Is HAL listening to Cruise Critic and FB comments?

[Cruzaholic41]

27 minutes ago, bEwAbG said:

 

I was thinking of the venues that are "quiet" when another show is on elsewhere, like having a solo pianist in the Queen's Lounge on NA while Billboard is doing their set down the hall.  Lots of possibilities with just a little creativity.

Exactly. They could easily have a piano playing in the Ocean Bar or a guitarist playing in the Crows Nest.  And better yet, have some sort of activity, like a game show, in any venue. Every other cruise line seems to be able to figure this out. 
 

Music Walk does get very stale after a few nights. 

[Ken the cruiser]

I'm curious. I know when we made 4 star awhile back it was nice to finally get free laundry, 50% off a wine package, 50% off specialty restaurants, and priority this and that. But HAL has recently decided within the past few years to retarget their entertainment strategy with the Music Walk to a more younger "drinking" crowd that likes to party and we're fine with that. It's their cruise line. As you can tell from my signature line, we have moved on. 

 

But why continue to complain about the direction HAL is taking, other than to maybe just vent your frustrations, and just find another cruise line or lines that better fit your budget and entertainment desires? There is Princess, Celebrity, Oceania, Azamara and dare I say Viking Ocean that are similar to HAL, but at the same time offer a wide range of entertainment strategies from "relaxing" (Oceania, Azamara and Viking Ocean) to multiple things to do including game shows around the ship on sea days (Princess and Celebrity) as well as pretty good production and guest entertainer shows in their main theaters in the evening. 

 

I'm just curious. What makes HAL's loyalty program such a draw that it keeps you coming back even when your entertainment tastes don't match up with their new Music Walk presentations?

[rucrazy]

1 minute ago, Ken the cruiser said:

I'm just curious. What makes HAL's loyalty program such a draw that it keeps you coming back 

For us we prefer longer cruises 30+ nights... & do not care for Princess...so our options are limited....

Joseph

[Aquahound]

3 hours ago, Cruzaholic41 said:

Exactly. They could easily have a piano playing in the Ocean Bar or a guitarist playing in the Crows Nest.  And better yet, have some sort of activity, like a game show, in any venue. Every other cruise line seems to be able to figure this out. 
 

Music Walk does get very stale after a few nights. 

 

That's what I've been saying all along.  There's nothing wrong with Music Walk itself.  What wrong is, it's your ONLY choice, every single night. 

 

Geez, just throw in some theme parties by the pool or something.  And no, Orange Party doesn't count because it's just another night in the BB King lounge. 

Edited December 10, 2019 by Aquahound

[qoap24]

Does anyone know where I can see copies of the dailies (sorry do not remember what HAL calls there daily newsletter) for any of the cruises that were for this past fall for New England? Or can you give me an idea of what types of shows they had? 

 

Currently, I am booked for a New England 2020 cruise on Amsterdam and I want to know what type of activities they have going on. I realize things can change by then, but if the entertainment is lacking as much as it was on NS in Europe, I will have to pass.

 

Because I have only cruised once on HAL I am not familiar with the production shows that are no more. I am not interested in going to BB King or listening to other's sing. Not my type of music or songs and definitely not my 24 years old type. 

 

One reason we have cruised so many times on NCL is because we enjoy their entertainment, but the last cruise we went on we could no longer handle the food. 

[Carol28]

Another response came today:

Mrs. Goodman, your feedback is extremely valuable to us, as it is through constructive suggestions that we will be able to maintain the high standards toward which we consistently work. Nonetheless, we understand that our offerings may not suit every traveler, and we do hope that no matter what cruise line you choose to sail in the future, you experience safe and enjoyable vacations at sea.

Thank you again for contacting our office and bringing your issues to our attention, we wish you all the best.

 

Special Advisor
Office of the President

 

I took out the name as I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to print it.

 

[MISTER 67]

On 12/9/2019 at 3:12 PM, Cruzaholic41 said:

HAL and I must have totally opposite ideas of what defines “best.”  

We love Music Walk, great entertainment every night. We had a great piano player and singer in Billboard last week on the NA by the name of Joey Yates. BB Kings was as good as ever. Just wish they would go back to the Production shows they had for years. 

