Are you listening HAL?

[Lido deck main]

20 hours ago, riverrat said:

Toot your horn more.... The artwork is stunning, but someone needs to build a brochure. Some folks like to stroll about the ship enjoying all you offer. Guest services did print me a 22 page color double sided document that gave photo and title. 

Please scan that document and share.

[syesmar]

HAL, please bring back:

-the Rijsttafel lunch

-Indonesian Tea

-Royal Dutch High Tea

-Dutch Chocolate Extravaganza (even if not late at night, how about on a Sea Day afternoon?)

-complimentary cappuccinos after dinner (I’d always get decaf:>)

-chilled soups

-Tamarind lunches

-Cooking Demos with food samples

-Guided craft sessions for HAL travel journals, lanyards, etc.

-flambé desserts after dinner in the Explorer’s Lounge, with an ensemble playing live music

[highscar]

@syesmaragree.  Crafts. And cappuccino after dinner.  

[Roz]

I may be in the minority, but I like Dutch Night.  Bami Goreng - so delicious!

[Suzanne123]

There is at least one Alaska 14 day itinerary next year.  I’m on it.

 

[oaktreerb]

1 hour ago, kstrittm said:

Add one more to the list for 14-day Alaska itineraries - and a stop in Homer.  It's my favorite spot in all of Alaska.  I did this on the Zaandam a few years ago, but nobody seems to stop in Homer anymore.  The trip I took was R/T Seattle, but Vancouver would be fine, too!

I prefer Seattle because it is easier to reach for most US passengers.  HAL needs to make the cruise profitable and I think more passengers would be open to the Seattle round trip itinerary.

[Don Kehote]

5 hours ago, albingirl said:

I have to admit that I laugh when I walk by a stateroom door with "Cruise Critic" magnets like anyone cares.  Oh, I expect they think they will be treated better or something like that.  Haha!

Instant pariah.  A nice thing to do would be to put an upside down pineapple magnet over that magnet, they could make exciting new friends instead!

[riverrat]

3 hours ago, kstrittm said:

Add one more to the list for 14-day Alaska itineraries - and a stop in Homer.  It's my favorite spot in all of Alaska.  I did this on the Zaandam a few years ago, but nobody seems to stop in Homer anymore.  The trip I took was R/T Seattle, but Vancouver would be fine, too!

YES and lets stay long enough to fish for halibut! Heck I'd love an overnight in any port

[riverrat]

3 hours ago, Lido deck main said:

Please scan that document and share.

I can do. It's for the Nieuw Statendam

Where do I share? HalFacts?

[richwmn]

5 minutes ago, riverrat said:

I can do. It's for the Nieuw Statendam

Where do I share? HalFacts?

HalFacts would be happy to host it

[LocoLoco1]

Methinks HAL’s parent, CCL, has squeezed the livin’ bejeezuz out of shipboard expenditures.  It was fun when they were flush with $Cash$.  

[3rdGenCunarder]

5 hours ago, sofietucker said:

YES YES YES. And bring back the jazz combo in the Ocean Bar.

 

Yes, please! I loved the Neptunes. 

 

And the hands-on cooking classes with lunch afterwards. 

[iflyrc5]

6 hours ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

Which benefits have been removed?

When be became 5 star they had hands on cooking classes for the 5 Star by the chef on board and then after that we were hosted to a lunch with wine in the Pinnacle grill.   Also, now that HAL is selling  club orange the benefits for priority boarding and priority tendering are diluted and the club orange folks also get a priority line at guest services where the 5 Star folks that have spent thousands of dollars over the years are not given any priority.  There are a couple others but I can remember then since they were removed shortly after we became 5 star which was about 6 years ago.

[Norseh2o]

Suggestions for Zuiderdam Crow’s Nest changes:

1) Separate the coffee bar from the bar. Making foo-foo coffee drinks and/or foo-foo alcohol drinks ties up the overworked servers if guests are clamoring for both.
2) Move Excursions desk to another location, during our 35 day South Pacific cruise, rarely were guests lined up to book excursions, usually zero people at booking counter while enjoying the delightful sea days.

3) Showcase the gorgeous views from the Nest with the removal of bookcase/game shelves and the nautical screens that block so much of the window view. Move the nautical screens and bookcases to a wall. Add more lounging chairs and tables with comfortable chairs. 
4) Improve the library. 
 

[sofietucker]

18 minutes ago, Norseh2o said:

Suggestions for Zuiderdam Crow’s Nest changes:

1) Separate the coffee bar from the bar. Making foo-foo coffee drinks and/or foo-foo alcohol drinks ties up the overworked servers if guests are clamoring for both.
2) Move Excursions desk to another location, during our 35 day South Pacific cruise, rarely were guests lined up to book excursions, usually zero people at booking counter while enjoying the delightful sea days.

