Wow! HAL really is watching us!

[kazu]

It is worthy of pointing out a basic difference as to "Frank" as he is familiarly called here. How many ships does Oceania have? How many employees? How many cruisers per year?

 

How many issues.... larger numbers for those categories make for larger issues in all categories.

 

 

huh? I'm confused.

 

HAL must have many more employees than Oceania. How hard would it be for someone to come on for a major issue, whether it be A/C, plumbing or the wine issue that we discussed (some may say ad nauseum)?

 

Oceania is smaller sure, but so are their employee numbers and they don't have to give their cruises away from what I have seen. Instead, they offer a deal if you book early. You know the common sense stuff?

 

I am just saying what I have seen on those boards and it's pretty impressive.

[sail7seas]

It doesn't sit really comfortably with me for a high executive in a cruise line to post, under his true identity, on a public BB telling those who participate in publishing for the world to read how he will make everything right for them. I feel a bit queasy as to his reasons for doing so.

 

[ksqueak]

Last summer our meet and greet didn't have enough members to really contact HAL and set up a location with them providing stuff. So, we agreed to meet at a specified location and chat. Along comes bartender, he takes drink orders (no charge to us) and brings us appetizers. Told us someone sent him an email to do this. So, somewhere, someplace they are reading here.

[Hflors]

I would think HAL would be a pretty stupid company if they didn't read these boards. Think about it. Most of the posters here are long time cruisers who have paid a fortune to your (HAL) company over the years for the privilege of enjoying your product and making you money! A lot of the people on these boards are well respected in this community and have offered help and guidance to new cruisers who are new customers to your product!

 

These boards offer a snapshot of how your "core" customers view your product on any given day and any given situation. Sure there is whining on these boards, but for the most part the members are very savvy about your product. When a person has a question about ships, cabins, food, shore excursions etc. who do they ask? Not your customer service staff, who are very helpful, but don't have 1/10th the cruising experience and I dare say most likely only know the right answer maybe a small part of the time. Come on these boards and someone on these boards knows the right answer because it has happened to them. The people on these boards have been/"lived" on the ships that they are talking about. They have eaten your food, taken your shore excursions, slept in your beds, stood or sat on your balconies, enjoyed your entertainment, etc. first hand. These are the people you want to view and listen to. You will get more info from them than any 10 question survey or market research project you could ever do.

 

And that is why I think HAL views what is said here.

(stepping down off my soapbox now)

[Folk Singer]

I know for sure there are people in Seattle HAL offices and some on the ships who read CC at least from time to time. They have told me. :) It would be surprising if they didn't. They are smart enough to weed out the trolls and ones who post tales of woe for revenge and to notice a clear pattern if there are the same complaints about the same thing or same ship etc

 

They also notice the posts praising particular circumstances and ships etc.

 

 

 

Spoke with the Head Office folks before and they do read these on occasion and as you put it "Notice the posts praising particular circumstances and ships etc."

as you Cruise you are constantly seeing little things being changed for the better and some not so well.

Edited January 29, 2015 by Folk Singer

[DaveOKC]

Having conducted consumer research studies for supermarkets, I can attest to the value of feedback for retailers (or any company dealing directly with the public). I have seen them used to significantly improve sales and profits at a specific store, by addressing consumer complaints and perceptions. I used to tell the store operators that reality is not important, but rather that the perceptions consumers hold (of that reality) is critical.

 

It is much more difficult to conduct telephone surveys now-a-days, so any alternative feedback sources are more valuable than ever. Any company not taking advantage of sources such as Cruise Critic is certainly "missing the boat"!

 

DaveOKC

[serendipity1499]

It is worthy of pointing out a basic difference as to "Frank" as he is familiarly called here. How many ships does Oceania have? How many employees? How many cruisers per year?

 

How many issues.... larger numbers for those categories make for larger issues in all categories.

 

Sorry Sail, but don't agree.. Just because HAL may have more ships & routes, excellent Customer Service should still be there!

 

Most large companies have Customer Service Employees whose job it is to answer letters which are either negative or positive.. Part of their jobs should be to also monitor sites such as Cruise Critic & take action when it's necessary.. "Frank", as he is called, on Oceania worked for a very large company before he & his partner's began Oceania.. He is an excellent administrator & has employees who actually give him feedback..

 

As much as we enjoy HAL, & their crews, we have never had the level of service on HAL which Oceania gives to all their customers, not just a few! Excellent service should start from the top & continue down through the ranks!

 

In 2006 we had a problem with Black & Decker (another large company) Kwickset dummy locks purchased at Lowes or Home Depot.. I wrote a letter to the Hardware & Home Improvement Dept of Black & Decker.. One of their Vice Presidents telephoned me.. They actually sent me new dummy locks which worked!.. I called Customer Service & thanked them for their prompt response & the new locks.. The Vice Pres. then called me again & asked me to pick out a Price Pfister fawcet for my trouble.. Because of their concern & help we will always purchase Black & Decker, Kwickset or Price Pfister hardware. & tell our friends & family to do the same!

 

That is exactly how HAL should handle their Customers![/size]

Edited January 29, 2015 by serendipity1499

[serendipity1499]

huh? I'm confused.

 

HAL must have many more employees than Oceania. How hard would it be for someone to come on for a major issue, whether it be A/C, plumbing or the wine issue that we discussed (some may say ad nauseum)?

