The "little things" that have disappeared?

[BJzink]

Just wondering if the "little things" that those of us who have sailed HAL - BO- (Before Orlando) have noticed if they are still in place on the 2 new ships and have been deleted on the older ones.  Like - nice flower arrangements all over the ship, orchids on each table, some ships not having chocolates on the bed, cruise hostess, port talks & EXC guides, Yum-yum man on some cruises/ships, libraries, Crows Nest all but destroyed, entertainment (not just singers/dancers), can't remember other things that have been reported.  I am unhappy to hear about each thing being taken away since I am taking my daughter & son-in-law on a cruise next year and have told them previously about nice things that apparently have disappeared.  

[Krazy Kruizers]

Special nights in the dining room -- like Dutch night.  The ladies in the bar/lounges used to dress as Dutch ladies.  Crudites, Gouda cheese bites as well as hot appetizers have disappeared.

 

Loved lining up on formal nights before heading into the first show of the cruise to meet the captain.  We were given programs for the shows!!

[G&G]

This thread sounds like a continuation of the "Why do you hate HAL" thread!

[oaktreerb]

We had orchids on the tables and large fresh floral arrangements, a yum yum man, and a lovely library on the Maasdam 2019.  Also the chocolates,  towel animals, and lots of EXC talks.  And Baked Alaska on the last day.

Edited September 26, 2019 by oaktreerb

[RuthC]

10 minutes ago, oaktreerb said:

We had orchids on the tables and large fresh floral arrangements, a yum yum man, and a lovely library on the Maasdam 2019.

I didn't. Also on the Maasdam in 2019. June & July, as a matter of fact, so fairly recently. 

[oaktreerb]

4 minutes ago, RuthC said:

I didn't. Also on the Maasdam in 2019. June & July, as a matter of fact, so fairly recently. 

We were on the May-June itinerary.  Good cruise, poor weather...., and I hated tendering in Juneau and Ketchikan.

 

Each of these 21 day itineraries was unique it seems.

Edited September 26, 2019 by oaktreerb

[kazu]

30 minutes ago, Krazy Kruizers said:

Special nights in the dining room -- like Dutch night.  The ladies in the bar/lounges used to dress as Dutch ladies. 

 

That was gone long before Orlando - a number of years ago 😉 

 

One thing I really enjoyed and miss are the cold soups in the MDR.

[BJzink]

38 minutes ago, G&G said:

This thread sounds like a continuation of the "Why do you hate HAL" thread!

As my first sentence said - I wondered if the new ships have the "little things that have been deleted on the older ones?" And, I don't hate HAL - have 3 cruises scheduled in the next 12 months......

[Shmoo here]

The crew singing "Love In Any Language" the final night.

 

Trivia (and like games).  Our last cruise there were only 2 trivia sessions like every other day, and one of them was always during early dinner seating.

 

 

[cruisemom42]

The 'little' things that have disappeared.....  Does the Prinsendam count? 

[sevenseasnomad]

13 minutes ago, BJzink said:

As my first sentence said - I wondered if the new ships have the "little things that have been deleted on the older ones?" And, I don't hate HAL - have 3 cruises scheduled in the next 12 months......

Having cruised on the two newest ships recently, I can say that the "little things" which made HAL a stand-out aren't on these ships either.  Flower arrangements were a joke, just two or three flowers instead of the massive arrangements we used to see.  In fact, I complained about it to the Front Desk, not that it will do any good.  I noted it in the survey, not that it will do any good.  I guess I should write to Seattle.  Would that do any good?  Probably not. 

 

As for the cold fruit soups, I have to face it, they simply weren't offered at all.  On our last cruise, I requested several (peach and blueberry) prior to leaving home through Ships' Services.  What arrived at the table was not edible.  The stuff had been frozen and had not thawed completely, so there was ice floating in it.  There was no taste.  I never asked them to bring the second soup.

 

One thing the old ships have that the Pinnacle Class lacks is the marvelously wide Promenade Deck.  This lack, to me, is one of the biggest detractions of the larger vessels.

 

Yes, a lot of things that we used to enjoy have now gone the way of the dinosaurs.  We obviously still enjoy cruising with HAL, or we'd be taking our $$ elsewhere.

[ricka47]

This is common on all cruise lines - they all get worse not better.  How much are we willing to pay to get those things back?  I'd guess that if all the stuff that was missing came back along with 10% overall price increase (or more), most of us wouldn't be booking HAL cruises.

 

We've recently started to sail HAL more (after 14 years away) because it is a better value than X or even RCI even without the Yum Yum man and the flowers.

[rafinmd]

39 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

The crew singing "Love In Any Language" the final night.

 

Trivia (and like games).  Our last cruise there were only 2 trivia sessions like every other day, and one of them was always during early dinner seating.

 

 

I have mixed feelings about that.  I miss “Love in any Language” but never had it on the last night.  I only remember it at the mass disembarkation briefing and while I miss the song I don’t miss the briefing.

 

Roy

[Shmoo here]

20 minutes ago, rafinmd said:

I have mixed feelings about that.  I miss “Love in any Language” but never had it on the last night.  I only remember it at the mass disembarkation briefing and while I miss the song I don’t miss the briefing.

 

Roy

Whenever it was, I wish they still did it.

[Tennessee Titan]

Here we go again...

Sorry I don't have access to the man beating the dead horse!

[rucrazy]

Just had a text chat with a friend who is working on the Volendam... Yum Yum man is MIA.. 

[Jareds_mommytoo]

32 minutes ago, Tennessee Titan said:

Here we go again...

Sorry I don't have access to the man beating the dead horse!

Just keep scrolling 

[kwb101]

1 hour ago, rucrazy said:

Just had a text chat with a friend who is working on the Volendam... Yum Yum man is MIA.. 

Ditto on Zuiderdam (at least as of last Tuesday). We really miss him, and the flowers on the tables in both the MDR and Lido. Woe is us.

[*Miss G*]

The bathrooms on the Pinnacle-class ships are a welcome improvement.  So are the large interactive TV’s.  I’d trade “the little things” for those two upgrades any day.

[Friend100]

A Library

[mcrcruiser]

2 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

The bathrooms on the Pinnacle-class ships are a welcome improvement.  So are the large interactive TV’s.  I’d trade “the little things” for those two upgrades any day.

We understand those are nice &we have enjoyed them on Koningsdam  ;however ,those do not cost the cruise line extra money in a booking  than previously  .What people here are saying are the little extras that once were there & no longer  now .Thus ,these are real  cost cut backs 

 

 Personally ,I am not concerned with no Yum Yum man  nor flowers on the MDR tables . But ,I am concerned with food quality ,food presentation &  food  service 

 

  

[mcrcruiser]

1 hour ago, Friend100 said:

A Library

Down load your own books on Kindle  .Much lighter  & you get exactly what you wanted to read 

[dockman]

spare me the kindle promo.....there is certainly something  still special in reading a paper book selected from an unpredictable library...i spend quite enough of my life looking at screens and enjoy the break a good paper library can provide...  

[Umbarger]

I think things have gone down hill ever since the Oprah thing happened.  

[T8NCruise]

5 hours ago, rucrazy said:

Just had a text chat with a friend who is working on the Volendam... Yum Yum man is MIA.. 

 

I believe we have the same friend!  He started off as a Yum Yum man, has worked his way up. 

 

On our last cruise there was just a cart with the goodies, and you had to serve yourself.  I really miss the Yum Yum man sounding the chimes to come for dinner, too.