HAL reply-sandals at Mariner lunch

[Nanner]

Wow, an actual email response from HAL! This wasn't exactly an earth-shattering problem, though AFAIK the Mariner lunch is NOT an evening affair :D

 

I guess David Everett, Special Advisor, Office of the President needs to learn more about the events held for Mariners. I specifically mentioned the sandals prohibition at the Mariner LUNCH. He wrote:

 

Thank you for the letter regarding your ms Maasdam sailing on March 13, 2015. We are grateful that you have given us this opportunity to review your concerns.

 

We are very sorry for any confusion with our evening dress code guidelines. Holland America Line does not specifically prohibit sandals in the dining room. We appreciate your report that the invitation to the Mariner event specifically prohibited sandals. We have forwarded this information to the appropriate management for their review. We truly regret any distress this may have caused you.

---------------------------------------------------

I was more confused than distressed. Regardless, the issue is now settled!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Glad you got a response.

Hope some recent Maasdam passengers report in about sandals at the Mariner Brunch.

I have certainly seen them on other ships.

[Scrapnana]

I often wonder how many of the corporate people have actually sailed on one of their ships.:D

[sail7seas]

I have worn 'dress sandals' :) to Mariners Brunch any number of times. I cannot imagine what problem anyone would have with a lady wearing a strappy shoe when in the Caribbean. :)

 

[Typhoon1]

I would really like to know how many people there are at HAL with the title, Special Advisor, Office of the President.

 

Seems like a title in the complaint department.

[frankc98376]

A fancy way of saying "Guest Services"- trying to make people feel more important.

[Cruisin Kay D]

Maybe it was a man in sandals or in crocs.....saw a man in crocs all the time....YUK! Hate those things!! (I don't know the story behind this thread.)

[TiogaCruiser]

Obviously I missed the other part of the story, so could I ask what happened?

[cruz chic]

Obviously I missed the other part of the story, so could I ask what happened?

 

The op went to the mariners lunch and apparently some "woman" told her she shouldn't be wearing sandal according to the invite. I hope I have that right.

[cruisemom42]

Obviously I missed the other part of the story, so could I ask what happened?

 

Here you go:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2219656

[Langoustine]

Maybe it was a man in sandals or in crocs.....saw a man in crocs all the time....YUK! Hate those things!!

 

Well, Mario Batali owns part of a restaurant (Esca) in my apartment building, wears Crocs all the time (very colorful ones, too), and I figure since he's earned more money than I can ever hope to have, he can wear whatever the hell he wants. BTW, Crocs are actually very comfortable if you're going to be on your feet all day, which is why restaurant cooks wear them and why a lot of TV and film actors wear them when their feet are not being photographed.

Edited July 3, 2015 by Langoustine

[erewhon]

Wow, an actual email response from HAL! This wasn't exactly an earth-shattering problem, though AFAIK the Mariner lunch is NOT an evening affair :D

 

I guess David Everett, Special Advisor, Office of the President needs to learn more about the events held for Mariners. I specifically mentioned the sandals prohibition at the Mariner LUNCH. He wrote:

 

Thank you for the letter regarding your ms Maasdam sailing on March 13, 2015. We are grateful that you have given us this opportunity to review your concerns.

 

We are very sorry for any confusion with our evening dress code guidelines. Holland America Line does not specifically prohibit sandals in the dining room. We appreciate your report that the invitation to the Mariner event specifically prohibited sandals. We have forwarded this information to the appropriate management for their review. We truly regret any distress this may have caused you.

---------------------------------------------------

I was more confused than distressed. Regardless, the issue is now settled!

 

Thanks for posting the reply to your letter.

[kazu]

Well the quote function doesn't seem to want to work - but Nanner thank you for a good laugh. Appreciate you writing and reporting the reply but still laughing that he doesn't know the difference between the Mariner's luncheon and evening dress - LOL. Apparently he thinks it's in the evening. too funny!

[Nanner]

While I can't "quote" from the original thread to this one, here was the salient portion of my original post on the topic, for those who missed the start of Sandalgate. Note it wasn't just that I was made aware of the issue, but that the invitation from HAL did indeed state that in addition to shorts and tank tops, sandals were not to be worn.

