A new HAL Blog! (Yes, I'm a HAL employee!)

[cruz chic]

LOL...Board Monitor? Of course he's a big boy & answered the question very nicely in Post No. 1530...It's quite obvious that you have not read DBA's answer in that post & all the subsequent posts about Staff cuts & PG Breakfasts on this thread..DBA does not want to answer that question & I think it's wrong to push him for an answer....We've had a long three page discussion on this thread about ratio's of HAL's Crew to Psgr's..

 

You failed to quote my entire post to Ruth in which I apologized for linking the two threads...Wonder why?:confused:

 

I have just as much right to my opinion as you do & question why you have now decided to take over as DBA's Thread Monitor & his Spokesperson....I also believe that Ruth is a Big Girl & has no problem answering for herself..

 

Cheers....:)Betty

Yes, Ruth is able to answer for herself...and yes....I did read the answers but thank you for trying to put me in my place:rolleyes:. I can read. So often people like you feel the need to try shut down discussions. It's not up to you no matter how you feel. This is DBA's thread and not yours. I don't think he needs to have you as his spokesman.

[RuthC]

Thanks, lorekauf, but I don't need to persue this. Betty is hopelessly confused, however, that isn't what matters. Camp637 and ironin ran the figures and clarified DBA's statements. I have the info I was looking for, and that's what matters to me.

[kazu]

Yes, Ruth is able to answer for herself...and yes....I did read the answers but thank you for trying to put me in my place I can read. So often people like you feel the need to try shut down discussions. It's not up to you no matter how you feel. This is DBA's thread and not yours. I don't think he needs to have you as his spokesman.

 

As you said this is DBA' s thread, right?

 

Refer my post 1599. I am respectully requesting that we keep that way. Please don't flame me :eek: but I would like DBA to come back and keep this thread where it is intended to go. :D

 

help from DBA and what his thread is all about.

[cruz chic]

As you said this is DBA' s thread, right?

 

Refer my post 1599. I am respectully requesting that we keep that way. Please don't flame me :eek: but I would like DBA to come back and keep this thread where it is intended to go. :D

 

help from DBA and what his thread is all about.

Of course that what it's all about but I don't think the way that the Pinnacle thread went on and on was appreciated either. Somehow that is different. I find it tiresome when people feel they have to tell people when they can and can't discuss something. I could be wrong but I think that is against CC guidelines.

[cruz chic]

Thanks, lorekauf, but I don't need to persue this. Betty is hopelessly confused, however, that isn't what matters. Camp637 and ironin ran the figures and clarified DBA's statements. I have the info I was looking for, and that's what matters to me.

I agree...I've said all I'm going to on this issue.

[DutchByAssociation]

DBA - Questions for you. We have done 9 PC cruises and have always enjoyed Costa Rica. Punta Arenas is a fun port that we always give high marks to. On our last cruise we stopped at Puerto Caldera, which we rated as a zero. Now I see that all PC cruises list Puerto Caldera as the port of choice. Why the change ??? There is nothing at Puerto Caldera, and its only about ten miles from Punta Arenas. They used to list Puerto Caldera/Punta Arenas and the ship would always stop in Punta Arenas. And to add insult to injury, they charge to take you to Punta Arenas. Princess still stops at Punta Arenas, why did HAL change ?

 

Unfortunately I can't answer that. There can be a lot of reasons ports change... capacity of the pier on any given day (specifically the days we go through), the ability to offer additional excursions more difficult from the other location...

 

Keep in mind also, that if you're doing a HAL excursion transportation to wherever you might be headed is included, and many independent vendors if you prefer to take that approach can agree to meet you where you will be coming into the country as long as they know where it is.

 

I know that's not a specific "Because _____" answer, but I hope it's of some help

[DutchByAssociation]

DBA

 

Thank you very much for responding to my question about Medallions.

Once again you demonstrate why HAL is so outstanding.

