How Many Understaffed HAL Ships Have You Sailed On

[ChinaShrek]

4 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Not everyone is getting free cruise or cheap  deals.  One cruise I’m looking at in November is $5000 for the cheapest balcony.  That does include have it all.  Then start adding air on top. If that isn’t top dollar for a balcony I don’t know what is.  Also looking at cruises on Princess for April.  Pricing marginally lower and that is two months from now.  Please share which cheap deals are available to the general public.

I believe few people are paying these prices for HAL cruises.

[Florida_gal_50]

40 minutes ago, ChinaShrek said:

I believe few people are paying these prices for HAL cruises.

How could you possibly know that? Seems that there are a group of 20 or 30 people here that are scooping up free cruises.  A lot of the fcc’s from the shut down must be exhausted by now.  I’ve asked where these cheap prices are.  Crickets.

 

[Alfisti]

1 hour ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Not everyone is getting free cruise or cheap  deals.  One cruise I’m looking at in November is $5000 for the cheapest balcony.  That does include have it all.  Then start adding air on top. If that isn’t top dollar for a balcony I don’t know what is.  Also looking at cruises on Princess for April.  Pricing marginally lower and that is two months from now.  Please share which cheap deals are available to the general public.

 

Focusing on the Caribbean in November, these are fares listed in CAD$

If there's a specific itinerary you want me to check the balcony price of I can take a look and see

 

[Florida_gal_50]

25 minutes ago, Alfisti said:

 

Focusing on the Caribbean in November, these are fares listed in CAD$

If there's a specific itinerary you want me to check the balcony price of I can take a look and see

 

All these prices listed on this page are for inside rooms.  I’m more than capable of looking for my own pricing thanks.  Maybe I should do something different like take a land trip.  It would be lovely to be Bermuda bound for instance, 

Edited February 10, 2023 by Florida_gal_50

[Alfisti]

10 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

All these prices listed on this page are for inside rooms.  I’m more than capable of looking for my own pricing thanks.  

 

You're welcome 🙂

Edited February 10, 2023 by Alfisti

[Tampa Girl]

2 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Not everyone is getting free cruise or cheap  deals.  One cruise I’m looking at in November is $5000 for the cheapest balcony.  That does include have it all.  Then start adding air on top. If that isn’t top dollar for a balcony I don’t know what is.  Also looking at cruises on Princess for April.  Pricing marginally lower and that is two months from now.  Please share which cheap deals are available to the general public.

 

No, I don't think that is top dollar for a balcony, considering you have given no info as to the cruise, and the no. of days.

[Ipeeinthepools]

I’m tired of hearing about visa work issues.  I understand that was an issue during the restart but it’s been a year and a half and it’s still an issue?  Ok it takes longer to get a work visa, put that into your staffing plans.  It really doesn’t matter if the time to get a work visa is 2 months or 10 months, it just needs to be factored into the staffing plan.  If I couldn’t fixed a problem in a year I would have been fired.  Maybe the home office needs some new people to staff the ships.

[Destiny0315]

https://jobs.carnivalcorp.com/search-jobs

This is the official link for land based employment opportunities for Carnival Corp. Interesting that in this area alone HAL has 57 current openings which is more than double than that of most of the other brands. Carnival itself has 43.  

Edited February 10, 2023 by Destiny0315

[Ipeeinthepools]

44 minutes ago, Destiny0315 said:

https://jobs.carnivalcorp.com/search-jobs

This is the official link for land based employment opportunities for Carnival Corp. Interesting that in this area alone HAL has 57 current openings which is more than double than that of most of the other brands. Carnival itself has 43.  

Maybe HAL did fire some people.  They are looking for 2 Directors for Hotel Talent Acquisition- Fleet 

Edited February 10, 2023 by Ipeeinthepools

[HALcruiser2001]

12 hours ago, ChinaShrek said:

Who is really paying top dollar for HAL cruises right now? With all of the free cruises, FCCs, and discounted cruises people are sailing HAL quite cheaply. I am willing to forego great service if such deals continue.

 

Anyone that doesn't plan 1 year in advance.

 

Anyone actually paying for a specific suite.

[HALcruiser2001]

16 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

Well  then did the cruise lines have those problems  before ? That is really not a good excuse for poor service  on any ship  ;as lives could depend on trained staff  not just their day to day  duties .  I wonder how the cruise lines would react  to people cutting down the tips  because they are not  getting well served  ?.There  will come a time if this continues , that people either will not cruise  or those who can afford luxury lines will be the only cruise population left 

 

It is unlikely that this apocalyptic change happens.

