No more Cruise Logs

[Bostonjetset]

Such a pity that HAL has decided to do away with yet another small extra that differentiated them from other lines. The cruise log was a neat little recap of the voyage and I too have saved all mine. We received one on the Zuiderdam in June so this must be a very recent cutback. I hope all this passenger feedback entices HAL to reverse this decision; the cost cannot possibly be that high in the grande scheme of things.

 

I will say that I greatly admire the persistence of my fellow CC posters though!! If there ever was a better group of people to campaign for the cruise log's return I've not met them. Once this battle is won, I think we should all start working on the return of the small plastic coffee scoops that have noticeably disappeared from Chock Full O'nuts cans!

[Storylady]

Well we talked to Orlando Ashford's secretary. And she told us that the Volendam was definitely not providing the Cruise Logs for our upcoming cruise. She knows that we are not happy about this decision.

 

Personally, they feel that since other cruise lines don't provide it why should they.

 

As for knowing the itinerary, itineraries do get changed. Ports get cancelled and new ones added. So it is nice to have it in print. And some may not care who the Senior staff are. But we do as we have met several of them. And we may see some of them on future cruises.

 

Guess we are going to have to do to the Desk each day to get our info.

 

She did suggest talking to our TA's, even though the firm we deal with is very large, I'm not sure my TA is going to thing this is very important.

[sail7seas]

I wonder why they stopped it because it can't be cost which would be 10 cents/cabin at most. It's not as if someone is taking notes during the cruise, as the only log I ever got was wrong.

 

But I like it only as a "Hope to see you again" message. I already knew the itinerary, the Captain makes sure we all know who he is, and I couldn't care less about the names of the rest of the crew. Never ever did I see a review about a hotel mentioning the name of the HD.

 

 

So, if some folks only care about the Captain's name, and o f the other sednior offficers , thennone of us should care who is Hotel Director, Exec Chef, Dining room Manager, Chief Engineeer? why no? One person doesn'tt care so th e rest of us don' matter? I CARE, I wnat to know who was the Head Housekeeper, if the ship was sparkiling, my cabin was well taken care of I want to know who was Hotel Director, . I wsant to know who was Security Officer........... It matters to me.

 

 

You may not have never seen al name of a Hotel Director but we remained very, very good firiends fr a partifcular hotel director we met while stayingg in his hotel numerous times Many times when in his hotel, we all dined tt ogether. :)

[TiogaCruiser]

 

Is Mr. Ashford really unable to issue a dirrective to resume printing and disributing the cruixd log withugt hold ing z full Board of Directors Meeting? This is pfesident CEO of a major corporation.. All he needs to say is: "Do It', Our Guests want it'" . Easy

 

Ya, he's not very powerful, right. I agree, it's embarrassing.

I guess we know where the buck doesn't stop.:confused:

[catl331]

We are not currently able to provide cruise logs for our sailings,

That's a cop-out, plain and simple. So if they were finding a lot being discarded, I think they should print maybe 1/2 of the number of cabins and leave them in a rack or pile at the front desk for people who do want them. If 1/2 is too few or too many, it would only take a few sailings to figure out the right number. The number would probably decrease gradually over time.

[Lizzie68]

That's a cop-out, plain and simple. So if they were finding a lot being discarded, I think they should print maybe 1/2 of the number of cabins and leave them in a rack or pile at the front desk for people who do want them. If 1/2 is too few or too many, it would only take a few sailings to figure out the right number. The number would probably decrease gradually over time.

 

Exactly, and they could have instituted that with no interruption. It doesn't take a Board of Directors and several months to figure out something so simple.

[sail7seas]

I am surprised that management doesn't understand (nor care) how much cruise logs mean to many of their passengers. They are not just a piece of paper. They represent treasured memories of a special occasion.

 

 

IMO, the question is, not,,,, do they not understand ,,,, or is it they don't Care? What else do they not care we like, want,expect? What are the next unpleasant surprises in store for us?

[ski ww]

It's micro management to the extreme. That it would take the office of the President & the board of senior management to figure this out is unbelievable. All it would take was that the HD on each ship give the word to print it & give one to each cabin.

Allan

[AncientWanderer]

So, if some folks only care about the Captain's name, and o f the other sednior offficers , thennone of us should care who is Hotel Director, Exec Chef, Dining room Manager, Chief Engineeer? why no? One person doesn'tt care so th e rest of us don' matter? I CARE, I wnat to know who was the Head Housekeeper, if the ship was sparkiling, my cabin was well taken care of I want to know who was Hotel Director, . I wsant to know who was Security Officer........... It matters to me.

