Rare 3rdGenCunarder Posted November 7, 2019 #1 Share Posted November 7, 2019 There are changes being made in the Holland America Group. I don't recognize names involved, except for Orlando Ashford. It appears that some functions that were done for the whole group are now going to be handled by each brand separately. HAL sales execs are out and Mr Ashford will be overseeing the North American sales team. Maybe he'll take a look at the website and see what we've all been dealing with! https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/featured/paul-goodwin-is-leaving-in-holland-america-group-changes/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncientWanderer Posted November 7, 2019 #2 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Glad to see some shake-up. Things have been rocky lately and perhaps things will smooth out a bit. Cautiously optimistic. 😊 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rucrazy Posted November 7, 2019 #3 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Sounds like more money saving cuts, this time at the corporate level. Just my read.. Joseph 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted November 7, 2019 #4 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Hmmm - I don't know if this is for the better or worse? I guess, time will tell. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Kruizers Posted November 7, 2019 #5 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Guess we all will just have to wait and see if these are good changes in the Holland America Group. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Himself Posted November 7, 2019 #6 Share Posted November 7, 2019 If Orlando has a new job who will run HAL? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare *Miss G* Posted November 7, 2019 #7 Share Posted November 7, 2019 Brands will assume more direct management of certain areas Several departments are being restructured to more efficiently manage operations and to give the individual brands more direct management of on-board revenue and other guest-facing areas of their business that were previously managed in a shared services model, a company spokeswoman said. ====================== Hmm. ^^Very interesting statement. So many things could go well — or not — with this model. As I have no inside knowledge it’s difficult to determine if this is a good thing or a bad thing for HAL. Being a glass-half-full kind of person I look forward to positive results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sppunk Posted November 7, 2019 #8 Share Posted November 7, 2019 50 minutes ago, Himself said: If Orlando has a new job who will run HAL? Just adding charges, he remains as president. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevenseasnomad Posted November 7, 2019 #9 Share Posted November 7, 2019 1 hour ago, sppunk said: Just adding charges, he remains as president. Is this good? For some of us, he hasn't run HAL that well, so they're giving him more responsibility? Doesn't make sense to me, but time will tell. BTW, I received a Celebrity mailer today, which advertises their newest ship, the 100 guest Flora. HAL gets rid of its smallest ship, and Celebrity adds a ship that carries substantially fewer passengers. Go figure. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAD2005 Posted November 7, 2019 #10 Share Posted November 7, 2019 2 hours ago, Himself said: If Orlando has a new job who will run HAL? Your comment assumes that Ashford has been running HAL in the past. He has, but it is more like ruining, not running !! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted November 7, 2019 #11 Share Posted November 7, 2019 7 minutes ago, sevenseasnomad said: BTW, I received a Celebrity mailer today, which advertises their newest ship, the 100 guest Flora. HAL gets rid of its smallest ship, and Celebrity adds a ship that carries substantially fewer passengers. Go figure. Yup. HAL missed the boat IMO. And since the person in charge was on that ship for a very few days and didn’t like it when he heard that the cruisers on board loved this ship, it was pretty obvious what his direction was. He’s missed the boat, too, IMO. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkacruiser Posted November 8, 2019 #12 Share Posted November 8, 2019 I surely appreciate the OP posting this news. Thanks! Without much serious thought about these changes, the changes seem to have a $$ connection and nothing concerning the guest experience on HAL. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iancal Posted November 8, 2019 #13 Share Posted November 8, 2019 My read is poor sales...missing sales and revenue targets requires a change. And they made it. Long overdue based on the rather sad state of their in house sales tool- their website. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxmantoo Posted November 8, 2019 #14 Share Posted November 8, 2019 11 hours ago, iancal said: My read is poor sales...missing sales and revenue targets requires a change. And they made it. Long overdue based on the rather sad state of their in house sales tool- their website. I sincerely believe some of the blame for poor sales in the last few years can be attributed directly to very poor operational decisions taken by the gentleman they have just put in charge of North American sales. 🙄 Am I the only one thinking things will get worse before getting better? Just saying ... 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rucrazy Posted November 8, 2019 #15 Share Posted November 8, 2019 10 minutes ago, taxmantoo said: Am I the only one thinking things will get worse before getting better? Just saying ... No... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Himself Posted November 8, 2019 #16 Share Posted November 8, 2019 15 hours ago, sppunk said: Just adding charges, he remains as president. Oh Well.....………... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iancal Posted November 8, 2019 #17 Share Posted November 8, 2019 (edited) I believe that HAL has some major challenges to overcome. I doubt very much whether it is all left up to HAL. No doubt Carnival Corp is providing a certain amount of direction when it comes to their profit and balance sheets, including capital spend. Like any other subsidiary of a larger corporation I have no doubt that HAL is getting a certain amount of direction and 'help' from the parent. That direction, help, and oversight no doubt increases on any of the subsidiary cruise lines if they miss their financial, operational, or growth targets. I would not assume that Mr. Ashford has a free hand to run the business as he wishes. Edited November 8, 2019 by iancal 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveOKC Posted November 8, 2019 #18 Share Posted November 8, 2019 IMO. a shakeup is needed. Eliminate some of stupid recent ideas (messing with the Crows Nests for example). 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncientWanderer Posted November 8, 2019 #19 Share Posted November 8, 2019 I think odds are that this will be a positive move for the customer. HAL has been stuck recently in a self-defeating spiral. The ships I've been on have actually been quite full -- of people who paid last minute for a cheap cruise, and then to turn a profit HAL had to necessarily cut out a lot of stuff -- which leads to more bad reviews, bad brand image and selling more last-minute cheap cruises. That's a bad cycle. And we're always complaining here about lack of consistency across the brand. They can fix that. Whatever their organization chart has been lately, it hasn't been very effective. Good news that there is a shake-up to set things right. It really couldn't continue the way it was. Thumbs up and will follow along with interest. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TAD2005 Posted November 9, 2019 #20 Share Posted November 9, 2019 I agree that the website fiasco is a major contributor to HAL's problems. But when the website fails you, one option is to call Seattle for the answers. Unfortunately, the answers you get from agents in Seattle vary all over the place depending on which agent you get. It seems that the policies set by Seattle many times are completely different to actual practice onboard. One glaring example is the change of the SBP to $11 per drink max price. Some agents in Seattle are still telling guests that it is $9, a policy that changed last April. And some bartenders and waiters onboard are still stuck in the $9 world. Policy direction should come from the top, and everyone, even a Lido bar waiter should be totally trained and updated on the current policy. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ski ww Posted November 9, 2019 #21 Share Posted November 9, 2019 Sounds like interesting times ahead for HAL, only time well tell. Here's hoping for the best. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NordicPrince Posted November 9, 2019 #22 Share Posted November 9, 2019 On 11/7/2019 at 6:41 PM, sevenseasnomad said: Is this good? For some of us, he hasn't run HAL that well, so they're giving him more responsibility? Doesn't make sense to me, but time will tell. BTW, I received a Celebrity mailer today, which advertises their newest ship, the 100 guest Flora. HAL gets rid of its smallest ship, and Celebrity adds a ship that carries substantially fewer passengers. Go figure. The Flora is a very specialized location ship (boat) used in places like the Galapagos where Celebrity already has a presence. It's not a place where HAL does business. I know many are upset about the sale of the Prinsendam, but honestly it was an old and small ship. You don't know what the operational costs were. The only way you can justify smaller ships like the ones Viking is building (47,000 tons) is to charge sky high prices. The cheapest price I saw for 14 day Viking trip to Europe in the lowest category Veranda was $4500 plus $1000 for airfare. Of course for that you get a ship with only Verandas, an included excursion in every port, wine and beer at lunch and dinner. Can the HAL model support that? The question for HAL is what are you and where are you going? The advantage HAL has IMO is better itineraries on longer voyages of 14-20+ days. What size ships you have to build that can support that is the question. Traditional HAL enthusiasts like the smaller ships. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare cruisemom42 Posted November 9, 2019 #23 Share Posted November 9, 2019 7 minutes ago, NordicPrince said: Traditional HAL enthusiasts like the smaller ships. Traditional HAL enthusiasts also like lower prices based on much I read here. How to make these two competing items meet is the dilemma HAL faces. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfred Posted November 9, 2019 #24 Share Posted November 9, 2019 those people sacked weren't making the top or bottom line number - that is why they are gone The bigger picture for HAL is what is the marketing strategy ? Who do they want on board and how do they get profitable. You ask most people (at least that I know) what about HAL as a cruise and the response is not great. Old, boring, too traditional I see many people here moaning about the old HAL going away, but that included a lot of free stuff. Cruiselines don't make money off of free stuff. They make money from casino, spa, drinks and speciality food. they have to get people on board that want to spend money for that. with the advent of $billion dollar boats, pax who sit on the deck with a blanket are not a target market. Viking does have a good business model and I think that HAL would love to get some of that 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boatdrill Posted November 9, 2019 #25 Share Posted November 9, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, NordicPrince said: Traditional HAL enthusiasts like the smaller ships. The smaller ships are nice, and preferable to mega ships. However my first impression of the Statendam many years ago (my first small HAL ship) was that it felt very enclosed. I called it "the indoor ship". I was used to the light, airy feeling and openess of the Crystal ships. However the size and other negative attributes (IMHO) of the NS and Koningsdam will keep me from ever considering them. Hopefully HAL has a new small ship in the pipeline. Edited November 9, 2019 by Boatdrill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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