[Laminator]

1 hour ago, Ipeeinthepools said:

I’m tired of hearing about visa work issues.  I understand that was an issue during the restart but it’s been a year and a half and it’s still an issue?  Ok it takes longer to get a work visa, put that into your staffing plans.  It really doesn’t matter if the time to get a work visa is 2 months or 10 months, it just needs to be factored into the staffing plan.  If I couldn’t fixed a problem in a year I would have been fired.  Maybe the home office needs some new people to staff the ships.

Schipol recently announced they would have to reduce flights again during their peak season this year as they can not find the necessary help. They were aware of this situation and experienced it last summer. Airlines are short on pilots. It's not only the cruise industry having issues. And what we don't know is how many crew members may be in quarantine due to covid. Is it 40 or 50 at a time? Their quarters are pretty cramped. That could knock out nearly 5% of your staff. 

[Laminator]

1 hour ago, Destiny0315 said:

https://jobs.carnivalcorp.com/search-jobs

This is the official link for land based employment opportunities for Carnival Corp. Interesting that in this area alone HAL has 57 current openings which is more than double than that of most of the other brands. Carnival itself has 43.  

I would be more interested in seeing what HAL is doing regarding job postings in the Philippines and Indonesia. None of those hires listed in your link will be cleaning my room, bringing me my favorite beverage or serving me breakfast, lunch or dinner. 

Edited February 10, 2023 by Laminator

[mcrcruiser]

2 minutes ago, Laminator said:

Schipol recently announced they would have to reduce flights again during their peak season this year as they can not find the necessary help. They were aware of this situation and experienced it last summer. Airlines are short on pilots. It's not only the cruise industry having issues. And what we don't know is how many crew members may be in quarantine due to covid. Is it 40 or 50 at a time? Their quarters are pretty cramped. That could knock out nearly 5% of your staff. 

The airlines are essential  to the life line of the USA cruise ships are not essential   . Are we to believe every thing we read or hear on media or even social   media ?  I certainly don't  .Have we all been lied to  yes we all have  .So each person needs  to draw their own line in the sand 

[Laminator]

1 minute ago, mcrcruiser said:

The airlines are essential  to the life line of the USA cruise ships are not essential   . Are we to believe every thing we read or hear on media or even social   media ?  I certainly don't  .Have we all been lied to  yes we all have  .So each person needs  to draw their own line in the sand 

And yet several cruise lines just reported their biggest booking month of all time this past January. Many folks would rather walk on the sand than draw a line in it.

 

[mcrcruiser]

3 minutes ago, Laminator said:

I would be more interested in seeing what HAL is doing regarding job postings in the Philippines and Indonesia. None of those hires listed in your link will be cleaning my room, bringing me my favorite beverage or serving me breakfast, lunch or dinner. 

 To   fill all  kinds of  cruise ship  jobs   imo  ,all lines  must advertise   the openings to all free nations not just a select  number of nations  whom they have used un prior times 

[mcrcruiser]

2 minutes ago, Laminator said:

And yet several cruise lines just reported their biggest booking month of all time this past January. Many folks would rather walk on the sand than draw a line in it.

 

And of course this is all true ?  Trust me people will at some point decide what they  consider value for what they spend  .  There is coming a awakening to reality . consumers in the USA are on average struggling  to make ends meet , 70 % are living pay check to pay check  . Costs continue to go higher for necessities like food ,gas ,clothing ,shelter  .So where is all the future money coming from to take cruises or in fact land vacations   .The money in the USA is really in the hands of those mostly retired who were savers for most of their lives  . That part of the population are also looking at  a need for help in their future & thus are keeping money for that help as well 

[HALcruiser2001]

15 hours ago, SJSULIBRARIAN said:

Have been on 3 HAL cruises since the restart - 2 with 60% passenger capacity or less so if there was less crew, it was not noticeable. The 3rd one in December had more passengers than HAL's capacity figure and seemingly less crew. Although I did not notice it. And it didn't bother me. These days when you travel, you have to make the best of it and move on. 

 

In October 2021, I took A Tauck Canyonlands Tour of Arizona and Utah and as with Tuck you stay in the best hotels available. The visa problem reared its ugly head and hotels were grossly understaffed. The fine dining restaurants were closed, and we ate out of Styrofoam boxes sometimes. Did those of us on the tour complain? No. We were just glad the National Parks were open, and we all had a good time. You have to go with the flow.

 

I think HAL is not the only cruise line with this problem. 

The best available hotels in national parks are not all that great and have unique staffing issues.   Depending on how the govt funds these hotels determines if the are closed during government shutdowns and apparently now, pandemics.   I am not surprised that hotels and restaurants struggled within park due to certain mandates and being inundated with all the new van life people.   Mandates shut a lot of high end restaurants down, but not where I am, no forced mandates here even in May of 2020 few restaurants closed. 

