Orlando Ashford needs to resign now!

[nyceve]

If you love Holland America as much as most of us do.  Then, it seems to me, that you may agree that HAL needs new leadership at the top.

 

Mr. Ashford has mishandled this crisis in the most deplorable way possible. Silence.

 

I have not received a single email or any communication from HAL since cancelling my B2B cruise on March 9!  The only communication I have had are rote form emails (which I have seen all over the internet sent to others), responding to my pleas for information, that they cannot commit to anything in terms of our refunds.  This is not how a skilled leader handles a huge crisis. 

 

Mr. Ashford is the wrong person for this job.

 

Can you imagine Mr. Ashford leading HAL through this protracted crisis, when he can't even get emails sent to those of us owed huge refunds. He has demonstrated by his atrocious mishandling of the refunds to loyal customers, that he is NOT the person to oversee this company now or in the future.

 

He also owes every one of us a public apology.

[USN59-79]

Interesting that the OP thinks that Mr Ashfords most important job at this point is to ensure that they get a personal email explaining the exact date they will receive a refund.  I guess caring for the ships and their crews that are scattered around the World, dealing with the different countries varying requirements for docking and ensuring that supplies are sent to the right place after docking is refused, ensuring that all his employees are paid on time, deciding which cruises still need to be cancelled and which need to be modified for 2020 and 2021 and how to get that information to the public are all just minor concerns of his.

I saw him in action in Cambodia in mid February when he flew there to take charge of the passengers and crew of the Westerdam.  He dealt with American and foreign embassy personnel and brought personnel to book individual flights (paid for by HAL) that got us all home in about a week, while meeting with us all twice a day to give us the latest updates.  IMHO, Mr. Ashford has been doing an excellent job for his cruise line under difficult and changing World wide conditions.

[YXU AC*SE]

Perhaps the OP could register for this upcoming webinar:   https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/4760045728004531471    to hear for him/herself what steps are being taken to further (mis)handle things and to ask questions ?    Scott. 

 

 

[JT1962]

I would not be surprised to see Holland America and Princess be merged, sold or their ships re-branded under other Carnival Corp lines at some point in the future. Both have been the focus of much of the bad publicity related to Covid-19 and cruising and to the general public, perception is reality.

[nyceve]

6 minutes ago, YXU AC*SE said:

Perhaps the OP could register for this upcoming webinar:   https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/4760045728004531471    to hear for him/herself what steps are being taken to further (mis)handle things and to ask questions ?    Scott. 

 

 

Thanks for this, I will certainly listen to it and register.

[HAL4NOW]

11 minutes ago, USN59-79 said:

Interesting that the OP thinks that Mr Ashfords most important job at this point is to ensure that they get a personal email explaining the exact date they will receive a refund. 

I don't know Orlando Ashford, and I cannot assess his ability to do his job with the information available.

While I know that a lot of important decisions need to be made on a daily basis as HAL navigates through this pandemic, I don't think it should be an either/or response to what gets priority. 

The OP has a point about communication. We have two cruises that were cancelled by HAL. We filled out the online form and indicated our preference is to get FCC. It would make sense for HAL to at least acknowledge that the form was received. The silence is a little deafening. 

That said, patience is a virtue. This whole mess will hopefully pass soon and wait time for responses should get back to a more reasonable norm (hour or days instead of weeks or months to respond).

[CruiserBruce]

Plenty of qualified candidates, with tons of experience, to take Mr Ashford's place here on Cruise Critic. This is the only place HAL would have to look.

[KirkNC]

10 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

Plenty of qualified candidates, with tons of experience, to take Mr Ashford's place here on Cruise Critic. This is the only place HAL would have to look.

And most have more days at sea then he does.

[DFD1]

Communicating with passengers costs HAL very little...or nothing. Ashford and the management crew at HAL are making a serious mistake by not staying in touch with passengers who have issues with them.

 

If they can't make the refunds, they could at least create a set of plausible discussion points for passengers to have. That's part of public relations 101.

 

No one wants to feel their money is gone down a dark hole.

[cruisemom42]

17 minutes ago, KirkNC said:

And most have more days at sea then he does.

 

Although I know you say it facetiously, this is one of those "tropes" that make me cringe. For example:

 

• Just because you have spent more days as a patient in hospital than your cardiologist does not make you qualified to take over her or his job. 
• Just because you've dined in fine restaurants for 40 years does not make you qualified to be the executive chef.
• And just because you've operated a car since age 17 does not make you qualified to run a major automobile company.

 

To get back to the gist of the thread -- I'm not qualified to judge how Orlando is running HAL, but I am an experienced communications professional and whoever is advising HAL executives not to communicate on a more regular and personal level at this time is seriously failing in their job.

 

Edited to add:  Seems to me that HAL (and perhaps other cruise lines) could benefit from having a revolving advisory panel consisting of cruisers with varying amounts of experience -- from newbies to long-timers.

 

Then again, perhaps HAL has decided to used this pandemic as a vehicle to shed itself of many long-time older (and according to them less profitable) cruisers and usher in that new era they keep talking about...

 

 

 

Edited May 9, 2020 by cruisemom42

[Sir PMP]

2 hours ago, JT1962 said:

I would not be surprised to see Holland America and Princess be merged, sold or their ships re-branded under other Carnival Corp lines at some point in the future. Both have been the focus of much of the bad publicity related to Covid-19 and cruising and to the general public, perception is reality.

