Large Charter caused dining problems

[DaveOKC]

I didn't know that about Ocean City - interesting. I have beer in my refrigerator right now that belongs to one of my neighbors. Her religiously conservative parents pop in every once in awhile, and she doesn't want them to know she indulges in sinful behavior from time to time.

 

Roz

 

My old boss was like that. He was an Elder of his church and did not drink while in town, lest someone see him. When we were out of town on business, he was the biggest drinker in the bunch.

Edited July 5, 2016 by DaveOKC

[sherryf]

Amsterdam July 16-23, 2017 Christian Cruise to Alaska with WAY-FM

 

I was considering this sailing, but I have just taken it off my list! :(

[Roz]

Dave,

 

Your story reminds me of a man I worked with who was vegetarian for religious reasons, but it was his wife who was really the driving force. Every time we went an out of town business trip, he would order a big, juicy 16 oz. porterhouse for dinner.

 

Roz

[sail7seas]

HAL as been doing this for decades and well knows the disRupttion to crew and yet they continue to book these overly large groups.

 

Iwouldnot expect that to end any time soon.

Edited July 5, 2016 by sail7seas

[Cruising-along]

We are also on that January 8 cruise for 2 weeks. We had the unfortunate bad luck of being on one of their cruises back in January 2013 on the Eurodam. The Dining Room situation was a mess from embarkation to the end of the cruise. We were insistent enough with the Guest Services Manager that we had been guaranteed 8 pm main seating (Neptune Suite, 4 stars, Dietary Reasons) that she comped us in Pinnacle Grill for the first 3 nights and then magically found a table for us in main seating. She was very nice but was put in a very bad situation caused by a decision made miles way in Seattle. They, after the cruise and responding to our complaints, compensated us with a Navigator Wine Package on our next booking.

 

I've just written to Guest Services and asked them to confirm our reservation for this cruise. I let them know that if they cannot do that in writing, which proof we would bring on the ship, then we will cancel our cruise.

 

I will let everyone on our roll call know how they reply, if and when they do.

 

Thanks Louis, so you have experience with this...

This cruise will be our first as 4-star. Something has to be really bad for me to complain, but I would have no problem complaining in a situation like this. :mad:

[iancal]

From our perspective it is fairly straightforward.

 

You deliver to your customer what you sold to them based upon the expectations you set and the commitments that you made.

 

So, if you signed up and were accepted for late seating and then got bumped out because of some large group the cruise line supplier is not longer delivering what they committed to. Only two options...come to a reasonable compromise and/or offer an acceptable monetary solution that matches situation.

 

Anything less is what we call 'cheating the customer'. Make a big stink in a public area. Don't let any vendor knowingly cheat you. It makes it worse for all the rest of us when a significant percentage of people accept that kind of nonsense from a supplier.

[kevingastreich]

We have just been on our first HAL cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam on 25th June to Alaska. Whilst we enjoyed the cruise generally and the ship, we and others experienced problems due to the fact that HAL had decided to accept a booking from a christian religious group of over 900 on a cruise of just over 2000 passengers.

This group held a prayer gathering every evening, and also initially objected to sharing a dining room with anyone consuming alcohol (we were told by a staff member they insisted on having a physical barrier between them and others if this was the case). The result was that anyone who had requested late dining was bumped onto early dining, so this group could occupy the whole of the dining room at 8.00pm. We had requested anytime dining (usually up till 9.30) but were told we had to dine by 6.45. In practice even that was impossible, as the tables would not be free for the group at 8.00pm, so we found that other passengers were asked to queue, sometimes up to 20 groups at a time, whilst tables were kept empty for this group so they could be seated at 8.00pm.

We felt very sorry for the staff who had to deal with large numbers of unhappy passengers. We paid to eat in Tamarind on the first night when it became clear we could not access the MDR. We spoke to others who had eaten at the Lido all week (not out of choice).

Later in the week when by pressure of numbers they were forced to eat at the same time as us it made for an uncomfortable atmosphere, as instead of the usual cheery 'good evening', they would cast their eyes down when they saw a glass or bottle of wine on an adjacent table. We were in a lift carrying drinks between evening venues when one woman came in and actually turned her back on us and faced the wall. How rude. They also insisted in taking over the show lounge for a morning meeting which meant when we assembled for tours we had to meet in the nightclub which was crowded with no seating.

The group was booked by a company called Inspiration Christian Travel. I would certainly not travel on any cruise on which such a group was booked again.

The staff were happy to log all complaints, as they told us 'Head Office' had accepted this booking and they needed to know it had caused problems. Whilst we made the best of it, it made for a very difficult week for them. I would be interested to know if anyone has had similar problems, as it has caused us to think again about booking another cruise with HAL, despite the features we enjoyed.

 

Well, on the bright side, a cocktail server should be pretty easy to find. :p

[Tampa Girl]

At the very least, they should have been told that they could not control other passengers' legal activities, including disrupting dining. If they don't want to be around alcohol, they should charter an entire ship. JMO.

 

 

I'll second that! I also think that HAL should have notified the passengers that such a large group was going to be on board. Or did they in some fashion?

[RocketMan275]

From our perspective it is fairly straightforward.

 

You deliver to your customer what you sold to them based upon the expectations you set and the commitments that you made.

 

So, if you signed up and were accepted for late seating and then got bumped out because of some large group the cruise line supplier is not longer delivering what they committed to. Only two options...come to a reasonable compromise and/or offer an acceptable monetary solution that matches situation.

