4 and 5 Star Magazine Subscription Being Discontinued

[YXU AC*SE]

13 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

Is it too much to expect the administrative heirs of the product that Mr. Kruse and he helped to create to continue to provide a traditional HAL experience as well as updating that experience in those areas that were required?

 

I expect few ppl wandering the halls of HAL have much connection to either except to walk past their portraits in an elevator foyer somewhere ?  As Pres Kennedy has said, 

 

"But Goethe tells us in his greatest poem that Faust lost the liberty of his soul when he said to the passing moment: "Stay, thou art so fair." And our liberty, too, is endangered if we pause for the passing moment, if we rest on our achievements, if we resist the pace of progress. For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future."      Scott.   

[Seasick Sailor]

We have taken 2 Viking cruises. One by River Danube and the other by Sea.

 

We must receive dozens of their brochures a year, all glossy, Beautiful pictures and well layed out.

 

Their expense is wasted on us. 

 

We are 4* Mariners. I don't mind using the computer to look at choices of cruises. Save us money HAL and maybe we can get a free lobster again one day...

[LMaxwell]

Join Allstate Rewards points.  They give me more free magazine subcriptions than I can shake a stick at. You do not have to have Allstate insurance to participate. 

[rkacruiser]

9 hours ago, YXU AC*SE said:

"But Goethe tells us in his greatest poem that Faust lost the liberty of his soul when he said to the passing moment: "Stay, thou art so fair." And our liberty, too, is endangered if we pause for the passing moment, if we rest on our achievements, if we resist the pace of progress. For time and the world do not stand still. Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or the present are certain to miss the future."

 

You are an erudite person.  Thank you for this quote.  Agree with the quote.

 

However, is it acceptable for me to be displeased with today's marketing efforts of HAL?  

[rkacruiser]

23 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

Couldn't you obtain the same effect as a glossy brochure by perusing a handsomely designed website?

 

No.  Flipping from one web site to another to compare features and how the cars were equipped was cumbersome and, at least for this person, frustrating.  Having two hard copies, laying on my kitchen table, side by side, being able to compare "Car A equipped as I wanted it" with "Car B so equipped" was more valuable than the websites.  Did I use the websites?  Certainly did!  If their counter of "visitor counts" existed, I add much to their totals.

[richstowe]

Reading all these comments clearly illustrates the difficulty faced by HAL execs . Some yearn for the accoutrements of the past and may even be willing to pay for them . Others have no desire for these items but demand others. Multiple posters happily boast that they spend as little as possible and have no loyalty whatsoever . Other posters lament that they must go to other cruiselines for a premium experience that they feel Holland once offered and no longer does. 

For the record I have no brand loyalty . When looking for a cruise the cruise brand is about my seventh or so criteria . 

[iceman93]

33 minutes ago, richstowe said:

Reading all these comments clearly illustrates the difficulty faced by HAL execs.

Indeed!  But I fear they are falling into the "trying to please all people by being all things" trap, which ends up pleasing no one.  The executives need to settle on a vision for Holland America Line, define it clearly, and then make decisions that support it.  Go after the more upscale market, or pursue the bargain-hunters?  If they decide that, so many other decisions will easily fall into place.

[richstowe]

2 minutes ago, iceman93 said:

Indeed!  But I fear they are falling into the "trying to please all people by being all things" trap, which ends up pleasing no one.  The executives need to settle on a vision for Holland America Line, define it clearly, and then make decisions that support it.  Go after the more upscale market, or pursue the bargain-hunters?  If they decide that, so many other decisions will easily fall into place.

Very reasonable but only to a point . Every cruise must attract various customer streams unless they are willing to sail with many unsold cabins . That may be a good idea (don't tell them) but they all seem wedded to the idea of sailing full , selling cabins at breakeven and then making a profit with on-board spending . 

[YXU AC*SE]

13 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

[I]s it acceptable for me to be displeased with today's marketing efforts of HAL?  

 

"Do you - Cuz I'mma do me, truly."

-- Funkmaster Flex (featuring DMX), from the album Volume IV 

 

🙂 

[YXU AC*SE]

8 hours ago, iceman93 said:

The executives need to settle on a vision for Holland America Line, define it clearly, and then make decisions that support it.

 

I think the vision right now is stranded in two streams -- one being the hard product itself -- the Pinnacle class of ships support an entirely different cruising experience than say the R or Vista class ships. The other stream is pax profile - which is in full view every day on this board.   

 

And the marketing challenge is -- does one yield to one's most loyal, often demanding demographic, who are resistant to change (ie dance with girl who brung ya) -- or do you position your product to groom the next generation of customers that will sustain you going forward.  Given HAL's demographic profile - older, well-travelled, well-educated, [likely] top decile brand loyalty and the industry's need for immediate revenue given the COVID interregnum -- what's the solution?  Look backward or look forward, -- or try and do both,  and make no one happy.  It truly is the marketer's sword of Damocles.  Scott. 

 

 

[cruisemom42]

1 hour ago, YXU AC*SE said:

It truly is the marketer's sword of Damocles.

 

Every time I hear that expression, my mind takes me right back to high school and the Rocky Horror Picture Show -- "The sword of Damocles is hangin' over my head, and it's pretty sure that someone's gonna be cutting the thread...."

 

 

 

 

[Florida_gal_50]

3 hours ago, YXU AC*SE said:

 

I think the vision right now is stranded in two streams -- one being the hard product itself -- the Pinnacle class of ships support an entirely different cruising experience than say the R or Vista class ships. The other stream is pax profile - which is in full view every day on this board.   

 

And the marketing challenge is -- does one yield to one's most loyal, often demanding demographic, who are resistant to change (ie dance with girl who brung ya) -- or do you position your product to groom the next generation of customers that will sustain you going forward.  Given HAL's demographic profile - older, well-travelled, well-educated, [likely] top decile brand loyalty and the industry's need for immediate revenue given the COVID interregnum -- what's the solution?  Look backward or look forward, -- or try and do both,  and make no one happy.  It truly is the marketer's sword of Damocles.  Scott. 

 

 

Interesting take, the older demographic is demanding but the younger cruisers are easy breezy.  I find the opposite in many cases.  I’ve worked with a lot of much younger people for quite a while now.  I wouldn’t describe most people that way.  So many don’t even want to leave the house to get food.  Everything must be delivered.  I was in the mdr once when 5 or 6 younger people told the waiter to bring everything on the menu at breakfast.  That is a lot!  I thought the waiter would pass out.  I assume you have demanding  passengers of all ages, not just older.

[rkacruiser]

17 hours ago, iceman93 said:

Indeed!  But I fear they are falling into the "trying to please all people by being all things" trap, which ends up pleasing no one.  The executives need to settle on a vision for Holland America Line, define it clearly, and then make decisions that support it.  Go after the more upscale market, or pursue the bargain-hunters?  If they decide that, so many other decisions will easily fall into place.

 

Excellent thoughts!  How many dozens---hundreds--have I read on CC in recent years support the thought that HAL has "lost direction" as to the guest experience it wants to offer?  

 

I get a bit of soft "ridicule" when I say that this began after Mr. Kruse received a promotion.  But, wasn't that when we welcomed the arrival of that "expert and experienced cruise executive" of Mr. Ashford?

 

Has their been positive changes?  Yes.  The Music Walk concept being, I think, the major entertainment one.  The addition of Sel del Mer being a dining concept that works and--if there is any tinkering with this as a pop-up on those ships that require this--it will not encourage me to make another -Dam booking.