What to do? Received Limited Dining Email this Morning

[Mary229]

15 minutes ago, BetsyS. said:

LonelySaxophone - HAL should tell anyone who is booking a cruise if there will be a large group onboard. Your experience will not be the same.  If people are told in advance about a large group, they can decide if they still want to book the cruise. It's very unfair to you in my opinion.

Often the group picks the cruise after it is announced publicly, some are in fact withdrawn from the public.  I agree however and I think they should have a guarantee, with a compensatory package, in place to handle situations like this.  

[BetsyS.]

Going to the MDR (at your preferred time) and going to the theater and Crow's Nest are a big part of the cruise experience, especially on sea days. You should not be denied access to those areas. 

[HappyInVan]

Anyone tried room service? The menu is limited, but quality is comparable to MDR.

[julia]

2 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Snip “?  Or maybe the group is so large and they all want to eat at 8PM, that it totally fills the upper dining room so they are going to use part of the lower dining room for the group as fixed time seating?”

 

 

Thats the way I read it 

That is the way I read it too... specifically, they will not be seating people after 6:30, so as to have the majority of the MDR available for this group for an 8pm fixed time. 

IMHO, this is NOT RIGHT!! If a group is that big, then have them charter the entire ship. If not, then please do NOT allow them to impact the enjoyment of other full paying passengers!  😲😪

[SeaMatesNYC]

4 minutes ago, julia said:

That is the way I read it too... specifically, they will not be seating people after 6:30, so as to have the majority of the MDR available for this group for an 8pm fixed time. 

IMHO, this is NOT RIGHT!! If a group is that big, then have them charter the entire ship. If not, then please do NOT allow them to impact the enjoyment of other full paying passengers!  😲😪

When will the shows be, is what I am wondering. Will they adjust those so this huge group will all go at say 7pm?  Seating will then be impossible! Ugh! I would be so peeved!  The un-Christian thoughts in my head would peel paint!

[Mary229]

42 minutes ago, SeaMatesNYC said:

When will the shows be, is what I am wondering. Will they adjust those so this huge group will all go at say 7pm?  Seating will then be impossible! Ugh! I would be so peeved!  The un-Christian thoughts in my head would peel paint!

The shows have recently changed to 6 and 8 on many ships.  Go to the 6. 
 

the other option I did was to set up a reservation for a very specific time for anytime dining.  What is your preferred time?  See the dining room manager at your first opportunity and set that up.  Mine was for 6:30

[tupper10]

There is a July 13th cruise out of Seattle but it doesn't include Glacier Bay.  I do feel for you in this situation.  

[LonelySaxophone]

14 minutes ago, tupper10 said:

There is a July 13th cruise out of Seattle but it doesn't include Glacier Bay.  I do feel for you in this situation.  

Ahhhh yeah GB was kind of the selling point womp womp.

Edited April 16 by LonelySaxophone
Edited because I can’t read

[BetsyS.]

Mary229 - How can I find the list of HAL's charters and groups onboard that VMax1700 keeps? I looked on these boards and couldn't find it.

[Mary229]

7 minutes ago, BetsyS. said:

Mary229 - How can I find the list of HAL's charters and groups onboard that VMax1700 keeps? I looked on these boards and couldn't find it.

 

[BetsyS.]

Mary229 - Thanks very much. I appreciate it. My July cruise on Zuiderdam seems safe. It is a longer cruise.

[cccole]

I agree with HappyInVan re room service.  If you have a balcony you can enjoy the same menu as the MDR in the evening.  I've never tried having room service delivered to another part of the ship, like the Lido Pool area.  If you have a TA I would definitely ask for some OBC so you could go to specialty restaurants for dinners.  I would be very disappointed.  Hope you can work something out.  Glacier Bay is one of my favorite memories of our Alaska cruise so totally understand why you picked the date.  Cherie

[Mary229]

4 minutes ago, BetsyS. said:

Mary229 - Thanks very much. I appreciate it. My July cruise on Zuiderdam seems safe. It is a longer cruise.

Staying away from 7 day cruises solves a lot of problems.  The only 7 days I go on is with my sister who has limited time off

[Torquer]

2 hours ago, Mary229 said:

The problem is, that even with this list of groups onboard, you would have no idea how big that group is.  Certainly 50 to 200 people in the group is not going to change the atmosphere of the cruise significantly.  But it sounds like in this case over 1/2 the ship is going to be part of this group.  That is indeed a big problem.  Now I would not expect a quilting group or a continuing education group to be that big, but who knows.  Reading the name for this one, I would have never guessed this group would be so big.  Perhaps in that post about groups @VMax1700 could add info on how big the group might be, based on past experiences from other cruisers.

 

BTW, I am not trying to be negative about this particular group, which I know nothing about; actually I think it is great that a church group can go on a cruise like this.  But because of the size of this group or any group, it does change the cruise experience for everyone not in the group.

