LAFFNVEGAS "LIVE" from the Nieuw Amsterdam, First HAL Ship to Sail!!

[canadarocks]

Lisa, no matter how small I totally understand your frustration in not receiving whatever discounts you are entitled to. It's a principle thing and I get it.

 

And totally not cool to be treated with anything even close to disrespect by the HAL staff about anything you are concerned about. IMHO there's a major difference between "well it's not our fault, it's been a while" and "I'm SO sorry, but it's been a while". 

[ksmaxey]

8 hours ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Thanks for letting me know.

we have also been charged for A few of Tom’s beers and a couple of glasses of my Riesling a few days ago so need to have that removed.

We have a similar problem.  Have been to the desk 3X and still have charges covered by EPB remaining on our statement.

 

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

The weather here in Ketchikan has cleared up and there is actually some sun shining through those clouds. We walked into town, first stopping in Tongass Trading Post. Always good buys there, excellent prices. Then wen across the street to have lunch at Annebell’s which has been a Ketchikan tradition for lunch for many years. Tom of course had to have his Halibut Fish and Chips.

We then headed back to the ship. 
 

This afternoon I needed to call the Club Orange Concierge to see if they could Assist, we have had several charges on our statement for items covered on the Signature Beverage Package. Stupid things like cans of water, a can of Ginger Ale and my Riesling and a beer for Tom when we had lunch in the Pinnacle. 
Anyway I decided to ask about if there will be a   Mariner Reception or lunch on the last day. She quickly answered they would not be having any Mariner gatherings the whole Alaska season. I then asked about the 4 and 5 reception that was held on Sunday. She then stated “You did not get your invitation?” The answer to that is no. She then said she would have the Beverage department check into the items charged and have her supervisor call me. 
I later got a call from the Guest Relations Manager who was actually immediately a bit rude. She started out saying you were invited to that Mariner party I prepared the invitation myself. Then goes on to say your cabin steward delivered it to you. Again, no we did not receive. It was then a Oh Well that is too bad you did not get it.

I expected hiccups but not to be treated rudely. 
The problems with getting charges you should not have has been going on long before the pause. 
It really is sad that you have to continue to watch this kind of stuff. Tonight I will go back to the shops to get our 5% discount they did not give us. You can call me cheap but that is $6.00 plus with the other charges it’s $22.00 worth of mistake. They do add up.

At the risk of another rude comment made against me this is what I’m talking about the front desk. This person is supposed to be the guest relations manager?  That is terrible and inexcusable.

[Florida_gal_50]

56 minutes ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Oh I forgot to mention what they offered for not getting invited to the Mariner Party, they offered to give us another card for the DAM drink. So I said what good does that do when one already has the Signature Beverage Package. She then stated that is a Special Drink for Mariner. I have no idea what it is who knows maybe it’s a Wang Wang with an extra Wang in it 😂 at this point one just has to laugh.

Yes, that makes up for everything 🙄😛.

[ksmaxey]

1 hour ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

No lobster, a bit more scaled down second Gala night.

 

We are disappointed by tonight's menu apart from the lack of lobster.  The diminished options are significant

 

[zelker]

@LAFFNVEGAS  Perhaps a call to Corporate Guest Relations team when you get home? This is the kind of stuff they need to hear about post-cruise.  

[zgscl]

37 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

At the risk of another rude comment made against me this is what I’m talking about the front desk. This person is supposed to be the guest relations manager?  That is terrible and inexcusable.

You are absolutely right about the front desk. We love HAL and have been extremely loyal over the past 10 years, and across basically all of those voyages the front desk has been a consistent weak point. When we first started sailing in Neptune suites I was completely shocked when I found out the concierge was just a front desk person who rotated up to the lounge on a several month long assignment. Have always has outstanding service from them, and have had great service from the backup concierge who covers their breaks when they are at the desk. But I have generally found most everyone else at the desk is not helpful for anything beyond a printed receipt, change, or something else at about that level.

 

It is baffling how they can have such good service in every other department for the most part, and they can provide excellent service in the Neptune lounge and fall so flat at the front desk/guest relations. 

[Florida_gal_50]

3 minutes ago, zgscl said:

You are absolutely right about the front desk. We love HAL and have been extremely loyal over the past 10 years, and across basically all of those voyages the front desk has been a consistent weak point. When we first started sailing in Neptune suites I was completely shocked when I found out the concierge was just a front desk person who rotated up to the lounge on a several month long assignment. Have always has outstanding service from them, and have had great service from the backup concierge who covers their breaks when they are at the desk. But I have generally found most everyone else at the desk is not helpful for anything beyond a printed receipt, change, or something else at about that level.

