Observations, first time on HAL. Zaandam 23Aug to 03 Sep 2023

[Destiny0315]

2 minutes ago, ShipsAreTheBest said:

My understanding is that these presentations are made in the home office and scripted, so that kind of puts the cruise director on the spot.  If someone is offended by it, they are the face of it even if they didn’t prepare the content.

Right, they are in the I was just doing my job situation. It is misleading in that it is described by HAL as, EXC Talk: Iconic Canada The Hidden Story of Canada's Famous Symbols. No where from that description would one expect to find much, if any humor inserted into it.  

[xjust4fun]

5 minutes ago, ldog said:

I dislike all of those canned, scripted shows. They are badly written and presented. There is little research or fact checking. A sorry excuse for information. 

I agree with your statement, last fall we did a 91 days cruise from Vancouver to NZ, the CD (for us well seasoned cruisers and  CTD for the newbies) in her talks on various ports gave out a lot of wrong information, even when questioned she confirmed the accuracy of her statements, she was wrong, many of the places had been closed since Covid and had never re-opened.  She never did her homework….  Think we knew more than this person did…..joys of cruising….

 

Gloria

[Mary229]

59 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

Actually, I'm not going there. All I will say is she chose 4 "iconic" Canadian things and decided to make a completely ill informed lampoon on all 4 of them. The maple leaf means much more to Canadians than maple syrup. If you're going to talk about the RCMP  and show pictures, let's make sure those in the pictures are RCMP.  The Royal 22e Regiment have a long and storied history in battle, their ceremonial dress is what it is.

And while the bear "Winnie" was indeed a one time mascot for a Canadian Regiment, the Winnie the Pooh stories are a British thing.

Is that clear enough?

I had an experience like that on the Rocky Mountaineer last year.  3 days of derogatory American jokes and lies about history.  I felt if they don’t want you they should have said “no Americans need participate, you are not welcome here” it was not pleasant and I did have my travel agent speak with a main office manager and finally the guide was removed from the group. 

[Destiny0315]

12 minutes ago, xjust4fun said:

I agree with your statement, last fall we did a 91 days cruise from Vancouver to NZ, the CD (for us well seasoned cruisers and  CTD for the newbies) in her talks on various ports gave out a lot of wrong information, even when questioned she confirmed the accuracy of her statements, she was wrong, many of the places had been closed since Covid and had never re-opened.  She never did her homework….  Think we knew more than this person did…..joys of cruising….

 

Gloria

It has always been a Cruise Director to me too. Only in the last few years has HAL changed their staffing profile and split the duties of the CD and created and Entertainment Director who oversees all operations in that category.

[Blackduck59]

38 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I had an experience like that on the Rocky Mountaineer last year.  3 days of derogatory American jokes and lies about history.  I felt if they don’t want you they should have said “no Americans need participate, you are not welcome here” it was not pleasant and I did have my travel agent speak with a main office manager and finally the guide was removed from the group. 

Thank you for voicing your experience. In a customer service industry hacking a group of guests (especially when we share the world's longest un-defended border with that group) is not on. I'm glad you made your feelings known and more importantly action was taken. 

Unfortunately from what I can understand this presentation came from the geniuses at head office who thought it might be appropriate to poke fun at Canada while cruising in Canadian waters with paying guests who are Canadian. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

7 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

They have napkin rings? 🤔 Where are they keeping them because I haven't seen any. 😟

 

I've never seen any, either.

[3rdGenCunarder]

33 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

Thank you for voicing your experience. In a customer service industry hacking a group of guests (especially when we share the world's longest un-defended border with that group) is not on. I'm glad you made your feelings known and more importantly action was taken. 

Unfortunately from what I can understand this presentation came from the geniuses at head office who thought it might be appropriate to poke fun at Canada while cruising in Canadian waters with paying guests who are Canadian. 

 

Cruising is supposed to be part of the "hospitality industry." Some people just don't get it.

[Blackduck59]

1 minute ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

I've never seen any, either.

Funny thing they did have napkin rings tonight and they were gold. 

