Hunky Dory named as HAL Employee of the year

[Jsipes]

We just got in from the Oosterdam today. Many of you have probably met Hunky Dory. He was named HAL EOY for all HAL ships. How terrific !!! He deserves it. He was running the elevator today during debarkation.

[Tricia724]

We just got in from the Oosterdam today. Many of you have probably met Hunky Dory. He was named HAL EOY for all HAL ships. How terrific !!! He deserves it. He was running the elevator today during debarkation.

He certainly personifies the ideal employee with his warm smile, friendly greeting, and people skills. It's not an easy job to be pleasant and efficient and to deal with the broad spectrum of travelers out there today and their varied expectations.

Good for him and good for HAL for having such a great ambassador for their line.

[jhannah]

A great big congratulations to Hunky Dory! He must be beaming to have garnered this award.

[happy cruzer]

Fantastic! He's earned the honor!

[db777]

We thought he was great when we were on Oosterdam this past April...I just wish I even had a little bit of his memory for names.... a very deserving honor...not only does he remember everyones name, but he is so considerably considerate and makes one feel truly special... DB

[Oceanwench]

YAY!!! What great news. He sure is deserving!

We met Hunky Dory on the Zuiderdam in 2005, and there were 6 of us traveling together. Whenever he'd spot one or two of us, he'd greet us by name -- and then ask where the other 4 or 5 people were -- all by name!

We still talk about him as one of our fond memories of that cruise.
DD's in-laws recently cruised on the Oosterdam and when they came home, they had tales of Hunky Dory as well -- and were surprised that my DD and SIL had already met up with him on the Zuiderdam.

[Toad]

I hope this means a great big BONUS!

[jhannah]

I hope this means a great big BONUS!How's a check for $5000?

But I'm confused. On November 17th, Veendam Captain Albert Schoonderbeek noted in his blog that the EOY "...is our ships printer, Mr. Balthasar Rafales." The blog contains a photo of Balt and the Captain.

So what's the deal with Hunky Dory?

[Deb C.]

I was wondering the same thing, Jim.:confused:

I was onboard when Balthasar (the printer on the Veendam) received his award and $5000. check. Capt. Albert said he was the Employee of the Year---only one is handed out and he felt honored that he was on his ship.

Strange!

[Toad]

Well I do hope H.D. got acheck for $5000.00 as well. I am sure it would mean a lot!

[jhannah]

I cannot see two individuals getting EOY in such a short time span. Something's not computing here. Could Hunky Dory have been named Employee of the Month on the Oosterdam?

[hogwildcruzers]

This could not have happened to a more deserving person....we were so amazed at his ability to remember each persons name after only meeting them one time....Congratulations to Hunky Dory!!

[sungoddess]

Was HD maybe the EOMonth onboard the OS?

[Coral]

We were told on the Oosterdam that he (Hunky Dory) was Employee of the Year for all the HAL ships and were also told how lucky it was to have him on our ship.

[Krazy Kruizers]

He is a great guy. Met him on the Zuiderdam in 2005.

[HeatherInFlorida]

I agree with Jim and others there has to be some confusion. Captain Albert was very clear in his blog that the Veendam printer had been named Employee of the Year for all HAL ships. There can be only one.

More than likely, Hunky Dory is Employee of the Month on the Oosterdam which is still to be commended and I'm thrilled for him. On our cruise last week on the Veendam they also featured the Employee of the Month and made quite a deal of introducing her (sorry, can't remember the name).

Captain was very excited about it and even posted pictures of the event so I feel I have to go with that source. This is just some sort of misunderstanding, I'd say.

[innlady1]

Perhaps Lisa and Tom will find out this week while they're on the Oosterdam :confused:

[sail7seas]

Employee of the Month is now introduced at the Captain's Welcome Aboard Toast on Maasdam and I think probably most of the ships. He was very proud to stand on the stage and be recognized and we were delighted to see him up there. Captain Draper made a lovely introduction of him.

Hunky Dory sarted the whole 'copycat' thing about trying to remember as many guests' names as possible. He does an admirable job of remembering many. We find it fun there are now some other stewards doing the same and it's nice they make the effort IMO

We've known Hunk from way back when he first started this friendly effort..... sometimes he remembers our names; sometimes not. :D

[HeatherInFlorida]

I'm copying here from Captain Albert's blog because he explains the awards in more detail.

