Orlando Ashford is leaving HAL

[DFD1]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

They do read the surveys. On our last HAL cruise on one of their smaller, older ships, we were disappointed that there was not more ballroom dancing. After I let that be known on our survey, I received an e-mail thanking me for my input and telling me that there was more on their larger ships.

 

25 minutes ago, taxmantoo said:

And some people you talk to say there is more dancing on the smaller ships.  They can't all be right 🤔 

 

What should the size of the ship have to do with having some music suitable for dancing? This whole idea is part of the problem. Who says you can't dance on a small ship.......really,  now !

 

Truth of the matter is HAL shorts many of the 7 to 21 day cruises, taking away many of the features of the longer "grand" and "world" cruises. If you read those blogs carefully, you'll find lots of things, such as dance music,  grand high tea and others are regular features of those cruise, but no longer appear on the 7 to 21 day cruises...ever.

 

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, DFD1 said:

 

 

What should the size of the ship have to do with having some music suitable for dancing? This whole idea is part of the problem. Who says you can't dance on a small ship.......really,  now !

 

Truth of the matter is HAL shorts many of the 7 to 21 day cruises, taking away many of the features of the longer "grand" and "world" cruises. If you read those blogs carefully, you'll find lots of things, such as dance music,  grand high tea and others are regular features of those cruise, but no longer appear on the 7 to 21 day cruises...ever.

 

It was a 7 day cruise we were on, Boston to Montreal.

 

I was only quoting what they e-mailed me to show that the survey was read.

[rkacruiser]

One of the longest going questions on this Message Board has been:  "Does HAL monitor what is posted on this Message Board"?  Lots of opinions both pro and con.  My guess currently is:  with the RIF's in place, not so much anymore.  If they did.  Which, I think they did.  

[Roz]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

One of the longest going questions on this Message Board has been:  "Does HAL monitor what is posted on this Message Board"?  Lots of opinions both pro and con.  My guess currently is:  with the RIF's in place, not so much anymore.  If they did.  Which, I think they did.  

 

This message board is part of social media.  Any business that doesn't monitor its social media presence in today's world is foolish.  

[DFD1]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

One of the longest going questions on this Message Board has been:  "Does HAL monitor what is posted on this Message Board"?  Lots of opinions both pro and con.  My guess currently is:  with the RIF's in place, not so much anymore.  If they did.  Which, I think they did.  

 

I think they monitor it. I don't know how much respect they have for it, but I do think they monitor it.

[BarbarianPaul]

On 5/25/2020 at 1:32 AM, Lido - Lanai said:

Spot on ! - it's unlikely that HAL pays much attention (assuming they even view the CC boards) to a dozen or so incessant posters on CC. Hardly a cross-sectional sampling of their customer base.

 

On 5/24/2020 at 9:31 PM, iancal said:

One thing they may see from this board is the complaints from very loyal HAL cruisers. 
 

Another thing they may notice is that those same cruisers are loyal to HAL and that their complaints do not appear to stop them from continuing to book more HAL cruises despite the complaining. 

 

What conclusion could be drawn from this If they were reading this board?
 

For me it’s not such a conundrum. If Carnival execs pay attention to guest satisfaction surveys, which of course they do, the takeaway is that there’s some brand loyalty to HA but escalating dissatisfaction with changes initiated under OA’s leadership. 

 

That said, at this point no one knows why he was fired. But it sure wasn’t because they thought he was doing a great job.

 

And, as long time HA cruisers, neither did we.

[Himself]

On 5/14/2020 at 5:45 AM, ski ww said:

I know it's not a big deal but for me it was getting rid of the old logo on the ships funnel. For me it tied the old to the new.

 

I agree with you.  HAL ought to bring back the Pre-Orlando logo.

[Himself]

Orland Ashford is now a part of the History of the Holland America Line.  I wish him well in the future. Now HAL has to get on with being HAL.

[rkacruiser]

5 hours ago, Himself said:

Orland Ashford is now a part of the History of the Holland America Line.  I wish him well in the future. Now HAL has to get on with being HAL.

 

I wish Mr. Ashford well, too.  I think he served whatever purpose for which he was hired.  

 

My understanding is that Mr. Kruse is back at the helm.  Good, I think.  But, not surprisingly to me, the future is murky even with his expert leadership.  

[Himself]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I wish Mr. Ashford well, too.  I think he served whatever purpose for which he was hired.  

 

My understanding is that Mr. Kruse is back at the helm.  Good, I think.  But, not surprisingly to me, the future is murky even with his expert leadership.  

I agree!

[pete_coach]

14 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I wish Mr. Ashford well, too.  I think he served whatever purpose for which he was hired.  

 

My understanding is that Mr. Kruse is back at the helm.  Good, I think.  But, not surprisingly to me, the future is murky even with his expert leadership.  

Interesting comment.

 

Mr Ashford is leaving but why was he there If no one can figure out for "whatever purpose for which he was hired." LOL

 

And whomever Mr Kruse is, but if he had "expert leadership", why was he not there earlier or still there??

[1ANGELCAT]

13 minutes ago, pete_coach said:

Interesting comment.

 

Mr Ashford is leaving but why was he there If no one can figure out for "whatever purpose for which he was hired." LOL

 

And whomever Mr Kruse is, but if he had "expert leadership", why was he not there earlier or still there??

