Jump to content
Cruise Critic Community

Captain's Voice from the Bridge, Can people be quie for ten minutes??

sail7seas

By sail7seas,
in Holland America Line

 Share

Recommended Posts

caladezi

caladezi

Posted
Posted
Thank you, Tad.

 

Grerat message.

We a had a Captain cancel forrmal night once because he knew tthe seas would be rough. He didn't want some idiot women refusing to wear their formal ddress without their higfh heels I'd rather that tthan an injury due to falling while in my high heels.

Is what you are saying is that if the Captain had not canceled formal night you would have worn high heels and possibly injured yourself? I would think that anyone would have enough intelligence to know how to dress in high seas regardless of whether or not they were able to hear the announcement over the noise in the Lido.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sail7seas

sail7seas

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Is what you are saying is that if the Captain had not canceled formal night you would have worn high heels and possibly injured yourself? I would think that anyone would have enough intelligence to know how to dress in high seas regardless of whether or not they were able to hear the announcement over the noise in the Lido.

 

 

NO, of course not bu t I feel very sure there could have been one or two women ( or more)) who might have. :rolleyes:

I reported what our captain did and I fully support his decision, not that he or anyone cares about that :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sea Belle

Sea Belle

Posted
Posted

On our Alaska cruise in May/June on the Amsterdam, we were at the Mariner's Luncheon and could not hear any of the comments made by the officers. I found this to be extremely rude when so much effort had been put into the menu and serving of a lovely meal.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
whogo

whogo

Posted
Posted
It's pretty hard to adjust your schedule since the MDR is generally only open for an hour these days (on my cruises). Hard to finish in the MDR in an hour due to sometimes slow service.

You don't have to finish eating in an hour.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
sail7seas

sail7seas

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I'm not sure I understand this. If I need to be in a non eating venue to hear the captain I think you do. Are you suggesting a person should leave and then return to the MDR?

 

 

:evilsmile:Maybe Whogo is suggesting we can go to mDR and get our lunch 'to go'tso we can leave in time to hear the captain? :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
rkacruiser

rkacruiser

Posted
Posted

I find the comments on this thread very interesting. I thank all who have contributed to the discussion.

 

Just an additional thought: does the Master's style and speaking skills on the PA reflect the attention that guests' give to the Voice from the Bridge?

 

On my most disappointing HAL cruise (a 21 day Noordam Caribbean cruise whose disappointments have been previously discussed by me on CC), the Captain's Voice from the Bridge was so predictable as to what he said, I could parrot it, word for word, when I listened to it. Only the weather and navigation details differed.

 

On the other hand, the absolute best Voice from the Bridge was during my 2002 Asia Pacific Cruise on the Volendam with Captain Jonathan Peter Harris at the helm. Along with our Cruise Director Gary Walker, the talks were informative and funny often. They were better than the "comedy" entertainers employed during the cruise.

 

And, the comments that Captain Harris made once we were once and for all clear of all Chinese authorities from our final China port were priceless. I only wish I had a recorder then to record them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sea42

Sea42

Posted
Posted

I would hope any vital information that the announcement would convey would be repeated, delivered in person or in written form to the passengers.What happens if you are indisposed when the noon announcement is made? Are you just doomed to live with the dire consequences?

But I agree that people should be respectful of the Captain's announcements.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SetAnOpenCourse

SetAnOpenCourse

Posted
Posted
I would hope any vital information that the announcement would convey would be repeated, delivered in person or in written form to the passengers.What happens if you are indisposed when the noon announcement is made? Are you just doomed to live with the dire consequences?

But I agree that people should be respectful of the Captain's announcements.

Good point, the captain and staff would certainly not communicate vital info as a "one-off". However, passengers should not abuse this fact, and respecting the captain's non-emergency announcements decreases the likelyhood that many passengers would either miss vital communications or need them repeated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
whogo

whogo

Posted
Posted
:evilsmile:Maybe Whogo is suggesting we can go to mDR and get our lunch 'to go'tso we can leave in time to hear the captain? :D
whogo was merely pointing out that you can take more than an hour to eat your lunch in the dining room.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Hlitner "Live from...." Rare

Hlitner

Posted
Posted

One poster asked whether a Captain can affect whether cruisers even want to listen. And we say, absolutely. When Captain Gundersen ("its me again") made annoucements folks stopped everything to listen. If you cruise on Celebrity with Captain "Demitrius" you can be sure everyone stops to listen since he is a very funny guy. We once cruised on the Queen Mary 2 with the old Commodore (I do not remember his name) who always started his announcements with a tale about his "leprechaun" which had the entire ship laughing!