[Cruzaholic41]

25 minutes ago, MISTER 67 said:

We love Music Walk, great entertainment every night. We had a great piano player and singer in Billboard last week on the NA by the name of Joey Yates. BB Kings was as good as ever. Just wish they would go back to the Production shows they had for years. 

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy the MW acts too. The point was, it’s that or nothing nowadays on HAL. 

[SargassoPirate]

2 hours ago, Carol28 said:

"Nonetheless, we understand that our offerings may not suit every traveler, and we do hope that no matter what cruise line you choose to sail in the future, you experience safe and enjoyable vacations at sea."

 

  That pretty much sums up any cruise line's market approach.  Fortunately, there are many cruise lines and many ships to choose from.  She Who Must Be Obeyed and I choose ships with a wrap around promenade, adults-only ships or when school is in session to reduce the number of feral children on board, comfortable standard balcony cabins, and an interesting itinerary.  We don't need over-amplified production shows and, for the most part, don't need to be entertained. 

[MISTER 67]

1 hour ago, Cruzaholic41 said:

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy the MW acts too. The point was, it’s that or nothing nowadays on HAL. 

That's why I said bring back the Production shows. The Mainstage is going to waste. 2 nights last week the Cruise Director gave lectures on the Caribbean and the History of HAL in the Mainstage, very informative but not for evening entertainment. 

[cruisemom42]

It's the strangest thing. For years on this board everyone has bemoaned the lackluster HAL production shows. 

 

Now all of a sudden once they are (largely) gone, seems like folks are coming out of the woodwork that actually enjoyed them.

 

<smh>

[Aquahound]

23 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

It's the strangest thing. For years on this board everyone has bemoaned the lackluster HAL production shows. 

 

Now all of a sudden once they are (largely) gone, seems like folks are coming out of the woodwork that actually enjoyed them.

 

<smh>

 

Not me.  I thought HAL's production shows were some of the worst at sea.  However, with every entertainment cutback, I wish they would roll back to the lesser degree of suck.  

 

Sorta like the HAL Cats.  I thought they were awful.  But at least they played in multiple venues and even during an evening lido party.  

 

I have fond memories of my Alaska Zuiderdam cruise.  The CD was a guy named Hamish.  Every night, there was some sort of different entertainment like a game show or dance party somewhere.  The night the HAL Cats played by the lido pool with the dome partially open was a lot of fun.  While that is still a standard on every line I've sailed, it's a bygone era on HAL.  

[BatchawanaBabe]

We just returned from a cruise to the ABC's on the Konigsdam, our first HAL cruise.  Originally we planned on booking with Celebrity but their price was $1,000 higher for a midship balcony cabin and they had fewer additional ports to visit.  

 

Hubby and I are in our late 60's and were very disappointed with the lack on entertainment, compared with Celebrity and Norwegian.  Their group of in-house entertainers consisted of 6 dancers - not one singer.  They brought in a magician and then a singer who was also a comedian.  Both were only so-so.  One night we enjoyed a movie under the stars, but they weren't shown every night and one night they were preempted by a football game.  We found Music Walk to have extremely loud music and there was a limited amount of seats.  So, we ended up watching movies in our cabin most nights.

 

We don't plan on booking any more cruises with HAL.

[cruisemom42]

9 hours ago, BatchawanaBabe said:

We just returned from a cruise to the ABC's on the Konigsdam, our first HAL cruise.  Originally we planned on booking with Celebrity but their price was $1,000 higher for a midship balcony cabin and they had fewer additional ports to visit.  

 

Hubby and I are in our late 60's and were very disappointed with the lack on entertainment, compared with Celebrity and Norwegian.  Their group of in-house entertainers consisted of 6 dancers - not one singer.  They brought in a magician and then a singer who was also a comedian.  Both were only so-so.  One night we enjoyed a movie under the stars, but they weren't shown every night and one night they were preempted by a football game.  We found Music Walk to have extremely loud music and there was a limited amount of seats.  So, we ended up watching movies in our cabin most nights.

 

We don't plan on booking any more cruises with HAL.

