Oosterdam Dining Changes on 11/12/05 cruise [Archive]

Iggipolka

November 12th, 2005, 07:01 PM

HAL's messing with the dining changes again and there are lots and lots of unhappy pax. On this sailing, they've elimated the 6:15 and 8:30 dining times. There is only two dining times, one at 5:45 and one at 8:00. Grrr
I had a 6:15 dining time, but now will be at 5:45. There is no open seating type dining, except in the Lido as usual.

BJane

November 12th, 2005, 07:13 PM

Thank goodness our upcoming Oosterdam cruise is only 3 days. By spring they'll probably just be handing out boxed dinners for consumption at a time and location of our choosing! Anywhere except the dining room, of course.

RuthC

November 12th, 2005, 07:51 PM

Iggi, this sounds exactly like the old system of two sittings---except it's backed up 15 minutes.
Wonder what time the shows are?

Roll with the punches, girl, and enjoy.

LAFFNVEGAS

November 12th, 2005, 08:02 PM

I wonder why they could not have it be 6:00 and 8:00? Sure hope they figure this out by our Feb 4th cruise.

Thanks for the info Iggi.

Iggipolka

November 12th, 2005, 10:43 PM

The shows are at 8:30 and 10:30.

I had a scrumptious dinner at a table for 6, with only 3 of us attending! It was still great company and the food was absolutely delicious. Plus, someone (ahem Drayke!) must have mentioned that it's my birthday as I got birthday cake and singing. :) It was embarassing and fun at the same time. :p

I don't know if the two dining times are for this cruise only, or if it is part of the "testing" that HAL is doing. I think that the servers are more relaxed with the two dining times than the four dining times, so that's a good thing.

Ok..off to wander around before the show!

btw: the ship is beautiful!

stanford's girl

November 12th, 2005, 10:59 PM

Thanks for the update Iggi. :)

It seems that HAL is still trying to figure out how to change the dining room. I wonder how many more pax they have to make mad before they stop??:rolleyes:

NORTHSHOREPAIR

November 12th, 2005, 11:18 PM

Has anyone called HAL ? If so, what's their take on this?

We picked a 5:45 seating due to the fact that it's two hours behind when we normally eat - not that big a deal....but we're travelling with my diabetic father who will be 3 hrs behind.

LoveLifeAtSea

November 13th, 2005, 12:06 AM

Quite frankly, I don't think what they are offering on your cruise is so bad. Two sittings, instead of 4, is the way it used to be, which I always preferred. I always wondered why they changed it in the first place. The time difference of 30 minutes for the early sitting does put a damper on those who have to rush from their day on shore.

PRINSENDAM

November 13th, 2005, 05:41 AM

Quite frankly, I don't think what they are offering on your cruise is so bad. Two sittings, instead of 4, is the way it used to be, which I always preferred.

Susan,

Very true.... agree completely. The ambiance in the dining room suffers when the seatings are split.

Stephen

LoveLifeAtSea

November 13th, 2005, 07:50 AM

Susan,

Very true.... agree completely. The ambiance in the dining room suffers when the seatings are split.

Stephen

Stephen ...

You hit it on the head! Something was always nagging at me with the split dinner times (in my case, the 2 'main' dinners) . . . it was the overall ambiance! It just felt like something wasn't right, almost a displaced feeling. Thank you for pointing it out!

The other reason I dislike the 4 sittings ... again, in our case, the 2 Main Sittings ... is that it makes it difficult to 'catch up' with other friends onboard who are assigned different 'main' dining times. One group leaves you in the Ocean Bar while they go off to dinner, while the same group is looking for you afterward while you are finishing up your dinner.

Personally, I would love to see HAL return to the 2 sitting dinner times!

pachecos

November 13th, 2005, 07:58 AM

I'm curious if on your sailing they will always have the late dinner show AFTER dinner - if not it sort of defeats the purpose of having late dinner when you have to be ready for a show before. Please let us know. Also if you could find out what they're doing next week for Thanksgiving that would be great.

whatever they do - HAVE A GREAT CRUISE!!!!

LoveLifeAtSea

November 13th, 2005, 08:05 AM

Thanks for the update Iggi. :)

It seems that HAL is still trying to figure out how to change the dining room. I wonder how many more pax they have to make mad before they stop??:rolleyes:

Janice ...

I wonder if HAL is trying to resolve their original mistake of a few weeks ago, where they totally replaced traditional dining during the main dining time with leisure dining. Maybe they are listening to some of our suggestions and are lining things up in an attempt to offer both . . . 'traditional dining' for BOTH early and main sittings while at the same time, hoping to reintroduce 'leisurely dining'. As so many suggested, offer one type on one level of the dining room and the other type on the opposite level.