 

"I was a bit, well, given a comeuppance at the Mariners lunch/brunch on our last cruise. I have some rather nice looking sandals. They are flats, but are Naturalizer, nubuck, with straps around the ankle and across the ball of the foot. Well, I showed up for the Mariner brunch in my "dress casual", and one of the tablemates announced that sandals were not acceptable attire.

 

I wear these sandals to MDR dinner most non-formal nights, when in warmer climes, and nobody has ever questioned it. When I returned to my room, I checked the invitation. Sure enough, it said no shorts or sandals. NOT flip flops, folks. Sandals. This was on a Caribbean cruise, where all I had were my sneakers, sandals and dress low heels..."

 

So I emailed HAL asking for a clarification of whether sandals were now forbidden at the Mariners LUNCH.

Edited July 3, 2015 by Nanner

[Caribbean Chris]

Sandalgate - I love it!

 

To summarize for those late to the party, I think most responses went along the lines that the tablemate woman was a tad rude to comment on the OP's footwear. And that about 90% of women are wearing nice-looking sandals 24/7 on cruise ships, pack nothing else, meet the dress code provided for packing purposes, and were utterly mystified by the invitation wording.

 

I think if Special Advisor David had been a woman OP might have received only the last few sentences of the response. Like "What???? No. We'll tell the ships. Apologies and thanks."

Edited July 3, 2015 by Caribbean Chris

[janmcn]

So typical of anything today...people don't have any reading skills! No comprehension. Ergo, this HAL employee misread and misinterpreted the note that was forwarded to them. The game of "telephone" needs only two people to play anymore before the message is lost.:D

[keeponcruising]

Here you go:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2219656

 

I clicked on the link provided and a window opened up and said a virus was installed on my computer. I closed windows and am now running security scan.

[cruisemom42]

I clicked on the link provided and a window opened up and said a virus was installed on my computer. I closed windows and am now running security scan.

 

That's really odd. :confused:

 

I just did a search here on CC (did not go off the site) and then posted the link.

 

I just did a scan and did not come up with anything on my computer. Sorry if anything happened....

[fsdj1097]

We received an invitation to the Mariners Luncheon aboard Maasdam last week. The verbiage concerning dress states:

 

"Dress Code will be Smart Casual; No Shorts, Tank Tops or Sandals Please"

 

I certainly did not intentionally look for, or notice, anyone who was wearing sandals.

[kazu]

I clicked on the link provided and a window opened up and said a virus was installed on my computer. I closed windows and am now running security scan.

 

that happens sometimes with CC - I don't know why but it has with me as well. I think It's a fake warning myself. cruisemom42 gave a CC link that is a legit thread so it should have been safe.

 

You should be fine except now you have the aggravation of another virus scan.

[sail7seas]

I got an alert about malware earlier this afternoon while reading CC. I had not clicked the link in question.

 

I ran a scan of my anti-malware and nothing showed up.

 

[OHCruiser]

If they sent me an invite to lunch and told me sandals weren't OK, I'd show up barefooted because all I wear on cruises are sandals.

 

Can't fathom the dufus who made up that line on the invitation.

 

Had another cruiser told me that my sandals weren't acceptable, well, she would have regretted it--immediately.

I think a loudly declared, "Don't you have anything better to do than act as the shoe police?!" might have quickly diverted the attention to my shoes and back to her rude and socially inappropriate behavior.

Now, if I had toilet paper stuck to the bottom of my sandal, it might have been another matter...............

[Typhoon1]

Yes there are a lot of ways people try to make themselves feel more important in all walks of life:)

 

Anytime you send an inquiry or complaint to HAL, the reply comes from a Special Advisor. Office of the President.:rolleyes::rolleyes:

[keeponcruising]

That's really odd. :confused:

 

I just did a search here on CC (did not go off the site) and then posted the link.

 

I just did a scan and did not come up with anything on my computer. Sorry if anything happened....

 

Thanks, I ran malwarebytes and trendmicro and no viruses were found. It was pretty scary when I clicked on that link and couldn't close IE until I killed it in task manager.

[Hlitner]

Everyone take a deep breath. The OP was not turned away by staff, but was simply confronted by a HAL snob. If this happened to me we would have suggested that the offensive busybody eat their footwear for lunch and we would have moved to another table.

 

Hank