Stein Kruse was the previous President of HAL. He was promoted to head the combined operations of Princess/HAL .

 

[pete_coach]

2 hours ago, 1ANGELCAT said:

Stein Kruse was the previous President of HAL. He was promoted to head the combined operations of Princess/HAL .

 

So he got demoted 🙂

[1ANGELCAT]

1 hour ago, pete_coach said:

So he got demoted 🙂

Maybe more like miscellaneous duties as assigned by management 😀

[Boatdrill]

3 hours ago, 1ANGELCAT said:

Stein Kruse was the previous President of HAL. He was promoted to head the combined operations of Princess/HAL .

 

And Seabourn, plus others. From HAL"s website:  

Stein Kruse is group Chief Executive Officer of Holland America Group and Carnival UK, divisions of Carnival Corporation & plc. Holland America Group includes Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and Seabourn, as well as Holland America-Princess Alaska land operations. Kruse also is chairman of the board of MANCO, a U.K.-based entity that oversees the operations of Carnival Australia, including P&O Cruises Australia. Carnival UK encompasses the UK-based brands of Cunard Line and P&O Cruises.

[rkacruiser]

8 hours ago, pete_coach said:

So he got demoted 🙂

 

Absolutely not!  Mr. Kruse succeeded Kirk Lanterman who had been the CEO of HAL for many, many years before he retired.  Mr. Lanterman was at the helm of the Company when CCL acquired HAL.  He remained at the helm and was a member of the Board of CCL until he reached retirement age.  Mr. Lanterman oversaw the HAL experience that many of us well remember.    

 

For reasons none of us know on this Message Board truly know (or have shared), Mr. Kruse was promoted to the position as the CEO of a combined cruise company group of CCL, with Princess and HAL being part of that.  Why was Mr. Ashford hired to replace him?  As I have stated on this Message Board, given that his background was in Human Relations, his hiring may have been related to a perceived need for such at HAL.

 

Stein Kruse is the one person who currently still links those of us long time HAL cruisers in management.  Retirements and replacements--some of whom have already left--have been the "name of the game" in recent years in Seattle, if I am not correct.  Mr. Kruse is an extremely valuable employee of CCL, in my opinion.  I have not understood why he has not been nominated to be a member of the CCL Board of Directors as Mr. Lanterman was.  

[DeeDee Groff]

11 hours ago, pete_coach said:

Interesting comment.

 

Mr Ashford is leaving but why was he there If no one can figure out for "whatever purpose for which he was hired." LOL

 

And whomever Mr Kruse is, but if he had "expert leadership", why was he not there earlier or still there??

To answer the question in the last line of your post, Stein Kruse does not have the connection to Arnold Donald that Orlando

Ashford does.....

[sail7seas]

Anyone here know if Mr. Ashford has signed on with another cruise line?   Or anywhere in the hospitality business?  I'm not sure that  is  his "niche"    

 

 

Edited June 5, 2020 by sail7seas

[pete_coach]

19 hours ago, Boatdrill said:

And Seabourn, plus others. From HAL"s website:  

Stein Kruse is group Chief Executive Officer of Holland America Group and Carnival UK, divisions of Carnival Corporation & plc. Holland America Group includes Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and Seabourn, as well as Holland America-Princess Alaska land operations. Kruse also is chairman of the board of MANCO, a U.K.-based entity that oversees the operations of Carnival Australia, including P&O Cruises Australia. Carnival UK encompasses the UK-based brands of Cunard Line and P&O Cruises.

Sounds like they had a gap to fill and fill quickly so, they just picked someone in the system.  I suspect that is temporary.

It is also interesting that other comments say thinks like "links those of us long time HAL cruisers in management" and "the future is murky even with his expert leadership." Some here long for the "old days" and others are looking for a newer future.

HAL reputation for a very old timer cruise line has to change in order to remain an entity.

[Sir PMP]

3 hours ago, pete_coach said:

Sounds like they had a gap to fill and fill quickly so, they just picked someone in the system.  I suspect that is temporary.

It is also interesting that other comments say thinks like "links those of us long time HAL cruisers in management" and "the future is murky even with his expert leadership." Some here long for the "old days" and others are looking for a newer future.

HAL reputation for a very old timer cruise line has to change in order to remain an entity.

Why is that?

[pete_coach]

5 minutes ago, Sir PMP said:

Why is that?

Why is what?? You object to what?

[Sir PMP]

11 minutes ago, pete_coach said:

Why is what?? You object to what?

Changing an old time cruiser line to what?

[pete_coach]

1 hour ago, Sir PMP said:

Changing an old time cruiser line to what?

To something that appeals to more people of all ages or....go under.

Gotta have passengers that spend money on not just the ride on the boat.

 

Edited June 5, 2020 by pete_coach

[iancal]

I would not venture to predict what HAL will be like post covid.

 

One thing is for certain.  History is littered with companies and organizations that did not keep up with changing customer demands and preferences or that failed to make the changes necessary to ensure the future of their business.

Edited June 5, 2020 by iancal

[KirkNC]

1 hour ago, pete_coach said:

To something that appeals to more people of all ages or....go under.

Gotta have passengers that spend money on not just the ride on the boat.

 

That depends on what you charge to just ride on the boat.