 

Technically, legally, national parks cannot be closed.   Services, yes, parks no.

[Destiny0315]

32 minutes ago, Laminator said:

I would be more interested in seeing what HAL is doing regarding job postings in the Philippines and Indonesia. None of those hires listed in your link will be cleaning my room, bringing me my favorite beverage or serving me breakfast, lunch or dinner. 

https://jobs.carnivalcorp.com/search-jobshttps://hollandamericagroup.pinpointhq.com/holland-america-line

I agree, but filling some of those job openings on land may be affecting what happens on the water. Anyways here ya go. Scroll down for a listing of the current job openings by country/region. Note: because it's hyphenated you may have to type in the address.

Edited February 10, 2023 by Destiny0315

[cruisemom42]

I'm curious -- when cruise lines have to obtain work visas (or permits or whatever they are called) for staff and crew, what country would issue those visas?  The country where the line is based, headquartered, flagged?

[Stateroom_Sailor]

20 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

We saw this on Koningsdam  for 12 days during December  .Long Lines in the MDR & long wait times for food  .Lido ,dirty tables  had to ask they be cleaned   2600 pax & 975 crew

 Name the ship & your experience 

 

Maybe it is time for passengers to be given two mandatory 8 hour shifts per week.  Raffle system, free scoop of Gelato at the end of each shift and Captain's Toast..  Port day shifts also include a bonus loyalty point.

[cruisegirl06]

We were on Koningsdam over thanksgiving and staffing (or lack of trained staff) was a big issue. There were constantly long lines in the lido, orders for pizza were “lost”, 15 min wait for a bagel with cream cheese at the deli, extremely long lines for Dive in and it took 20 min to be acknowledged at breakfast in the MDR one day and an hour to get food... I let HAL know and just got “we’re sorry”.

 

Club HAL was a mess  600 kids on board and only 30 could go at a time and they weren’t even running separate age groups most of the time or doing the stated activities. My kids loved club HAL in the past and my older 2 refuses to go back after the first day. Staff was friendly but seemed overwhelemed

 

We’ve done holiday sailings before and are fine with crowds, but crowds and short staffed/untrained staff was a mess. I won’t sail HAL again until there are better reports

[HALcruiser2001]

3 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

And of course this is all true ?  Trust me people will at some point decide what they  consider value for what they spend  .  There is coming a awakening to reality . consumers in the USA are on average struggling  to make ends meet , 70 % are living pay check to pay check  . Costs continue to go higher for necessities like food ,gas ,clothing ,shelter  .So where is all the future money coming from to take cruises or in fact land vacations   .The money in the USA is really in the hands of those mostly retired who were savers for most of their lives  . That part of the population are also looking at  a need for help in their future & thus are keeping money for that help as well 

 

Probably more true than your follow up opinion.

 

People under 40 have plenty of cash in general.   Companies are offering vacation and time without pay pretty aggressively these days.

 

"Trust me".... often said by people one should not trust.  😉

Edited February 10, 2023 by bdd123

[3rdGenCunarder]

19 minutes ago, cruisegirl06 said:

We were on Koningsdam over thanksgiving and staffing (or lack of trained staff) was a big issue. There were constantly long lines in the lido, orders for pizza were “lost”, 15 min wait for a bagel with cream cheese at the deli, extremely long lines for Dive in and it took 20 min to be acknowledged at breakfast in the MDR one day and an hour to get food... I let HAL know and just got “we’re sorry”.

 

Club HAL was a mess  600 kids on board and only 30 could go at a time and they weren’t even running separate age groups most of the time or doing the stated activities. My kids loved club HAL in the past and my older 2 refuses to go back after the first day. Staff was friendly but seemed overwhelemed

 

We’ve done holiday sailings before and are fine with crowds, but crowds and short staffed/untrained staff was a mess. I won’t sail HAL again until there are better reports

 

600 kids????? HAL definitely sold more triples and quads than they were prepared to handle. Holiday cruises are always more crowded because of family bookings, but that's crazy!  I think the Pinnacle ships have pushed the passenger to space/service ratio too far. 

Edited February 10, 2023 by 3rdGenCunarder

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

I'm curious -- when cruise lines have to obtain work visas (or permits or whatever they are called) for staff and crew, what country would issue those visas?  The country where the line is based, headquartered, flagged?

 

Travel visas come from the country you want to visit. Wouldn't work visas be the same? As cruisers, we are told we are responsible for getting our own visas. I would hope a cruise company would help prospective employees apply for visas.