Today I had something special on my hands, something I had not experienced in my 26 years with Holland America. The Veendam has the employee of the year on board, or better said the recipient of the Presidents Leadership Award. As I explained in one of my earlier blogs; the company has several ways of recognizing crew for outstanding performance. The selection of the employee of the month is the best known one. However the President and CEO of the company Mr. Stein Kruse also selects once a year three employees who will receive the Presidents Leadership Award. One award goes to the fleet, one award to a person in the office and one award to a person in Holland America Tours, the latter being the hotels, the buses, the trains etc etc.
With 13 ships and two more coming, there are over 9000 employees at sea. Thus it is a great honor if you are the employee chosen to receive this honor. Everybody can make suggestions to the office and bring candidates forward. A committee of wise men and women read the motivations and arguments that go with each nomination and then a final selection is made.

The recipient receives a company pin with 10 precious stones, a engraved glass plaque, the congratulatory letter from the President and a cheque of $ 5000,— The latter is normally the most appreciated. It is then up to the ships captain to make the appropriate recognition and to ensure that the crewmember is duly recognized. As you can understand I am very happy to have the employee of the year on board. I consider TEAM Veendam the best crew in the fleet and now having the EOY on board gives that argument a considerable bit more weight.

The employee of the year is our ships printer, Mr. Balthasar Rafales. The printer has a job that unfolds fully behind the scenes. It is a one mans job, except for on the world cruise when there are two. If this man falls ill, half the communication to the guests come to a grinding halt, as nothing gets printed anymore and stop gaps have to be made by using copy machines. When I just started sailing in 1981, I once worked a few days as the ship printer, as it turned out that I was the only one who could read in mirror and could operate a Heidelberg printing machine. I had just learned that the weeks before from the real ships printer as I had been fascinated by that old fashioned machine; that still printed with lead characters. Because of that only just acquired skill I was quite the bees-knees for a while with Hotel manager and Purser hovering around making sure that I was oke and not falling ill as well. So I know from past experience that the printer has a very vital job on board as a cruise ship operation relies on proper communication a lot via printed matter.

I presented Balthasar, who goes by the name of Balt here on board, his reward during the disembarkation talk when we had the crew farewell. As expected he received a standing ovation from our guests and caused a lot of envious eyes from the whole TEAM Veendam behind him on the stage, when the $ 5000 cheque was presented. Balt is a very worthy recipient as he is always doing a job that ranks under the 125% header and he is capable to anticipate problems arising and correct them and ring the bell when print requests are coming to his shop that are incomplete or do not make sense.
http://www.avidcruiser.com/albert/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/veendam-employee-of-the-year.thumbnail.jpg (http://www.avidcruiser.com/albert/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/veendam-employee-of-the-year.jpg)
Congratulations to Balt. I have added a section under the My Ship page with a post about Balt in more detail.

[sail7seas]

We've known Hunk from way back when he first started this friendly effort..... sometimes he remembers our names; sometimes not. :D



Sorry..... I just saw my typo on "Hunky's" name and it was too late to edit. :)

[sail7seas]

I hope this means a great big BONUS!

Toad...... :)

I think he probably gets lots of bonuses every week with additional tips from folks who appreciate his recognizing and interacting with them. I've seen a number of folks extend an extra tip or two. Good for them!

[Copper10-8]

Good for Hunky Dory! Btw, there seem to be some Hunky Dory copycats at the head of the Lido buffet line on the other dam ships handing out trays, saucers and silverwear. Anybody else notice that? We had one on Rotterdam in September.

Also:

1. Anybody have a pic of the real Hunky Dory they can post here?
2. Anyone of the recent Oosterdam cruisers know how much longer HD is going to be onboard?

Sorry about all them questions. I seem to be in a "inquiring minds want to know" type of mood:eek:

[sail7seas]

Yes, John.......there are 'copycats'. That is what I was referring to in my post. We've sailed with the real HD a number of times and then others tried to pass themselves off to me as the original.... :D Didn't work. There's a fellow named "Sly" who has started the same fun game of trying to learn as many names as possible. There's another well known fellow and his name escapes me right now.

Sorry.....no picture to post. Wish I did.

