The Las Vegas HAL CC group meets up with Mr. Deering

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Another wonderful evening with a good time had by all here in Las Vegas. As reported several weeks ago the Hotel Managers of Holland America are hold a conference here in Las Vegas starting tomorrow. Tonight's little get together was thrown together very quickly. I had wanted to be able to invite others from out of town but it was unknown till a few days ago what the Hotel Mangers agendas would be. Tonight ended up being their own free time but many were still arriving tonight. We were very lucky to have James Deering come to dinner with us. We had a wonderful time and of course talked about our favorite subject HAL.

Of course a Las Vegas Get Together would not be complete with out pictures.

Here is a link to view the pictures.

http://community.webshots.com/album/551011797jVlaui

[shonuf]

Lucky, lucky, Lisa. I hope the food was as good as the company!

[RevNeal]

It is so strange to see Mr. Deering "out of uniform." :)

Looks like a great night.

[sail7seas]

How very fun!!! They have all 'air-dropped in' and it should be an amazing week.

 

I was teasing with a few that now they've all gone to Las Vegas for their 'meetings', are we to expect to find little eiffel towers, Venetian Canals, erupting volcanoes, water shows a la Bellagio, rain forests and Roman chariots on the new Signature Class ships?

 

(Somehow none of them commented on that!!!! :)

 

Thanks for sharing with us, Lisa.

[Copper10-8]

Thanks for sharing the info and pics Lisa! Looks like you guys had a great time!:)

[bepsf]

Thanks for sharing the pix Lisa!

 

So did James share any juicy gossip about new developments?

 

I sure hope that he was able to have his wife fly in and spend time w/ him while he "wasn't working" - you couldn't miss her, she looks like a younger Dyan Cannon!

[dakrewser]

Looks like you had fun! But, c'mon Lisa, spill! What tidbits of gossip did you discover? :rolleyes:

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Brian, unfortunately she could not make it, I would have liked to meet her as well. As far as juicy gossip there were a few things mentioned;) In all honestly my mind is a fog this morning since I am already at work. I can say two of the things the Hotel Managers are discussing here at their conference is about adding addition perks and benefits to the Suites as well as additional perks to Mariners. Bare in mind this is all still in the planning stages so nothing definite.:)

Greg, I thought it would seem strange to see Mr. Deering out of uniform but actually it was not. We had such a great time, I could listen to what he had to say for days:D Our dinner was located at great restaurant that was in Sun City Anthem Community Center that had a wonderful view of the sunset over the strip and then views of the strip at night.

John, Welcome Home. I wish you and everyone else could have been there.

 

I can say that the Hotel Managers have a very FULL week ahead, their first meeting started at 9 this morning and they have them busy every day starting in the morning till late at night. Monday they will all move out to the Las Vegas Strip area and stay at various hotels and partake in several different Fine Dining Venues then attend a few shows and of course check out the spas.

[HeatherInFlorida]

Lisa, thanks so much for sharing! Those were fun and it looks like your group had a really nice time.

[Lurker1]

as well as additional perks to Mariners. Bare in mind this is all still in the planning stages so nothing definite.:)

 

Greg, I thought it would seem strange to see Mr. Deering out of uniform but actually it was not. We had such a great time, I could listen to what he had to say for days:D

Additional perks for Mariners sounds good! We met Mr. Deering on the O-Dam on the April 1 cruise to Mexico, and he is very interesting to listen to.

Your weather has to be better than it is here, I think we're having a monsoon.:(

Ken and DW Aileen from CT.

[Ine]

It seems the "Las vegas-CC-ers" had again a great evening.

If only we didnot live that far apart....

So nice to see so many faces on the photos again and hope you are all o.k.

 

We on the other hand had the pleasure of meeting John (Copper) in NL....

[LAFFNVEGAS]

 

Your weather has to be better than it is here, I think we're having a monsoon.:(

 

Ken and DW Aileen from CT.

 

Our weather is actually very nice and dry except very HOT.We will be 105 plus thru next Friday and then it will start to cool down. Hmmmmm:rolleyes: It started to get Hot with the Hotel Managers Arrived and it does not cool down till they leave, wonderful if there is any correlation there??:D

But the mornings and evening are beautiful. I am sure they had a beautiful morning out where they are staying at Lake Las Vegas. It will make for a nice change of scenery for them.:)

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I just remembered one of the things we discussed last night. As several of you know HAL started out having Cruise Critic Q and A get together sessions on the Zuriderdam and Oosterdam. They ended up having to stop this but what can be done and HAL is more than happy to do this is if we from Cruise Critic starts it we can have a Cruise Critic party and HAL will be more than happy to help up set it up and even send out invitation to the cabins. It just need to be instigated my a member of cruise critic. All you need to do is call HAL Guest Relations prior to your cruise and set it up.:)

[Bill S]

Lisa: thanks for posting the report about last night's dinner w/Mr. Deering and sharing your photos!

