Orlando Ashford is leaving HAL

[DFD1]

Speaking of Ashford leaving HAL, one of the cruise line magazines reported today that the president of Seabourn had also stepped down.

I believe both of them reported to Kruse.

[arzz]

The President of Seabourn is also retiring.   Do they have golden parachutes that they are afraid will not cash in if they stay around?

[DFD1]

Duplicate post. Please excuse.

 

Edited May 13, 2020 by DFD1
Duplicate post. Excuse please.

[rkacruiser]

12 minutes ago, Janet76 said:

With both CEO departing CCL

 

The CEO of CCL, Mr. Arnold Donald, is not departing Carnival Corporation.  It is the heads of Seabourn and Holland America Line that are departing.  There is a difference.

[cccole]

Thank you The-Inside-Cabin and Copper 10-8 for your replies.  I remember hearing such nice things about Ashford when he was onboard and just didn't remember if the others also made an appearance.  It sounds like Mrs. Hazel Donald was really a delight to have on board and she enjoyed it as much as the other passengers.  Thank you again,  Cherie

[Hlitner]

I am not too surprised that a CEO, with no cruise industry background, is quickly deserting what may well be a sinking ship (HAL).   We had posted last year that HAL was like a ship without a rudder as it seemed like the line did not  know what market it wanted to target.  On one hand they talked about attracting younger cruisers while they were eliminating production shows and live music that are pretty popular with most younger cruisers.  And then we have the BB King groups (on only about half the ships) which are pretty decent but who generally do not even play/sing BB King music.  We thought the BB King concept was a decent idea until we actually asked one of the groups to please play some BB King music (they refused).  

 

What this COVID-19 means to people like Ashford is that expected big bonuses are likely now going to happen.  In fairness to Mr. Ashford, he had nothing to do with COVID-19.  But when the going gets tough we would expect the tough to get going....not to run for someplace where the grass may be a lot greener.

 

Hank

[Cruiser Bruiser]

12 minutes ago, DFD1 said:

When it is safe, if Armonia is still sailing from a Florida port, we'll likely give it a try. We've sailed a dozen different Cruise lines over the years, many of them now gone, so sailing a new one is no problem. Might be fun.

 

The overriding feeling we've had about HAL over the past couple of years is simply that it's dull and the feeling of elegance has slipped away.

HAL is my first cruise line, and I have enjoyed myself over 8 cruises and 64 nights aboard. But I agree with your last statement very much. That said, HAL seems to have been successful in increasing their fares even while they have made cuts. Much of that comes from the success of Pinnacle-class, I guess. I would like to sail HAL more frequently, but I would have better motivation if the brand got some of its groove back.

4 minutes ago, DFD1 said:

Speaking of Ashford leaving HAL, one of the cruise line magazines reported today that the president of Seabourn had also stepped down.

I believe both of them reported to Kruse.

That's an encouraging sign.

[rkacruiser]

5 minutes ago, DFD1 said:

Speaking of Ashford leaving HAL, one of the cruise line magazines reported today that the president of Seabourn had also stepped down.

I believe both of them reported to Kruse.

 

That is correct.  If anyone has more capable hands to deal with this situation, its Stein Kruse. 

 

When Kirk Lanterman was the CEO of HAL, he was a member of the Board of Directors for Carnival Corporation.  Mr. Kruse has never nominated for such a seat.  I have wondered why for a very long time.  

[DFD1]

1 minute ago, rkacruiser said:

 

That is correct.  If anyone has more capable hands to deal with this situation, its Stein Kruse. 

 

When Kirk Lanterman was the CEO of HAL, he was a member of the Board of Directors for Carnival Corporation.  Mr. Kruse has never nominated for such a seat.  I have wondered why for a very long time.  

 

IMO, Lanterman was a very fine manager of HAL.....and, I expect, hard to replace.

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Wouldn't be surprised if it is plain paper and destroyed after use for a while.

 

Roy

Or it could be like "Mission Impossible" and self-destruct.

[ShipsAreTheBest]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

That is correct.  If anyone has more capable hands to deal with this situation, its Stein Kruse. 

 

When Kirk Lanterman was the CEO of HAL, he was a member of the Board of Directors for Carnival Corporation.  Mr. Kruse has never nominated for such a seat.  I have wondered why for a very long time.  

When Mr. Lanterman was CEO of HAL, he came with the package when Carnival bought HAL - probably an agreement that he got a seat in the board.  So many years later, there is not so much of an appetite to have non-independent directors on a board of a public corporation. So, you have Micky Arison as Chairman of a the Board and Arnold Donald as President and CEO as members of the board.  That’s it.  All the other directors are independent (i.e. non-employees).

[TiogaCruiser]

4 hours ago, rafinmd said:

Wouldn't be surprised if it is plain paper and destroyed after use for a while.

 

Roy

Actually, isn’t that what they used to do in the glory days? Beautiful souvenir menus that people took home with them? When I was cleaning out my folks house I came across some from HAL cruises in the 70s and I often see them on eBay. 
 

The last gala night of Prinsendam they gave us the menu.

