could get an answer. If I find out any more I will post it, but as of now, we will not have 16 I am sure, even though everyone's page nine still says we have 2 each week. Now how hard would it be to correct that . I did just find the updated info on their website in an obscure place. Under Already booked, cruise preparation then formal nights. I am quite sure each of you has looked there right??? Anyway, thanks to cruise critic, again. I will post this on the other board, also.

[serendipity1499]

There is another thread about the change:

 

http://www.hollandamerica.com/assets/cruise-vacation-onboard/KBYG.pdf

 

I found it very difficult to read your post as you did not break it up into paragraphs.. So I kind of skipped over it..

 

/SIZE]

[Hlitner]

We suspect, like many HAL things, nobody in Seattle has a clue as to the policy and even if there is a new policy they may not bother to tell anyone on the ships. So we shall have to wait and see. On the other hand, on 2 of our 3 most recent HAL cruises they did enforce the dress code in the MDR, but on one cruise (a 35 day Westerdam cruise) nobody seemed to care what folks wore into the MDR on formal nights.

 

We have a huge issue with dress codes on any cruise line. If a cruise line is going to publish a dress code, then they should enforce it! Otherwise, just let folks wear whatever they please (which many do anyway).

 

Hank

[tgetz]

serendipity, thanks for letting me know there was another site discussing this, I was looking for one, but the link you posted is just a link to Hal's policies. can you resend the link discussing the new policy. thanks..

[Mtn2Sea]

Thanks for the info. I just looked at HAL's website under the booked guest link and saw the numbers you posted. I guess this will make it a little easier to pack for upcoming 36 day cruise.

[serendipity1499]

serendipity, thanks for letting me know there was another site discussing this, I was looking for one, but the link you posted is just a link to Hal's policies. can you resend the link discussing the new policy. thanks..

 

Sorry about that..The CC thread is:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2095979

 

Think it's post No. 3 which spells it out..

 

Would be interesting to know what your cruise would have since your cruise starts in Sept..

 

I'm actually happy that HAL changed it.. We were on the Prinsendam for 68 days last year & DH was getting tired of either his suit or Tux, for so many formal nights..I had enough outfits to change off..

[tgetz]

Agree, I think most will like this new policy, but I just wish they would let everyone know. Such a small percentage uses cruise critic.

[boards]

Our documents for our Sept. 27, 21 day cruise on the Volendam say that we will have 6 formal and 15 casual dress nights. We will just have to wait and see what happens. We can eat in the Lido if we run out of "fit" and clean formal ware.

[sail7seas]

OP, Thanks for sharing this info. Not everyone was aware of the changes.

 

Sounds like Ms. Rude could use a bit more training. :rolleyes: :)

 

Have a fantastic cruise. It sounds wonderful.

[sail7seas]

Our documents for our Sept. 27, 21 day cruise on the Volendam say that we will have 6 formal and 15 casual dress nights. We will just have to wait and see what happens. We can eat in the Lido if we run out of "fit" and clean formal ware.

 

 

 

Six is the number you would have expected under the 'old/existing' policy. Maybe you'll have fewer formal nights under the new policy?

Beats me who you can call to get dependable information about it.

 

[kazu]

We are sailing for 30 days on September 31st. our cruise docs say 7 formal nights. My friends who have booked both segments as a btb say 6 formal nights. Interesting no?

 

I guess we find out when we get on too.

[Vineyard View]

Well, we leave 10/11. In 21 days we have 5 formal nights. I printed it out on our docs. So...after their new policy start date, but not the number they are stating, which would have been 4. Go figure. Not a big deal to us, but it sure isn't cohesive.

[sail7seas]

Well, we leave 10/11. In 21 days we have 5 formal nights. I printed it out on our docs. So...after their new policy start date, but not the number they are stating, which would have been 4. Go figure. Not a big deal to us, but it sure isn't cohesive.

 

 

 

Under the old/existing formula, you would have had 6 formal nights. Two per week for three weeks.

 

I wonder if the new scheduling will be because the dining room is so short staffed that if lots of people go to Lido and they have to send some stewards there, they find themselves understaffed. They likely are seeing more and more people in Lido on formal nights and they are easing back to lighten the load on the stewards when so many people go to Lido to avoid dressing formal.

 

Maybe I'm all wrong but I think that could be one of the reasons.

 

Edited September 4, 2014 by sail7seas

[Linda&Vern]

I posted that new info a week or two ago. I cannot find the thread I started. When I do I'll post a link.

 

EDITED TO SAY I FOUND IT, BUT HYPERLINK WON'T WORK FOR ME.

 

THREAD WAS STARTED 8/24/14

 

TITLE: Voyage Duration = # of Formal Nights

 

There was no "start date" listed on the info I found.

Edited September 4, 2014 by Linda&Vern

[PathfinderEss]

Now I'm confused, seems like there are some changes but maybe not. I have seen where on like the repositioning cruises there are no formal night listed for the 4 days on your doc's. and yet when you get on board they tell you there is. I'm still thinking 2 formal nights for every seven days of cruise unless stated on doc's, I guess.:confused::confused::confused:

[boards]

Six is the number you would have expected under the 'old/existing' policy. Maybe you'll have fewer formal nights under the new policy?

Beats me who you can call to get dependable information about it.

 

 

We are not worried about. We are prepared whatever they decide.

[Himself]

Thanks for the information

[Hlitner]

We are sailing for 30 days on September 31st. our cruise docs say 7 formal nights. My friends who have booked both segments as a btb say 6 formal nights. Interesting no?

 

I guess we find out when we get on too.

 

Kazu, If you have cruise tickets for a "September 31" cruise we think you are out of luck :).

 

Hank

[Marigold252]

On our last two cruises, 10 days, Eurodam, had 2 formal nights, though the docs said there would be three; and 14 days, Veendam, in February had 3 with the docs saying 4. Guess they were trying out the new schedule before it went fleet wide.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Forums mobile app

[kazu]

Kazu, If you have cruise tickets for a "September 31" cruise we think you are out of luck :).

 

Hank

 

Thanks Hank. Not concerned at all. Formal nights are not an issue for us.:D

 

Just want to avoid packing too much. Last time our 8 was reduced to 6 if memory serves. I suspect my friend who is on the Same. Cruise but booked as a b2b who has been told 6 has the right number;)

[erewhon]

We are sailing for 30 days on September 31st. our cruise docs say 7 formal nights. My friends who have booked both segments as a btb say 6 formal nights. Interesting no?

 

I guess we find out when we get on too.

 

I hope you mean September 21st.:D

[KirkNC]

I like the new policy but wish 1. HAL would communicate it to all parties, and 2. Enforce it.

[kazu]

I hope you mean September 21st.:D

 

LOL, yes, I don't want to miss the boat:p

[ICUQT]

I like the new policy but wish 1. HAL would communicate it to all parties, and 2. Enforce it.

 

Like you I can live with the new policy. I think it offers a little bit for everyone. Those who like to dress up for formal nights and those who like to dress down to smart casual. Most of the cruises that the wife and I take (she is still employed) have to be less than 20. Can I live with 3 nights of a jacket/tie? Won't be a problem for me. If I don't want to dress well that's my choice there are other options. Anyway, like Kirk I believe that,the new policy to be successful, must be enforced by HA.

 

bob

[oma&opa]

Just thinking.....

If it's "OK" for the gents to wear the same dinner jacket, satin stripe trousers, formal shirt for each formal nite on a given cruise, why must we ladies have 2 or 4 or 8 different outfits ? I love formal nights -- but I think I'm going to get much more creative about my one basic long black -- and easy to pack accessories!