HAL's website getting "dumber"!

[Krazy Kruizers]

About a month ago I was checking out some things on HAL's site and got tired of having to keep putting in my user name and password.

 

HAL's site is terrible.

[Crazy For Cats]

I agree that the website has become less user friendly. Last week I was booking dinner reservations for two of our upcoming cruises. Booking the first set was simple, except for the extra sign in. When I went to book for the second cruise it would default back to the original cruise I was working on. I had to completely log out of HAL and double sign back in to book for the second cruise. If it's going to be this difficult I'll wait until I'm on the ship and if nothing is available it will be their loss.

[Cruzin Terri]

I'm having the same issues and have chalked it up to the Russians hacking the website!

[Fouremco]

Add me to the list of disgruntled customers. A few years and many changes ago, I found the website quick and easy to use. Since then, every "enhancement" seems to have made it slower and harder to use.

[Lady Arwen]

I thought it was just me or my computer! I cannot believe how difficult it is to get around this website! My son is a web designer and he laughed at how unprofessional their site is and has many suggestions on how to make it more user friendly. Who the heck is maintaining their website??

[DaveOKC]

I thought it was just me or my computer! I cannot believe how difficult it is to get around this website! My son is a web designer and he laughed at how unprofessional their site is and has many suggestions on how to make it more user friendly. Who the heck is maintaining their website??

 

They must have sub contracted it out to Disney - Mickey Mouse division.

[AV8rix]

After an extensive search I can’t seem to find any information about a contact in HALs IT Department. So I pasted a link to this thread into an email to my PCC and asked him to forward it to someone in IT. Perhaps if we all do this HAL might sit up and take notice.

[taxmantoo]

I'm having the same issues and have chalked it up to the Russians hacking the website!

 

Oh no :eek: Do you mean the system is rigged ??? :eek:

[iancal]

If HAL has not noticed this by now then there is no hope. An organization is either customer oriented/focused or it is not.

 

Simply compare the HAL website functionality, speed, and ease of use to that of some of the most successful on line vendors. Or to your bank. Or to some other travel sites that you might use from time to time. Then arrive at your own conclusion.

[Ashdale]

After an extensive search I can’t seem to find any information about a contact in HALs IT Department. So I pasted a link to this thread into an email to my PCC and asked him to forward it to someone in IT. Perhaps if we all do this HAL might sit up and take notice.

 

thought it was jut me that thought the site was so awful - well done you for figuring a way round trying to contact someone. Let's hope they read and take note of the comments.

[ski ww]

Don't know if it's a HAL problem or CC problem. I posted info about our M&G on our roll call this morning and it still has not shown up on our roll call page. Also the number of posts and the actual number of posts do not agree, it shows two less then there actual are.

Allan

[DaveOKC]

Don't know if it's a HAL problem or CC problem. I posted info about our M&G on our roll call this morning and it still has not shown up on our roll call page. Also the number of posts and the actual number of posts do not agree, it shows two less then there actual are.

Allan

 

That could be due to two posts being deleted by the board monitor.

[VennDiagram]

Thank you for mentioning this ridiculous new way of doing things on the HAL website. I thought that possibly it was a result of an "upgrade" to our computer :rolleyes: and I was the only one experiencing it. It is ridiculous but not surprising. Holland America has never been very good at technology :(

[sppunk]

Running the web site is not such a big issue. Any outsourcer/web hosting company can do that quite efficiently.

 

The challenge is in the maintenance, and ongoing enhancements to the website's design and functionality. Whether it is designed to complement and encourage public use, grow business, or encourage current customers to buy more. Or to move questions/actions away from comparatively expensive CSR's to a low cost self serve environment.

 

I don't think the folks at HAL got the memo.

 

I am actually surprised that some enterprising account exec. of a web hosting or IT firm has not made an unsolicited proposal to HAL to do just that.

 

Well, maybe some have but the HAL customer services folks think that the current version is in the signature of excellence class. No mistake, as far as web sites go it is in a class by itself. Big mistake HAL.