 

seriously, with the need to tighten up infection control, they will likely have to do it anyway. Might as well be classy about it. (I guess they could write the menu on a chalkboard and carry it to the tables and hold it up for everyone to see.)

Edited May 14, 2020 by TiogaCruiser

[nimiq]

6 hours ago, MISTER 67 said:

Let me add that they do have big ships, we sailed on the Divina 4 times with 4000 passengers but that ship is very well designed and didnt seem that big, she is also beautiful. We sailed on the Seaside last year, 1000 more pax but MSC was going after the younger crowd with that ship, too much glass and mirrors plus they had a 5 story atrium with a DJ most of the day playing ear shattering Electronic Dance Music. We will never sail again on the Seaside. 

Once cruising opens up again the Armonia will be sailing out of Tampa year round and is only 65,000 tons. 

 

All that being said HAL is still our favorite line, love the Vista and Signature ships, they are the perfect size besides being very classy with service that can't be beat along with the full wrap around promenade deck.

I guess we had a very different experience on the Divina .....The MDR was so tight that the servers had trouble walking in between tables. The service on the entire ship was slow even the bars so not sure that this ship felt un crowded. They do have great big shows but on the other hand the rest of the night entertainment was a bit boring. 
Overall we had  a good cruise on a gorgeous ship but would never sujest this line to a hardcore Holland Fan. 

[BarbarianPaul]

7 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Not necessarily- I understand you can now get a second helping for $10.

Ha! Very funny! I think we’re all so glad he got the boot that we’re giddy.

[BarbarianPaul]

7 hours ago, Sir PMP said:

and a third for $5:00...

And for another $50 you can watch it cooked in Club Orange.

[BarbarianPaul]

6 hours ago, bobpatj said:

We had a lot of unique experiences on Westerdam, but we did have Production Shows with a full cast of Singers & Dancers.  Is that the only ship that still had them in 2020 ?

They were gone on the Westerdam as well.

[Janet76]

Who cares if this Mr Ashford is leaving.  

[BarbarianPaul]

3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I am not too surprised that a CEO, with no cruise industry background, is quickly deserting what may well be a sinking ship (HAL).   We had posted last year that HAL was like a ship without a rudder as it seemed like the line did not  know what market it wanted to target.  On one hand they talked about attracting younger cruisers while they were eliminating production shows and live music that are pretty popular with most younger cruisers.  And then we have the BB King groups (on only about half the ships) which are pretty decent but who generally do not even play/sing BB King music.  We thought the BB King concept was a decent idea until we actually asked one of the groups to please play some BB King music (they refused).  

 

What this COVID-19 means to people like Ashford is that expected big bonuses are likely now going to happen.  In fairness to Mr. Ashford, he had nothing to do with COVID-19.  But when the going gets tough we would expect the tough to get going....not to run for someplace where the grass may be a lot greener.

 

 

Edited May 14, 2020 by BarbarianPaul

[BarbarianPaul]

6 minutes ago, BarbarianPaul said:

They were gone on the Westerdam as well.

So many people are assuming OA left and collected some huge pay day. My guess is that he was just fired, and probably received a reasonable but not huge severance. Whatever stock options he had could very well be worthless.

[USN59-79]

40 minutes ago, BarbarianPaul said:

They were gone on the Westerdam as well.

Not true.  I kept my When and Where programs for February and notice there was a cast show about every fourth evening.

[Nymich]

I won't be surprised at all if getting rid of HAL isn't one of the possible contingency plans.  At this point with no revenue coming in most things are on the table.  They only have 2 newer ships the rest are older and easier to part with.  Not saying it is going to happen but when I look at the Carnival brands that they could easily dump I come up with HAL.  

[tpwolfe]

On 5/12/2020 at 4:50 PM, Copper10-8 said:

 

Agreed, one of the better things Orlando instituted, along with

 

Changing the Northern Lights nightclubs into Gallery Bars.

The early availability of your stateroom on embarkation day (not having to wait elsewhere for that P/A announcement by the CD), along the same lines, being able to wait in your cabin until your "number" is called on disembarkation day

Electronic mustering

the creation of the Dive-In burger galley

Expanded salad bars

The Club Orange concept, but only on the two ships that have the dedicated restaurant

 

 

Not so good/terrible decisions and/or things that fell apart on his watch:

 

The change from the original Crow's Nest with full library into Explorations Central

Rijksmuseum at Sea (supposed to go to all Vistas and up, thankfully only found on Westerdam)

Getting rid of the full cast and their production shows

Getting rid of the Screening Room movie theaters on the Vistas and up

Giving CDs the added responsibility as travel director and gutting his/her staff

The "Orange Party"

America's Test Kitchen

 

Probably forgetting stuff............

 

I would add New York pizza to the not so good/terrible list.  The wait is to long for subpar pizza.  They need to make the pizza station grab and go.  And to be fair we do enjoy The Dutch cafe in the mornings for a quick breakfast and pasties in the afternoons.

[ski ww]

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.

 

[tpwolfe]

My wife haven’t liked him since HAL got rid of the wrap around promenade deck on the newer ship and for picking the worst internet provider at sea.

[DFD1]

The internet stinks. That's for sure.