New HAL cabin picture/review site: what do you want it to be?

[Lauranne]

I don't have any basic room pictures but will comments on specific rooms be welcome?

[kazu]

I don't have any basic room pictures but will comments on specific rooms be welcome?

 

 

 

I would think so - we are still working on organizing and hope to have a meeting tomorrow - if you keep your eye on this thread - we can confirm several things once we have discussed. But, I would think that the comments would be helpful :D

[peaches from georgia]

My biggest piece of advice would be "Keep It Simple". It will be so easy to keep adding a lot of unnecessary detail that can be found on the HAL website I'd start with classes of ships and under each cabin categories and fill in from there. Public spaces, cabin amenities and other info can be linked in general to the HAL site.

 

It always amazes me how answers to simple questions asked, especially by newbies, can be found so easily on the HAL site. If you start trying to cover all these questions in your project it will quickly become cluttered. Good Luck!

[richwmn]

First, thanks for all the responses.

 

Please remember that this is coming together very quickly and 3 people who know each other only thru this website are finding a way to work together to bring it about. We each have strengths and weaknesses and need to find out what each can bring to the project.

 

Also, each of us is doing this in addition to their other daily duties. We are not a large corporation with massive resources to throw at this. We will be limited by our abilities and the physical resources we have available.

 

Having said that, I do believe that given time most of the suggestions given in this thread can be accomplished. Please don't be upset if your suggestion is one that is put off in an attempt to get something back up an running.

 

Next, a request. Please use the email address pictures@halfacts.com for pictures and the associated comments only. Any requests for information or clarification should be directed to the principals directly.

 

Several people have already provided pictures, thanks for that. They will be posted as soon as we work out the format we will be using.

 

In one email and also on this thread was a question about picture size. To be shown on the website the picture will be resized to 800x600 (or maybe less). So anything sent larger than that would waste the resources needed to transfer it so I suppose we should use that as a limit for the time being.

 

My email, for this project, will be rich@halfacts.com.

 

Thanks, again, to everyone for the support and encouragement.

 

Rich

[jtl513]

To be shown on the website the picture will be resized to 800x600 (or maybe less). So anything sent larger than that would waste the resources needed to transfer it so I suppose we should use that as a limit for the time being.

Oops ... I acted too quickly and sent all mine with a max dimension of 1200. Sorry. :o

[richwmn]

Oops ... I acted too quickly and sent all mine with a max dimension of 1200. Sorry. :o

No problem -- just trying to cut down on the amount of data transmitted. 1200 is ok and we can take care of things.

 

Rich

[sppunk]

Rich, the mac osx reinstallation was smooth.we are all set, talk with you tomorrow!

[Typhoon1]

Thanks for taking on this monumental task. Looking forward to its debut.

[VermeulT]

Can we send you a link to our pix or is it easier if we send them in an email?

[RJ2002]

Thanks very much for taking on this project!

[nana51]

Pictures of handicap cabins with baths included.

Pictures of 3 person cabins made up in the 3 person configurations.

Pictures of 4 person cabins made up in the 4 person configurations.

The actual view from a partial view cabin window, all varieties.

Thank you for doing this, I will miss Joanie's pictures, we really count on them.

 

I would love to see what most of the obstructed views look like. How obstructed they can be and the least obstructed they could be.

[solocanadian]

Thanks in advance for taking on this monumental:eek: task. Looking forward to it.:D

[startwin]

Quite excited to hear what the outcome of the "meeting" is with regard to the format the new site organisers are planning. Any update yet from any of you?

Edited January 12, 2014 by startwin

[CowPrincess]

Personally I don't think the ships should be sorted by "class" -- for newbies especially that is just one more layer of info they may or may not know. I think alpha by ship name is the route to go. But that is JMHO.

 

Thanks to all who are doing this, I know it has been a good resource for many in the past.

[jtl513]

Personally I don't think the ships should be sorted by "class" -- for newbies especially that is just one more layer of info they may or may not know. I think alpha by ship name is the route to go.

I disagree completely. If a person is interested in a picture of, say, cabin 1111 on the Westerdam, there might not be any picture available of that cabin on that ship, but there may be one of that same cabin on one of the other three Vistas. The way Joanie had her site set up (and the way you are proposing, "alpha by ship name") you had/have to check all four Vistas and possibly the two Signatures to be sure if there was picture of cabin 1111 or not.