Under what brand: Costa, Seabourn, P&O, Aida?

[Sir PMP]

2 hours ago, nyceve said:

Thanks for this, I will certainly listen to it and register.

I did too, but will they listen?

[Copper10-8]

2 minutes ago, Sir PMP said:

Under what brand: Costa, Seabourn, P&O, Aida?

 

[Sir PMP]

23 minutes ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

Not a bad idea, Cunard and Hal merger...

[Roger88]

I mean its not a popular thing to  change the leadership and make any changes in the management of those companies. As far as I am concerned they are like state judges. They are elected for life until something incredibly bad happens. Not sure how this particular company will react on the changes but it should be going in a positive direction 

[KirkNC]

2 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Although I know you say it facetiously, this is one of those "tropes" that make me cringe. For example:

 

• Just because you have spent more days as a patient in hospital than your cardiologist does not make you qualified to take over her or his job. 
• Just because you've dined in fine restaurants for 40 years does not make you qualified to be the executive chef.
• And just because you've operated a car since age 17 does not make you qualified to run a major automobile company.

 

To get back to the gist of the thread -- I'm not qualified to judge how Orlando is running HAL, but I am an experienced communications professional and whoever is advising HAL executives not to communicate on a more regular and personal level at this time is seriously failing in their job.

 

Edited to add:  Seems to me that HAL (and perhaps other cruise lines) could benefit from having a revolving advisory panel consisting of cruisers with varying amounts of experience -- from newbies to long-timers.

 

Then again, perhaps HAL has decided to used this pandemic as a vehicle to shed itself of many long-time older (and according to them less profitable) cruisers and usher in that new era they keep talking about...

 

 

 

Mr Ashford's previous experience was HR at Pepsi.  What part of that experience qualifies you to run a cruise company?   All of the examples you cite require either extensive training on the job or via some type of schooling. Mr Ashford has neither therefore at least some minimal exposure to cruising and the different aspects of the customer experience would be helpful. 

[cruisemom42]

56 minutes ago, KirkNC said:

Mr Ashford's previous experience was HR at Pepsi.  What part of that experience qualifies you to run a cruise company?   All of the examples you cite require either extensive training on the job or via some type of schooling. Mr Ashford has neither therefore at least some minimal exposure to cruising and the different aspects of the customer experience would be helpful. 

 

My intent was not to get into whether or not Mr. Ashford is a successful CEO, merely that having sailed dozens of weeks or even months at sea does not SOLELY qualify anyone to run a large global organization with 18,000 employees.

 

 

[Himself]

3 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

You gest!

[Himself]

Orlando did not cause the current mess.  Fear and panic caused it!

[rkacruiser]

3 hours ago, Sir PMP said:

Not a bad idea, Cunard and Hal merger...

 

Which HAL ship becomes Queen Juliana?  Or Queen Beatrix?  Or Queen Maxima?

[Copper10-8]

4 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Which HAL ship becomes Queen Juliana?  Or Queen Beatrix?  Or Queen Maxima?

 

Wait, there's more: 😉

 

Queen Wilhelmina

Queen Emma

Queen Sophie

[rkacruiser]

3 hours ago, KirkNC said:

Mr Ashford's previous experience was HR at Pepsi.  What part of that experience qualifies you to run a cruise company?  

 

Many eyebrows were raised, including mine, when Mr. Ashford was appointed as HAL's leader.  My eyebrows continued to be raised as I learned of Senior Executives leaving long time employment with HAL.  ( Some of these gentlemen were retiring; they had many years of service in the workforce and were ready to retire.)  

 

Why was a gentleman with HR experience needed to be employed as the HAL Chief Executive?  None of us lay people who are part of the CC Community know.  Maybe there was a HR "issue" within the Company.  Other companies have hired CEO's, etc. from outside of that company's primary business area.  HAL/CCL is not the first.

 

Does anyone remember HAL's previous leader?  Mr. Stein Kruse.  As far as I know, he is still the leader of the HAL/Princess/Seabourn Group (maybe including some P&O brands as well).  He is an experienced cruise industry professional.   He acquired his position at HAL after Kirk Lanterman retired.  He led HAL well for the years he was at the helm.  He is Mr. Ashford's boss, if I understand the corporate structure correctly. 

 

Some seem to see HAL as being rudderless at this time.  I don't.  What good does it do to point a finger at a time in human history that is unique?

[cruisemom42]

48 minutes ago, Himself said:

Orlando did not cause the current mess.  Fear and panic caused it!

 

With all due respect, the nearly 300,000 people who have died from COVID-19, and the countless health care professionals who are putting their own lives at risk every day battling it, would probably not refer to the current situation as being caused by "fear and panic"....

 

Edited May 9, 2020 by cruisemom42

[Captain Ricky]

4 hours ago, Copper10-8 said:

 

And what an opportunity for historic naming, Titanic, Lusitania, Prinsendam!  What can go wrong with that.  (My grandfather came to the US as a steward on White Star.  He was a "White Star Man.")

[Captain Ricky]

43 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Which HAL ship becomes Queen Juliana?  Or Queen Beatrix?  Or Queen Maxima?

Queen Anne would have some interesting connotations.