 

We are very pleased that HAL is keeping the silver, gold and platinum medallions. Combined with the 4-Star perks, HAL has an unbeatable combination which we appreciate very much.

 

Thanks again!

 

glad to be of help! :D

[DutchByAssociation]

Hi Dutch,

 

may I ask a question please and if you can't answer it's ok?

 

I have a couple of meet and greets organized for the next cruise and I lucked out and got Tia again!! (I did send a letter to her supervisor last time by the way).

 

Here's the problem it's the 32 day on the Nieuw Amsterdam or the 20 day transatlantic depending on what you have booked. A lot of the people have booked guarantees.

 

I always do up invites and deliver them to their cabins. I am concerned that they may not know their cabin numbers until they arrrive (a lot of people have to fly transatlantic so they will leave early)

 

Can the concierge help me with the stateroom numbers if I don't have them (I have their full names). it's a bit of a worry because I don't want to chase people down at the last minute, but I know how it is when you are trying to get out. You can forget these things or you might not be advised yet.

 

Sorry for the long winded question, but if you can answer or tell me who to go to it would be great.

 

Probably a stupid question and if it is, I apologize, but with all the privacy rules now I am a bit concerned. Thanks as always. Jacqui

 

Oh come on now Jacqui, there's a lot of questions I've answered on here dozens of times (information about Future Cruise Requests comes to mind :)) and I don't mind in the slightest.

 

You're right about the whole privacy thing, but I would imagine the ship can work with you to make sure all the invites get to their intended recipients... or, I can't say for certain but that might be the sort of thing Tia can help with too.

[DutchByAssociation]

Hi DBA..

 

I have a question for you just a small on ;-)..When I buy wine for the cruise, and I plan to buy a case. I was just going to tape it up and slap a luggage tag on it...but do they need to check it to make sure it is just wine? should I leave it open? Thanks

 

Suzin

 

Hi Suzin,

 

HAL won't need to inspect it, at least not that I've ever seen, but I suppose the pier can always do whatever it wants to and/or that city has determined ought to be done... Might want to leave it open just to be certain... But me personally? Even though I know things are usually handled with a great amount of care... I would carry it on myself just to know that if anything broke I can only blame me :)

[DutchByAssociation]

going on a southern caribbean cruise in Dec (Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, Turks, Dominican Republic.

 

was wondering which side of the ship faces the port/dock at each stop.

 

I like to get a balcony room facing the port.

 

thanks in advance for your help

 

As others mentioned on your other thread... no specific way to tell. You could always get a forward or aft facing room and then you technically get both... ? :D

[bwater]

I too hope that dba can/ will still post on here.. He is a wealth of info

 

He is in a precarious position, if he chooses not to answer something , such as whether or not there are staff "decreases" or "effective decreases " etc.. Im sure its because there are times when he can't as an inside employee- and its a fine line for what could get him in trouble when he answers..

 

Nor would he want to argue minutia such as a 1-2% staff increase- when as for example- some things get automated and they dont need someone doing that job..there are less checkout clerks at the grocery store- because some are now automated check outs- same service for the rest.. And people will see what they want to see to argue a point..

 

Thanks again for aqll you do DBA

[DutchByAssociation]

Forgive me if this has been asked, but there is no way I can read all the pages..... Is HAL planning on having a ship at Pt. Canaveral again? I wish they would, as I'm sure everyone wishes a ship was berthed near their home! But I wish it more than anyone else!:)

 

Not aware of anything at this time. Just Tampa and Ft. Lauderdale. But keep in mind that the closer we are to the Caribbean, the less time it takes to get there and the more places we can go to in the same length of cruise compared to others... You may also want to look into the Home City Motorcoach program which if you're in that area I'm almost positive has a pickup/drop off point reasonably close.

[DutchByAssociation]

I just hope he comes back with all this 'stuff'

 

Playing catch up as we speak

[DutchByAssociation]

I too hope that DBA is not driven away from this board,

 

Me? NEVER!

