No more embarkation day lunch in the MDR fleetwide!

[Real NHDOC]

I asked the hotel manager aboard Nieuw Statendam why there was no lunch in the dining room on embarkation day Sunday and was told that HAL has discontinued the embarkation day lunch service fleetwide as of two weeks ago because they felt it wasn’t well attended enough to justify the effort. 
 

Very disappointing. I hope the beancounters reconsider this shortsighted decision. 

[*Miss G*]

Kind of hard to be well-attended when your entire staff sends you to the Lido Market.

[Real NHDOC]

5 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

Kind of hard to be well-attended when your entire staff sends you to the Lido Market.

My sentiments exactly!

[Haljo1935]

Very disappointing; we have always had lunch in MDR on Embarkation Day and is something we really look forward to. It's one of the few times DH will eat in MDR (he's a Lido person).

Yes, it's challenging to have good attendance when everyone is directed to the Lido and when so many boarding groups are assigned late times. We disregard the time on our boarding pass and biard early so we can make it to MDR. No reason to do that now 😕 

Edited March 13 by Haljo1935
Additional comment

[0bnxshs]

I noticed yesterday (12 March) on the Navigator App that the events for embarkation day on 17 March for Rotterdam says: "12:00 AM DR Lunch CLOSED Dining Room, 2" and previously it said "12:00 PM Embarkation Lunch Dining Room, 2".  I wondered what was going on.

 

I agree with everyone who wonders how HAL could wonder why so few attended knowing that they never mention it in their boarding process and, as mentioned, everyone is directed to the Lido Deck who asks about lunch.  Sounds like an excuse that doesn't hold water to me.  🤥

 

Chalk another nice experience gone to the cost cutting floor...... 🤨

[Navybikermom]

Boy, I’m glad I ordered hors d’oeuvres and chocolate-covered strawberries on my next cruise to be in my stateroom on embarkation day. That should suffice until dinner so we don’t have to fight the crowds elsewhere. I loved eating lunch in the MDR the first day 😕. 

[spkack]

2 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

Kind of hard to be well-attended when your entire staff sends you to the Lido Market.

This is exactly what we recently experienced.  Upon embarkation the staff was actually operating the elevator not allowing us to go down to the MDR which effectively forced people to the Lido.  We simply got off and made our way to the MDR on our own.

[taxmantoo]

How pleasant for the 200 to 300 persons doing a back to back in Fort Lauderdale or elsewhere.  "We value your loyalty, now feel free to grab yourself a sandwich in the Lido".  Sad, just sad ...

[Mr. Boston]

41 minutes ago, 0bnxshs said:

I noticed yesterday (12 March) on the Navigator App that the events for embarkation day on 17 March for Rotterdam says: "12:00 AM DR Lunch CLOSED Dining Room, 2" and previously it said "12:00 PM Embarkation Lunch Dining Room, 2".  I wondered what was going on.

 

I agree with everyone who wonders how HAL could wonder why so few attended knowing that they never mention it in their boarding process and, as mentioned, everyone is directed to the Lido Deck who asks about lunch.  Sounds like an excuse that doesn't hold water to me.  🤥

 

Chalk another nice experience gone to the cost cutting floor...... 🤨

I agree on the lame excuse.  It sounds like the one they gave for getting rid of the libraries.  They need a better liar in Seattle!

[Woofbite]

19 minutes ago, Navybikermom said:

Boy, I’m glad I ordered hors d’oeuvres and chocolate-covered strawberries on my next cruise to be in my stateroom on embarkation day. 

 

Which they doubled in price not long ago.

 

[happytotravel]

Hello All,

I just sent the following email to HAL stating my concern over their closing the MDR for lunch on embarkation day.  I have always enjoyed being able to go there and having a relaxing lunch on my cruises with NCL  I was hoping to experience the same on HAL.  Perhaps if others do the same they "might" reverse their decision.

happytotravel

==========================================================

HAL_Ship_Services@hollandamerica.com

Good Morning,

I wanted to write and say how disappointed I am in reading on Cruise Critic's website that the MDR will no longer be open for lunch on embarkation day.

 

I am aware, as on many other lines, it is kept a "secret" in order to keep the numbers small in the dining room.  But, it has always been a wonderful place to have a quiet lunch after the stress of traveling for those who know the area is available.

 

I do hope HAL will reconsider,

==========================================================

 

Edited March 13 by happytotravel
triple pasted email message

[cbr663]

1 hour ago, Mr. Boston said:

I agree on the lame excuse.  It sounds like the one they gave for getting rid of the libraries.  They need a better liar in Seattle!

 

Yet another example of here's what we want you to believe rather than providing what is most likely the real answer:  that with our ships understaffed all staff are needed during the embarkation process, especially luggage handling.

