Disappearance of the medallion-presentation reception

[Boatdrill]

On 9/29/2022 at 7:17 AM, AV8rix said:

On my first cruise after the startup I packed my medallion in my luggage as I have always done, expecting to wear it to the reception.  Now, four completed cruises later, I don't bother with it.

 

I don't blame you. The negligent attitude is quite something. But I still bring my medallion though, just in case.

 

Meanwhile I'm still waiting to receive my 4 star Mariner pin earned on a cruise in April 2022. Since nothing was said onboard in April, I thought surely I'd receive it on the subsequent cruise in June. Nope. So I emailed Mariner Society and asked. On July 21, they wrote, "We have placed a pin in the mail for you. You should receive it within the next 4-6 weeks."  My home address was confirmed.

As of today October 1, nothing has come. It's been 10 weeks.

 

Question: How much, or how often,  are we, as repeat and loyal customers, expected to chase Holland America for amenities that they provide, but we don't receive ? 

Edited October 2, 2022 by Boatdrill

[Florida_gal_50]

20 minutes ago, Boatdrill said:

I don't blame you. The negligent attitude is quite something. But I still bring my medallion though, just in case.

 

Meanwhile I'm still waiting to receive my 4 star Mariner pin earned on a cruise in April 2022. Since nothing was said onboard in April, I thought surely I'd receive it on the subsequent cruise in June. Nope. So I emailed Mariner Society and asked. On July 21, they wrote, "We have placed a pin in the mail for you. You should receive it within the next 4-6 weeks."  My home address was confirmed.

As of today October 1, nothing has come. It's been 10 weeks.

 

Question: How much, or how often,  are we, as repeat and loyal customers, expected to chase Holland America for amenities that they provide, but we don't receive ? 

And I thought the mail was slow in Canada 😛😏😉.

[KAKcruiser]

I would definitely call the Mariner Society again. 

[SilvertoGold]

Just off the Noordam.  Very nice and reasonably well-attended "Awards Ceremony" in the (formerly) BB Kings.  Recipients had the medallion already, worn them and were called up to have a photo with the Hotel Director. Those with over 1000 days had a group photo taken. And anyone who wanted a photo, got the chance.

 

Two Mariner Luncheons were held for the 1200 or so Mariners onboard. Very gracious and the food was excellent.

[Florida_gal_50]

22 minutes ago, SilvertoGold said:

Just off the Noordam.  Very nice and reasonably well-attended "Awards Ceremony" in the (formerly) BB Kings.  Recipients had the medallion already, worn them and were called up to have a photo with the Hotel Director. Those with over 1000 days had a group photo taken. And anyone who wanted a photo, got the chance.

 

Two Mariner Luncheons were held for the 1200 or so Mariners onboard. Very gracious and the food was excellent.

Actually you could get you picture taken on the koningsdam with the captain too.  You just reminded me.  It’s not my thing so I didn’t.  Interesting about the Mariners luncheon.  That’s the first mention I’ve heard of that since the start up.  Good for those that enjoy it.

[dchip]

1 hour ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Actually you could get you picture taken on the koningsdam with the captain too.  You just reminded me.  It’s not my thing so I didn’t.  Interesting about the Mariners luncheon.  That’s the first mention I’ve heard of that since the start up.  Good for those that enjoy it.

We had a Mariner’s luncheon on the Zuiderdam in March 2022. 
Denise

[TiogaCruiser]

1 hour ago, dchip said:

We had a Mariner’s luncheon on the Zuiderdam in March 2022. 
Denise

May I ask what the dates were?
We were on Zuidie the last cruise of March ( ended in April) and we’re not invited to one. Perhaps because we’re only 3 star? That was also the cruise I received my copper medallion from our Steward.

Edited October 3, 2022 by TiogaCruiser

[RedneckBob]

Recently on the Eurodam to Alaska. Had small group get together on our b2b cruises in the Pinnacle Bar.  Only 10-12 people. 5 star and Presidential only. Had picture taken with Captain and Hotel Manager who was a master marathon running and training the Captain to run. Before the picture of us was taken I said, “you can use this photo as bulletin board material. Two guys that work out a lot and a guy who eats a lot”. 😀

 

Also on Rotterdam in March b2b, ceremony at Lincoln Stage with 25-30 people with over 8 passengers with +1000 days

[Florida_gal_50]

7 hours ago, dchip said:

We had a Mariner’s luncheon on the Zuiderdam in March 2022. 
Denise

I’ve been on the koningsdam for 4 weeks.  It was 2 weeks in November and 2 weeks in March 2022.  No Mariners lunch.  I know for sure because the mdr was open the days when it would occur.  I don’t enjoy it so I was happy to have the mdr open and not to go to the lido.

[Mary229]

Let me throw this into the mix.   We were on the Yukon tour and embarked the ship midway in Skagway.   Since we had missed the Mariner embarkation reception there were two bottles of wine in our room.  It was a nice touch.  I guess the Zuiderdam is having all of the various celebrations supporting my conjecture that it is up to the captain.  

[daisy-mae]

2 hours ago, Mary229 said:

 I guess the Zuiderdam is having all of the various celebrations supporting my conjecture that it is up to the captain.  

We were on the Sept. 21 sailing of the Zuiderdam and discovered when reading the "When and Where" that the Mariner Society Welcome Aboard Lunch had taken place on embarkation day. We have attended Mariner lunches in the past, usually part way through the cruise. Having had no prior notice of the event (nothing in our stateroom, nor in our pre-boarding info), we did not attend. 

