Single thread - New website issues and discussions

[syesmar]

. . . I am always checking to see if pricing has dropped. Today I tried to check but the entire cruise was missing on the HAL website. I checked the website for one of the big box stores to see if maybe it was sold out. Nope...plenty of room. I called HAL and they couldn't find the cruise either. . . .

 

I have had this happen a number of times, especially on the "new" website. Sometimes I have to completely narrow my search to length of days, date and the ship and sometimes it pulls up the cruise I'm looking for. The Search Engine on the "new" site has a lot of glitches. I fear HAL will lose revenue because not all of their sailings are appearing in a search and sometimes a potential guest has to try workarounds just to get the desired sailing to appear. :o

[bEwAbG]

I was using my iPhone on the ship to research future cruises and kept running into the missing cruises issue. The filters sometimes filter out legitimate trips. Like filtering on "Caribbean" and getting no results for February 2019. Really? I ended up booking a future cruise deposit instead and told the future cruise people why I wasn't prepared to book an actual trip. They did this redesign to make it work on mobile devices yet I couldn't use my mobile device to do what I needed to do to make a decision.

[RuthC]

presuming you mean how to see a list of available cabins...............

 

select a cruise then select 'view itinerary'

select 'book now'

select 'continue'

scroll down and select 'Edit Stateroom details'

select 'You select your stateroom'

the left side column now shows Staterooms, Section and Deck.

First you need to select the category of stateroom, so select 'edit' and scroll across to the category of room you want.

then select 'Next Step' (this is the most important bit as you must update the data by using Next Step after you change any selection)

again select the category and hit 'Next Step'

The price at the top RH side of the screen should change to reflect the price of your chosen category and the label should show your chosen category.

Next select the section (Aft, Fwd, Mid) and again select 'Next Step'

This will offer you the available decks which have your selected category available, so next select a deck and select 'Next Step'

This will give you the visual of the available rooms on the selected deck, within the section of the ship, within the category of room.

 

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat!

Really??? What a PITA! I don't have that many years left to live to be wasting it doing all that.

It wasn't so long ago I could just click on a cabin category and have a choice of them selecting my cabin or entering my choice in a field in the same page. If the cabin wasn't available, I could just keep entering until I found one that was available. Very simple, very easy.

 

I think a better idea is to just go through deckplans (I still have paper copies), select several cabins in order of preference, then call and have their staff check availability for me.

Maybe if their paid staff was kept so busy doing what we should be able to do ourselves, and not making the company money while so occupied, HAL would get their IT staff to produce a better website.

[puli]

Really??? What a PITA! I don't have that many years left to live to be wasting it doing all that.

It wasn't so long ago I could just click on a cabin category and have a choice of them selecting my cabin or entering my choice in a field in the same page. If the cabin wasn't available, I could just keep entering until I found one that was available. Very simple, very easy.

 

I think a better idea is to just go through deckplans (I still have paper copies), select several cabins in order of preference, then call and have their staff check availability for me.

Maybe if their paid staff was kept so busy doing what we should be able to do ourselves, and not making the company money while so occupied, HAL would get their IT staff to produce a better website.

I so wish there was a "like" button one could click on this web site....maybe also a "not happy" one as well. so many posts I would like to support (or perhaps disagree with) without having to go through the entire posting process...but for this posting it was worth it!! I agree wholeheartedly RuthC.!

[GarySuzy]

We recently got a new lap top, when I use it I get the new web site. However, if I use my old lap top I get the old web site; that means they are still supporting both web sites. So I am doing any research using my old lap top.

[*Miss G*]

“Favorites” Show MY Number of Selections for ALL Computer Users, But Empty

 

Anyone else have issues with the new website’s “Favorites”? The other day, I entered a few favorites on the "new" website. A friend was with me and she logged in to browse and compare fares, as well. “My” favorites showed up in her account. The same with my husband! Neither of them have added any favorites to the "new" site and both were previously zero prior to my addition. Yes, we were all using the same computer and were in Incognito mode. I have deleted cookies, cleared browsing history, but now when we log in we still see the “11” by the Favorites “heart” but when clicked on nothing shows, not even for my account where the favorites supposedly are. It’s really odd! And what's weirder, is the 11 Hearts shows up on the Mobile site when they use a phone to browse! Any explanations or similar experiences?

