No More Officers at Meet & Greets?

[mountainmare]

I actually find the what do you do for a living question inappropriate. Now that we're retired we just say we're retired and change the subject, but we used to say we enjoy traveling and can't wait to do more. I think it is mainly a US or North American conversation starter, I have never heard it anywhere else.

[DaveOKC]

I actually find the what do you do for a living question inappropriate. Now that we're retired we just say we're retired and change the subject, but we used to say we enjoy traveling and can't wait to do more. I think it is mainly a US or North American conversation starter, I have never heard it anywhere else.

 

Just tell them that you are an IRS audit agent, that should end the conversation!

[Lizzie68]

I can give first hand experience to this. My husband worked for HAL for 10+ years (corporate office, not on the ships). However, when we sailed there were many times it came up in conversation. My husband had nothing to do with the operation of the ships, but many times people felt it appropriate to seek us out and complain to us (I've heard it all from room is too hot, room is too cold, food isn't as good, waiter is too slow, entertainment is lacking...you name it). There was one guy that literally chased us down the Promenade deck when my husband directed him to the front office. And this was when we were on our own private vacations, not work functions.

 

And the icing on the cake? There was one unhappy group leader that was unhappy that there was some kind of miscommunication between his travel agent and HAL. He thought his group was getting a complimentary cocktail party, which they didn't get. His solution was to put the whole tab for a night's worth of drinks, for his whole group, in my husbands name and send it to our room. (He must have stalked us to find our cabin number).

 

True stories.

 

I bet that was the last time he told anyone he worked for HAL while on a HAL ship.:eek: Hopefully he has found a way to generally describe what he does without naming his employer, if asked.

[Micmac]

The lack of officer presence at things like the Suite welcome party or the M&G doesn't really bother me, it is the message that it sends that does. The attendance of the officers signified to me a level of appreciation and respect for passengers.

 

As someone that is on the public facing side of my company, I fully appreciate the discomfort that comes with being in a social setting with a room of dissatisfied clients.

 

As a cruiser since I was 12 and a 4 star with HAL, it makes me very sad if the company as a whole feels as if it is preferable to isolate senior staff from the passengers instead of addressing the issues that would allow the officers the ability to enter a room of HAPPY passengers and celebrate their return!

[taxmantoo]

Just tell them that you are an IRS audit agent, that should end the conversation!

 

Worked for me ;)

 

p.s. CRA = Canadian equivalent of the IRS

Edited October 5, 2015 by taxmantoo

[LAFFNVEGAS]

 

As a cruiser since I was 12 and a 4 star with HAL, it makes me very sad if the company as a whole feels as if it is preferable to isolate senior staff from the passengers instead of addressing the issues that would allow the officers the ability to enter a room of HAPPY passengers and celebrate their return!

This is true and was the case say 5+ years ago with HAL when there were not numerous problems on the ships. Norwegian Cruise line does this. All of the Hotel Staff Officers attend the Meet and Greet and actually hand out a laminated card with all the Officers direct phone numbers and state to please call the minute there is a problem and they will fix. They do not want to read about it days later on Cruise Critic. But then the NCL ships do not have maintenance issues despite many of the Jewel Class & Star Class being the same age as the Vistas they are actually in excellent shape. There was a time that HAL wanted this done as well but the issues have exceeded the normal occasional mishap level and many of the issues the ships are not provided the resources to fix so the Officers just have to agree with you and send off a Plate of Chocolate Covered Strawberries hoping you will forget about the problems.

[bcd2010]

OP here - thank you for all the replies - quite enlightening. I have mixed feelings about the presence/absence of officers at M&G events. For me, a M&G has to do with meeting other pax on the ship, specifically those where the connection is primarily via CC - officer attendance is a nice bonus, to be sure, but I never personally saw that as an opportunity to "dump" on them.

[Fouremco]

Worked for me ;)

 

p.s. CRA = Canadian equivalent of the IRS

Totally off topic, but isn't that a new Blue Jays icon you're sporting?

[taxmantoo]

Totally off topic, but isn't that a new Blue Jays icon you're sporting?

 

This one has been around for a while (2012 or so) and is very similar to the original 1977 logo.

[PatsyAnne]

Years ago I organized a meet and greet and was surprised when most of the top officers showed up. They were interesting and friendly, actually through the entire cruise, but I was embarrassed by one passenger. She had just read a book by a disgruntled employee, not even HAL's, and asked the captain and hotel manager questions like "When did you stop beating your crew?" And wouldn't quit.