[Mary229]

35 minutes ago, Torquer said:

The problem is, that even with this list of groups onboard, you would have no idea how big that group is.  Certainly 50 to 200 people in the group is not going to change the atmosphere of the cruise significantly.  But it sounds like in this case over 1/2 the ship is going to be part of this group.  That is indeed a big problem.  Now I would not expect a quilting group or a continuing education group to be that big, but who knows.  Reading the name for this one, I would have never guessed this group would be so big.  Perhaps in that post about groups @VMax1700 could add info on how big the group might be, based on past experiences from other cruisers.

 

BTW, I am not trying to be negative about this particular group, which I know nothing about; actually I think it is great that a church group can go on a cruise like this.  But because of the size of this group or any group, it does change the cruise experience for everyone not in the group.

I agree, it would take a bit of sleuthing to find out.  Those groups do advertise their charter and you can gain some info from their own marketing.  With a 1000 that this person is facing that should trigger a compensation package.  That is overwhelming on a ship this size 

[crystalspin]

3 hours ago, BetsyS. said:

Mary229 - How can I find the list of HAL's charters and groups onboard that VMax1700 keeps? I looked on these boards and couldn't find it.

I couldn't find it either; it had just drifted down. I think April's update was delayed because Colin (Vmax) is currently on a Blue-Hulled Beauty!

[cccole]

I assume that LonelySaxaphone was notified after final payment.  This is a huge problem for me.  Disappointing if notified prior to final payment but really horrendous if notified after final payment.  For a first time HAL passenger this is not a great start.  There must have been other choices for them that include Glacier Bay, including other cruise lines.  JMO Cherie

[BetsyS.]

Cherie - I agree. If notified after final payment, it's horrendous. HAL only has one chance to make a good first impression. 

[julia]

1 hour ago, cccole said:

I assume that LonelySaxaphone was notified after final payment.  This is a huge problem for me.  Disappointing if notified prior to final payment but really horrendous if notified after final payment.  For a first time HAL passenger this is not a great start.  There must have been other choices for them that include Glacier Bay, including other cruise lines.  JMO Cherie

 

100% agree... "after final payment" frankly smacks a bit deceptive to me.  I'm sorry for these passengers (I honestly had to read the letter several times, because it was inconceivable to me to not have normal seating in the MDR!)  HAL needs to be up front and honest, and this was neither.

[Mary229]

8 hours ago, cccole said:

I assume that LonelySaxaphone was notified after final payment.  This is a huge problem for me.  Disappointing if notified prior to final payment but really horrendous if notified after final payment.  For a first time HAL passenger this is not a great start.  There must have been other choices for them that include Glacier Bay, including other cruise lines.  JMO Cherie

If he has a good agent I would be on the phone having them transferring the booking.  He indicated earlier that the other logistics would be the issue - flights, hotels and time off from work.   

[LonelySaxophone]

Just an update for y'all - I wrote a kind, but firm email detailing my concerns and sent it up the ladder at HAL - I will certainly let everyone know what the outcome is!

[albingirl]

On the positive side, I think the shorter wait time at the bars is a real plus.

[Mary229]

1 hour ago, LonelySaxophone said:

Just an update for y'all - I wrote a kind, but firm email detailing my concerns and sent it up the ladder at HAL - I will certainly let everyone know what the outcome is!

I would try to get a slate of free specialty dining as compensation 

[SeaMatesNYC]

1 hour ago, albingirl said:

On the positive side, I think the shorter wait time at the bars is a real plus.

The group in question is evangelical Christian but not LDS. I am not aware of the former’s stance on alcohol but you may well be correct. Certainly at around 8-9pm the lines will be undoubtedly shorter. 

[TiogaCruiser]

18 hours ago, Eric from San Diego said:

Turning Point Ministries is an evangelical megachurch in East San Diego.  There will be anywhere from 700 to 1000 people who will all eat together at 8 pm in the MDR using as many tables as they need on both levels.   It sounds like there will be very few other tables available at that time.   They will talk only to each other and stare straight ahead if they pass anyone who is not part of their group.  They will be wearing ID badges and probably matching t-shirts so they can recognize other people who are part of their group.  

 

They will have guest speakers and probably christian music groups  for which the theater and crows nest will be closed to other guests.   Expect a reduced schedule of regular events for cruisers not part of the group.  

Turning Point has a radio ministry (Dr. David Jeremiah) also. I mentioned this to my husband last night and he said he heard the ads that said they were close to their 900 reservations being booked.

 

Inspiration Cruises is the travel agency that books for many of the large Christian groups. Several years ago my friends booked an Alaska cruise tour (4 days on ship) on NA at the same time IC was doing Insight for Living onboard. I warned my friends (because there was a thread at the time about the disruptions caused by large groups.) On returning they said they had never been impacted or were aware that the group was there…..🤔   (which I found hard to believe- I suspect they stayed in their balcony most of the time- because they reported the ship only went to 1 glacier at GB (?!?) and one of them who likes to explore and draw couldn’t find her way back to the promenade deck 🫤.)

 

snip “They will talk only to each other and stare straight ahead if they pass anyone who is not part of their group. ” I would hope not.