 

It is baffling how they can have such good service in every other department for the most part, and they can provide excellent service in the Neptune lounge and fall so flat at the front desk/guest relations. 

I agree.  It’s such a disconnect.  It’s the weak point of the organization.

[jhoice]

3 hours ago, atexsix said:

Agree, that IS risky, all HAL's efforts could be trumped by a ship making less of an effort.  

Question, about Juneau, what ship if any was there while you were in port?  We have a small group whale watching excursion booked thru COSTCO.  Hoping it will be just HAL folks?  

[jhoice]

6 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I agree.  It’s such a disconnect.  It’s the weak point of the organization.

We have found the same thing, a weak link when all the other levels of service are excellent. Must be the training for new employees.  Lets give them grace.  Big big changes this year.

[dobiemom]

22 minutes ago, jhoice said:

Question, about Juneau, what ship if any was there while you were in port?  We have a small group whale watching excursion booked thru COSTCO.  Hoping it will be just HAL folks?  

Celebrity Millenium is in Juneau with NA all season.  https://claalaska.com/?page_id=1250

[Mrsfrz]

2 hours ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

I honestly do not know that answer. Sorry, I will ask or at least try to remember to ask when we Dine there tomorrow night.

Speaking of dining, have you met anyone who has done Rudi's Sel de Mer? We are thinking about it for our August 21 sailing. I'm not a big seafood person, but everyone else is in our group. Again, thank you for all your help. 

[oaktreerb]

3 hours ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

 

 

This afternoon I needed to call the Club Orange Concierge to see if they could Assist, we have had several charges on our statement for items covered on the Signature Beverage Package. Stupid things like cans of water, a can of Ginger Ale and my Riesling and a beer for Tom when we had lunch in the Pinnacle. 
Anyway I decided to ask about if there will be a   Mariner Reception or lunch on the last day. She quickly answered they would not be having any Mariner gatherings the whole Alaska season. I then asked about the 4 and 5 reception that was held on Sunday. She then stated “You did not get your invitation?” The answer to that is no. She then said she would have the Beverage department check into the items charged and have her supervisor call me. 
I later got a call from the Guest Relations Manager who was actually immediately a bit rude. She started out saying you were invited to that Mariner party I prepared the invitation myself. Then goes on to say your cabin steward delivered it to you. Again, no we did not receive. It was then a Oh Well that is too bad you did not get it.

I expected hiccups but not to be treated rudely. 
The problems with getting charges you should not have has been going on long before the pause. 
It really is sad that you have to continue to watch this kind of stuff. Tonight I will go back to the shops to get our 5% discount they did not give us. You can call me cheap but that is $6.00 plus with the other charges it’s $22.00 worth of mistake. They do add up.

I’m so sorry to hear about the response from the Guest Relations Manager.  I was sure that there would be another reception and I’m just as sure that other mariners were also overlooked.  I expected that at least if you notified them of the omission you would be offered a bottle of wine in apology.  I guess those were the old days!  A free drink for someone who already has a drink package isn’t going to pacify anyone.

 

Thanks for speaking up on the ship about the issues that need to be addressed.  Hopefully they will make some changes so that others will not have to deal with the same issues.   The Guest Relations Manager needs some customer service training…..back to HAL University!

Edited July 30, 2021 by oaktreerb

[Laminator]

1 hour ago, ksmaxey said:

We are disappointed by tonight's menu apart from the lack of lobster.  The diminished options are significant

 

There are food shortages all over the country for numerous reasons. Hopefully this is the reason and the options will increase for the next cruises. 

[boze9999]

1 hour ago, ksmaxey said:

We have a similar problem.  Have been to the desk 3X and still have charges covered by EPB remaining on our statement.

 

On our MANY HAL cruises, when we are incorrectly charged and visit with staff, it is always corrected. We've even had credit AFTER getting off the ship. Good advice is to review your invoice daily and address it as you find incorrectly charged items. Don't wait until the end of the cruise. 

[woodworker&knitter]

11 minutes ago, Mrsfrz said:

Speaking of dining, have you met anyone who has done Rudi's Sel de Mer? We are thinking about it for our August 21 sailing. I'm not a big seafood person, but everyone else is in our group. Again, thank you for all your help. 

