How can HAL improve their port information booklets?

[cruisemom42]

Oh - because some people do not invest in ship or private excursions does not make them "frugal". Some people like to travel without a group (regardless of size) and do the research to independently visit a port. Sometimes the money not used for an excursion gets used to buy a special piece found along the way or a memorable lunch at a great restaurant (rather than the one you must stop at on your excursion). We all spend our vacation money in different ways.

 

Good points, and let's also not forget that some of us "frugal" travelers are solos who are already paying nearly twice as much for our cruise....

 

Bottom line is that people value different things. It's likely that I wouldn't take a ship shore excursion (on a mass market line) even if it was cheaper than a private tour or DIY. I've had enough bad experiences with them. But I would and have paid significant sums for a private tour or driver for ONE to get to a site I want to see.

[sail7seas]

Good points, and let's also not forget that some of us "frugal" travelers are solos who are already paying nearly twice as much for our cruise....

 

Bottom line is that people value different things. It's likely that I wouldn't take a ship shore excursion (on a mass market line) even if it was cheaper than a private tour or DIY. I've had enough bad experiences with them. But I would and have paid significant sums for a private tour or driver for ONE to get to a site I want to see.

 

We had an amazing private tour at Versailele. unforgetable.

 

How wonderful was our private tour at Acropolis. Terrific memories. My DH got us a great guid.e :)

I, too, am now a solo, who pays 200% for my caibn. ;) it isn't a question of nearly twice as much, It IS twice as much. I am a single but pay for two persons. My DH and took many private tours. We went with the guide/driver, to where we wanted for as long as we wanted and enjoyed it fully.

Edited March 19, 2017 by sail7seas

[USN59-79]

The OP asked a serious question: "How can HAL improve its port info BS" It is obvious that it takes time and resources to produce them. So the question is: Why are they so non-useful? I believe that if they had a good product the shore excursions people would think that they were impinging on their bottom line. So I think we can assume that HAL will never improve their port info for their customers. What do I do about it? Well, my next cruise is on Princess, so that is one solution. And the next time we cruise, we will download and print as much info as is available on the ports we will visit.

[Copper10-8]

When HAL's daily program was known as "Dagelijks Nieuws" (Daily News in Dutch) one of the items inside was a list of common words "Good Morning," "Thank you," "How much does it cost?,", etc. in the native language of wherever the ship might be. Should be easy to transfer that sort of info to the new booklets.

Also, the booklet should include a good map of the port berth(s) - don't forget, that a lot of ports have more than one cruise ship berth, i.e. FLL, Vancouver, Sydney (Oz), Sitka, L.A., Stockholm, Reykjavik, you name it, as well as a map of the "downtown" area.

It should include the locations of:

1. Police stations, hospitals, post offices, some banks/ATMs

2. Bus/train depots

3. Places of interest tourism stuff

One item that should always be in there is the name, address and contact # of the local port agent