[Copper10-8]

Yes, John.......there are 'copycats'. That is what I was referring to in my post. We've sailed with the real HD a number of times and then others tried to pass themselves off to me as the original.... :D Didn't work. There's a fellow named "Sly" who has started the same fun game of trying to learn as many names as possible. There's another well known fellow and his name escapes me right now.

Sorry.....no picture to post. Wish I did.



Burt Reynolds?

[RuthC]

Burt Reynolds?
Burt's good. He remembered my name during my first Noordam cruise. Then, when I returned ten months later, he recognized me immediately---although he didn't remember my name without prompting.
He's really nice to meet up with in the morning when I haven't had my coffee yet. ;)

[RuthC]

Sorry for the triple.

[1FatPER]

This post has a picture of Hunky Dory. Not sure if it is the same one.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=675686

[RuthC]

Not my bad!

[Copper10-8]

This post has a picture of Hunky Dory. Not sure if it is the same one.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=675686

Hey thanks! Now I know what he looks like! Looks like he's got a name tag to match:D Awesome pics by Spencer Maxout!

[Coral]

This post has a picture of Hunky Dory. Not sure if it is the same one.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=675686

That is definitely him.

Like I said earlier, we were told last week he was the "Employee of the Year for all of HAL".... It wasn't just for the month or just for our ship. Maybe he was this past year and they just announced a new one.

[sandyblue029]

I was on the cruise with Coral and at the same show where Hunky Dory was introduced as Employee of the month and Employee of the Year. But in all fairness no one said what month or what year. But he was cute, got my husband and a friends husband mixed up, but he remembered the ladies names just fine.

[jhannah]

Could it have been the SHIP'S employee of the year?

[Coral]

Could it have been the SHIP'S employee of the year?

They specifically said "employee of the year of the entire HAL fleet". That is what they told us.....

They actually introduced a different employee at the Captain's welcome party (in the Vista Lounge) as employee of the month. I forgot what he did.

[jhannah]

They specifically said "employee of the year of the entire HAL fleet". That is what they told us..... So the mystery is yet unsolved! Where's Sherlock Holmes when you need him? :D

[Coral]

So the mystery is yet unsolved! Where's Sherlock Holmes when you need him? :D

I just did a search and found a blog from August 2007. They said he was Employee of the Year for 2007. So maybe the other person is for 2008 (announced in Dec 2007)? That would make since....

[shipcafe]

I was wondering the same thing, Jim.:confused:

I was onboard when Balthasar (the printer on the Veendam) received his award and $5000. check. Capt. Albert said he was the Employee of the Year---only one is handed out and he felt honored that he was on his ship.

Strange!

You are correct. It was announced at the HAL corporate holiday party on Saturday night that Balthasar was the employee of the hear for HAL seagoing ships . . . .

[RevNeal]

HD is a nice fellow, and he remembered my name between cruises. Surprised me, actually, for that almost never happens. I'm always amazed that so many of the staff remember my face, and some remember which ship it was where we last encountered each other. But, rarely, do they remember a name after many months.

The "Burt Reynolds" Ruth is referencing, on the Noordam, was great. This last January he remembered me from the Noordam's inaugural cruise the prior Feb/March. As with Ruth, he didn't remember my name but he did remember ME (which is just as flattering) and, after me first telling him, he never forgot my name the whole cruise. I tipped him at the end of the cruise ... I don't normally do that for Lido staff, but there are occasions when their service absolutely merits it and he was one of them.

[innlady1]

Yes, John.......there are 'copycats'. That is what I was referring to in my post. We've sailed with the real HD a number of times and then others tried to pass themselves off to me as the original.... :D Didn't work. There's a fellow named "Sly" who has started the same fun game of trying to learn as many names as possible. There's another well known fellow and his name escapes me right now.

Sorry.....no picture to post. Wish I did.



I guess his real name fits, Sail!;)

[iamirish]

I just got off the Oosterdam on Saturday - Hunky Dory was my waiter (table 89).

He said that he was HAL's employee of the year and received a $5,000 bonus.

To help you understand WHEN - he has a 5-month old daughter named Honky Doria (yes, that is her real name), he has not seen in person, only via pictures.

Last year, his wife had a miscarriage and he went home. When she got pregnant again, the delivery was going to cost $3,500. He said he did not know how he was going to pay for it. When he got the check, a God send - it paid the expenses of the daughter's birth.