It was my first time meeting Mr. Deering and I was most impressed: truly a classy gentleman and very interesting to hear what he has to say.

My sense is that while HAL is serious about making things better for everyone, but even more so for full suite guests and Mariners, some things will have to change/evolve to be competitive, but we don't worry about seeing rock climbing walls, bowling alleys and wave pools on HAL ships. HAL does not operate in a vacuum--they know what the competition does, and more importantly, what it's own clientele like about HAL. I left the dinner very encouraged about HAL's future.

We missed having Jim and Donna Hannah again, as they had not arrived home as of last night from an overseas journey, but at least they have previously met Mr. Deering on the Oosterdam.

Thanks, Mr. Deering--it was a true pleasure and honor to have you dine with us! And, thanks to you, Lisa, for putting this together!

[SeaGypsy1]

Our Lisa did a fine job of putting the dinner together and choosing the place. Well done. We had a most enjoyable time talking about all things HAL. Mr Deering was charming and very interesting to talk with. He has a vast knowledge on a number of issues and we learned a lot from him. He is so kind to take his time and spend it with us and we all appreciated the opportunity to have him.:)

[doxiemom]

What a wonderful evening we had last night - great location, great food and even greater dinner companions. Lisa did another A 1 job of organizing the evening. Meeting James Deering was such a pleasure. He is so approachable and interesting. HAL could not have a more outstanding ambassador. To all CC members, we Las Vegas members do share our experiences with you all - what happens in Vegas doesn't always stay in Vegas.

 

Don and Kay Stroud

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Thanks Everyone, but especially Mr. Deering. He is as everyone has said extremely approachable and a wonderful ambassador for HAL. He loves his job and his crew and it shows:) He is one of the many reasons why we love HAL and I call the Oosterdam my favorite ship. We are so very fortunate to be able to have had the opportunity to spend the evening with Mr. Deering. We know from him that HAL does truly care about their passengers especially Mariners but sometimes the overall picture is just too big and we feel they do not care but I know they do which is why I will continue to call HAL my vacation home and continue this addiction:D

Tija if you want you can email me your pictures and see if they came out any better and I can post them as well.

[shipcafe]

Wow it certainly is interesting to see him out of uniform. Thanks for sharing. He is a true professional and gentleman and I'm glad that you got to pick his brain a bit. I just saw him last weekend aboard Oosterdam so it seems funny that he's in Vegas already!

[Atomica]

Lisa, sounds like you guys had a great time with Mr. Deering. I can't wait to see him aboard another ship again - I'm sure Kim would like to meet him as well :)

[Atomica]

Actually, just a little addendum to my last post, but I think part of what sets HAL apart, in my mind at least, is that they have people like James Deering who are very knowledgeable both from a technical and personal standpoint. I was struck by how much of an interest he took in making sure that everyone was having a great time, and I know there's certainly some lines where you'd never find that.

[FlorenceItaly]

Mr. Deering is FIRST class all the way. He exemplifies personal customer service. It's evident he really enjoys his job and represents HAL beautifully.

I feel fortunate to have met him, and hope to see him on future cruises. He has a way of making each person he encounters feel special, and it is genuine. His wife was going to be on the sailing after ours, and I only wish I would have had the opportunity to meet her too. I imagine they are a very special couple.

 

Lisa, thanks for the pictures and sharing the evening with us!

 

 

Marie

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Lisa, sounds like you guys had a great time with Mr. Deering. I can't wait to see him aboard another ship again - I'm sure Kim would like to meet him as well :)

 

Aaron, you and Kim are still planning on joining us next March I hope. Both Mr. Deering and Captain Mercer should both be there:)

[richcrow]

Lisa,

 

James Deering truely IS a man who loves his job. We were blessed to have him on our Oosterdam cruise to Alaska this past week. At least he was with us until you just had to steal him away to Las Vegas:) . All kidding aside he attended our Cruise Critic Get-Together, took everyones Stateroom number and invited each of us to a special reception hosted by he and the Capt.

 

DW and I just arrived home today. So, I hope to have a review posted as soon as I can get organized.

 

Richard

[Lurker1]

what can be done and HAL is more than happy to do this is if we from Cruise Critic starts it we can have a Cruise Critic party and HAL will be more than happy to help up set it up and even send out invitation to the cabins. It just need to be instigated my a member of cruise critic. All you need to do is call HAL Guest Relations prior to your cruise and set it up.:)

 

This is a great idea, but might get lost when in the middle of a thread. Do you think you could set this as a separate thread, or maybe one of the hosts post it as a sticky?

[jhannah]

I'm glad you all got to get together with Mr. Deering. We very much enjoyed meeting him on the Oosterdam a few weeks ago. We just got back from Romania last night. Hated to miss out on the dinner, but glad the rest of you were able to host James in a grand way.