[DutchByAssociation]

I too hope that dba can/ will still post on here.. He is a wealth of info

 

You guys know I was only not in here for a couple days and that during that same time I was redesigning the blog, putting together a couple pieces on VFD Interiors for my blog, discovering some INCREDIBLE Nieuw Amsterdam renderings that have not previously been circulated (going up tonight by the way but I wanted to play catch up on here first) and dealing with my truly god awful internet provider... right? :D :D :D

 

bwater, my next reply will be an answer to the rest of your post

[DutchByAssociation]

I too hope that dba can/ will still post on here.. He is a wealth of info

 

He is in a precarious position, if he chooses not to answer something , such as whether or not there are staff "decreases" or "effective decreases " etc.. Im sure its because there are times when he can't as an inside employee- and its a fine line for what could get him in trouble when he answers..

 

Nor would he want to argue minutia such as a 1-2% staff increase- when as for example- some things get automated and they dont need someone doing that job..there are less checkout clerks at the grocery store- because some are now automated check outs- same service for the rest.. And people will see what they want to see to argue a point..

 

Thanks again for aqll you do DBA

 

So far, and I've done the blog/CC thing for about a year and a half now, I like to think (not tooting my own horn here) I've done a good job of weighing what is being asked against whether or not I know and whether or not I can post it even if I do know. For instance, I knew about the Pinnacle Grill sea salts that are now brought tableside and I showed from my Pinnacle dinner on Rotterdam May 15th, a good month or more before I posted anything about the skewers... and that was back in January that I made the post... so we're talking Fall 2009. As they weren't fleetwide yet however, my request to mention them to everyone was responded to with a request I place that project on hold until they have an opportunity to make sure all ships have begun the new service element and/or I have a chance to experience/review it for myself.

 

Other times, something will come up in conversation at work suh as the SOE 2 roll-out being done in 2 phases on Ryndam, Statendam and Maasdam and my knowing about it before the press releases come out and bring it up. Yet if someone asked in the meantime "Will Ryndam have the Retreat on my April 2010 cruise?" if I know the answer is "No, that's not part of phase 1" my options are to remain quiet on the matter in the hopes of not further confusing the situation or indicate what information they would have at the time that says yes it is scheduled to be there (they would later learn through other methods/press releases when that is no longer the case)

 

It's a fine line sometimes and the beauty of boards like this is that if there's something I don't perhaps know the answer to, can't give out the answer I know is there, or maybe can't reach the person that could get me that answer... I can always choose to avoid that thread.

 

If someone wants to say "Hey DBA, not sure if you've seen post 'XYZ' (insert link here)... any info/thoughts?" I will usually attempt to provide a little more info OR see what I CAN give out.

 

The particular thread that started the recent "commotion" (and I'm not talking Ruth's crew % Q's) just seemed so bitter and negative from the very beginning by so many people I wouldn't think to expect it from that my personal decision was to avoid it with a 10 foot pole. Threads here in general, on some posts I will see one person would give some tidbit of info that I knew for a fact to be nothing more than an opinion/theory, but was then carried through the thread as though it were gospel... No one asking, questioning, providing proof... just a case of "someone said it, it must be true" and it's not my role or place to defend HAL. There are other departments that are paid to do that when necessary and they do their jobs well. I just turned from a quiet approach into a statement when asked on here...

 

Hope that helps comment on bwater's and a lot of your other comments... Sorry for the small novel. :)

[Bobblsc]

I see there has been a lot of fuss in recent posts. Please by aware that I have none. I am always a really nice guy. :D

 

I have looked, but found nothing about this.

 

We sailed on the Noordam, Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona, May 14-May27. This was, in almost all respects, a very nice cruise. Information around the ship was that a German group had chartered the ship for a cruise to Cape Town, South Africa immediately after our cruise, where it would also provide lodging for the World Cup Soccer meets. Then there began to be rumours that the Germans had cancelled. We began to feel concern for the uncertainties the crew must be experiencing.

