I Hope They Don't Do This........

[sail7seas]

I heard recently HAL is going to try to ease off printed, pretty pictured brochures and go to e-brochures. :(

 

While I certainly spend hours on the computer, I don't want to see them stop providing us with brochures.

 

Those brochures have sold us a lot of cruises.

When DH comes home and I have (accidentally :D) left a new brochure on the counter, you can count 20 minutes or less after he sits down with it when he suddenly wants to talk about a cruise he has found in the brochure.

 

If that pretty booklet had not been on the counter, the odds are very strong we would not have booked a number of cruises we have enjoyed and probably would not have read about, known about or booked.

 

What about you? You care if you get put your fingers on the pretty covers of those beautiful brochures? Would it matter to you if they became scarce?

[mariner]

I think it's a bad move S7S, but, the younger folks live their lives off Blackberries et al.

 

Sure saves bucks that won't get passed along.

[vbmom87]

I heard recently HAL is going to try to ease off printed, pretty pictured brochures and go to e-brochures. :(

 

While I certainly spend hours on the computer, I don't want to see them stop providing us with brochures.

 

Those brochures have sold us a lot of cruises.

When DH comes home and I have (accidentally :D) left a new brochure on the counter, you can count 20 minutes or less after he sits down with it when he suddenly wants to talk about a cruise he has found in the brochure.

 

If that pretty booklet had not been on the counter, the odds are very strong we would not have booked a number of cruises we have enjoyed and probably would not have read about, known about or booked.

 

What about you? You care if you get put your fingers on the pretty covers of those beautiful brochures? Would it matter to you if they became scarce?

 

 

Although I also use the web to get alot of information, I would still want a printed book. Like youI like to see it all in one place. Using the internet can take so long sometimes as you surf the website. It is literally at your fingertips in a printed book.

[cruz chic]

I don't think I've ever booked a cruise by looking at a brochure. I usually go to an online site and take a look at what interests me and what fits with my work schedule. I'm am sort of young (47) but I'm for sure not a blackberry/cell phone type of gal.

[hammybee]

On a different CC board, posters were submitting ideas of how cruise lines could reduce their costs in ways that did not impact passengers. One of the ideas was that cruise lines should cease producing and mailing brochures.

 

According to that long time cruise line employee who frequents many CC boards, if the brochures did not generate an increase in bookings, the cruise lines would reduce or cease such mailings. This made sense to me.

 

I respond well to brochures and it gets the cruise juices flowing. I also love the HAL print ads.

 

What does not make sense to me is that over time, we get three sets of brochures in my household. (DH and DD have same last name. I kept my own name and we always share a cabin). That's a waste.

[mariner]

Put another way: How many read newspapers DAILY?

[brewster007]

save our trees and forests. go e-brochure!!

[jtl513]

I'm always referring to the hard-copy brochures, and would definitely miss them.

 

save our trees and forests. go e-brochure!!

At my house FAR more paper is wasted on junk-mail ads than on HAL brochures. And once a week a free "community" newspaper goes directly from my driveway to the recycling bin. Let's ban that stuff first! :D

[cruz chic]

Put another way: How many read newspapers DAILY?

So true. I used to buy one daily. I don't think I've bought one for years now. I usually just read it on the internet from time to time or at my parents house:o .

[sail7seas]

Put another way: How many read newspapers DAILY?

 

We do. :o Sure we read news on line but we also have two papers delivered daily.

 

The cost of those brochures is very high, of course. And postage is a huge bill but I can absolutely say we have 'bought' many cruises because of those brochures that we might not have taken.

 

We use computers a huge amount and definitely can find all the itineraries etc and sometimes do that but it simply isn't the same.

 

I always have an up to date set of the brochures we have a real interest in.

I don't bother getting ones I realistically know we will not be booking from.

Don't need the extra clutter. :)

[mariner]

Well that answer puts half of us out of business.

 

So much for the white dinner jacket question.

[Two if by Sea]

If I want a brochure, I start by printing my own copy from the PDF on the website.

 

But I do find it helpful having a glossy, bound version eventually. I can't really show the printer-quality version around to family members.

[Destin Mom]

A picture is worth a thousand words...to some anyway. Why not give guests the option to have a hard copy via specific request vs sending them out unsolicited? We just received our blue folder (read about this magic little folder for months with no idea what it was)...well the thing is full of color brochures, most of which we did not need. They were pretty though... will go in our trash. I have no printing/mass market experience so no clue as to cost of these pretties but if HAL could cut this expense in half, I say go for it. HAL is in business to make money, and it helps all of us passengers if they are doing well.

[sail7seas]

So it boils down to:

 

If they can compute they make more money (by selling cruises directly due to brochures) the investment is worth it.

 

No surprise about that, of course.

 

How do they get that info though?

Ask: Did you book this cruise because of (a) info you read/found on line or (b) from an HAL printed brochure or © other?

 

[Southbound]

Whenever I visit a flea market or yard/garage sale, I always seem to find something I didn't know I needed.:D 'Tis the same when a HAL brochure arrives via our mail carrier. I always seem to find a cruise I knew I needed but hadn't been aware it was there to book.

Searching the ebrochures are a big pain in the patootie. So much easier and more enjoyable to sit and relax with a cup of coffee, peruse a "real" brochure, absorb the beautiful photos, compare itineraries, examine the deck plans and select a cabin. For me, it's a very pleasurable and important first step in the process of booking a HAL cruise.

[cruz chic]

A picture is worth a thousand words...to some anyway. Why not give guests the option to have a hard copy via specific request vs sending them out unsolicited? We just received our blue folder (read about this magic little folder for months with no idea what it was)...well the thing is full of color brochures, most of which we did not need. They were pretty though... will go in our trash. I have no printing/mass market experience so no clue as to cost of these pretties but if HAL could cut this expense in half, I say go for it. HAL is in business to make money, and it helps all of us passengers if they are doing well.

That would be good if they would send them only to the folks that want them. I usually put all mine in the recycle without reading them. It's a real waste. I've got no time to read them and also need to take them time to shread the page with my name and address. It's a bit of a pain.

[royalcruz]

My brochures usually go strait to the recycle bin:o . I am 43 and prefer computer research. I do read the daily newspaper, though:p .

[Atomica]

I like the brochures - I do a lot of online searching, but nothing can replace having an actual brochure in your hands, with pictures, itineraries, deck plans etc. (for the record, I'm 25 and can't stand Blackberries!)

 

What I DO wish HAL would do away with are those cheap paper flyers that come three, four times a week to my house - if they're looking to cut costs, cut those out and just email them to me! But keep printing my brochures!!

[sail7seas]

That cheap paper flyer saved us $900 this week on a Maasdam cruise we booked last month!!!! Keep 'em coming! I started a thread about that yesterday.

 

 

[mariner]

Minus dinner jackets WOO HOO!

[sail7seas]

What does age have to do with wanting a pretty picture brochure. Young or old, if one is computer savvy, what's the difference if 41 or 61? :confused:

 

I shop on line all the time but still leaf through some of the catalogs I get. Some I toss, of course, but others I read.

 

[mariner]

Because the online messages are LIKELY not targeted to you

[sail7seas]

Minus dinner jackets WOO HOO!

 

 

:) Mariner......... We bought DH a mighty 'purdy' new white dinner jacket this past Monday. :) He will be bringing it and his black tuxedo on our upcoming Canada/New England cruises. ;)

[sail7seas]

Because the online messages are LIKELY not targeted to you

 

 

 

:confused: Why not?

[mariner]

And becausue your're in a suite squiring it off when you want. For the rest, shirt and trousers will do.