 

Now have the full-on version of what you're experiencing. My favorites have completely disappeared and are now showing up in my husband's account. Well, the count of hearts anyway. His has 6 hearts (with no content) when he used to have none. I now have 0 hearts (with no content) when I used to have six. :o

[AncientWanderer]

Really??? What a PITA! I don't have that many years left to live to be wasting it doing all that.

It wasn't so long ago I could just click on a cabin category and have a choice of them selecting my cabin or entering my choice in a field in the same page. If the cabin wasn't available, I could just keep entering until I found one that was available. Very simple, very easy.

 

I think a better idea is to just go through deckplans (I still have paper copies), select several cabins in order of preference, then call and have their staff check availability for me.

Maybe if their paid staff was kept so busy doing what we should be able to do ourselves, and not making the company money while so occupied, HAL would get their IT staff to produce a better website.

 

Yes...very helpful to have the deck plan at the ready. I pulled it up on my iPad while I was booking on my computer. I didn't find the categories to be well-defined in the new booking process and there were lots of opportunities for mistakes to be made. For the guarantee staterooms, they just gave different price levels, but the description of staterooms at each price level was exactly the same. I guess the assumption is you will be guaranteed a better room if you pay more, but that's too ill-defined for me. (I'm sure they will straighten this out.)

 

Anyhow, yes, deck plan in hand so you know what you're picking. You can still enter a specific stateroom and check availability. I did this a bunch of times until I got something I was happy with.

[KroozNut]

Really??? What a PITA! I don't have that many years left to live to be wasting it doing all that.

It wasn't so long ago I could just click on a cabin category and have a choice of them selecting my cabin or entering my choice in a field in the same page. If the cabin wasn't available, I could just keep entering until I found one that was available. Very simple, very easy.

 

I think a better idea is to just go through deckplans (I still have paper copies), select several cabins in order of preference, then call and have their staff check availability for me.

Maybe if their paid staff was kept so busy doing what we should be able to do ourselves, and not making the company money while so occupied, HAL would get their IT staff to produce a better website.

 

Ruth, I invite you to join us in the 21st century. Please come with us, and I promise to hold your hand if that will help! ;)

[MajMom96]

I so wish there was a "like" button one could click on this web site....maybe also a "not happy" one as well. so many posts I would like to support (or perhaps disagree with) without having to go through the entire posting process...but for this posting it was worth it!! I agree wholeheartedly RuthC.!

 

 

 

There is. A booking agent told me that the best way to make our dislikes about the website changes known is to send feedback directly to HAL. The feedback “button” is located on the homepage, lower right. It’s a small pop up menu when you scroll over it. It’s something many of us just ignore, but now would be the time to start overwhelming them with negative feedback on their website changes!

[*Miss G*]

There is. A booking agent told me that the best way to make our dislikes about the website changes known is to send feedback directly to HAL. The feedback “button” is located on the homepage, lower right. It’s a small pop up menu when you scroll over it. It’s something many of us just ignore, but now would be the time to start overwhelming them with negative feedback on their website changes!

 

I believe the OP is talking about the "Like" feature (for posts) which is turned off on Cruise Critic.

[MajMom96]

I believe the OP is talking about the "Like" feature (for posts) which is turned off on Cruise Critic.

 

 

 

My mistake.

[puli]

I believe the OP is talking about the "Like" feature (for posts) which is turned off on Cruise Critic.

Correct!

[*Miss G*]

Ruth, I invite you to join us in the 21st century. Please come with us, and I promise to hold your hand if that will help! ;)

 

From her comment it appears Ruth is doing just fine in the 21st century. It's the web site which could stand some refinement. Today's consumer has high expectations and will quickly move on should the task prove frustrating and time-consuming.

[Tinknock50]

I am doing fine with the new format now that I am used to it.