 

After disembarking at Barcelona, we went to the Renaissance Hotel for lunch. As we were leaving to catch a plane for Budapest, we saw a bus arrive with several Noordam crew. These included Mr. Zen, the maitre d' who had directed us to dinner tables many times. When we spoke with Mr. Zen, he only answered something such as "Things change."

 

The cruise also had a really great string quartet from the Ukraine which played every evening in the Explorers' Lounge. We are concerned about them.

 

 

Can you please tell us what happened?

 

 

Bob :cool:

[kazu]

Oh come on now Jacqui, there's a lot of questions I've answered on here dozens of times (information about Future Cruise Requests comes to mind :)) and I don't mind in the slightest.

 

You're right about the whole privacy thing, but I would imagine the ship can work with you to make sure all the invites get to their intended recipients... or, I can't say for certain but that might be the sort of thing Tia can help with too.

 

Thanks very much DBA. I'll try both if need be, hopefully it won't be necessary. appreciate it.

[kazu]

You guys know I was only not in here for a couple days and that during that same time I was redesigning the blog, putting together a couple pieces on VFD Interiors for my blog, discovering some INCREDIBLE Nieuw Amsterdam renderings that have not previously been circulated (going up tonight by the way but I wanted to play catch up on here first) and dealing with my truly god awful internet provider... right? :D :D :D

 

bwater, my next reply will be an answer to the rest of your post

 

Cudos on the blog. The new pictures of the Nieuw Amsterdam are so wonderful! Love the blues!!!:D Making me drool for our cruise in October :)

Great job Dutch. thanks so much.:p

[DutchByAssociation]

I see there has been a lot of fuss in recent posts. Please by aware that I have none. I am always a really nice guy. :D

 

I have looked, but found nothing about this.

 

We sailed on the Noordam, Ft. Lauderdale to Barcelona, May 14-May27. This was, in almost all respects, a very nice cruise. Information around the ship was that a German group had chartered the ship for a cruise to Cape Town, South Africa immediately after our cruise, where it would also provide lodging for the World Cup Soccer meets. Then there began to be rumours that the Germans had cancelled. We began to feel concern for the uncertainties the crew must be experiencing.

 

After disembarking at Barcelona, we went to the Renaissance Hotel for lunch. As we were leaving to catch a plane for Budapest, we saw a bus arrive with several Noordam crew. These included Mr. Zen, the maitre d' who had directed us to dinner tables many times. When we spoke with Mr. Zen, he only answered something such as "Things change."

 

The cruise also had a really great string quartet from the Ukraine which played every evening in the Explorers' Lounge. We are concerned about them.

 

 

Can you please tell us what happened?

 

 

Bob :cool:

 

As it is related to a charter, I'm not familiar with the details... I know that Noordam will incorporate a dry dock into that period of time though.

[DutchByAssociation]

Cudos on the blog. The new pictures of the Nieuw Amsterdam are so wonderful! Love the blues!!!:D Making me drool for our cruise in October :)

Great job Dutch. thanks so much.:p

 

I'm loving all the blues, whites and silvers/chromes that are going into the design. It really helps to separate her from her older sis.

[Bobblsc]

As it is related to a charter, I'm not familiar with the details... I know that Noordam will incorporate a dry dock into that period of time though.

 

Thank you for responding anyway.

 

Bob :cool:

[DutchByAssociation]

Thank you for responding anyway.

 

Bob :cool:

 

No problem.

[DutchByAssociation]

If anyone hasn't seen, the HAL Blog is doing a bunch of stuff and giving away gifts in the final 10 days before Nieuw Amsterdam's launch.

 

I've had quite a few updates lately too.

 

And as always, send your questions!

[MVGuy]

DBA:

 

I have been seeing a number of comments on plumbing and a/c problems throughout the HAL fleet. In many cases, it seems that these issues were not able to be resloved, and when action was taken the issue arises again on subsequent cruises. Is the company seeing this as a problem, or are these just isolated instances?

 

Ken