 

If all of the Vistas were lumped together with the cabins in numerical order, without any category designations, all of the available pictures of 1111 would be together, and identified there which ship it is on. For newbies it could be called the "Noordam-Oosterdam-Westerdam-Zuiderdam" class rather than the Vista class.

Edited January 12, 2014 by jtl513

[Fouremco]

My biggest piece of advice would be "Keep It Simple". It will be so easy to keep adding a lot of unnecessary detail that can be found on the HAL website I'd start with classes of ships and under each cabin categories and fill in from there. Public spaces, cabin amenities and other info can be linked in general to the HAL site.

 

It always amazes me how answers to simple questions asked, especially by newbies, can be found so easily on the HAL site. If you start trying to cover all these questions in your project it will quickly become cluttered. Good Luck!

I agree that sorting by class would be useful for newcomers. Unlike Celebrity's website, where a drop down menu on the home page lists all ships by class, finding the information on HAL's website is time consuming and is not available for all ships. Given the number of posts on this board making reference to ship class, I think it would be beneficial and would create no additional work to set up.

[TiogaCruiser]

...

 

If all of the Vistas were lumped together with the cabins in numerical order, without any category designations, all of the available pictures of 1111 would be together, and identified there which ship it is on. For newbies it could be called the "Noordam-Oosterdam-Westerdam-Zuiderdam" class rather than the Vista class.

 

That clarity could be easily achieved by setting up the heading for each class with the names of the ships following it:

 

VISTA Class: (Nordam, Westerdam, Osterdam, Zuiderdam)

 

This maintains HALs class designation and clearly shows which ships it includes.

And it avoids the addition of other UI controls (such as the drop down control) which have to be "wired up"- and leads to some action happening behind the scenes (which have to be coded in some way.).

[RuthC]

If all of the Vistas were lumped together with the cabins in numerical order, without any category designations, all of the available pictures of 1111 would be together, and identified there which ship it is on. For newbies it could be called the "Noordam-Oosterdam-Westerdam-Zuiderdam" class rather than the Vista class.

 

That assumes that all cabins in the same position have the same cabin number. That is usually, but not always true. For example, on 3 of the R-class ships cabin 3345 is the same, but on the Volendam the same cabin is 3343.

[Lady Chew]

Would it be possible to include information on noise for those cabins that are near/above/below public areas? NOT comments about something that happens occasionally, or that may bother one person on one cruise, but things that are consistently a problem, like being over the theatre ... where you can hear rehearsals & shows .. or the AB rooms on the aft of the Prinsendam where the water from the pool sloshes over on the balconies below?

 

thanks for taking this on ... the previous site was very helpful and it's great that it will continue, albeit with different curators!

[jtl513]

That assumes that all cabins in the same position have the same cabin number. That is usually, but not always true. For example, on 3 of the R-class ships cabin 3345 is the same, but on the Volendam the same cabin is 3343.

Yes, and it gets a little messy when 3343 is a lanai on the Rotterdam, an outside on the Amsterdam, and an inside on the Volendam and Zaandam. But why would that matter as long as the ship name is noted as well as the number? Putting them all in one group still alleviates the problem of having to look in four places.

 

Would it be possible to include information on noise for those cabins that are ...

Info such as this should be given in the "comments" by the submitter of the pictures. In pictures that I have already sent in I have noted that cabins we've had below a galley had a little noise but not much, etc.

...

Edited January 12, 2014 by jtl513

[richwmn]

Good evening all!

We had a good discussion earlier and now have the site organized. I have started to enter the pictures sent so far. This process will take a little time.

 

Please include you CC handle (user name) with the pictures.

 

Please let us know what you think.

 

Rich

Edited January 13, 2014 by richwmn

[kazu]

Good evening all!

We had a good discussion earlier and now have the site organized. I have started to enter the pictures sent so far. This process will take a little time.

 

Please include you CC handle (user name) with the pictures.

 

Please let us know what you think.

 

Rich

 

and further to Rich's post - please include your date of our pics -very helpful as things can change.;)

Edited January 13, 2014 by kazu

[sppunk]

Site's gonna be good, you guys. Get ready. :)

[Lauranne]

I think that the organization is very well done. I like the simplicity of the site. Great work. I look forward to the seeing the site with loads of information. Thank you.

[TiogaCruiser]

and further to Rich's post - please include your date of our pics -very helpful as things can change.;)

 

Do you have any preference in how we email pix? ( to make organization faster)

IE: ship name, cabin# in subject? )

 

I'll be sending some by next weekend but I don't have many. Due to the request by several will include pix out the semi obstructed windows.