Ten Years From Now...... HAL

[navybankerteacher]

Pinnacle monsters can only hit the same few ports because they're too big..

 

Rubbish - they will be smaller (under 100,000 tons and carrying just over 2,000 passengers) than virtually all of the new builds, and much of the existing fleets, of all the other mass market lines. Sure, they are larger than the R and S class, but in the same range as Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam, and just slightly larger than the Vistas.

[BruceMuzz]

The salary numbers are much lower which means that a typical cruise fare would eat up a much higher proportion of a person's income. Because while the cost of living is undoubtedly lower in China, there's not much that can bring down the operating costs for ships in that market.

 

The major lines are offering cruises out of Shanghai for fares that range from US$50 to US$75 per person, per day. When my ship provisions in Shanghai, our costs are about 50% for the same items purchased in Hong Kong, Singapore, or the USA.

Port fees and head taxes in China are a small fraction of what we pay in Hong Kong, Singapore, or Australia.

Chinese passengers spend far more per person per day than Western passengers.

Chinese passengers do not smuggle alcohol onboard.

Chinese passengers are quite happy to tip my staff, despite the fact that tipping in China is not the norm.

[sail7seas]

The major lines are offering cruises out of Shanghai for fares that range from US$50 to US$75 per person, per day. When my ship provisions in Shanghai, our costs are about 50% for the same items purchased in Hong Kong, Singapore, or the USA.

Port fees and head taxes in China are a small fraction of what we pay in Hong Kong, Singapore, or Australia.

Chinese passengers spend far more per person per day than Western passengers.

Chinese passengers do not smuggle alcohol onboard.

Chinese passengers are quite happy to tip my staff, despite the fact that tipping in China is not the norm.

 

 

There are some cruises where people are buying Caribbean cruises for about that amount

 

When you hear someone is aboard for $399 for the week, that's $57 PP Per day. :eek: That doesn't buy many groceries in FLL.

 

Have you done many cruises on your cruise line embarking/disembarking in Shanghai with lots of Chinese guests?

 

 

Edited August 24, 2014 by sail7seas

[iancal]

$399?

 

HAL was offering $295. seven day Alaska cruises this past July, plus taxes.

[Tarpeian Rock]

Pinnacle monsters can only hit the same few ports because they're too big..

 

 

Pinnacle "monsters?" Hardly. Royal Caribbean's "Orgasm of the Seas" class at 225,000+ tons are monsters. Pinnacle Class at 99,000 tons are merely pleasingly plump.

[frankc98376]

Pinnacle "monsters?" Hardly. Royal Caribbean's "Orgasm of the Seas" class at 225,000+ tons are monsters. Pinnacle Class at 99,000 tons are merely pleasingly plump.

 

Pretty close in size to a big chunk of the Princess fleet. Let's hope that there isn't a lounge up a moving sidewalk suspended over the stern. If they did that on HAL they could change the name to Sky Walkers :D

Edited August 25, 2014 by frankc98376

[kjw869]

We have a TA booked in 2015. We saw the Explore 4 promotion and were told that we would have a fare increase of $600 per person to take advantage- not worth it to us. We are cancelling and will start over on our 2015 plans.

 

We always book NS and usually book as soon as the new cruises are published- so end up paying the full fare. Between PG, spa, shops,and shore excursions we always have a very high on board spend (we usually come close or max the Mariner nights for shipboard spend due to length of cruise).

 

I would think that we would be customers that most companies would fight to keep, however based on recent experiences it is pretty clear that they don't seem to care if we stay or go. We used a PCC for the first time this year and she seemed annoyed when we called with questions or requests. A birthday and an anniversary request never made it to the ship. I would think they would have known about the anniversary as we were married on HAL.

We sent the PCC an email from the ship "thanking" her for forgetting and two days later had 3 red balloons that said "bon voyage" on them and another bottle of the cheap sparkling wine (this was 9 days into our cruise).

 

We are watching Celebrity to see how the new suite program plays out. We really aren't terribly interested in NCL- from pictures we've seen we don't care for the interiors of the ships. Haven looks very nice but we need to come out of there at some point.

