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Why do you hate HAL so much?


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On our way to the airport the other day we passed a church which always has "deep" signs on their billboard out front.  This time it really caught my attention - it said something like "Making comparisons removes joy."  I've been thinking about  - and comparing our experiences with others'  does have an affect on our appreciation of  we are getting out of our cruises.  

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2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

I get a kick out of those who say they prefer fixed dining because that allows them to establish a repport with the dining staff.  See how those staff react when you run into them on disembarkation day.

 

That is terribly cynical.

People -- all people -- find comfort in familiarity and "safety."  I can tell you, we have been welcomed on ships by crew members who remember us and like us -- and they do extra nice things for us.  And we don't ordinarily tip outside of the mandatory amount, so the motivation isn't money.  Those crew members want to commune with people they enjoy,  just as we all do.

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3 hours ago, Cruzaholic41 said:

  

Nope. 

What I have found is that ronbe65 has their own specific criteria for judging ships, and seem to thrive on controversy. You should have seem all the extremely negative posts during the Edge build. Their subject here is really off topic as it usually is. I was just suggesting you save your energy for more important things. 

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Getting back to the OP's post, perhaps he/she would prefer that Cruise Critic be renamed "Cruise Cheerleaders."  Sure, there are plenty of negative posts (not just on the HAL blog) and that is the nature of being a "critic."  Many of the negative posts (or complaints) are not mean spirited and seem intended to inform others of issues, opinions, etc.  While there is much to like about HAL there are certainly plenty of things not to like.  We cruise many different lines and have noticed cut-backs on all!   There is a lot of price competition in the cruise industry and lines must either cut costs (which means cut backs) or increase prices.  Personally, I like reading both the negative and positive as it influences our decision-making on which cruise (ships and lines) to book.

 

Hank

 

 

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13 hours ago, Cruzaholic41 said:

 

Oh, I know. People think some crew members are such good friends. Ha!  If only those people knew what those crew members say when they get off the ship. Crew, just like the cruise line, only want one thing. Your money. And in doing so, gullible people fall for the whole loyalty or friendship game. 

   Wow, what a generalization and in many respects  quite  wrong.

 

 

 

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sail.noordam@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

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I found it quite interesting to read some of the history since becoming part of the Carnival group. If they are gently trying to nudge out the older, long-time cruisers, I'm curious why they don't offer incentives to 4 and 5 star cruisers to move up to one of their other lines - Seabourn, for example. Seems like it would keep their customer base happy and under the same umbrella rather than grumbling about cutbacks on HAL and defecting to the competition. 

.

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2 hours ago, twodjs said:

I found it quite interesting to read some of the history since becoming part of the Carnival group. If they are gently trying to nudge out the older, long-time cruisers, I'm curious why they don't offer incentives to 4 and 5 star cruisers to move up to one of their other lines - Seabourn, for example. Seems like it would keep their customer base happy and under the same umbrella rather than grumbling about cutbacks on HAL and defecting to the competition. 

 

Not a bad idea.  RCCL awards reciprocal loyalty benefits across their lines so I'm surprised Carnival Corp hasn't done it yet.  

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5 hours ago, Aquahound said:

 

Not a bad idea.  RCCL awards reciprocal loyalty benefits across their lines so I'm surprised Carnival Corp hasn't done it yet.  

We like this about RCI/X.  We don't actually earn points on RCI while sailing X.  But, our status level on one line is matched on the other.  I would certainly like to see this practice on other lines. 

 

MSC, who we have yet to try, takes this even further by matching the status given by other companies.  So, we are already at their top tier despite never having set foot on an MSC ship!

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18 hours ago, idiebabe said:

 

You know what crew members say when people get off the Ship! I can imagine what they say about some people!  😂 I don't consider crew members "such good friends" but have run into Waitstaff and Wine Attendants who we've met on other Ships as well as Officers and Specialty Restaurant Managers, etc.  They have gone out of their way to come over to us when they see us (before we've seen them) even though we are not in their Section of the Dining Room or when we have seen them up on Lido, etc.  There is no monetary gain for them to do that!  

 

@RocketMan275  We do build up a rapport with our Waitstaff and our Wine Attendant through Fixed Dining and have run into them on Debark day and they have not been any different than the day before toward us.   We actually have run into them on other Ships and they have gone out of their way to come over to us when they see us.   

 

You know what the saying is "We Love all our Customers!  Some when they are coming and others when they are Leaving"!  😉

It is a service industry. if you think you are "special" then they have done their job. I used to fly for a living and greeted tons of people. Could not really care about any of them but...it is a service industry.

I am not a bad guy or inconsiderate but am fully aware of sites like this where people can and will and do comment on things exactly as you state.

Please don't be mad at me but understand the reality is it is a service industry and we must be nice to customers. Look what happens if we are not. This site is full of complaints.