 

Thanks for posting. To me, your experience is a good example of the problem HAL is facing. You seem to represent a good target customer for HAL and were willing to give them a try based on cost compared to your usual cruise lines. 

 

However, low cost alone is not enough to make you book again, given the lack of entertainment comparable to what you are used to on Celebrity.

 

HAL really should be paying attention here.

 

[iancal]

Depending on their target market demographics, HAL might be far better off listening to focus groups rather than CC.    I have not got a clue what HAL's target market is or what their marketing strategy is.  Not certain that they do either.

 

I suspect that they compare booking stats, per person spend by revenue center, etc to their sister cruise lines under the Carnival Corp umbrella.  No doubt Carnival Corp. has established some sort of best practices and best in class operational, customer sat, and financial goals for these cruise lines.  It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall in the Corporate office to see how the 10 plus cruise lines stack up wiht each other.   And then see it broken down to the ship level at the cruise line level.

Edited December 13, 2019 by iancal

[3rdGenCunarder]

13 hours ago, BatchawanaBabe said:

We just returned from a cruise to the ABC's on the Konigsdam, our first HAL cruise.  Originally we planned on booking with Celebrity but their price was $1,000 higher for a midship balcony cabin and they had fewer additional ports to visit.  

 

Hubby and I are in our late 60's and were very disappointed with the lack on entertainment, compared with Celebrity and Norwegian.  Their group of in-house entertainers consisted of 6 dancers - not one singer.  They brought in a magician and then a singer who was also a comedian.  Both were only so-so.  One night we enjoyed a movie under the stars, but they weren't shown every night and one night they were preempted by a football game.  We found Music Walk to have extremely loud music and there was a limited amount of seats.  So, we ended up watching movies in our cabin most nights.

 

We don't plan on booking any more cruises with HAL.

 

This sounds exactly like my cruise on K'dam last winter. I caught up on a lot of Oscar contenders. Good movies, but pretty pathetic for cruise entertainment.

 

[cruisemom42]

38 minutes ago, iancal said:

I suspect that they compare booking stats, per person spend by revenue center, etc to their sister cruise lines under the Carnival Corp umbrella.  No doubt Carnival Corp. has established some sort of best practices and best in class operational, customer sat, and financial goals for these cruise lines.  It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall in the Corporate office to see how the 10 plus cruise lines stack up wiht each other.   And then see it broken down to the ship level at the cruise line level.

 

Wouldn't it be a goal to attract passengers from other cruise lines not under CCL umbrella, rather than cannibalizing from their own sales?

 

 

[iancal]

The point would be to attempt understand and emulate the success of the other cruise line members in those area(s) where they excel.  And to compare and contrast success points and those areas requirement improvement against the output of the focus groups. 

 

Perhaps look at entertainment.  Does moving away from stage shows to singers AND staffing up the bars and lounges increase liquer sales.  And if it does, what is the impact of time. Compare the hourly cash tapes between bars and lounges on ships that do this vs those that do not.   What demographics spend the most per hour or evening while in the lounge or bar?   What is the relationship between staffing levels in the bars or lounge to hourly sales numbers?  For all we know HAL may already be doing things like this, hence some of the changes that we may not understand.

 

 There are all sorts of stats that land based establishments pull off to improve and understand their business and their customer sat.   Cruise ships are  probably pulling this data as wall, or at least have the capacity to do so across all on board revenue centers.  No doubt, they do exactly the same for on line booking-fares, add on buys, and pre buys for excursions.  It is why well designed and well performing web sites have such a high ROI.

 

Lets face it, each of the cruise lines in the Carnival Group are competing with others in the group and others than are outside the group. When we are short listing it often comes down to HAL, Princess, and Celebrity.  I do not think that we are very different for other folks who are not overly loyal to one cruise line.

Edited December 13, 2019 by iancal

[RocketMan275]

1 hour ago, iancal said:

The point would be to attempt understand and emulate the success of the other cruise line members in those area(s) where they excel.  And to compare and contrast success points and those areas requirement improvement against the output of the focus groups. 

You're wasting your time trying to explain hospitality economics to those who have no idea of the trade-offs involved.