I'm keeping a positive attitude that HAL really is wanting to keep a lot of us Mariners happy while introducing changes. :)

elmorejj

November 13th, 2005, 10:52 AM

Iggi, do you know if there will be an organised CC meeting on your sailing? We were wonderfully surprised to see that HAL had organised one for us on our Veendam cruise........just got back yesterday. It was on the 2nd or 3rd day in the Crows nest, hors d`oevres and cocktails provided by HAL and attended by the HM Nick Berger and the CD John Challenger. They gave out lots of info and told us that the Veendam is the first vessel of the line to do this CC get together but that it would be on all ships soon.........jean:cool:

SeaBands

November 13th, 2005, 03:40 PM

It seems that HAL realizes that 4 dining times are too many and went back to 2. I don't understand starting at 5:45 though. Is this an early bird seating for the retirees? Do they get a special rate on the cruise for eating dinner at lunch time? Seems like more dumbing down or is this so that the wait staff can wear costumes and do the limbo while serving.
What is happening to gentle crusing?:eek:

Iggipolka

November 13th, 2005, 06:13 PM

Hi everyone from the Oosterdam!

Jean, there is no organized CC gathering, but I don't think that there are that many of us on this cruise.

I'm not that upset about there being 2 dining times, although I really do prefer 6:15pm over 5:45pm. That's just way too early. What I am upset about is that ONCE AGAIN, HAL didn't notify passengers about the dining change from 4 to 2 seatings, until we were on the ship. They really do a crummy job of providing information to passengers prior to boarding. My TA told me that I had the 6:15 dining time and then I board and find that it's been eliminated?! I would be much less upset if I had known about this before hand.

Other than the dining glitch, the cruise has been absolutely wonderful..it's everything I have been looking forward to for 9 months! I just wish that the time would s l o w down! :D

jhannah

November 13th, 2005, 06:29 PM

That's what torques me ... HAL's total lack of disclosure! That's not the way to treat your customers.

Now as to two dining times only, I think that's great. It worked well for years, and there just seemed to be no real advantage to going to four times.

I agree ... why not just go with 6:00 and 8:30 and let it be???

cdkempton

November 13th, 2005, 06:45 PM

Glad you're enjoying the cruise. Two dining times was always our favorite. For our upcoming cruise on the Ryndam we opted for main upper 8:00. When we received our docs it shows us as main lower 8:30. Hope we can change it when we get on board. However, we'll deal with what we end up with. I'm just glad I haven't heard any rumblings about "testing" on the Ryndam.
Hope you had a great birthday!!! Enjoy:D

jlynnek

November 14th, 2005, 08:34 PM

I called HAL today because I had been waitlisted for 6:15 dining for our Nov 26 cruise. 6:15 a little on the early side for me, but I wanted to try it instead of 8:00. So...I spoke to Amanda in Ship Services and she told me I was confirmed for 6:15. I told her I'd heard/read that there might only be 2 seatings and she confirmed, that yes, indeed there would be only two and that I could show up any time between 5:30 and 6:00. Now how is that 6:15??? My 6:15 had been turned into an approximate 5:30. I told her that was too early and that I wanted to change to the 8:00 seating. She confirmed this and we said could come between 7:30 and 9:00! :eek: I was then told there were no assigned tables and that I could see the maitre'd if I wanted to sit at the same table every night. NO assigned tables???? If this is the case, I feel sorry for the maitre'd because he will be bombarded with table requests. I've never sailed on the Oosterdam before so I really don't know what table I should request when I get onboard.

I mentioned that it seemed like they have been tweaking the dining hours lately and she said it is a test and based on the feedback they get, they will continue to experiment with the times.

I don't think HAL would have volunteered the information had I not asked. Maybe I'll call back tomorrow and see what information I get from someone else.

HeatherInFlorida

November 14th, 2005, 08:47 PM

jlynek, it sounds to me like HAL is trying the "leisurely dining" concept again that Stanford's Girl talked about on her recent Oosterdam cruise.

This is not good news! I am going to be very upset if they switch over to this method since one of the reasons I like HAL and Celebrity is a set time for dinner with assigned tables. I don't want to stroll into dinner whenever I like between certain hours and have them sit me down wherever they like.

If this is a test and they want feedback, I sure hope they're reading CC as usual! And beyond that I hope they get a lot of complaints from the passengers onboard.

