Language, etc

[Spender Nui]

We've noticed a decline in the communication skills of the HAL crews. Not that their not trying. This along with the reduction in staff creates problems that we didn't have before. Have others noticed problems along these lines?

[Cruiseoften]

We've noticed a decline in the communication skills of the HAL crews. Not that their not trying. This along with the reduction in staff creates problems that we didn't have before. Have others noticed problems along these lines?

Can you be a bit more explicit, please?

I personally feel that HAL's crew does an exceptional job in communicating verbally. They remember and address us by name, we tend to bumble and fumble, snap our fingers, wave and say, "Hey, boy!".

They are trying! - question is, are we?

[Spender Nui]

There is no question that they are trying very hard. They just don't do as well as it they did in the past. I don't fault them at all, it's just that the labor pool is thinner than it used to be ... and there are fewer of them. If you don't believe me ask your servers on your next HAL cruise.

I agree, we don't do well with many of their names too.

[SDHALFAN]

We've noticed a decline in the communication skills of the HAL crews. Not that their not trying. This along with the reduction in staff creates problems that we didn't have before. Have others noticed problems along these lines?

Nope - sorry, but I have had no problem whatsoever with any form of communication with the HAL stewards, be they Indonesian or Filipino. I honestly don't see any difference between now and 1986.

Valerie:)

[SDHALFAN]

There is no question that they are trying very hard. They just don't do as well as it they did in the past. I don't fault them at all, it's just that the labor pool is thinner than it used to be ... and there are fewer of them. If you don't believe me ask your servers on your next HAL cruise.

I agree, we don't well with many of their names too.


Okay Spender Nui,

Are you talking about communciation (as in verbal communication)? or are you talking about the fact that the guys are overworked? If it's the latter, then I agree. They have far more to do than they used to, yet they still manage to do a very difficult job with grace and charm. So I'm really looking forward to my next HAL cruise being totally spoiled by my Dining Room and Cabin Stewards.

Valerie:)

[arzz]

I, too, think they do a great job of communicating. Occasionally we run into someone who has not been on board long and is not as proficient as we may like with our language but that is balanced by many others who are extremely well expressed. In October on the Volendam we had an assistant waiter who, when asked by my friend to autograph a dinner menu, wrote a beautiful paragraph for her in perfect English. In general we find the HAL staff to be well educated and well expressed -- they work as waiters and stewards because that is the best way for them to make money for their families.

[Spender Nui]

I'm talking about both overwork and not having the same command of language skills they did in the past. We also don't see as many smiles as we used to.

[kakalina]

Sorry, I really have to disagree with you here. Strongly!

The staff and crew on board HAL ships have an amazing command of the English language; not to mention most of the crew and staff I know that are Filipino and Indonesian speak four or five languages.

I have personally been able to speak to some of the Lido servers and cabin stewards in French, Spanish, English, Indonesian and Filipino. I have a natural gift for languages and find almost the entire staff and crew of HAL ships to be conversant in more than two languages. I have in fact given some of the staff lessons in the Hawaiian language in return for the same in their native language, it is a great way to make friends and they are so willing to learn and to teach.

I would ask the OP how much Indonesian or Filipino he/she has bothered to learn? Just a simple phrase or two can open up entire new worlds of friendship.

As for smiles, I don't recall ever seeing workers that didn't have a big smile every time I passed. The staff and crew deserve a lot more than many give them credit for. These are for the most part very hard working, plesant, friendly and helpful people. Take the time to get to know some of them, you would be surprised at what you can learn.

Trisha

[mrblack]

We haven't cruised often on Hal(2XVolendam) but we did notice last March that the staff weren't as chatty as they had been on a previous sailing. Our waiter in the dining room often had no idea what we were trying to communicate. We put it down to the fact that they were probably near the end of their tour and were just tired and probably the fellow in the dining room had just replaced someone so hadn't yet picked up the phrases of English dining. At any rate the staff were still very pleasant and very willing to help with any sort of request. Furthermore the ship had, had an outbreak of illness on the previous trip and they were having to do a lot of extra work like serving people individually in the Lido and bringing salt and pepper to tables when requested rather than leaving them on table as a precaution against passing on germs. All that extra work probably adds up and takes away from one's natural chattiness!:D

[mickeyfitz]

I also have not seen any real language problem other than a few rare instances and usually only a new person in a secondary or support role, not dining room or cabin stewards. What I do think is a problem is the overworking of the dining room stewards and especially wine stewards because of understaffing. They really have almost no time for any casual conversation during dinner. What little time there is only comes towards the end of dinner and even that is limited because of the need to prepare for the next seating or to finish up for the night. I realize that they have always had a job to get done and can't just hang around and chat, but it just seems that the demands on their time has increased in recent years and that the dinning room experience has suffered.

[RuthC]

I'm not reading any negative judgement in the original question---only a request for an evaluation of a factual nature.

It's all too true that with experience comes greater proficiency. And there do seem to be more stewards with less experience than there was years ago. The fleet has expanded greatly in the last few years; I'm willing to bet that the average length of service dropped as a result of new hires to fill that fleet.

Sometimes it does take a bit more effort to get a point across these days---effort on the part of both parties. The stewards clearly expend the effort, too. It's plain to see that they want to get better at their job.