 

At least then we knew who to avoid.

[Fouremco]

This one has been around for a while (2012 or so) and is very similar to the original 1977 logo.

Thanks. :)

[cruz chic]

This is true and was the case say 5+ years ago with HAL when there were not numerous problems on the ships. Norwegian Cruise line does this. All of the Hotel Staff Officers attend the Meet and Greet and actually hand out a laminated card with all the Officers direct phone numbers and state to please call the minute there is a problem and they will fix. They do not want to read about it days later on Cruise Critic. But then the NCL ships do not have maintenance issues despite many of the Jewel Class & Star Class being the same age as the Vistas they are actually in excellent shape. There was a time that HAL wanted this done as well but the issues have exceeded the normal occasional mishap level and many of the issues the ships are not provided the resources to fix so the Officers just have to agree with you and send off a Plate of Chocolate Covered Strawberries hoping you will forget about the problems.

 

This is sad. I wonder how long they think they can keep this up. Hopefully getting rid of the older ships will help the situation, but I have my doubts.

[hrhdhd]

I actually find the what do you do for a living question inappropriate. Now that we're retired we just say we're retired and change the subject, but we used to say we enjoy traveling and can't wait to do more. I think it is mainly a US or North American conversation starter, I have never heard it anywhere else.

 

In cultural studies, there is a dimension that ranges from "doing" to "being." In the U.S., we are much closer to "doing" on the continuum, so we see that play out in questions such as, "What do you do?" To be busy and doing something is viewed as more valuable and appropriate in our culture.

 

(It's a generalization. So not everyone in the U.S. feels this way.)

[avian777]

Years ago I organized a meet and greet and was surprised when most of the top officers showed up. They were interesting and friendly, actually through the entire cruise, but I was embarrassed by one passenger. She had just read a book by a disgruntled employee, not even HAL's, and asked the captain and hotel manager questions like "When did you stop beating your crew?" And wouldn't quit.

 

At least then we knew who to avoid.

 

Good post - it also serves to explain why many CCers do not attend the M&Gs. On a recent cruise, we met up with 2 (very obnoxious and overbearing) CCers who were insistent that we attend the M&G. No amount of polite declinations satisfied them, so I finally told them that I had not travelled several thousand miles and spent several thousand dollars to consort with disagreeable people. So I can understand why the Officers have decided not to attend M&Gs.

Edited October 5, 2015 by avian777

[POA1]

Nice. Fortunately, my actual job shuts people up.

 

Person A: "What do you do?"

Me: "I teach English and public speaking."

Person A: <in the wind>

Very funny!

[Viesczy]

My thoughts on the officers attending are that I couldn't care less. They're really only glorified bus drivers. Glad they do their job, but I don't need to know them.

 

We'll attend the M&G if we're running an excursion, or have a bunch of private ones planned, but no other times. Yeah I'm present on the roll call, but that's it unless what I stated.

 

We could have Captain Hazelwood at the helm for all I care! :D:rolleyes:

[avian777]

My thoughts on the officers attending are that I couldn't care less. They're really only glorified bus drivers. Glad they do their job, but I don't need to know them ... We could have Captain Hazelwood at the helm for all I care! :D:rolleyes:

 

... and it appears that the Officers feel the same way about getting to know the passengers ... HIP, HIP, HOORAY!!!

[Lizzie68]

This is true and was the case say 5+ years ago with HAL when there were not numerous problems on the ships. Norwegian Cruise line does this. All of the Hotel Staff Officers attend the Meet and Greet and actually hand out a laminated card with all the Officers direct phone numbers and state to please call the minute there is a problem and they will fix. They do not want to read about it days later on Cruise Critic. But then the NCL ships do not have maintenance issues despite many of the Jewel Class & Star Class being the same age as the Vistas they are actually in excellent shape. There was a time that HAL wanted this done as well but the issues have exceeded the normal occasional mishap level and many of the issues the ships are not provided the resources to fix so the Officers just have to agree with you and send off a Plate of Chocolate Covered Strawberries hoping you will forget about the problems.

 

How sad is that, the fact that the officers prefer to avoid the passengers because of the sorry state of the ships. Unfortunately, that does seem to be true. It is unfortunate, however, that some passengers would choose to collar the officers during a social function to complain about mechanical issues. There's a time and place, as frustrating as the situation may be. However, HAL needs to deal with the problem head-on and not push their officers into hiding away from it.