 

I'm really not holding out a lot of hope for ten years from now. Now that Princess has been brought under the HAL umbrella I wouldn't be surprised to see several more white ships in the future- perhaps with glass outside elevators in the center. This really makes me sad as I remember so well of the Holland America in the late seventies and early eighties. I guess some poor decisions were made in that period that led to the Carnival takeover- still sad remembering what it once was.....

 

Frank, did you book the TA with HALL or a PCC? We booked with our online TA, and twice the fares went up, but she was able to get the Explore4 at our old fare on both cruises. One time, she even got HAL to throw in a pre-cruise hotel., the cruise we met you and Loren on. All this with the fares we originally booked with her.

[Laminator]

Chelly is right on, ten years from now, HAL will not be in existence. Former HAL loyalists like me will be moving to Oceania, Crystal, or Celebrity and NCL is currently offering a better product for suite passengers than HAL. I'm currently booked on an NCL suite in March and think their use of butlers and breakfast and lunch at Cagney's is far superior to HAL's offerings. Notice on the boards how many people are being upsold to Neptune Suites. That means fewer and fewer passengers are paying for the suites. If I ever go on HAL again, I will only travel in non-suites as the suite prices do not reflect the mediocre service currently offered. That is recipe that will not keep HAL in business.

 

Herein lies one of HAL's major problems. If HAL wants pax to pay the higher rates for suites they are going to need to offer additional services and amenities. Right now they don't. I believe that may change on the new pinnacle ship.

 

Of course there is very little known about the new build. All I have heard is that the casino will be on deck 3, much larger, and the atrium will flow up through the middle of the casino.

[BruceMuzz]

There are some cruises where people are buying Caribbean cruises for about that amount

 

When you hear someone is aboard for $399 for the week, that's $57 PP Per day. :eek: That doesn't buy many groceries in FLL.

 

Have you done many cruises on your cruise line embarking/disembarking in Shanghai with lots of Chinese guests?

 

 

 

We are seeing a rapidly growing number of Chinese passengers from Shanghai and Beijing. They are paying higher fares than the Western passengers, and generally spending more money onboard than the Westerners are spending.

[sail7seas]

We are seeing a rapidly growing number of Chinese passengers from Shanghai and Beijing. They are paying higher fares than the Western passengers, and generally spending more money onboard than the Westerners are spending.

 

 

Interesting.

Are these mostly Volendam/Asian cruises and Australia?

 

 

[chrispb]

We had quite a number of Chinese crew last New Year: waiters, bar staff, room stewards, etc. some seemed newly out of training.

 

The casinos were virtually empty every time we passed by.

[SilvertoGold]

To get back to the OP's question:

in ten years HAL will still be chugging along, much changed, but still recognizable. We'll still be sailing HAL and be President's Club, even if they put it up to 2000 days. Looking forward to this and making comparisons to the "old days", as we do now.

[SilvertoGold]

We had quite a number of Chinese crew last New Year: waiters, bar staff, room stewards, etc. some seemed newly out of training.

 

The casinos were virtually empty every time we passed by.

 

On a HAL cruise?? I doubt it.

 

Waiters and room steward are Indonesian; bar staff are Philippino.

 

What line are you referencing?

[cbr663]

Interesting story: http://o.canada.com/travel/quantum-of-the-seas-cutting-edge-technology.

 

RCI is investing heavily into technology with its new ship, Quantum and will be making this technology available on Oasis and Allure. Some new features include:

 

- Sidewalk to Ship in 10 minutes with check in our your smart phone,

- On-line internet speeds equivalent to DSL on land, meaning you can now video chat with friends while at sea,

- Track your luggage,

- More entertainment options onboard.

 

How long will it take for HAL to catch up to this?

[SilvertoGold]

Interesting story: http://o.canada.com/travel/quantum-of-the-seas-cutting-edge-technology.

 

RCI is investing heavily into technology with its new ship, Quantum and will be making this technology available on Oasis and Allure. Some new features include:

 

- Sidewalk to Ship in 10 minutes with check in our your smart phone,

- On-line internet speeds equivalent to DSL on land, meaning you can now video chat with friends while at sea,

- Track your luggage,

- More entertainment options onboard.

 

How long will it take for HAL to catch up to this?

 

Different lines, different options.

 

Monster ships have different needs. For example, 4000 pax ships demand a way to board fast, more entertainment for all those pax, more dining venues and bars to feed/water the hungry/thirsty hordes. If HAL ever goes this big, they will have to offer the same.