Oh I wasn't clear enough: HAL's entire web team is Princess'. When they merged the IT / web side of princess took over.

[jabcruiser]

Thank you for mentioning this ridiculous new way of doing things on the HAL website. I thought that possibly it was a result of an "upgrade" to our computer :rolleyes: and I was the only one experiencing it. It is ridiculous but not surprising. Holland America has never been very good at technology :(

And what about security issues. If the website as it is now is soooo customer unfriendly, I sure wonder how "secure"(or NOT) my credit card info is. Their web design sure does not instill much confidence. Had to go through the process yesterday for our end of Nov cruise documents. What a chore! Sign in, sign in again, and again. Come on HAL, get your act together. Get a new IT team.

[crusinpsychRN]

Trying to book excursions or buy alcohol was way too hard. The site is a PIA.

 

I was on HAL about 2 years ago and bought alcohol bottle for $35, now $55 for a $22 bottle.

[lazey1]

...

Had to go through the process yesterday for our end of Nov cruise documents. What a chore! Sign in, sign in again, and again. Come on HAL, get your act together. Get a new IT team.

 

I went through the entire process 3 times yesterday and was still unable to print my cruise documents. I called the HAL reservation # and finally got through to a lady who helped me get to the point where I should have been able to print out the docs. She told me there would be a pop-up after all 18 pages are printed that would allow me to print out my baggage tags. When I printed the docs I got a clear legible copy of the boarding pass, 6 pages with nothing but the Hal logo on them and 11 pages with some very tiny and scattered printing that I can't read. :mad:

Since my cruise is not until Dec. I gave up and sent an 3-mail to my TA who is cruising on Carnival right now advising her of the problem and asking her to print the documents and mail them to me after she returns home. I certainly hope that TA's have a different system that they use.:eek:

[shrimp56]

Funny enough Princess runs HAL's site. :)

Maybe they're messing it up on purpose?

 

JOKE

[POA1]

When the site is passing you between servers - from http://www.hollandamerica.com to book2.hollandamerica.com, it's not passing your login session and booking information. The pass takes place when you click the Check In button.

[Marianne]

Like Lady Arwen, I thought the problem was me since I'm not the most adept person using the internet. However, tonight I thought I'd order some land tours, but encountered nothing but problems including having to re-enter data already entered. So, I just gave up. Maybe I'll do land tours on my upcoming cruise, and maybe I'll just wander around the dock area. Kinda strange such a good product as HAL has such a nonusuable useless web site. Maybe someone in the upper echelon will read this and get some changes made.

Marianne

[3rdGenCunarder]

When the site is passing you between servers - from http://www.hollandamerica.com to book2.hollandamerica.com, it's not passing your login session and booking information. The pass takes place when you click the Check In button.

 

I hadn't noticed the change in the url, but I just poked around my booking, and that's exactly what happened when I clicked to purchase shore excursions. New url, new login.I suppose that's necessary for security, but it's annoying.

 

Because I'm the only one who uses my computer, I let Windows save log-in info for some websites (not the serious ones like my bank!). So when I clicked "purchase," my info was on the second login. But when I hovered over "find booking" I got the circle-slash icon which means "you can't do this." I clicked anyway, and it took me right into the excursion pages.

 

The strange thing is that it says "Login with My Account to access all these features" and I got to that page FROM My Account! Poor wording/instructions from HAL.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I have been playing around with the site and found what POA1 and

3rd GenCunarder have said. It is definitely more time consuming to book your excursions and restaurants, etc. I save my passwords also so the info was on the second server.

 

Regarding dummy or real booking, I find that if you select more filters initially you get all the ones you used to get in advanced search. In my case, I look at the ship, the month, and the itinerary first so you need to select more filters to get at the ship which HAL lists last.

 

This new website configuration so far is NOT an improvement so I hope HAL will fix it. I have not done a check in yet so hope it is improved before I check in for my February cruise.

 

Barbara

[crusinpsychRN]

Just checking shore excursions. You need a magnifying glass to read it!