[SilvertoGold]

Not sure if anything has been decided yet but they are pretty sure the Mariner Luncheon will be going away.

 

Lisa

 

You mean the big, last day Mariner Brunch? Or the Embarkation lunch?

 

What about medallions?

 

Thanks!!!

[81Zoomie]

Wow... I'm quite surprised by this thread, however, I haven't sailed HAL in nearly 4 years. The last M & G I attended on the Noordam had about 75 people. Not only did the officers attend, But HAL catered it with food and free mimosas and bloody Mary's!

 

It's common on Princess for the Captain to attend and answer questions. We just sailed the Celebrity Reflection. The hotel manager attended the M&G, fielded questions and asked us to call him by his first name. The officers were very visible and accessible during the cruise. They welcomed comments and suggestions. My DH made a suggestion and we found a bottle of wine in our cabin thanking us! The passengers were amazed when the Captain and most senior officers took part in the crew vs pax pool volleyball game. We were very impressed at how the officers interacted with the passengers.

 

I'll be on the NA in Dec. I will be very interested to see how visible, accessible, and friendly the officers are.

[oaktreerb]

I've only been cruising HAL for appx 10 years and will soon be 4 star. Have never been to a Meet and Greet on HAL but did attend one on another line recently. This one was arranged through the cruise line and the CD opened the mike and people made announcements about private tours that had been discussed on the CC Meet and Mingle website.

 

I have had issues with HAL mostly about noise and dining tables, time, length. I have been reading some wonderful reviews of cruises recently and my most recent cruises (mostly Alaska) have been wonderful. ARE WE BACK TO HAL BASHING? I really don't understand why this thread got so negative.

 

On my most recent cruise on RCL I missed the CHOCOLATES, the ABUNDANCE OF TOWELS, the TOWEL ANIMALS (the steward tried but we had to tear them apart because she used our bath towels to create the simple forms since RCL did not provide enough to service the unit and also do towel animals), the TILES, the MARINER'S LUNCH on the first day of the cruise, the LOCATIONS presentations, the WONDERFUL BEDS, the CROWS NEST, the fully stocked LIBRARY, the PROFESSIONALISM OF THE ROOM STEWARDS.

Edited October 5, 2015 by oaktreerb

[POA1]

Friends of ours were at the CC Meet & Greet on the Veendam on September 12th. The CD, Beverage Manager, Guest Relations Manager, and several other HAL people were in attendance. From what I understand, either the Staff Captain or the Captain popped in to say hello. (Our friends weren't counting stripes and bars.)

 

There were also made to order sandwiches, so it's quite possible - however remotely so - that everything you read here "ain't necessarily so."

[tjcox9]

Lisa

 

You mean the big, last day Mariner Brunch? Or the Embarkation lunch?

 

What about medallions?

 

Thanks!!!

 

Embarkation lunch has already gone away - replaced with a "cocktail" hour in the Crow's Nest from 2:00 - 3:00 pm. We've now been to two. First one the Zuiderdam where we at least had choice of sparking, white or red wine and no sales pitches. More recently, on the Statendam (last AK cruise of the season) which had only sparkling wine and was turned into a sales event with bar staff going around trying to sell wine tastings. There was also a table set up for buying wine packages. CD and guest relations manager and perhaps one other were at the door to greet as we came in.

[frankc98376]

Embarkation lunch has already gone away - replaced with a "cocktail" hour in the Crow's Nest from 2:00 - 3:00 pm. We've now been to two. First one the Zuiderdam where we at least had choice of sparking, white or red wine and no sales pitches. More recently, on the Statendam (last AK cruise of the season) which had only sparkling wine and was turned into a sales event with bar staff going around trying to sell wine tastings. There was also a table set up for buying wine packages. CD and guest relations manager and perhaps one other were at the door to greet as we came in.

 

Embarkation Mariner lunch has apparently been replaced with MDR open to all PAX on one level- normally from noon to 1:30. Was that way on our last and many have experienced the same.

Edited October 5, 2015 by frankc98376

[tjcox9]

Embarkation Mariner lunch has apparently been replaced with MDR open to all PAX on one level- normally from noon to 1:30. Was that way on our last and many have experienced the same.

 

While that was the case on the Zuiderdam, it was not so on the Statendam. MDR was not open at all for lunch. Hopefully that was just because she was on her final days in the fleet.