 

But a very weird thing happened yesterday. It showed all the days of the week off from the dates for our upcoming cruise. It showed the 16th of June as a Monday when it's a Saturday, for example.:rolleyes: Threw me off for a bit because the hours are longer on Friday and Saturday at the BC Museum in Victoria.

 

It is fixed today.

[syesmar]

I have noticed the promo emails I received this week from HAL link to the old site when clicked on. When I independently access the site, I am taken to the new one. But clicking from the emails sends me to the old site. I found that interesting.

[old mike]

MajMum96, is correct, there is a feedback pop up in the lower right quadrant of the home page of the HAL site. Click it and you can give feedback.

[Vict0riann]

My feedback consisted of telling our PCC at HAL how I hated the new website, when she called to welcome us home from our latest cruise. She said the staff have difficulties with it, too, as they often have to do a search for a customer, and it takes much longer to find anything on the new site. (I thought of giving her the link to the old site, but decided not to!:evilsmile:)

[KroozNut]

From her comment it appears Ruth is doing just fine in the 21st century. It's the web site which could stand some refinement. Today's consumer has high expectations and will quickly move on should the task prove frustrating and time-consuming.

 

I interpreted her comment as pretty much lamenting that the new site is not like the old one, which she was comfortable with. In other words complaining about the technology upgrades and redesign of the website's functionality, user interface, etc. which she is clearly not comfortable with.

 

I am a 'consumer with high expectations', and have had no issues at all with any aspect of the new site. I like the new site. Like any other change in our lives, there is always a period of learning the nuances of the new change and becoming comfortable with it. Some folks are reluctant to any change, and almost always prefer 'the way it used to be'.

[Fouremco]

I interpreted her comment as pretty much lamenting that the new site is not like the old one, which she was comfortable with. In other words complaining about the technology upgrades and redesign of the website's functionality, user interface, etc. which she is clearly not comfortable with.

 

I am a 'consumer with high expectations', and have had no issues at all with any aspect of the new site. I like the new site. Like any other change in our lives, there is always a period of learning the nuances of the new change and becoming comfortable with it. Some folks are reluctant to any change, and almost always prefer 'the way it used to be'.

Well, goodie for you! The new website is perfect and you've had no issues. (y)

 

On the other hand, this thread has over 600 posts, many quite critical, and there are many, many other threads dealing with issues experienced by other users. I'm quite sure that any neutral observer reading all of these threads would come to the conclusion that the website continues to suffer from a number of problems. You and the IT team can bury your heads in the sand and see nothing wrong, but don't be surprised when others express a contrary opinion.

[Vict0riann]

I'm trying, I'm trying!:) Actually, I have two bookmarks - "HAL" and "Old HAL", and today I am getting the same website on both - and it's "Old HAL". Anyone else?

[RuthC]

I interpreted her comment as pretty much lamenting that the new site is not like the old one, which she was comfortable with. In other words complaining about the technology upgrades and redesign of the website's functionality, user interface, etc. which she is clearly not comfortable with.

Nope. Not saying that at all. You're projecting.

 

What I am saying is that I am not going to go out of my way to make a website that isn't efficient work for me. I will let the HAL people do that work for me. I have better things to do with my time than click through screen after screen after screen when once should have done it.

 

And for the record, I wasn't happy with the last edition of the HAL website, either. Several years ago, when it was efficient, I liked it.

KISS

[KroozNut]

when it was efficient, I liked it.

 

I would say here that 'efficient' is in the eyes of the user, so to speak. ;)

[boards]

I would say here that 'efficient' is in the eyes of the user, so to speak. ;)

 

Delete

[syesmar]

I'm trying, I'm trying!:) Actually, I have two bookmarks - "HAL" and "Old HAL", and today I am getting the same website on both - and it's "Old HAL". Anyone else?

Good for you! That had been working for me until a couple weeks ago. What’s working now if I want the “old” site is to access it from one of their Emails.

[mame42]

HELP ! I get the old site on Edge and the new site on Chrome. However, for the last two days, the new site will not let me log on. A message says my username and password do not match, but when I try the Forgot your password, it just recycles back to the first message. This morning, the old site does not come up on Edge, just a blank page. Color me frustrated...