Maybe I'd better not cancel that Celebrity cruise I booked just yet. We decided on the Volendam in 2006, but I'd really consider going back to the Constellation (similar 10-day cruise) if HAL is going to "leisurely dining". Just not my cup of tea!!!:(

cruznon

November 14th, 2005, 09:45 PM

I like the idea of two dining times, but not the "leisure dining" concept...sounds like a lot of experimentation going on....

jhannah

November 14th, 2005, 10:50 PM

"Confirmed" for 6:15, but show up anytime between 5:30 and 6:00? Good grief! :rolleyes:

cruisegirl

November 15th, 2005, 12:02 AM

kryos

November 15th, 2005, 02:14 AM

If there is open seating it would seem that the waiters are going to get the short end of the stick. My understanding is that they only get $3.00 per passenger out of the $10 a day that is posted to your shipboard account. If you have a different waiter every night you're not going to be tipping extra. Right? Seems very unfair to the waiters. (Not to mention a pain for the passengers!)
It would seem to me that only the waiters who have people seated at their station who make reservations to dine at the same table, same time every night with their group will get extra tips. The folks who just wander in whenever and sit wherever each night are not likely to leave anything beyond the auto-tip ... thus meaning that the majority of the waitstaff are gonna get royally shafted.

We're gonna get shafted because especially in the case of couples and singles ... people who do not already have their own "ready made" groups to sit with ... are gonna wind up with a different wait staff every night. They are not gonna seat a single at a table for two by themselves, and there are only so many tables for two to go around for the couples. This is gonna mean being seated wherever there is an open spot at a larger table ... meaning a different table/section every night.

I don't care for this because I like having a wait staff who know my likes and dislikes ... who know I want a glass of iced tea in addition to my water when I sit down ... who know that I like butter on my steak ... who know just how I like my steak done. With this new dining concept, you're never gonna be able to get that.

This new concept truly sucks ... for both us and the wait staff. :(

Blue skies ...

--rita

Madame Snowflake

November 15th, 2005, 04:02 AM

Boo! Hiss! I do not like the sound of this at all. I'm so glad they didn't have leisure dining when I was on, because part of what makes a cruise so special and gives you a feeling of personalized service is having the same steward all week. That's how I feel anyway.

What is so hard about just keeping the old way of 2 seating times, assigned tables? I don't know anyone who chooses HAL for "leisure dining."

cruisegirl

November 15th, 2005, 05:55 AM

I don't care for this because I like having a wait staff who know my likes and dislikes ... who know I want a glass of iced tea in addition to my water when I sit down ... who know that I like butter on my steak ... who know just how I like my steak done. With this new dining concept, you're never gonna be able to get that.
Blue skies ...

You summed it up perfectly. With this new plan we lose any chance of getting to know our waiters and them getting to know us. I would think it would also make it very difficult for the waiters to deal with different people every night.

Gosh, what do we need to do Holland America?? We don't like this!

HeatherInFlorida

November 15th, 2005, 11:37 AM

patval

November 15th, 2005, 12:01 PM

Heather if I were you I would call Holland's Main HQ line at 1-206-281-3535 and get an operator and asked for the head of customer relations and talk with him or leave a message for a call back or call the same number but asked for Brendan J. Vierra he is Vice President of Guest Programs.

They both should know what this person said because we can not be just be 2% of the whole market if we were why are executives for these companies posting on this site.

From what I hear the Oceania President post hear and I remeber seeing a post on Princess from Princess Public Relations and was real proven by the moderator about the new Princess Suite perks delay's.

Please post what they say.

Paul

ldog

November 15th, 2005, 12:18 PM

We really enjoy the same table every night with the same wait staff. It feels so good when they remember that I want a decaf cappuccino every night and that I rarely order dessert. It's nice to have the same table companions that you can build a relationship with and discuss the various things that everyone did on their day. We were disappointed to be at a small table on our last cruise when our tablemates went to the Lido a lot.

2% IS a significant number. If people care enough to post about their experiences HAL should listen. Most companies would love to have feedback from 2% of their customers.

This board isn't full of complainers. I'd suggest that it has a lot more cheerleaders than grousers.

stanford's girl

November 15th, 2005, 12:39 PM

Ouch and yikes! Guess they told me!!! I just called Ship's Services to get a feel for this whole experiementation thing. First she told me they are only doing it on the Oosterdam to get feedback and see how everyone feels about different dining options.

When I mentioned our feelings on CC, she "reminded" me that CC only makes up 2% of their client base and that we are just "basically complaining".

Well, I guess she told me! Have to admit I was so taken aback, I politely told her that I didn't like the idea at all and ended the call. It's not often I'm left speechless (as most of you know:o )I have to say I'm speechless too Heather.:eek:

For a representative of HAL to say that the people who post here are basically complainers, is not someone who should be answering the phones.

If this is the way that HAL truly feels about 2% of their client base, maybe I'll have to just take my business elsewhere.:mad:

By any chance, did you get the name of this person?

cruisegirl

November 15th, 2005, 01:37 PM

Well, even if we ARE only 2% (and I doubt that number) we are a 2% that cruise often and frequently. And we're a force not to be ignored!

