yet another NEW HAL site upheaval.. oops update

[Stakeout]

in the middle of all what is going on with Covid and restrictions.. HAL decides to do yet another update to their site.. what were they thinking.. more clicks to get what used to be an e-z process.. looks like some high school kid designed the new site .. I better just leave it at that..

[Cruise Suzy]

What has changed? I just went to the HAL Website and everything is working as before.

[Stakeout]

not even close to what it was last week.. a whole new format and layout.. many more 'clicks' to get at what you want.. can't see the final totals until you click on and 'hold' a cabin... used to place the totals in the upper right side of the page.. then let you choose a cabin rather than get what they give you as a Guarantee cabin .. if yours is the same hope it stays that way for you 

[Darfun]

Just did a mock booking and didn’t notice any changes. What has changed on the website?

[Stakeout]

in addition doesn't allow me to choose a particular cabin to see if it is available..

[Mary229]

3 hours ago, Stakeout said:

in addition doesn't allow me to choose a particular cabin to see if it is available..

Which cruise?  Grand Voyage segments are guarantees.  I don't know why and I don't like that but that is the way it is.

[Cruise Suzy]

10 hours ago, Stakeout said:

not even close to what it was last week.. a whole new format and layout.. many more 'clicks' to get at what you want.. can't see the final totals until you click on and 'hold' a cabin... used to place the totals in the upper right side of the page.. then let you choose a cabin rather than get what they give you as a Guarantee cabin .. if yours is the same hope it stays that way for you

 

Just did a mock Caribbean booking - still the same. Total still in upper right of page, then was able to change "assigned" stateroom by selecting various decks and fwd/mid/aft - I even asked for a specific stateroom number. Amount pp changed as I selected various staterooms.  Did it with both "Best Value" and "Best Price" options. No difference from before.

[KAKcruiser]

Is it possible your browser is causing the problem?  Try switching to another browser.

[ColonyGirl2]

I am using Safari and I have the new format also.  No way to choose a cabin other than the ones they want to show you.

Also more clicks to get where you want to go.  

 

[seattlecruiser]

On 4/1/2022 at 10:05 AM, ColonyGirl2 said:

I am using Safari and I have the new format also.  No way to choose a cabin other than the ones they want to show you.

Also more clicks to get where you want to go.  

 

Are you using Safari on an iPad?   from what i can tell as of now the "new format" is unique to safari on an iPad.  I am still able to access the ability to search for a specific cabin not shown as available if I use Chrome on my iPad or Safari or Chrome on my MacBook.

[Laminator]

On 4/1/2022 at 12:05 PM, ColonyGirl2 said:

I am using Safari and I have the new format also.  No way to choose a cabin other than the ones they want to show you.

Also more clicks to get where you want to go.  

 

I have the new format and was able to choose among 8 different Neptune Suites. 

 

[Mary229]

4 minutes ago, Laminator said:

I have the new format and was able to choose among 8 different Neptune Suites. 

 

That’s nice.  A much needed improvement 

[Laminator]

Just now, Mary229 said:

That’s nice.  A much needed improvement 

I agree completely. Better than having to type in 10 different cabin numbers.

[ScoutDiver]

I saw a problem on the sight using chrome on windows 10.  i would manage booking and get a new window with a spin dial.

 

I looked at the page using the chrome debugger.  The page tried to do an http fetch thst sort of acted as a gate keeper.  It sole purpose was to throttle hits.   If the fetch was successfull, then the spin dial disappeared, and things like looking at excursions worked.  

 

If you tried to bring up the underlying page or fetch in the browser you would see a come back later page, site is busy page.  

 

 

The excessly long spin dial indicates the system is overloaded and the fetch had failed.  

[seattlecruiser]

2 hours ago, Mary229 said:

That’s nice.  A much needed improvement 

I agree it looks nice, but it doesn’t provide the ability to search for a specific cabin that may be available but not shown.  My experience has been that HAL shows about 10 cabins to pick from even though a few or many more are actually available.  The old format gave me the ability to search and see if my favorite cabin was available.  The work around is to go to big TA site that typically shows all available cabins.

[Mary229]

9 minutes ago, seattlecruiser said:

I agree it looks nice, but it doesn’t provide the ability to search for a specific cabin that may be available but not shown.  My experience has been that HAL shows about 10 cabins to pick from even though a few or many more are actually available.  The old format gave me the ability to search and see if my favorite cabin was available.  The work around is to go to big TA site that typically shows all available cabins.

I haven’t tried it yet. Maybe others can tell us if they were given filters prior to the final selection shown.  It would be great if you could filter on cabin type, deck, position, etc… but I think that is way above HAL’s competence 

[Laminator]

2 hours ago, seattlecruiser said:

I agree it looks nice, but it doesn’t provide the ability to search for a specific cabin that may be available but not shown.  My experience has been that HAL shows about 10 cabins to pick from even though a few or many more are actually available.  The old format gave me the ability to search and see if my favorite cabin was available.  The work around is to go to big TA site that typically shows all available cabins.

In my instance the big TA shows the exact same cabins available.

 

[Stakeout]

would you believe after a few days --using either Firefox or Chrome-- the HAL site reverted back to the 'old site'.. mind-boggling.. 

[boze9999]

On 4/1/2022 at 11:05 AM, ColonyGirl2 said:

I am using Safari and I have the new format also.  No way to choose a cabin other than the ones they want to show you.

Also more clicks to get where you want to go.  

I complained firmly and politely to my HAL PCC about being "forced into HAL's cabin locations" with the updated site. She said she'd heard that from everyone, so maybe @StakeoutHAL got the message - be transparent and show or allow any available room to be booked. Glad to see it back to that format!

 

 

[KroozNut]

6 hours ago, Stakeout said:

would you believe after a few days --using either Firefox or Chrome-- the HAL site reverted back to the 'old site'.. mind-boggling.. 

 

I don't think it really ever switched away from the old site..

[Stakeout]

3 hours ago, KroozNut said:

 

I don't think it really ever switched away from the old site..

it did.. if you read others who have had it happen --above

[ColonyGirl2]

Nope. I still am showing the "new/improved" site.  More clicks and no ability to search for a cabin other than what they want me to see.  I am using Safari on a MacBook.