More questions

[Lois R]

:) Hi again....do any of you wish HAL offered an "official get-together" for those folks on the ROLL CALLS? Celebrity and Royal both have them...if you have 25 minimum on a ROLL CALL up to 3 days prior to your cruise. They have an informal meeting...sodas, or coffee, tea....pastries, etc. so the folks from these boards can meet.
Just curious about your thoughts.

And about dinner...HAL offers 4 dining times?? Is that to insure better service?
I enjoy eating late...8 or 8:30 is good to me. And I love a large table...I sail solo...a big part of my cruise experience is meeting new people and having a lively dinner table!

[doone]

Hi Lois, yes, sometimes I do wish HAL would offer us cc's a little party, but they haven't, so we try to meet up with the ones who let us know they are sailing with us. Its fun to meet new people, I agree, and I certainly have met some wonderful people from these boards.

As far as the dining times, I don't know the real reason they have 4 times, maybe it is for better service, not sure.

[Krazy Kruizers]

:)

Sounds like a great idea.

There was only one occasion when we were on a HAL cruise and there were at least 25 cc members. Most of the other cruises there have been around 10 or fewer.

But there are some up-coming cruises where there will be quite a few cc members getting together. I know they would like to have an official get-together.

Yes, HAL now has 4 dining times:
early, upper level is 5:45
early, lower level is 6:15
main, upper level is 8
main, lower level is 8:30.

[Orcrone]

The official reason for going to four dining times is to improve service as part of the "signature of excellence" program. However, there has been more than a little bit of discussion of the possibility of it being a cost cutting decision. I have yet to sail HAL and won't have a basis of comparison. So when I'm on the Maasdam in October I'll just judge the service for what it is.

[Krazy Kruizers]

:)

We had these new times when we were on the Maasdam in May. For those of us on the upper level, there didn't seem to be any problems. But some of the passengers who had the 8:30 dining time on the lower level said that it took forever to be served and they missed the 10:30 show. Hopefully this has solved.

One reason they are trying out these new dining times is to relieve the conjestion in the kitchen. The assistant waiters on the upper level first get the appetizers, soups, and salads. While the waiter serves those items, he goes back to the kichen and gets the main meals. In the mean time, the lower level diners have entered the dining room and their assistant waiters have gone for the appetizers, soup, and salads. This new system is supposed to keep the waitstaff from jamming up in one area.

Hal was already cutting back on help before these new times went into effect.

:)

[Lois R]

I replied to the Roll Call for the 9-11 Sailing this morning...haven't seen a reply back all day:confused: and they seem like a nice bunch too:) ... I still haven't booked yet but wanted to get some input from people on the cruise I am looking at....hmmmm.....
Well...I will pop back over there this evening...maybe someone will give me post back by then!