I’ve done Sel de Mer a few times. I’m the seafood lover, my husband orders a steak. It’s a win-win for us both

[ksmaxey]

19 minutes ago, Mrsfrz said:

Speaking of dining, have you met anyone who has done Rudi's Sel de Mer? We are thinking about it for our August 21 sailing. I'm not a big seafood person, but everyone else is in our group. Again, thank you for all your help. 

We do it every cruise that we can.  they have amazing Lamb chops that are better than any other night on the ship.

For seafood we find the fruits de mer is absolutely worth the supplement.

We were so full I couldn't do dessert so they had the international cheese plate delivered to our cabin later in the evening!

 

[ksmaxey]

The crew seems to be trying very hard and are very gracious.

The elimination of the wine stewards is a dismal failure.  Tonight it took 35 minutes from when I finished my wine before more was delivered.  It took 20 minutes for our waiter to realize and another 15 for it to be served and delivered.  As my wife said, that isn't fine dining.

My wife observed that she thought the wine stewards could be obnoxious but she really misses that they watched and attended to empty glasses.  The waiters are just tasked with too much now.  It isn't that they aren't trying, it just isn't on their radar after 10+ contracts with that being handled by someone else.

We found the menu tonight to lack depth and choice.  She ordered tortellini on a night she always looked forward to lobster.  I ordered duck because the beef option was not optimal.  The three dessert options didn't interest us and we saw lots of ice cream which wasn't on the menu being served. (waiters have caught on!)

 

Our cabin steward has been amazing and really taken care of o us.  

[zgscl]

26 minutes ago, Laminator said:

There are food shortages all over the country for numerous reasons. Hopefully this is the reason and the options will increase for the next cruises. 

 

That is my hope as well. The MDR menus have been a bit disappointing to look at and I am hoping it is a temporary problem related to sourcing & restarting rather than a permanent downgrade. 

[Boytjie]

4 hours ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

Oh I forgot to mention what they offered for not getting invited to the Mariner Party, they offered to give us another card for the DAM drink. So I said what good does that do when one already has the Signature Beverage Package. She then stated that is a Special Drink for Mariner. I have no idea what it is who knows maybe it’s a Wang Wang with an extra Wang in it 😂 at this point one just has to laugh.

one way to look at it: if you have the dam drink via ticket, you could have 15 more alcoholic beverages instead of 14. 😄

 

[Boytjie]

4 hours ago, katrina915 said:

Good luck trying to enforce wearing masks on a ship that is 100% vaccinated.  Everyone is going to be walking around with food or drink so they don't have to wear a mask. 

 

We wil be on the ship the 14t; if I have to wear as mask, so be it. At least we will be away from home, not making our own meals and seeing some great scenery!

[TiogaCruiser]

3 hours ago, ksmaxey said:

We are disappointed by tonight's menu apart from the lack of lobster.  The diminished options are significant

 

Realistically, I’m not surprised lobster wasn’t on the Gala menu. Isn’t it now offered on the menu every night for a supplement? 

[mxschwartz]

2 hours ago, ksmaxey said:

The crew seems to be trying very hard and are very gracious.

The elimination of the wine stewards is a dismal failure.  Tonight it took 35 minutes from when I finished my wine before more was delivered.  It took 20 minutes for our waiter to realize and another 15 for it to be served and delivered.  As my wife said, that isn't fine dining.

My wife observed that she thought the wine stewards could be obnoxious but she really misses that they watched and attended to empty glasses.  The waiters are just tasked with too much now.  It isn't that they aren't trying, it just isn't on their radar after 10+ contracts with that being handled by someone else.

We found the menu tonight to lack depth and choice.  She ordered tortellini on a night she always looked forward to lobster.  I ordered duck because the beef option was not optimal.  The three dessert options didn't interest us and we saw lots of ice cream which wasn't on the menu being served. (waiters have caught on!)

 

Our cabin steward has been amazing and really taken care of o us.  

How was the duck? Rare I hope?

[Copper10-8]

16 hours ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Oh my goodness!  Is your book still available?  One of my very best friends is retired LA PD.  I'd love a copy for me and for her.

 

 

If you send me a a short email at copperis10.8@gmail.com, I'll tell ya all about it 😉 

[mtiffany24]

https://youtu.be/7HlOwIsrLpE