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HAL is Number #1 in Mailings - So So Much Snail Mail

richstowe

By richstowe,
in Holland America Line

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lazey1

lazey1

Posted
Posted
HAL's system will often put a "marketing hold" on your Mariner account if you have a cruise or two booked. I had such a hold on our account and had it removed as my bride enjoys looking through the brochures. As a kept man (retired and she still works), I have the time to explore all the promos and itineraries on-line, with the exception of special sales offered to Mariners only that you wouldn't be aware of without the mailings.

 

I had a hold on my account even though I didn't have a cruise booked. I read about a Mariners special here on cruise critic and called my TA to complain that I wasn't being notified. My TA, after several telephone conversations with HAL. finally managed to get the hold removed. Now I have 2 cruises booked and am getting emails from HAL about one a week. I hope they keep doing this.;)

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iflyrc5

iflyrc5

Posted
Posted
At least 2 often 3 times a month I get snail mail from HAL . After opening a bunch I realized there was nothing to be learned, or saved by reading the contents enclosed . It's not a big deal to toss unwanted mail but seriously , what is the point ? They never offer any savings .

I get mail from most of the cruise lines but HAL leads the pack by a significant margin , followed by Princess .

Amusingly the Holland mail is addressed to me and my DD or occasionally to my DW and DS . This is no doubt because over 5 years ago we booked a Carnival cruise where we booked like this because the kids were in their late teens . I didn't know if this would be an issue so we booked like this . Once onboard we fixed it up . Didn't know there would be long term ramifications . :D

 

So no, this is not a big deal . I tried get off the mailing list once but this wasn't done. Again it is not a problem , I do however wonder how much HAL is wasting on mailings . Got to believe there are better ways to spend money .

 

So is it just me or is HAL the #1 leader in junk mail ?

 

We are almost 5 star, currently have 5 HAL cruises booked and we get very very very little snail mail from HAL. Go figure.:confused:

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cbr663 Great Review Rare

cbr663

Posted
Posted

In 2015, Carnival Corp spent over $2.067 billion in selling and administrative costs. More than it spent on payroll ($1.859b), fuel ($1.249b) or food ($981m).

 

Just think of the wonderful food it could serve if it just cut down on a fraction of those mail outs.

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Scrapnana "Live from...." Rare

Scrapnana

Posted
Posted

I am another one who gets 2-3 mailings from Oceania each week (never cruised with them or even made an enquery). Maybe if they didn't send out so much junk mail they wouldn't have to charge so much.:D

 

I get very little from HAL - maybe 5 or 6 mailings a year.

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Skai

Skai

Posted
Posted
Try Oceania. Two or 3 a week at least. And we have never even sailed on them.

 

DON

 

No doubt...and they send full magazines and catalogs along with the usual cards/brochures. I would think with the monies spent on all of the glossies sent to me, they could have just given me a free cruise.

 

I made the mistake of signing up for mail offers from many of the major cruiselines and now I get junk mail daily from them, sometimes 3 or 4 different cruiselines a day.

 

Seriously.

 

I can't imagine what my mail carrier must think:D.

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Sundagger

Sundagger

Posted
Posted

It would be worth the time for some people to go to the HAL website, click on My Account, sign in, go to My Preferences in the list on the left. There is a section on Communication - you can check yes or no on the various means of communication. I find that do-it-yourself works better than calling/writing to a PCC or customer service.

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RuthC

RuthC

Posted
Posted
It would be worth the time for some people to go to the HAL website, click on My Account, sign in, go to My Preferences in the list on the left. There is a section on Communication - you can check yes or no on the various means of communication. I find that do-it-yourself works better than calling/writing to a PCC or customer service.

It didn't work for me. After several attempts, I gave up on that one, too.

 

Oh, sure, when I did it I got one piece of mail, then that stopped. Then I rechecked the website, and did it again. Same thing happened.

 

The problem is HAL's marketing strategy to leave people who are already committed to sailing HAL out of the picture. Until that changes, the ball will always be in the customer's court.

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donaldsc

donaldsc

Posted
Posted

Actually all the cruise ship stuff and the other stuff you get in the mail can be useful and you should try to get as much of it as you can. Buy a wood-burning stove for your house. Buy one of these - https://www.amazon.com/Northern-Tool-and-Equipment-Paper/dp/B005VSB3J8/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8 - that converts waste paper to logs. Then you can heat your house w the stuff. The more junk mail that you get the better.

 

DON

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Lady Chew

Lady Chew

Posted
Posted

We don't get many emails from any of the cruise lines ...

 

but - Oceania! Gosh, just about every single day, one or two pieces of mail. We've sailed them one time, have no plans to go again. They're wasting a lot of $$ & paper, and I have to waste a lot of time cutting my name & address from the brochures & catalogs.

 

We get at least one a week from HAL. And one or two a month from Viking (never sailed with them). Used to get a lot from Royal C, but they stopped quite a while ago.

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RuthC

RuthC

Posted
Posted
but - Oceania! Gosh, just about every single day, one or two pieces of mail. We've sailed them one time, have no plans to go again. They're wasting a lot of $$ & paper, and I have to waste a lot of time cutting my name & address from the brochures & catalogs.

It takes some time, and a little effort, but you CAN get Oceania to stop sending the paper brochures.

I found that I had to phone them, and talk to a real person. They took my information, and did tell me it would take a while (which it did), but eventually the barrage of paper from Oceania did stop.

 

An e-mail request did not work, although IIRC it stopped the computer offers.

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TiogaCruiser "Live from...." Rare

TiogaCruiser

Posted
Posted
I am a 3 star on hal. I have sailed 2 separate trips with people who have never sailed hal. I get email for them with "deals" for them that I don't get. strange

 

I have sailed solo and with DH. We both get snail mail, and I get emails. It's interesting that HAL want to send us on totally different cruises. DH tends to get the exotic and more interesting trips; me? The Carribean. Not interested.

Private sale emails to DH stopped after he got an incredible deal for a cruise I was booked on- at about 30% of what I paid!

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StartrainDD "Live from...." Rare

StartrainDD

Posted
Posted

We have taken ONE river cruise with Viking. It seems I receive something from Viking (ocean or river) every day; either mail, e-mail, or both.

 

I suppose because I use several computers to access HAL's website I get e-mail from HAL on multiple accounts. The interesting thing is sometimes the offers are different! We also get snail mail from HAL but we don't think it is an extreme amount, maybe once or twice per month.

 

I say to HAL keep it coming as I'm always seeking out the next adventure... Too many cruises, not enough vacation time...:(

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sail7seas

sail7seas

Posted
Posted (edited)

For ab out 20 years, we almost always had 6-8-cruies booked at anygiven time. We got very little snail mail all those years. I have no cruises booked right now and have been gettinng snail mail on at least a weeekly basis.

Edited by sail7seas
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richstowe Great Review Rare

richstowe

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

OK , here's what I've learnt

-3 or so pieces of mail a week from cruise lines ain't nothing .

-HAL may send out lots of stuff but Oceania "wins the prize" for mailings with Viking close behind .

-It seems when you have a booked cruise , the mailings may stop only to resume when

you don't have a future sailing .(This one is odd to me)

-The amount of mail is not based of when or even if you have sailed with a particular cruiseline .

(Even odder)

-Getting off mailing lists can be done , maybe, possibly , sometimes, for a while anyways . ;)

Edited by richstowe
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