 

If HAL can get the internet up to speed, that will be great

[Copper10-8]

We had quite a number of Chinese crew last New Year: waiters, bar staff, room stewards, etc. some seemed newly out of training.

 

The casinos were virtually empty every time we passed by.

 

That wasn't on HAL. I've seen two Chinese nationals as crew on HAL, both female and both concesionnaires, one was a Steiner (Spa) and the other worked in the shops ;)

[sppunk]

Interesting story: http://o.canada.com/travel/quantum-of-the-seas-cutting-edge-technology.

 

RCI is investing heavily into technology with its new ship, Quantum and will be making this technology available on Oasis and Allure. Some new features include:

 

- Sidewalk to Ship in 10 minutes with check in our your smart phone,

- On-line internet speeds equivalent to DSL on land, meaning you can now video chat with friends while at sea,

- Track your luggage,

- More entertainment options onboard.

 

How long will it take for HAL to catch up to this?

Give or take 25 years.

[SilvertoGold]

That wasn't on HAL. I've seen two Chinese nationals as crew on HAL, both female and both concesionnaires, one was a Steiner (Spa) and the other worked in the shops ;)

 

Thanks for clearing that up.

Since my hubbie speaks Bahasa Indonesian to the room stewards and waiters, we thought......they are Indonesian!!

[sail7seas]

To get back to the OP's question:

in ten years HAL will still be chugging along, much changed, but still recognizable. We'll still be sailing HAL and be President's Club, even if they put it up to 2000 days. Looking forward to this and making comparisons to the "old days", as we do now.

 

All good wishes this comes true for you. :)

Certainly something to look forward to.

 

[iancal]

I think HAL's notion of on board technology is a phone in the room to dial room service.

 

Or a slow internet line so that passengers pay the max. amount when buying/using internet services.

[SilvertoGold]

I think HAL's notion of on board technology is a phone in the room to dial room service.

 

Or a slow internet line so that passengers pay the max. amount when buying/using internet services.

 

My understanding is that HAL is updating its internet. Maybe not to the speed of sound, you know, but a lot better than it was.

[cruz chic]

I think HAL's notion of on board technology is a phone in the room to dial room service.

 

Or a slow internet line so that passengers pay the max. amount when buying/using internet services.

 

I've found the internet to be about the same speed on Princess and Hal. Which cruise line have you had super fast internet?

[iancal]

Carnival Glory, NCL Sun, and Equinox all seemed faster. Will be trying RCI Serenade in Oct and Sun Princess in Feb. But, to be fair, we never buy very much time on board. We use on shore wireless mostly.....because of the speed of connection.

Edited August 25, 2014 by iancal

[jimmy2x]

Interesting story: http://o.canada.com/travel/quantum-of-the-seas-cutting-edge-technology.

 

RCI is investing heavily into technology with its new ship, Quantum and will be making this technology available on Oasis and Allure. Some new features include:

 

- Sidewalk to Ship in 10 minutes with check in our your smart phone,

- On-line internet speeds equivalent to DSL on land, meaning you can now video chat with friends while at sea,

- Track your luggage,

- More entertainment options onboard.

 

How long will it take for HAL to catch up to this?

 

I guess that I just don't get it.

 

Maybe we've just been lucky, but have never waited more than 30 minutes to go aboard.

 

I suppose that faster internet would be useful to many, but dread the thought of some moron on the balcony next to us video chatting with friends.

 

Is tracking my luggage going to get it in the cabin faster?

 

Am quite sure that increased entertainment options is something many folks would like to see. A lot of the newer, larger ships do that and apparently do it very well.

 

I am sure that we are in the distinct minority in saying that we cruise to be back at sea, get away from everyday issues, and spend some quality time together.

 

When the ship is at sea, I want to feel a connection with it which is greatly enhanced by the promenade deck. Most of the new builds do not have such a thing anymore, or if they do, nothing like what HAL provides.

 

If we really placed great value on "entertainment" and fancy drinks, it is cheaper to go to Vegas.

[Lizzie68]

My understanding is that HAL is updating its internet. Maybe not to the speed of sound, you know, but a lot better than it was.

 

Having used the "updated, new and improved" version - I can tell you it's something like the new booking website. A step back.;)