 

 

You may not have never seen al name of a Hotel Director but we remained very, very good firiends fr a partifcular hotel director we met while stayingg in his hotel numerous times Many times when in his hotel, we all dined tt ogether. :)

 

I also familiarize myself with the hotel managers. I finally figured out that a good hotel manager can make or break a cruise experience, much more so than which cruise line I'm on. Some run a tight ship, with good crew morale, and some don't. Also, I have periodically seen here on CC shout-outs for superlative cruise managers. I also have "re-met" hotel managers on subsequent cruises and told them how much we enjoyed sailing with them.

 

Again, though, we don't have all the information here as to why the logs were discontinued. My hope is that they will be re-introduced, just as the shore excursion reviews on the website eventually were.

[RMLincoln]

I still think it's the lawyers - that the office of the president needs to wait for their approval. Maybe they thought it would go away quietly and no one would notice. Well guess what?

m-

[richwmn]

Currently on Westerdam, cruise ending tomorrow in Barcelona.

 

Cruise Log arrived this evening, between 5pm and 6:15. It is just like all the other logs I have received.

 

Fleet wide? Corporate? Who knows, but it does seem that each ship does things a bit differently, maybe this is just one of those things.

[kazu]

Currently on Westerdam, cruise ending tomorrow in Barcelona.

 

Cruise Log arrived this evening, between 5pm and 6:15. It is just like all the other logs I have received.

 

Fleet wide? Corporate? Who knows, but it does seem that each ship does things a bit differently, maybe this is just one of those things.

 

Safe travels in Europe :)

 

I am starting to think it depends on the ship and the Rotterdam does whatever Seattle says.

 

When we were on there was no Master Chef's Table nor Cellar Master Dinner. Seattle told me they were cancelled, yet when I posted we heard from a CC'er on the P'dam who was having it :confused:

 

With Rotterdam not doing a cruise log (and we had one in May, 2017) a pattern seems to be developing?

 

Glad you got one. I like them and save them all ;)

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

On the Massdam Hotel Manger Bert said they are gone.

[catl331]

Cruise Log arrived this evening, between 5pm and 6:15. It is just like all the other logs I have received.

 

Fleet wide? Corporate? Who knows, but it does seem that each ship does things a bit differently, maybe this is just one of those things.

 

I am starting to think it depends on the ship and the Rotterdam does whatever Seattle says.

 

On the Massdam Hotel Manger Bert said they are gone.

It could be that ships that still have stocks of pre-printed covers with static info are just using them up.

[Himself]

I have seen many changes over the past two decades. We just have to go with the flow.

[sail7seas]

I have seen many changes over the past two decades. We just have to go with the flow.

 

Hi Himself, .............. ?? Have to? Really? We HAVE to?

[oaktreerb]

I have seen many changes over the past two decades. We just have to go with the flow.

 

Those who don't care will go with the flow. Those who do care will make their voices heard.

[rkacruiser]

Currently on Westerdam, cruise ending tomorrow in Barcelona.

 

Cruise Log arrived this evening, between 5pm and 6:15. It is just like all the other logs I have received.

 

Fleet wide? Corporate? Who knows, but it does seem that each ship does things a bit differently, maybe this is just one of those things.

 

The inconsistency of parts of the cruise product/experience from ship to ship has become an unfortunate expectation of mine.

[rkacruiser]

It's micro management to the extreme. That it would take the office of the President & the board of senior management to figure this out is unbelievable. All it would take was that the HD on each ship give the word to print it & give one to each cabin.

Allan

 

A good friend of mine is a friend of a very recently retired HAL Captain. My friend has told me of the complaints from the Captain of Seattle's micro management.

[kazu]

It could be that ships that still have stocks of pre-printed covers with static info are just using them up.

 

Very possible.

 

Quite sure they can print them on board too. ;). IF they want ;)

[VennDiagram]

The inconsistency of parts of the cruise product/experience from ship to ship has become an unfortunate expectation of mine.

 

Our expectation, also :(

[my heart will go on]

They could at least send it out via email. Save a tree and all. And that wouldn't cost anything for them. I've only been on one HAL cruise and we enjoyed the log at the end.

[Bookited]

any more information on the cruise logs? Are they gone, or is HAL still thinking.

[kevingastreich]

Very good points and I agree. Let's start a petition here. :)

I'm in!

[highscar]

This occurred to me, too. The cruise logs may have been used just as you suggest, wannagonow. This seems more plausible than cost-cutting just for the printing costs. Maybe the result of handing out these nice mementos is "no good deed goes unpunished."

 

Anyhow, I'm sorry to hear about this change. I'll miss the logs. They were a very nice touch that we appreciated. DH especially enjoyed looking them over.

 

:(

Our trans Atlantic this spring had incorrect ports in it. The front desk didn't do anything about it.