So take that Holland America!

Grumpy1

November 15th, 2005, 01:46 PM

The very fact that they KNOW the percentage means they are aware of us and the power we hold...:)

kryos

November 15th, 2005, 01:49 PM

When I mentioned our feelings on CC, she "reminded" me that CC only makes up 2% of their client base and that we are just "basically complaining".

Well, I guess she told me! Have to admit I was so taken aback, I politely told her that I didn't like the idea at all and ended the call. It's not often I'm left speechless (as most of you know:o )
Sounds like a HAL rep who needs some serious customer service training. She should never have spoken to you like that, but as far as her ascertation that CC only represents about 2% of their client base, I don't doubt it.

A lot of the opinions expressed here on this board are probably not the representative opinions of the majority of HAL cruisers. My guess is that experiments revolving around "anytime dining" and other things we generally speak out against on this board are things that the majority of HAL passengers have requested on their comment cards. Marketing departments don't do "experiments" like this unless they have good reason for it.

Remember, you heard it here first ... I say resort casual dress will be the next change implemented ... at least on the seven-day "family style" itineraries.

Blue skies ...

--rita

kryos

November 15th, 2005, 01:51 PM

Well, even if we ARE only 2% (and I doubt that number) we are a 2% that cruise often and frequently. And we're a force not to be ignored!

I agree!

But, I don't doubt the 2% number. Remember, there are an awful lot of people that are not even on the internet with any regularity, and there are also a lot of folks who, though they may use the internet regularly, NEVER visit or participate in message boards. Many people just don't have the time.

Blue skies ...

--rita

HeatherInFlorida

November 15th, 2005, 02:06 PM

I may have misled you though not by much! She didn't say we are ALWAYS complaining ... she was referring to the comments about the experiment on the Oosterdam. I'm guessing they're very aware of the many threads about this ever since we first got word about it a few weeks ago.

So she wasn't saying that we complain about everything ... but clearly they see that nobody here seems to like the idea.

As for the 2%, that's a huge number. When you see polls taken over political matters they're often calling 800 people or less. A poll of 2% of all HAL passengers would be a huge number. What I'm saying in a very convoluted way is that HAL knows that they get a good cross section of their client base by reading CC.

2% of 2000 is 40. That sounds about right. You will often have around that number of CC'ers sailing on any particular cruise at once.

I'm not going to call a VP over this and make a big deal. I reserve that amount of time for bigger battles:) . I think it's enough I've posted it here. I don't think she realized that I was a poster on this board because I told her I was doing some research and happened across this board.

I should tell you that when I told her how unhappy I would be with a change to "leisure dining", she told me "not to worry" about my cruise next year. She said that a few times.

KSCnCA

November 15th, 2005, 03:46 PM

Well I am not happy about being a guinea pig during my only cruise and vacation for the year - or more. I understand that everything changes, and I can adapt to change, but to test different methods of dining without any compensation or benefit to the passengers makes me want to try another cruiseline. Last year when we missed Half Moon Cay we were served free champagne at dinner to help make up for the loss. Missing a port is not that uncommon, and while I didn't think it was necessary, it was a nice gesture. This dining test could use some similar gestures to let us know they appreciate our (possible) inconvenience.

Iggipolka

November 15th, 2005, 05:32 PM

We may be only 2% of HAL' s customer base, but we are a very vocal 2% who most likely, cruise more often than other pax.

I have very much enjoyed having a set dining time, dining table and waiter every night. I've been adopted by my tablemates and their friends, a group of 20 who are all co-workers and pool their vacation money and time to go on cruises together! They are a fantastic bunch of people and I never would have met them if I hadn't been seated with them.

Iggi..who just got back from riding with Randi's Happy Horses and can vouch that they were very happy. :)

HeatherInFlorida

November 15th, 2005, 06:18 PM

Iggi, I am so happy that you're having such a wonderful time. I agree, you meet wonderful people at a "set" table who you might never have gotten to know otherwise. Enjoy them.

Having known some ups and downs for you over the past many months, it's so good to read the smile in you. Enjoy the rest of your cruise!:)

sail7seas

November 15th, 2005, 10:15 PM

Funny thing occured to us on our recent wonderful VODM cruise.

The second night of the cruise, we enjoyed a special dinner and at that dinner were two other couples. Neither of them ever post here but both, at just about the same time early in our conversation/evening, turned and asked me if I happened to be Sail. They (all four of them) read daily; they may have never posted. They may not have even registered. I never asked. But my point is, if 2% of HAL's 'guest base' have registered and post here (I have no clue how accurate that number is), I wonder how many read on a very consistent basis?? Could easily be double .......or more.