[dchip]

9 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

May I ask what the dates were?
We were on Zuidie the last cruise of March ( ended in April) and we’re not invited to one. Perhaps because we’re only 3 star? That was also the cruise I received my copper medallion from our Steward.

South Pacific  2/27 thru 4/3. We were finally 4 star. 

[Mary229]

10 minutes ago, daisy-mae said:

We were on the Sept. 21 sailing of the Zuiderdam and discovered when reading the "When and Where" that the Mariner Society Welcome Aboard Lunch had taken place on embarkation day. We have attended Mariner lunches in the past, usually part way through the cruise. Having had no prior notice of the event (nothing in our stateroom, nor in our pre-boarding info), we did not attend. 

I don’t know about the luncheon, the note said since we missed the Mariner reception …..  On my other sailings we were presented only with a card for a free cocktail as the reception did not occur at all. 

[SilvertoGold]

12 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Actually you could get you picture taken on the koningsdam with the captain too.  You just reminded me.  It’s not my thing so I didn’t.  Interesting about the Mariners luncheon.  That’s the first mention I’ve heard of that since the start up.  Good for those that enjoy it.

 

[SilvertoGold]

In reading this thread I am struck, anew, how wildly inconsistent HAL can be. No doubt there are criteria such as how many medallions to be awarded, how many high Mariners, etc, but some small semblance of "this is how we do it" would be appreciated. My own feeling is that some of the management teams on board just don't want to bother while others want to do a good job of how they handle Mariner items and proceed accordingly.

[TiogaCruiser]

38 minutes ago, dchip said:

South Pacific  2/27 thru 4/3. We were finally 4 star. 

Thank you.

We were only on for the last 10 days, getting off on April 3 in San Diego.

 

It was just tacky to have our steward deliver my medallion under those circumstances.

Edited October 3, 2022 by TiogaCruiser

[TiogaCruiser]

40 minutes ago, daisy-mae said:

We were on the Sept. 21 sailing of the Zuiderdam and discovered when reading the "When and Where" that the Mariner Society Welcome Aboard Lunch had taken place on embarkation day. We have attended Mariner lunches in the past, usually part way through the cruise. Having had no prior notice of the event (nothing in our stateroom, nor in our pre-boarding info), we did not attend. 

I believe this (lunch in the MDR on embarkation) is totally different than the Mariners Lunch. The later is usually accompanied by tiles, speeches and wine.

[daisy-mae]

2 minutes ago, TiogaCruiser said:

I believe this (lunch in the MDR on embarkation) is totally different than the Mariners Lunch. The later is usually accompanied by tiles, speeches and wine.

Good to know. No reason for us to fell slighted, then 🙂

[dchip]

57 minutes ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Thank you.

We were only on for the last 10 days, getting off on April 3 in San Diego.

 

It was just tacky to have our steward deliver my medallion under those circumstances.

Yes! Done cutbacks are sad. Tacky however is a good word for having them delivered. 😩

[highscar]

I don’t take my medallions to cruises but I do proudly wear my pins on my Holland America lanyard along with my parents earned many years ago. In those days the pins were for miles sailed.  

[DaveOKC]

On the Eurodam in late August we had a small medallion meeting, but nothing was given out and no announcements.  I think it was for 5 Stars and above and only about 15 people were there.  I knew it was going to be small when the guest host called our cabin that morning to be sure we were going to come.

 

[AncientWanderer]

When we achieved five stars, I asked Guest Services when we'd receive pins, since things are different now.  That was on a Mexico cruise in February 2022.  They asked when our next cruise was; we told them May to Alaska, and they said we would get pins then.

Second-to-last day of Alaska cruise, no pins, so I went to Guest Services and discussed it with them.  They were very sweet, thanked us for our loyalty, and handed us our five-star pins.

 

As things get back to normal post-Covid, they'll probably get things sorted out. 

Edited October 3, 2022 by AncientWanderer

[albingirl]

9 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I’ve been on the koningsdam for 4 weeks.  It was 2 weeks in November and 2 weeks in March 2022.  No Mariners lunch.  I know for sure because the mdr was open the days when it would occur.  I don’t enjoy it so I was happy to have the mdr open and not to go to the lido.

I'm happy enough to skip it.  We are always seated with people who ask inane questions.  I don't think the food is that great either.  I'd rather have a bite to eat elsewhere.  I don't find much to complain about when I'm cruising but that's one thing I can do without.

[Florida_gal_50]

2 hours ago, albingirl said:

I'm happy enough to skip it.  We are always seated with people who ask inane questions.  I don't think the food is that great either.  I'd rather have a bite to eat elsewhere.  I don't find much to complain about when I'm cruising but that's one thing I can do without.

Yup I’ve had people get overly personal and then someone on here wanted to know what they were asking 🙄.  When I wouldn’t answer he was grilling someone else.  I don’t care if people ask where I live, what I do etc but you don’t need to ask super personal things.  I’m still very nervous about being around a lot of strangers, I’m forced to do that at work for long periods of time. No way am I going to do that with what little free time I have.

[albingirl]

3 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Yup I’ve had people get overly personal and then someone on here wanted to know what they were asking 🙄.  When I wouldn’t answer he was grilling someone else.  I don’t care if people ask where I live, what I do etc but you don’t need to ask super personal things.  I’m still very nervous about being around a lot of strangers, I’m forced to do that at work for long periods of time. No way am I going to do that with what little free time I have.

Thanks, totally agree.  Hope to meet you sometime....we think alike.