RedneckBob confronts "Great White" on South Pacific cruise review; Eurodam

[DaveOKC]

We were on the Eurodam cruise right after this one and had to add a couple of comments:

 

Disembarkation was great on ours - walked off 15 minutes ahead of schedule and Customs was merely showing them our passports.  Got to the airport before 9 am!

 

The Tamarind dining was great - decided to go again later in the week.

 

No $10 charge for extra entree was mentioned and when I asked a couple of dining stewards about it they frowned and asked "how did you know about that?".  They seemed to be very happy that it was over with.

 

The ship was in great shape and we really enjoyed the cruise (except for being too short at 7 days).  The cabin was very "fresh" and everything worked properly all week long.

 

We had Anytime dining and did not experience any lines (around 5:15 PM) any evening except for the first one.

[RedneckBob]

20 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

We were on the Eurodam cruise right after this one and had to add a couple of comments:

 

Disembarkation was great on ours - walked off 15 minutes ahead of schedule and Customs was merely showing them our passports.  Got to the airport before 9 am!

 

The Tamarind dining was great - decided to go again later in the week.

 

No $10 charge for extra entree was mentioned and when I asked a couple of dining stewards about it they frowned and asked "how did you know about that?".  They seemed to be very happy that it was over with.

 

The ship was in great shape and we really enjoyed the cruise (except for being too short at 7 days).  The cabin was very "fresh" and everything worked properly all week long.

 

We had Anytime dining and did not experience any lines (around 5:15 PM) any evening except for the first one.

 

Thanks for your feedback. 

 

As I may have mentioned earlier, disembarkation on these long cruises to the South Pacific are controlled chaos; mainly due to so many non US citizens having to go through Customs on the ship before anyone can get off.

As far as Anytime Dining; there was always a line, and sometimes a long line for the opening at 5:15 PM. In fact people would line up so early, around 4:40 PM that HAL opened the doors at 5:05 PM almost every nite. Since we had a reserved table, we just walked in when it opened. Never got in line.

[DaveOKC]

18 minutes ago, RedneckBob said:

 

Thanks for your feedback. 

 

As I may have mentioned earlier, disembarkation on these long cruises to the South Pacific are controlled chaos; mainly due to so many non US citizens having to go through Customs on the ship before anyone can get off.

As far as Anytime Dining; there was always a line, and sometimes a long line for the opening at 5:15 PM. In fact people would line up so early, around 4:40 PM that HAL opened the doors at 5:05 PM almost every nite. Since we had a reserved table, we just walked in when it opened. Never got in line.

 

I am sure that your disembarkation was MUCH more difficult than ours, since we were on a 7 day closed loop cruise (to Mexico) with mostly American passengers (mostly from Ca and AZ it seemed).  

 

They also opened the open dining around 5:05 PM for us - I am sure that helped the lines.  But even when we left (around 6:30) there was only a few people in line.

 

[kevingastreich]

I'm glad the $10.00 surcharge for an extra entree is now history but those who say the person who thought of it should be fired are being a little harsh.  Maybe this person has had many more good ideas for HAL than bad ones?  I'm guessing more than one person was involved in the decision.  Getting fired for attempting to help your company's bottom line is a sure way to lose good people.

[TAD2005]

23 minutes ago, kevingastreich said:

I'm glad the $10.00 surcharge for an extra entree is now history but those who say the person who thought of it should be fired are being a little harsh.  Maybe this person has had many more good ideas for HAL than bad ones?  I'm guessing more than one person was involved in the decision.  Getting fired for attempting to help your company's bottom line is a sure way to lose good people.

I am one of the posts that suggested that the bonehead who thought up this plan should be dumped along with the plan.   

Anyone who pushes (and yes, it probably was a group decision in Seattle) a plan that is almost certainly going to generate such bad press and paint the company as "cheap", even though they tried (and failed) to couch this idea as being good for the passengers because it would eliminate food waste, did not consider all of the possible problems.  As you said, all they saw was $$$ for the company and a nice fat bonus for themselves.   Most of the food waste occurs in the Lido market, as explained to me by the Eurodam's food and beverage manager when I asked.   This plan, no matter who or how many conceived it, and pushed it into a test for 30 days, did much more harm to the company's image than it gained.   Even the waiters on the Eurodam (March 9 to April 6) were joking about it and said they would not enforce it if a guest asked for a 2nd main course, even on lobster tail nights.

[G&G]

On April 21, 2019 at 6:31 AM, RedneckBob said:

 

Thanks KK! 

 

Actually I will be cruising on the Ruby Princess next week to Alaska and will be in Victoria on the same day as the Eurodam. While on board the Eurodam a couple of weeks ago I went to Guest Services and asked if I could board the ship in Victoria. The GS rep asked me, "Will you have any friends on board", which I replied, "the entire staff is my friend". I said I would like to dine at the Tamarind as long as the Ruby Princess is not sailing away into the sunset.

 

Hope you are able to board the Eurodam and if you dine at Tamarind, say hello to Fredy.

[ithaca gal]

6 minutes ago, G&G said:

 

Hope you are able to board the Eurodam and if you dine at Tamarind, say hello to Fredy.

Say hello to Fredy from Mrs. Liu!

Edited April 23, 2019 by ithaca gal
Spelling

[RMLincoln]

The comments about the Lido being where most of the food waste occurs made me remember that on my first cruise in 1970 with my parents on the Home Lines Oceanic there was no buffet/cafeteria for general meals.  One ate all meals in the dining room - open seating, for breakfast and lunch, reserved seating for dinner.  There was a midnight buffet each night which was fairly extravagant.  I don't know when the shift began to have buffets available most of the day up to 24 hrs a day for some lines but it sure got popular and brought the crowds in!  HAL already limits the hours for the Lido more than most other lines, so I guess we'll have to stay tuned to see what is next.  m--

[laddoos]

On 4/21/2019 at 6:31 AM, RedneckBob said:

 

Thanks KK! 

 

Actually I will be cruising on the Ruby Princess next week to Alaska and will be in Victoria on the same day as the Eurodam. While on board the Eurodam a couple of weeks ago I went to Guest Services and asked if I could board the ship in Victoria. The GS rep asked me, "Will you have any friends on board", which I replied, "the entire staff is my friend". I said I would like to dine at the Tamarind as long as the Ruby Princess is not sailing away into the sunset.

We loved Tamarand..Ate there 4 times always great