 

Oceania is smaller sure, but so are their employee numbers and they don't have to give their cruises away from what I have seen. Instead, they offer a deal if you book early. You know the common sense stuff?

 

I am just saying what I have seen on those boards and it's pretty impressive.

 

Completely agree with you Kazu!

[serendipity1499]

It doesn't sit really comfortably with me for a high executive in a cruise line to post, under his true identity, on a public BB telling those who participate in publishing for the world to read how he will make everything right for them. I feel a bit queasy as to his reasons for doing so.

 

 

Why? His reasons may not suit you, but his company is growing by leaps & bounds!

[sail7seas]

The why is because there is room for one to think there could be some 'undue influence' for positive postings. It may be a cynical viewpoint but it has come up before on CC Boards that one cruise line or another was sometimes 'looked at' as possibly trying to reward those who spoke highly of their product.

 

I am not saying "Frank" is doing this as I have no clue, I never read Oceania Forum, and couldn't tell you Frank's last name if I had to. But I do recall when there were rumblings that perhaps this was some self interest involved back before Oceania even existed.

 

Anyone else remember those stories back a while?

 

Once again, we are all entitled to our opinion and to express it. NO ONE needs agree with my opinion. :)

 

Edited January 29, 2015 by sail7seas

[sail7seas]

Last summer our meet and greet didn't have enough members to really contact HAL and set up a location with them providing stuff. So, we agreed to meet at a specified location and chat. Along comes bartender, he takes drink orders (no charge to us) and brings us appetizers. Told us someone sent him an email to do this. So, somewhere, someplace they are reading here.

 

 

 

This is great to read. Someone was reading, for sure, and were proactive in providing a nice get together for all of you. Well done. :)

 

 

 

Sorry Sail, but don't agree.. Just because HAL may have more ships & routes, excellent Customer Service should still be there!

 

Most large companies have Customer Service Employees whose job it is to answer letters which are either negative or positive.. Part of their jobs should be to also monitor sites such as Cruise Critic & take action when it's necessary.. "Frank", as he is called, on Oceania worked for a very large company before he & his partner's began Oceania.. He is an excellent administrator & has employees who actually give him feedback..

 

As much as we enjoy HAL, & their crews, we have never had the level of service on HAL which Oceania gives to all their customers, not just a few! Excellent service should start from the top & continue down through the ranks!

 

In 2006 we had a problem with Black & Decker (another large company) Kwickset dummy locks purchased at Lowes or Home Depot.. I wrote a letter to the Hardware & Home Improvement Dept of Black & Decker.. One of their Vice Presidents telephoned me.. They actually sent me new dummy locks which worked!.. I called Customer Service & thanked them for their prompt response & the new locks.. The Vice Pres. then called me again & asked me to pick out a Price Pfister fawcet for my trouble.. Because of their concern & help we will always purchase Black & Decker, Kwickset or Price Pfister hardware. & tell our friends & family to do the same!

 

That is exactly how HAL should handle their Customers![/size]

 

 

 

Very happy Black & Decker took such good care of you. That is fine customer service.

 

Edited January 29, 2015 by sail7seas

[Kudos2Fly]

ALL cruise lines are looking at Cruise Critic. If they didn't at least read some of the posts, they would not be adjusting to the social media change.

 

But would they take every comment and consideration and make changes of course not. But they get an overall ideal of what changes are going on. I will be sailing on Holland for the first time in a few days. But have sailed Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity. I know with John Heald they do look at and watch Cruise Critic.

 

It's just another way to decide on what changes they will make.

[Randyk47]

Personally we've been contacted twice by HAL about things we've posted here or on our website. One was a Cruise Critic review we did on a pretty bad cruise on the Veendam back in 2008. They obviously did some research to track down who we were and how to get in touch with us but they did. The second was an email from a PCC who had gone to our website and had gone through at least some of our more detailed "journal" on our 2011 Maasdam cruise. Turned out until we stopped cruising HAL exclusively HAL visited our website on a regular or at least occasional basis. Really nothing came of either contact. In the Veendam case it was a "sorry you had a less than great cruise". The Maasdam contact was to say "great website". We only keep recent cruises up on our website so HAL lost interest in us after 2012 when we replaced the Maasdam cruise with a cruise on a different line. :)

[Murray's Pop]

I agree that all the major cruise lines do in fact monitor activities on the various cruise related discussion boards. They would be foolish not to.

 

I am more impressed with those who actually acknowledge their presence by responding to posts/questions/issues raised here. Along with the previously identified executive from Oceania, if you view the Celebrity threads you will notice Celebrity Cruises, who is identified as an official from Celebrity, and often provides direct responses. While I am sure HAL monitors the discussions, I have yet to see an official response.

[sail7seas]

Very rarely, we have seen posts here on HAL/CC from someone who identifies herself as HAL Guest Relations. It has been a while since I've seen a post from her but there were several for a while.

 

 

There also a fellow who identified himself as working for HAL and he used to post rather regularly. Haven't seen that posting name for a long while.

[debsjc]

[quote name='sail7seas'][B]It doesn't sit really comfortably with me for a high executive in a cruise line to post, under his true identity, on a public BB telling those who participate in publishing for the world to read how he will make everything right for them. I feel a bit queasy as to his reasons for doing so.

[/B][/QUOTE]

Just to say in my case that isn't what he did. He just apologised, asked me to email him, and made his generous offer privately. I had written a balanced review with several good points and mentioned one problem we had, and he picked up on it. Edited January 29, 2015 by debsjc
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