Being polite and waving or shaking hands does not, in any way, indicate we like you or know you or least of all, remember you (especially on a ship that has 2 to 4000 passengers every week). We are told to behave like this.
Sorry if the aforementioned sounds blunt but truly, it is a customer service industry and must reflect that. We are to make you all comfortable and happy and willing to come back.

 

Edited by pete_coach
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1 hour ago, pete_coach said:

It is a service industry. if you think you are "special" then they have done their job. I used to fly for a living and greeted tons of people. Could not really care about any of them but...it is a service industry.

I am not a bad guy or inconsiderate but am fully aware of sites like this where people can and will and do comment on things exactly as you state.

Please don't be mad at me but understand the reality is it is a service industry and we must be nice to customers. Look what happens if we are not. This site is full of complaints.

Being polite and waving or shaking hands does not, in any way, indicate we like you or know you or least of all, remember you (especially on a ship that has 2 to 4000 passengers every week). We are told to behave like this.
Sorry if the aforementioned sounds blunt but truly, it is a customer service industry and must reflect that. We are to make you all comfortable and happy and willing to come back.

 

At first, I was going to say "that's going to bust some bubbles."

Upon further reflection, that won't because too many want to believe that out of those thousands of people, they are the special ones, that the server does want to see the pictures of their grandchildren.  

Edited by RocketMan275
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1 hour ago, pete_coach said:

Being polite and waving or shaking hands does not, in any way, indicate we like you or know you or least of all, remember you (especially on a ship that has 2 to 4000 passengers every week).

I won't claim that any of the crew and I have ever become 'friends', as that term is reserved for only those who are closest to me, and know me very well. 

But to think they don't remember me? Nope. You are completely wrong there. Why else would a steward who served me several years ago, and has had no contact with me since, come up to greet me, calling me by name, and remembering the ship and approximately when? Why else would a steward remember the drink I ordered? Or, when friends I had been with on many cruises be on one without me, would one inquire as to where I was? 
There is not a doubt in my mind that many of the stewards remember many of us. 

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3 minutes ago, RuthC said:

I won't claim that any of the crew and I have ever become 'friends', as that term is reserved for only those who are closest to me, and know me very well. 

But to think they don't remember me? Nope. You are completely wrong there. Why else would a steward who served me several years ago, and has had no contact with me since, come up to greet me, calling me by name, and remembering the ship and approximately when? Why else would a steward remember the drink I ordered? Or, when friends I had been with on many cruises be on one without me, would one inquire as to where I was? 
There is not a doubt in my mind that many of the stewards remember many of us. 

Ruth, it is indeed possible that the crew remembers certain people.  Since you cruise so much, you might well be one of those special ones remembered by the crew.  I suspect that most passengers aren't as well received as you.

It has also been rumored that the ship/crew does maintain a data base on passengers.

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8 minutes ago, RuthC said:


But to think they don't remember me? Nope. You are completely wrong there. Why else would a steward who served me several years ago, and has had no contact with me since, come up to greet me, calling me by name, and remembering the ship and approximately when? Why else would a steward remember the drink I ordered? Or, when friends I had been with on many cruises be on one without me, would one inquire as to where I was? 
There is not a doubt in my mind that many of the stewards remember many of us. 

 

I suspect that many who are skeptical of this are those who take short(er) cruises. 

 

Someone such as myself who probably cruises only once or twice per year, for approximately two weeks at a stretch; who does not utilize fixed dining; who has few, if any, extra requests of my room steward; and who does not really go out of their way to interact with staff is probably not going to be remembered. 

 

Even having said that, there have been times I was remembered from previous cruises on Aegean Odyssey -- but she is a much smaller ship. 

 

 

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10 minutes ago, RuthC said:

I won't claim that any of the crew and I have ever become 'friends', as that term is reserved for only those who are closest to me, and know me very well. 

But to think they don't remember me? Nope. You are completely wrong there. Why else would a steward who served me several years ago, and has had no contact with me since, come up to greet me, calling me by name, and remembering the ship and approximately when? Why else would a steward remember the drink I ordered? Or, when friends I had been with on many cruises be on one without me, would one inquire as to where I was? 
There is not a doubt in my mind that many of the stewards remember many of us. 

Ruth, don't wanna burst your bubble but the crew (particularly  the cabin stewards) know quite a bit about you. The information about you is well known, you gave them a lot when you filled out your documents.

 

A cruise you were on several years ago? Really Ruth, think about it.104 weeks ago, 2-4000 passengers per week, the crew being on 4 to 7 month contracts and they remember you and what you drink? 

They certainly have you fooled but hey, that is just a compliment to them. They know exactly what to do to make you "special".

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9 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

Since you cruise so much, you might well be one of those special ones remembered by the crew.