 

And then there is the more typical Captain that tells you the speed, course, closest land mass, etc. Most of this is info available by looking on your cabin TV....and it does bore lots of cruisers. it can be hard to get everyone to "shut up" for this kind of routine noon position report. And then we usually get the CD who tells us what is already in the daily schedule. We once had a terrific HAL CD who told us the first day that since everyone on the ship could read their daily schedule...he was not going to repeat the same info. Bravo for him.....but he is no longer a CD...and now sells future cruises.

 

Hank

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sue from Canada

Sue from Canada

Posted
Posted
Does it annoy you?

fFOR YEARS, i have strrained during Lunch in lido to listen to the Captain's Voi ce from tthe Bridge announement but people have no sense of respec for the Captaini, or their fellow guests and cannott sttay quiet or at least lower their screamingg voices for a few minutes so we can listten to what the Captain has to say Do they not know bettter but do not care to bother with courtesy? i ddoubt I am the only one who wants to listen to the Cpttain and cannot. Any suggestions how to 'gently' get hem to let us listen?

 

I totally agree with you. One can rarely hear any of the announcements from public venues on the ship.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ArtsyCraftsy

ArtsyCraftsy

Posted
Posted
We could not hear any announcements in our stateroom on our recent Oosterdam cruise, unless I held the door open.

 

igraf

 

It may work this way only on the Amsterdam (I don't know because the Amsterdam is the only cruise ship I've ever been on), but I could hear all the announcements in my cabin on my cruise in September by tuning the television to the channel that broadcast the bow camera (around 39 or 40, as I recall). I could often hear the muffled beginning of the announcement from the hallway or veranda and quickly tune to the bow camera, where it was broadcast via the televsion's speakers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Happily@Sea

Happily@Sea

Posted
Posted
It may work this way only on the Amsterdam (I don't know because the Amsterdam is the only cruise ship I've ever been on), but I could hear all the announcements in my cabin on my cruise in September by tuning the television to the channel that broadcast the bow camera (around 39 or 40, as I recall). I could often hear the muffled beginning of the announcement from the hallway or veranda and quickly tune to the bow camera, where it was broadcast via the televsion's speakers.

 

Wait until she gets the interactive TVs , then try to get it in your cabin. Good luck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
RedneckBob

RedneckBob

Posted
Posted

Quiet Please ! The noise is so deafening on this thread it's hard for me to read the post. (Did I get your attention) :D

 

Well I have a fail proof plan to get people to be quiet and listen to the Captain at noon. Here goes. I'm fixing to board the Eurodam on Sunday. Once I am on the boat I will go right to the Bridge to talk with our Captain; even though I don't like to socialize with the hired help. I will tell the Captain try this on for size to get people's attention at noon. Mr. Captain, try this announcement.

 

"Attention, Attention, please. For all Holland America passengers, they will be in 5 minutes a "Blue Light Special" on Deck 4, t shirts half off, drinks half off".

 

Wait a second. Everyone will ask at the noisy Lido Restuarant, "What did he just say" causing more noise.

 

Well, I tried to help.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
TAD2005

TAD2005

Posted
Posted
Wait until she gets the interactive TVs , then try to get it in your cabin. Good luck!

 

Good luck is not needed with the new interactive TV's. Simply select the "Live TV" tab, then scroll over to the Aft Camera. All announcements are heard there from your TV.

 

Also, for other posts, the Captain is not hired for his public speaking abilities, he is hired for his nautical experience and ability to manage a huge staff. I am not disappointed if the captain is not a comedian on the PA announcements. Most of the time, his short, noon announcements involve some nautical trivia, a position report, weather report, distances traveled, and, occasionally, announcements concerning possible rough seas later in the day where the promenade deck will be closed and other precautions. In the past, cruise lines have been criticized for too many PA announcements. So now they cut them back to a noon report from the bridge, and people still blow them off as trivial and unnecessary. But if they didn't hear the announcement about rough seas, then they complain that this should have been announced multiple times during the day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Lizzie68

Lizzie68

Posted
Posted
Good luck is not needed with the new interactive TV's. Simply select the "Live TV" tab, then scroll over to the Aft Camera. All announcements are heard there from your TV.

 

<snip>

.

 

It didn't work that way on the NA earlier this year - we tried, and had to resort to opening the cabin door to hear the noon-time Captain's talk. The only time this system worked for announcements was for narration through the Panama, and Glacier Bay.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Happily@Sea

Happily@Sea

Posted
Posted
It didn't work that way on the NA earlier this year - we tried, and had to resort to opening the cabin door to hear the noon-time Captain's talk. The only time this system worked for announcements was for narration through the Panama, and Glacier Bay.

 

Exactly what I was talking about. I even asked at front desk, audio not available on TVs. This was Feb - so it might have been added by now, that I wouldn't know. I will try next month to see if it is once again available.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing
  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Cruise Critic News & Features
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...