Dinner was quite good, we started with the shrimp cocktail (Lynn told them to hold the cocktail sauce), it was standard shrimp cocktail found in any decent restaurant. Lynn chose the sole which she liked. I had the pepper crusted beef and shrimp. The beef portion was so small I asked for more beef as soon as I saw it, it showed up some time later as a whole new plate.

Lynn had the tiramisu and I asked for a fruit plate and a cheese plate. All in all a nice dinner, "Gold Gala" was probably a lofty name for an ordinary meal. I have yet to see prime rib or Beef Wellington. It's Canaletto for our final specialty dinner from our have it all fare.

[Blackduck59]

We went to the Cantare show tonight, Lynn left early it was too loud for her. I stayed for most of it, I liked the set list but not necessarily the arrangements. Several people left mid show, I left during the final number (I  don't know if they had an encore) I do know I could still hear them clearly as I approached Pinnacle Grill. 

Lynn was feeling a little peckish at around 2100 hrs no food anywhere, that's just not cool. 🤔

[Cruise Suzy]

34 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

Lynn was feeling a little peckish at around 2100 hrs no food anywhere, that's just not cool.

 

Sorry she was a bit under the weather. Room service food is available at any time.

[JonSchick]

1 hour ago, Blackduck59 said:

We went to the Cantare show tonight, Lynn left early it was too loud for her. I stayed for most of it, I liked the set list but not necessarily the arrangements. Several people left mid show, I left during the final number (I  don't know if they had an encore) I do know I could still hear them clearly as I approached Pinnacle Grill. 

Lynn was feeling a little peckish at around 2100 hrs no food anywhere, that's just not cool. 🤔

The ship does seem to go to sleep early compared to any other cruise I've been on (food and entertainment).  I did go to the Lido around 10pm tonight though to get a hot drink and there was some food up there - I suspect largely for the staff and performers but anybody has access to it.  Pizzas, pasta, some sandwiches, fruit, cheese and a small selection of hot dishes. Couldn't fit anything in after the gala meal though, which was one of the best meals we've had on the cruise. 

 

Pinnacle Grill tomorrow as part of our HIA fare so will be interesting to see how that compares.  Family who went tonight liked what they ate although service was a bit chaotic (food came without ordered accompaniments which they then had to wait for).

[dchip]

2 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

nfortunately from what I can understand this presentation came from the geniuses at head office who thought it might be appropriate to poke fun at Canada while cruising in Canadian waters with paying guests who are Canadian.

Absolutely unacceptable!! I’m sorry you had to hear this presentation. 
Denise

[REOVA]

2 hours ago, JonSchick said:

The ship does seem to go to sleep early compared to any other cruise I've been on (food and entertainment).  I did go to the Lido around 10pm tonight though to get a hot drink and there was some food up there - I suspect largely for the staff and performers but anybody has access to it.  Pizzas, pasta, some sandwiches, fruit, cheese and a small selection of hot dishes. 

Yes Lido has this every night for everyone. What used to be "midnight buffet" is now pizza and things from about 10-11 pm. Everything else shuts down before midnight. 

[Mary229]

8 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

Thank you for voicing your experience. In a customer service industry hacking a group of guests (especially when we share the world's longest un-defended border with that group) is not on. I'm glad you made your feelings known and more importantly action was taken. 

Unfortunately from what I can understand this presentation came from the geniuses at head office who thought it might be appropriate to poke fun at Canada while cruising in Canadian waters with paying guests who are Canadian. 

If you have a travel agent I would have that agency write a letter as you should also.  People should not be ridiculed 

[JonSchick]

.... And the chaos continues.  We ordered room service breakfast for the first time this morning.  All nicely presented and looks good although shame they forgot to provide tea bags to go with the hot water!  There's something about consistently getting things right that needs to be worked on on the Zaandam at present; I'm wondering if they are very short staffed and trying hard to make the best of it.

[Ellencruise]

11 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

We went to the Cantare show tonight, Lynn left early it was too loud for her. I stayed for most of it, I liked the set list but not necessarily the arrangements. Several people left mid show, I left during the final number (I  don't know if they had an encore) I do know I could still hear them clearly as I approached Pinnacle Grill. 

