Holland America Bringing O’s Reading Room Fleetwide

Oh brother. This is their answer to taking away the library?

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/18580-holland-america-bringing-o-s-reading-room-fleetwide.html

Oh brother. This is their answer to taking away the library?

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/18580-holland-america-bringing-o-s-reading-room-fleetwide.html

Wow, talk about not knowing or caring about its "fanatical reader" passengers:

“Our guests are fanatical readers, and O’s Reading Room quickly became one of the most popular activities on ships with O, The Oprah Magazine programming,” said Orlando Ashford, president of Holland America Line. “We’re excited that we can now offer this experience to all of our guests. Oprah’s personal passion for reading is evident by the books she chooses, and we’re privileged to feature the same selection as Oprah’s Book Club.”

I wonder which ship this was. We saw no interest in any of the dedicated Oprah activities and locales on our last cruise (Veendam) where they were prominently featured.

Oh brother. This is their answer to taking away the library?

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/18580-holland-america-bringing-o-s-reading-room-fleetwide.html

uh, yay? :( (n)

At least it will be opt-in ;)

The first book choice - An American Marriage - the three star reviews from Amazon - probably closer to the truth about this social agenda book choice: https://www.amazon.com/American-Marriage-Novel-Tayari-Jones/product-reviews/1616201347/ref=cm_cr_dp_d_hist_3?ie=UTF8&filterByStar=three_star&reviewerType=all_reviews#reviews-filter-bar

My own book choices are 100% non-fiction so this holds zero appeal for me.

I just read the link to my DH and he looked at me like I was crazy. I told him I am not making this up.

We have no interest in this new venue.

Most ships don't even have "hosts" for the library, but now HAL found a "host" to host some nonsense book club! And of course it is a book no one ever heard of.

uh, yay? :( (n)

 

At least it will be opt-in ;)

Which some people have a hard time grasping.Nobody is making you participate. No guns to heads in other words.

Which some people have a hard time grasping.Nobody is making you participate. No guns to heads in other words.

Taking away the former well-loved HAL full range libraries and replacing them with this narrow social agenda fiction book club choice is forcing a choice. Gun to our heads. So to speak.

If I am reading this correctly, the O books are only on the O cruises? So does that mean they will be giving the fanatical (strange choice of words) readers something to read on the non-O cruises?

If I am reading this correctly, the O books are only on the O cruises? So does that mean they will be giving the fanatical (strange choice of words) readers something to read on the non-O cruises?

HAL Prea Ashford: “We’re excited that we can now offer this experience to all of our guests.

I will have to agree with a prior poster who recoiled at the use of the word "guest". We are not guests of HAL; we are paying passengers who can still exercise free will rather than being forced to be under the permissive care of our "hosts". However, once we choose to be a HAL passenger, the captain still calls the shots..

If I am reading this correctly, the O books are only on the O cruises? So does that mean they will be giving the fanatical (strange choice of words) readers something to read on the non-O cruises?

I interpreted it that for non-O-themed cruises you can bring your own copy of the current book club book, and there will be meetings led by a staff member to discuss the book.

Typical to HAL's recent policies, establishing an "O" reading room must have been encouraged by a very substantial financial influx of funds. It's simply a marketing program to hopefully sell more "O" sponsored books, in return for a wad of cash and display space on HAL ships.

Which some people have a hard time grasping.Nobody is making you participate. No guns to heads in other words.

Unless one has the misfortune to be seated at dinner or wherever with some of the "book club group".

We were on a cruise with a large special-interest group one time, and were heartily sick of them and their specialty by the end of the first lunch. Fortunately, our dinner companions were not part of the group. We clung to each other, on the ship and on shore :D

O-Kay

O-Kay

I see what you did there :D :D (y)

Well..nothing you can do about that..there is at least one person on this thread(not you) who is being more than a little over dramatic.I have things I like to do on cruises-go to cooking demonstrations,read, etc.

If I were on an Oprah cruise, I would choose,at the beginning of the cruise,if I was going to participate or not.Threads like this are just Oprah(and Orlando) bashing.No room for anything else.

You should consider the possibility that not all threads are bashing Oprah and Ashford. It's not a conspiracy.

I'm a librarian and was sad to see HAL slowly kill off their libraries, but they where stale and really sad looking form a professional's perspective. Plus the added expense of staffing it with a crew member made no sense to them.

To keep a library fresh even the small ones on cruise ships you need someone weeding the collection every month and processing new materials to replace the weeded(discarded) ones. You would have to get a new materials shipment at least once a month to keep things relevant. (figure out the logistics of that for a ship that is only replenishing supplies at the end of cruises.) I don't think any cruise line bothers to do this.

The Queen Mary 2 does have a very nice Library staffed with what I'm told is a real "librarian" not just another activities staff member. I can't speak for the luxury lines since I haven't been on one, but I image if their clientele expected it they would have halfway decent libraries.

Oh brother. This is their answer to taking away the library?

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/18580-holland-america-bringing-o-s-reading-room-fleetwide.html

As the article does not contain any mention of the libraries, I highly doubt that this has anything to do with the libraries.

Typical to HAL's recent policies, establishing an "O" reading room must have been encouraged by a very substantial financial influx of funds. It's simply a marketing program to hopefully sell more "O" sponsored books, in return for a wad of cash and display space on HAL ships.

I doubt that Oprah is spending any money and instead I would think that Oprah is licensing her brand to HAL.

Typical to HAL's recent policies, establishing an "O" reading room must have been encouraged by a very substantial financial influx of funds. It's simply a marketing program to hopefully sell more "O" sponsored books, in return for a wad of cash and display space on HAL ships.

Is HAL getting paid for all of this "branding?" Billboard, ATK, O, Lincoln Center (does Lincoln Center have extra money to throw at a cruise line?) It's getting to be like major league stadiums--almost all have corporate names and I no longer know which is which.

Taking away the former well-loved HAL full range libraries and replacing them with this narrow social agenda fiction book club choice is forcing a choice. Gun to our heads. So to speak.

HAL's website states:

"The time and location for this special O-themed event will vary by ship."

This suggests to me that this isn't a replacement for the alleged well-loved library and is instead most likely a pop up event that will be held in different locations throughout the ship.

HAL's website states:

 

 

"The time and location for this special O-themed event will vary by ship."

This suggests to me that this isn't a replacement for the alleged well-loved library and is instead most likely a pop up event that will be held in different locations throughout the ship.

That's how I read it, too. It isn't a permanent room, like, oh...a library???

As the article does not contain any mention of the libraries, I highly doubt that this has anything to do with the libraries.

Exactly. People are putting 2 and 2 together and getting 5.

I doubt that Oprah is spending any money and instead I would think that Oprah is licensing her brand to HAL.

Cool, then let's get Trump International to also license its brand on HAL ships. What do you say, Seattle? Or does this all the sudden sound like a very bad idea to insert so much controversial "personality" into the cruise ship world.

Keep things neutral, HAL. Don't let your ships be used to launch political or individual celebrity ego campaigns.