He is planning on going home (I hope only for a vacation) in April of 2008. He wants to hold his daughter.

The captain introduced him as HAL's employee of the year.

Tom

[Sea King]

I'm definitely in the minority on this one .. maybe even alone

IMHO, Hunky Dory is amusing; nothing more

certainly, not genuine in any respect

try going back 2 weeks after you've left and see if he remembers your face, let alone your name; try and see if he's even remotely friendly

IMHO, Hunky Dory (and those like him on the other fleet ships) have found a sure-fire formula to garner envelopes at the end of a cruise .. for that, each deserves "congratulations" .. not employee of the month IMO

your bartender or room steward is far more likely to remember you than Hunky Dory and is almost guaranteed to greet you warmly the next time he sees you

[Copper10-8]

I'm definitely in the minority on this one .. maybe even alone

IMHO, Hunky Dory is amusing; nothing more

certainly, not genuine in any respect

try going back 2 weeks after you've left and see if he remembers your face, let alone your name; try and see if he's even remotely friendly

IMHO, Hunky Dory (and those like him on the other fleet ships) have found a sure-fire formula to garner envelopes at the end of a cruise .. for that, each deserves "congratulations" .. not employee of the month IMO

your bartender or room steward is far more likely to remember you than Hunky Dory and is almost guaranteed to greet you warmly the next time he sees you

You definitely have a point there, SeaKing, especially where it comes to the copycats. They figured out that HD's got a good thing going with the pax so why not give it a try also, being the entrepeneurs that they are;)

[ugminer]

Genuine or not I enjoyed meeting him. I can't even imagine memorizing that many nameds even if only for a week. BTW Copper10-8, I love your new avatar but I thought "advertising" was not allowed!:D :cool: Deb

[RevNeal]

I'm definitely in the minority on this one .. maybe even alone

IMHO, Hunky Dory is amusing; nothing more

certainly, not genuine in any respect

try going back 2 weeks after you've left and see if he remembers your face, let alone your name; try and see if he's even remotely friendly

My personal experience has demonstrated otherwise. Eight (8) months passed between cruises and Honky Dory remembered my name the instant he saw me. He remembered who I was, what I did, and even called me by my title. I was stunned.

[Hanna615]

I met Hunky Dory on the Oosterdam Christmas cruise where he was definitely introduced as HAL employee of the year. Although all of the crew were friendly, this guy stood out among them all. I believe that Hunky Dory makes a real effort, genuine or otherwise, and he deserves the kudos. The Oosterdam management obviously understands his value because of how they use him to introduce the Cruise Director at one point and place him in very strategic positions at other times. I have no idea who my room steward was as he never introduced himself and to my knowledge I never saw him - but our room was maintained nicely. But I'll always remember Hunky Dory! He may not be handing out trays for long, I see a promotion in his future.

[wizard-of-roz]

Sea King: We don't have to wonder where "Schrooge" goes after Christmas....he's alive and well, at your house!:(

I thorougly enjoyed my encounters with "Hunky", he was pleasant, helpful and always encouraging, even when I didn't feel like smiling!!!!

[hawgwildterry]

Roz,

How is my 'girl' doing? She looks great in your avitar.

Side note: For the week that Barb and I were on the same O'dam cruise as you, Hunky Dory never did remember our name.

[wizard-of-roz]

Hi Terry: "Your girl" is amazing and still loves to cruise (she's really racking-up those cruise points!)

We'll be on the Costa Magica on the 19th and then the Oosterdam (without Mr. Deering and the gang), again, on April 12th.

I hope Barb and you have a cruising and happy 2008! Hopefully, our paths will cross again!

Morey is out of his wheelchair and is doing really well......we keep a wc in the back of our suv in case he may need it....but it's kind of like insurance that he won't! Amazing how that works......

Take care,

[spartn91]

Met Hunky Dory on the Zuiderdam November 2005. It was amazing how he could remember everyone's name. IMHO he is deserving of the EOY award.

[Sale Away]

We'll see how good his memory is and if he remembers me from a year ago. All I know is after he met us last year, whenever he saw me in the Lido, he'd be sure to tell me "Mr. John went that way...". I found him to be an excellent resource for locating wayward family members. ;)