[mcrcruiser]

Seems to us Carnival Corp is cutting where ever they can with out loosing  business ;as they lower that huge debt & simultaneously increased their pricies across their fleets . nor that we like loosing the MDR ;however ,imo another cost cutting  event . The question remains how many other cost cutting events they will make . I don't believe it all these  cost cuttings comes from  HAL's headquarters in Seattle ,Wa ..The stock is going up so as a share holder I can't  complain .On the other hand some of this cost cutting really makes no sense to make the cruise experience less desireable

 

Edited March 13 by mcrcruiser

[bajae]

7 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

Seems to us Carnival Corp is cutting where ever they can with out loosing  business ;as they lower that huge debt & simultaneously increased their pricies across their fleets . nor that we like loosing the MDR ;however ,imo another cost cutting  event . The question remains how many other cost cutting events they will make . I don't believe it all these  cost cuttings comes from  HAL's headquarters in Seattle ,Wa ..The stock is going up so as a share holder I can't  complain .On the other hand some of this cost cutting really makes no sense to make the cruise experience less desireable

 

I’m just curious how this move saves much money. I would think the cost of feeding passengers would be very similar no matter where they eat. IMO, this is more likely a staffing issue. Less staff is needed with passengers eating in the lido allowing more staff available for other embarkation activities. 

[mcrcruiser]

2 minutes ago, bajae said:

I’m just curious how this move saves much money. I would think the cost of feeding passengers would be very similar no matter where they eat. IMO, this is more likely a staffing issue. Less staff is needed with passengers eating in the lido allowing more staff available for other embarkation activities. 

Whether is be a labor or food supply issue , Carnival still can save money  . No I do not like what they did at all .Even as a share holder with more than the 100  shares to get OBCs , it still erks me to see this happen . could it change back to the MDR llunch only if there are many complaints filed with the cruise line 

[cruisemom42]

This is a very typical move that corporations make. They find ways to disincentivize consumers from using a good or service, then they can "point" to the fact that the good or service is not being utilized and should be eliminated.

 

It doesn't impact me personally. I prefer to eat lunch ashore and board afterwards. But if I did eat onboard, I'd prefer the MDR to the Lido, no question.

[Real NHDOC]

1 hour ago, happytotravel said:

Hello All,

I just sent the following email to HAL stating my concern over their closing the MDR for lunch on embarkation day.  I have always enjoyed being able to go there and having a relaxing lunch on my cruises with NCL  I was hoping to experience the same on HAL.  Perhaps if others do the same they "might" reverse their decision.

happytotravel

==========================================================

HAL_Ship_Services@hollandamerica.com

Good Morning,

I wanted to write and say how disappointed I am in reading on Cruise Critic's website that the MDR will no longer be open for lunch on embarkation day.

 

I am aware, as on many other lines, it is kept a "secret" in order to keep the numbers small in the dining room.  But, it has always been a wonderful place to have a quiet lunch after the stress of traveling for those who know the area is available.

 

I do hope HAL will reconsider,

==========================================================

 

Please post any response you receive. I also plan to express my disappointment when the cruise ends and we receive the survey looking for comments on how they could make the experience better. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

I used to like the embarkation lunch when it was the standard lunch menu. But on Zaandam in February, the embarkation day lunch menu was cut down to a few "express" items, none of which appealed to me. So I braved the Lido. Fortunately, I had boarded early and had no trouble getting my lunch and even a drink by the pool. 

[Niagarawine]

24 minutes ago, Real NHDOC said:

Please post any response you receive. I also plan to express my disappointment when the cruise ends and we receive the survey looking for comments on how they could make the experience better. 

Yes I would also be interested in hearing this.  Loved lunch in there on embarkation day.

[daisy-mae]

I'm going to insert a discordant note. As infrequent cruisers (compared to many regulars here) part of the excitement on embarkation is seeing our stateroom and exploring our new surroundings. And after escaping the winter cold, we delight in dining "al fresco" on the pool deck.

The last thing that we feel like doing is sitting in a dining room when the outdoors beckon.

 

Could it be that there are other like-minded folks who have collectively contributed to the lower attendance?

[Dutchman48]

5 hours ago, Real NHDOC said:

I asked the hotel manager aboard Nieuw Statendam why there was no lunch in the dining room on embarkation day Sunday and was told that HAL has discontinued the embarkation day lunch service fleetwide as of two weeks ago because they felt it wasn’t well attended enough to justify the effort. 
 

Very disappointing. I hope the beancounters reconsider this shortsighted decision. 

Wife and I have lunch in the MDR about 50% of the time on embarkation day. I will say that most times it is not well attended, so I can see the logic of using the manpower elsewhere on such a hectic day.

Will miss the quite mealtime especially on turn over days of a B2B cruise, but if it helps with making embarkation day smoother it's a good move. 

[Real NHDOC]

When we were on Eurodam just last month we had over 500 B2B guests on one turnover day and the dining room was pretty busy for both breakfast and lunch. As others have stated the main reason more people didn’t take advantage of the lunch in the MDR is it was a “well kept secret”. For whatever reason HAL never wanted people to know it was available.
 

I always assumed they did this intentionally to keep the burden on the dining room staff low but to say now that they’re discontinuing it because it wasn’t well attended seems to be disingenuous. Had they actually invited embarking guests to it I suspect it would have been very well attended. 

[Sea Hag]

This is disappointing. We always went to the MDR on embarkation day, since the buffet tends to be a zoo. Now, it'll be even more zoolike. Drat.

[3rdGenCunarder]

Back when it was a Mariner perk, the only reason I knew it existed was because I learned about it here. HAL never made it known.

[highscar]

Don’t think in 20 Hal cruises have embarked and settled in cabin to lunch in DR.