The remembering started long before I started cruising so often. My husband was remembered over two years later---after only one HAL cruise. Also long before there were computers to maintain data bases. 
The stewards have a different way than Americans are used to. And they have excellent memories; I'm sure that's part of who gets hired in the first place. 

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2 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I suspect that many who are skeptical of this are those who take short(er) cruises. 

 

Someone such as myself who probably cruises only once or twice per year, for approximately two weeks at a stretch; who does not utilize fixed dining; who has few, if any, extra requests of my room steward; and who does not really go out of their way to interact with staff is probably not going to be remembered. 

 

Even having said that, there have been times I was remembered from previous cruises on Aegean Odyssey -- but she is a much smaller ship. 

 

 

The cruise line knows you, especially on a luxury cruise like Odyssey. They inform the crew of you.

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1 hour ago, pete_coach said:

 

Being polite and waving or shaking hands does not, in any way, indicate we like you or know you or least of all, remember you (especially on a ship that has 2 to 4000 passengers every week). We are told to behave like this.
Sorry if the aforementioned sounds blunt but truly, it is a customer service industry and must reflect that. We are to make you all comfortable and happy and willing to come back.

 

 

Asians may be a bit different from westerners. To them, social relations is important.

 

It is also possible that social-friendliness is a criteria in choosing the employees. 

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1 hour ago, pete_coach said:

It is a service industry. if you think you are "special" then they have done their job. I used to fly for a living and greeted tons of people. Could not really care about any of them but...it is a service industry.

 

Being polite and waving or shaking hands does not, in any way, indicate we like you or know you or least of all, remember you.
 

 

Comparing a cruise -- even one of only a week or so -- doesn't seem to me exactly the same as a flight of a few hours. There are many more opportunities for multiple interactions/conversations with the same people.

 

1 minute ago, pete_coach said:

The cruise line knows you, especially on a luxury cruise like Odyssey. They inform the crew of you.

 

The line wasn't really 'luxury' (more like historic/adventure travel) and I don't think the type of things remembered would ever have been noted down by anyone; certainly they were not provided by me.

 

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45 minutes ago, RocketMan275 said:

At first, I was going to say "that's going to bust some bubbles."

Upon further reflection, that won't because too many want to believe that out of those thousands of people, they are the special ones, that the server does want to see the pictures of their grandchildren.  

 

Yep. Such as this one:

 

12 hours ago, sail7seas said:

   Wow, what a generalization and in many respects  quite  wrong.

 

 

 

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12 hours ago, twodjs said:

I found it quite interesting to read some of the history since becoming part of the Carnival group. If they are gently trying to nudge out the older, long-time cruisers, I'm curious why they don't offer incentives to 4 and 5 star cruisers to move up to one of their other lines - Seabourn, for example. Seems like it would keep their customer base happy and under the same umbrella rather than grumbling about cutbacks on HAL and defecting to the competition. 

.

 

I have not sailed with Seabourn yet, but I believe they do give you credit as having sailed at least once. I think this is the case because I created a Seabourn Club account with them, then did an online booking.  The quoted price was adjusted down by five percent after I logged in with my new Seabourn Club account.  I've never sailed with them before, but that discount is what is given to people who have sailed at least once.  So there is some recognition there.  I don't know if there are further benefits once onboard, as I haven't sailed with them yet.  

 

I'll edit to add that I would like to stick with Carnival Corp brands.  They don't have the "hotel at sea" feeling like RCI, for example.  I like to know I'm at sea.

Edited by AncientWanderer
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1 hour ago, RuthC said:

The remembering started long before I started cruising so often. My husband was remembered over two years later---after only one HAL cruise. Also long before there were computers to maintain data bases. 
The stewards have a different way than Americans are used to. And they have excellent memories; I'm sure that's part of who gets hired in the first place. 

 

 

1 hour ago, HappyInVan said:

 

Asians may be a bit different from westerners. To them, social relations is important.

 

It is also possible that social-friendliness is a criteria in choosing the employees. 

 

I don't know how much memory and social skills help in getting hired, but I'm sure they help in keeping a job and advancing. And I think if someone is a "people person" (I hate that expression, but it applies here) with good social skills, it helps them enjoy their job. 

 

A waiter on QE2 remembered us after two years and he had only met us once. We were at tea on the first day and he ran across the room, greeting us by name and welcoming us back. He went from the lowest dining room to the top on his second contract, so clearly he was good at his job and good at customer relations. He's still with Cunard, now an assistant maitre d' on QM2 and he still remembers us when we stop by to see him. OK, so he's just one of the many people who have served us on Cunard and most wouldn't know us if they served us again, but his people skills make passengers feel good and  have helped him advance.

 

I also think it makes staff feel good when you recognize them and greet them, a bit of pride in having done their job well.

 

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