3) Showcase the gorgeous views from the Nest with the removal of bookcase/game shelves and the nautical screens that block so much of the window view. Move the nautical screens and bookcases to a wall. Add more lounging chairs and tables with comfortable chairs. 
4) Improve the library. 
 

We loved the library, one of the best at sea. Comfy leather armchairs, booklined walls with a comprenhensive collection, windows to gaze our at the ocean... now it's just a couple of stacks open to the Crow's Nest, as if in a bookstore. No secluded, serene cozy feel. Plus the Nest is likewise diluted/curtailed with half the view gone, future cruises, coffee and sandwiches. Map tables... heck if you're going to have tables, why not go ahead & make them pool and Foosball, lol!

Edited September 2, 2022 by sofietucker

[Florida_gal_50]

34 minutes ago, iflyrc5 said:

When be became 5 star they had hands on cooking classes for the 5 Star by the chef on board and then after that we were hosted to a lunch with wine in the Pinnacle grill.   Also, now that HAL is selling  club orange the benefits for priority boarding and priority tendering are diluted and the club orange folks also get a priority line at guest services where the 5 Star folks that have spent thousands of dollars over the years are not given any priority.  There are a couple others but I can remember then since they were removed shortly after we became 5 star which was about 6 years ago.

I’m a 5 star.  I also buy club orange.  It’s not 500 people that buy club orange on any given cruise.  When I was on the koningsdam that “special” line meant zero.  I stood there while they took at least 20 people before me.  I had to say to them excuse me, can I get some help.  I’ve been standing here for a really long time.  Zero priority there.  They claimed they didn’t see me.  There is no wall there.  They couldn’t care less about it.

[Red Haired Lady]

Bring back:

>Microsoft Studio

>Guest lecturers who speak on topics that pertain to the area where we are cruising.  

>Port talks given by an actual port expert.  Not the cruise director doing a power-point presentation.  Or even worse - on the NS in August, the port lectures were only on the TV.

> Different menu every day for lunch in the MDR.  

>More entertainment. 

Edited September 2, 2022 by Red Haired Lady

[sofietucker]

5 hours ago, Red Haired Lady said:

Bring back:

>Microsoft Studio

>Guest lecturers who speak on topics that pertain to the area where we are cruising.  

>Port talks given by an actual port expert.  Not the cruise director doing a power-point presentation.  Or even worse - on the NS in August, the port lectures were only on the TV.

> Different menu every day for lunch in the MDR.  

>More entertainment. 

Right, aka enrichment. On the Pdam's final voyage, the daily lectures on the ship's history, etc were SRO. People cruise for reasons beyond laying by the pool.

[Hygge!]

What are HalFacts? Where do I find that?

[StLouisCruisers]

7 minutes ago, Hygge! said:

What are HalFacts? Where do I find that?

 

https://halfacts.com/

[Hygge!]

3 minutes ago, StLouisCruisers said:

 

https://halfacts.com/

Thank you!

[LocoLoco1]

I’ve Noticed: CUNARD still has ‘The Good Stuff’, ie music, lecturers, hor d’ovrs, gorgeous A+ library etc. HAL however has cut to the bone. Sad to see..

[Tampa Girl]

17 hours ago, Lido deck main said:

Please scan that document and share.

 

Perhaps you could get that document from HAL.  Scanning and sending 22 pages is not always easy.

[Red Haired Lady]

6 hours ago, sofietucker said:

Right, aka enrichment. On the Pdam's final voyage, the daily lectures on the ship's history, etc were SRO. People cruise for reasons beyond laying by the pool.

Yes, laying by the pool is a priority for the Caribbean. But in Europe, Asia, and other places enrichment lectures are so important.  

[sofietucker]

26 minutes ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

Perhaps you could get that document from HAL.  Scanning and sending 22 pages is not always easy.

This one would be worth pestering HAL about; just an e-doc--for each ship!--would do. After all, they brag about their ships' art as setting them apart. I will write a letter and then also collar the hotel director once on board. Y'all do that too!

 

And heaven knows they need *something* at this point. Now that the vax and pre-testing requirements have been cast to the wind for most of the cruise lines--except, of course, for Canada, Greece, Australia--everyone will be trying to fill their ships again.

 

(Top-notch service used to set HAL apart, but even at the end of the Before Times, standards were falling, at least on NS. And on Celebrity last summer, it was mostly new staff who needed more training. I expect all the lines are in that situation these days.)