 

Anything less is what we call 'cheating the customer'. Make a big stink in a public area. Don't let any vendor knowingly cheat you. It makes it worse for all the rest of us when a significant percentage of people accept that kind of nonsense from a supplier.

 

I don't think the cruise line would agree that they "committed" to providing late seating. If they can change the itinerary (see the cruise contract), they certainly can change your dining arrangements.

[SC_GAY_Cruiser]

I'm surprised they didn't try and storm the casino and try and stop all those gambling "sinners"....hey why not also go to the pool and make sure no bikinis are on view....and hey some of those dvd's and movies are R rated. What's next...complain because the staff is muslim?

 

SHAME on holland america for allowing any group to ruin a cruise for the other passengers who have every right to late dining, cocktails, etc.

 

Holland should apologize to all the other passengers and make it crystal clear to any such future groups that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.

 

Totally AGREE!!!!

[SC_GAY_Cruiser]

I come from a Marketing background......so why?

 

A Christian group that is so anti alcohol or anti gambling..........

 

Tell me if I am wrong, but isn't that what HAL is hoping I do as soon as I board the ship? I realize part of the idea is filling those beds........but HAL expects that once those beds are filled, I am spending money........

 

I wonder if a Christian group is charged more for the cabins since alcohol or gambling revenue is much less for this booked group? Thats another whole interesting topic.

[memoak]

My first cruise 25 years ago (different cruise line) had a group like this. They would pray all together in loud voice before meals, stand outside the casino and bingo with signs and try to pass out religious tracts around the pool. Almost turned me off cruise - 32 cruises later glad it didn't

[Karen13]

I'll second that! I also think that HAL should have notified the passengers that such a large group was going to be on board. Or did they in some fashion?

 

No they didn't. We were told this group had booked 18 months in advance. We booked our cruise 12 months in advance and had no warning of this. We booked 'anytime dining' up till 9.30 at night and were not told until we embarked that we would have to eat before 6.45. (and in practice evn this was difficult because they needed the tables to be free by 8.00pm for this group to attend en masse)

[SilvertoGold]

My first cruise 25 years ago (different cruise line) had a group like this. They would pray all together in loud voice before meals, stand outside the casino and bingo with signs and try to pass out religious tracts around the pool. Almost turned me off cruise - 32 cruises later glad it didn't

 

Wow!

Did the management do anything about their antics at bingo, the casino and the pool?

[iuki]

Is there a website to find the out if large groups are booked on specific cruises?

[AmazedByCruising]

I come from a Marketing background......so why?

 

A Christian group that is so anti alcohol or anti gambling..........

 

Tell me if I am wrong, but isn't that what HAL is hoping I do as soon as I board the ship? I realize part of the idea is filling those beds........but HAL expects that once those beds are filled, I am spending money........

 

I wonder if a Christian group is charged more for the cabins since alcohol or gambling revenue is much less for this booked group? Thats another whole interesting topic.

 

I was wondering the same thing as I was told that without on board revenue ships would sail at a loss. Maybe the art auctioneer makes up for that by bringing a lot of extra "Christian art"?

Edited July 5, 2016 by AmazedByCruising

[SilvertoGold]

Is there a website to find the out if large groups are booked on specific cruises?

 

This board has a charter and drydock thread that is updated often.

[Windsailer]

Is there a website to find the out if large groups are booked on specific cruises?

 

You can call HAL's Group Administration department at 1-888-425-9477. I was told by someone in the HAL President's Office I could do this. I've done it and they do answer the questions of 1. are there any groups on board cruise X and 2. if so, how large. I've never asked who/what the group is since the groups on board my cruises weren't large enough for me to care about.

 

The charter, drydock and group thread is also a great resource.

Edited July 5, 2016 by Windsailer

[Rowsby]

Is there a website to find the out if large groups are booked on specific cruises?

 

I won't book a cruise until I check this site first.....

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2354486&highlight=dry+docks

[alibabacruisers]

HAL has soned gthis fcof many years fully know the problldems trf causes crew andthosew guestrtrfgt of ghe group. Yet they continue toig. I xdoubt ifwill gtop any gtime soon.

 

Sail, is your keyboard having issues? Just wondering....sorry.

Edited July 6, 2016 by alibabacruisers

[Tarpeian Rock]

Can't have been R.C's.!

 

On a similar note, I wonder if they objected to the Catholic Mass customarily available on HAL.

[paluni]

I grew up in Stanford's town, Palo Alto. Millionaire Leland Stanford, who founded the university, put rules in place that no liquor could be sold a mile and a half from the university. That rule was not fully repealed until 1971. Just outside of the boundary was an area where there were bars and liquor stores. It was known locally as "Whiskey Gulch." My friend said you could tell where it was by all the people running toward it.

[wales4ever]

Maybe this is why I cannot book late seating on our Dec 4 Caribbean cruise as it has a party booked from "The Weekly Standard group" - who are all on late seating. Contacting HAL to try and re arrange our cruise.

[wesport]

We were on a Caribbean cruise a couple years ago. There was a large group from Newsmax (a tea party organization) Ralph Reed and Dick Morris were always with the group. We just decided to have fun with it. As every member must have gotten Sarah Palin's latest book, we pulled Hillary's book Hard Choices from the library and carried that around with us. You should have seen the looks we got when we wore our Hillary t-shirts from 2008. Just had fun with it. No problems.

[SC_GAY_Cruiser]

I am on the K'dam Feb '17 and although there are no "groups" listed for that cruise, just curious.....what is considered a large group?

 

Because if 100 people in the "group" show up at one time in the MDR or some other public area, it can have a negative affect on all.

 

dave