Lynn was feeling a little peckish at around 2100 hrs no food anywhere, that's just not cool. 🤔

I usually take a cookie or other snack back to cabin to save for such times

[WriterOnDeck]

14 hours ago, SilvertoGold said:

Our take on some of HAL's recent CDs: too young, too uniformed, too cutesy, too flippant, too surfer dude, too immature, too Barbie doll. What we would expect on Carnival, not HAL. Give us more mature, serious ones like Bruce Scudder and Tom Faulkner, class acts all the way. 

We really cannot imagine either reading such a script.

They are hired for their musical theater background -- they can memorize scripts. But may know nothing about the area you are sailing in, per my experience. When we had lots of Dutch on board also hired for fluency in Dutch.

[Mary229]

The complaints in this thread remind me to sail HAL for their special itineraries not their bargain rate cruises.  The long, specialized cruises generally have better staff, better food as well as good itineraries.  The one area that doesn’t improve, IMHO, is entertainment and enrichment. I have had both great CDs and Shore excursion managers who provided excellent travelogues of ports on the itineraries including independent travel ashore 

[oaktreerb]

33 minutes ago, WriterOnDeck said:

They are hired for their musical theater background -- they can memorize scripts. But may know nothing about the area you are sailing in, per my experience. When we had lots of Dutch on board also hired for fluency in Dutch.

Are you sure this is true for HAL?  Azamara and Seabourn CD’s seem to be talented performers and they have shared their performing skills.  HAL CD’s have seemed to me to have a host/hostess role.  Reading the text for the Origin Story is more of a lecture role than a performance role.  EXC uses location specialists for enrichment.  Comedians should steer clear of edgy humor.  

 

Edited September 1, 2023 by oaktreerb

[WriterOnDeck]

6 minutes ago, oaktreerb said:

Are you sure this is true for HAL?  Azamara and Seabourn CD’s seem to be talented performers and they have shared their performing skills.  HAL CD’s have seemed to me to have a host/hostess role.  Reading the text for the Origin Story is more of a lecture role than a performance role.  EXC uses location specialists for enrichment.  Comedians should steer clear of edgy humor.  

 

It's been true of the HAL cruises I have been on recently (260 days in the last year), with the exception of Ian Page who was the CD for the world cruise. They don't particularly entertain, but that is the background HAL looks for. It is totally different than the lecturers. I have found most CDs are pretty lacking of port knowledge, despite travel director being part of their title.

[Blackduck59]

 We are alongside in Sagunay today, we took a cab to the pharmacy, the fare was under $8.00 CDN we gave him 10. We got some ibuprofen and Voltaren. I pulled my shoulder a couple days ago and it's quite painful. We walked back to the ship stopping at a few places. They had a fire going in one place and people were welcome to grab marshmallows and a skewer to roast them at the fire. It was a nice touch. Right adjacent there was a small "museum" of classic cars. There were 3 nice vintage cars and a collection of odds and ends. Romeo was a very personable man and the was a donation box. We bought a couple souvenirs and came back to the ship. The problem with my shoulder is causing grief for my photography, it's hard to maneuver and frame the shot. I'm trying to use the screen rather than the viewfinder and that is taking time to get used to.

Edited September 1, 2023 by Blackduck59
Typo

[Blackduck59]

We had a nice greeting when we came alongside this morning with a group dressed in traditional Quebecios attire did a dance and had maple sugar on the go. We didn't venture far so hopefully others will have more observations to share.

[Blackduck59]

We are in port today so lunch in the Lido. Of course I didn't see the "distant lands" station until after we ate 😟. I did however grab a serving of bread pudding with sauce, it was quite nice. Lynn got into the ccookies. We're just relaxing in Explorations Cafe now.

Edited September 1, 2023 by Blackduck59

[Haljo1935]

26 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

 We are alongside in Sagunay today..

The problem with my shoulder is causing grief for my photography, it's hard to maneuver and frame the shot. I'm trying to use the screen rather than the viewfinder and that is taking time to get used to.

We quite enjoyed Saguenay last year; it was an added stop to accommodate Fiona's visit.

Wishing you speedy recovery on the shoulder; I am doing PT on mine now and understand how painful & frustrating it can be.

[Blackduck59]

So we have a meeting tomorrow with the general manager about the lame presentation yesterday. Of course it's at 1000 hrs on our day in Quebec City. Oh well, the issue is important.