Turning 4 star and nobody is interested in it

[kazu]

7 hours ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

There was a time about 10 years ago when HAL would have a nice Mariner Reception and everyone with their Medallions would wear them, it was actually kind of fun. Many people had numerous other type of Holland America pins and Inaugural pins they would also place on the ribbon. Others would have vests made up with pins placed on them. I am not exactly sure when it stopped but suddenly no one did it anymore. I think a lot of it was due to HAL not having the receptions like they had in the past. It was actually quite popular in 2005 through 2014 or 2015 and some where shortly after it just stopped.

 

The receptions continued on the Prinsendam, at least.  It was a very nice affair but few wore their medallions just as you stated.

 

Receptions post covid are still pleasant and nice to attend but they are significantly shorter IME.

[Caribbean Chris]

9 hours ago, loveapug said:

We received the bronze medallion in our stateroom at the end of our last cruise in September. No ceremony. They were a surprise to us, and we had a good time trying to figure out where and when we should wear them. Do people ever wear them on board? How do those who have them use them? 

My service dog wore her Bronze with aplomb at our medallion reception in 2019 when the Nieuw Statendam staff decided she should have one of her own.
 

 

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by Caribbean Chris

[wdw1972]

Mine is hanging from the corner of a framed picture on the bedroom wall. I wore it at the ceremony where it was presented, but that was the only time.

 

Sue/WDW1972

[highscar]

I have my parents medallions  earned during  70’s to 90s

[NCTribeFan]

Just for fun (!) I just went digging through the nightstand's 2 drawers which is where I toss all my cabin cards and pins.

 

I found all my cruise cards, going back to 2001 when I first started sailing except for the one RCI cruise I took in 2003 and the Carnival Vista inaugural sailing in 2016.  That was my 25th Milestone sailing (separate recognition from their usual rewards).  That's a little disappointing.  So, all those Carnival cards (I've sailed them 37 times), 3 MSC, 1 NCL, 1 X, and 10 HAL (I count B2Bs as separate sailings because that's how I've booked them).

 

I have over 30 Carnival pins.  What's nice about those is they show the ship name.  I really do not need duplicates, though.  I sailed the old Carnival Fantasy enough times that I could've earned Platinum status on that ship alone.

 

I did NOT find a 3* HAL pin.  The only HAL pins I have were from my first Z'dam sailing.  During trivia, they gave out small pins showing a region that HAL sails (Alaska, Caribbean, Panama Canal, Med, etc).  I have 5 or 6 of those.

 

But no 3*.  I don't really need one but I might ask about it when I sail in January.  I'm happy enough just to get some perks.

[OlsSalt]

5 hours ago, kazu said:

 

The receptions continued on the Prinsendam, at least.  It was a very nice affair but few wore their medallions just as you stated.

 

Receptions post covid are still pleasant and nice to attend but they are significantly shorter IME.

 

The Christmas Konigsdam Medallion ceremony was the briefest we had experienced as well. And limited to only higher Medallion members.

 

But this last one on the Noordam was a bit more extended as they took time to also recognize the various medallion levels of the guests, as well as high Mariner point holders.  I think it is fun to get to know who is sailing amongst us in those higher categories.  

 

It is a nice ice-breaker. But it did not include any bronze medallions; just the higher level ones. I don;'t know when or where the Bronze medallions got their well-earned recognition. 

[57redbird]

Our 4 star medallions & pins were left on our bed at the end of our cruise this past March.

[CNSJ]

Wow!  I wear my medallions and pins every day at sea, ashore, and when home.  I only take them off when I go through a metal detector....😀

[AV8rix]

13 hours ago, LAFFNVEGAS said:

There was a time about 10 years ago when HAL would have a nice Mariner Reception and everyone with their Medallions would wear them, it was actually kind of fun. Many people had numerous other type of Holland America pins and Inaugural pins they would also place on the ribbon. Others would have vests made up with pins placed on them. I am not exactly sure when it stopped but suddenly no one did it anymore. I think a lot of it was due to HAL not having the receptions like they had in the past. It was actually quite popular in 2005 through 2014 or 2015 and some where shortly after it just stopped.

I believe the wearing of our medallions to the reception continued after "2014 or 2015", on up until the pandemic caused the cessation of cruising.  IMO that's because up until that time ALL captains held a nice medallion reception for ALL awards (even the bronze/copper) on the last sea day and ALL 4* and 5* were invited to attend. 

 

It was only after the resumption of cruising that invitations were limited to the upper echelon of 5* and medallions were unceremoniously dropped on your bed.  Even my silver was left on my bed, although I was invited to the reception. And some captains even discontinued the practice of placing the medallion on the recipients and merely read the names of the recipients in a VERY short ceremony.

 

I don't know if the loss of the old beautiful reception had anything to do with the retirement of the Director of the Mariner Society, Gerald Bernhoft.  So far he has not been replaced.

 

Again, all of this is IMO.

 

[kazu]

1 hour ago, OlsSalt said:

 

The Christmas Konigsdam Medallion ceremony was the briefest we had experienced as well. And limited to only higher Medallion members.

 

I know - I was there at all 3 of them.  Very short although the Mariner rep hung around after a couple of them and chatted and we could still chat.  A very small group on all 3.

 

The one I just attended on the Rotterdam was a much larger group, thankfully but still a relatively short ceremony.  At least they passed out the silver and gold medallions to the recipients unlike the Koningsdam where people had to bring them.

 

[taxmantoo]

All receptions seem different and are mostly conducted as the cruise director and/or captain wishes them to be conducted.  Once again, HAL displays its lack of consistency.

Our last ceremony on the Nieuw Stantendam last month saw silver medallions and up given to the recipients, with pictures taken with the Captain/Hotel Director and then the Presidents' Club members introduced with their pictures also taken. 

The ceremony then was ended but the cruise director announced that any 4-Star or 5-Star Mariners still present who wished to have their photo taken with the Captain were welcomed to do so.  The picture was then delivered to our stateroom the next day free of charge. A nice touch.

[Boatdrill]

On 10/29/2023 at 12:36 AM, JanDom said:

The only way we know that we turned to 4 star is when logging in on the HAL homepage and have a look in our Mariner account.

For us it seems a little bit like they are not interested in us any more.

(we are in our early 40‘s and plenty of time to do a lot more cruises in our life).

We are pretty sad about this situation, because HAL always was our favourite cruise line. 
 

Does anybody of you had this before?

A few years ago, when I turned 4 star during a cruise, I looked forward to receiving the pin in my room, with a note; that's how it had been done before. But nothing happened, so after the cruise I contacted Mariner Society and asked. They apologized for the oversight, and mailed the pin to me. 

 

Like you, I was disappointed. The smallest details make the difference. 

 

 

Edited October 31, 2023 by Boatdrill

[Mary229]

I only have a bronze but it is proudly displayed with my various Turkey trot medals awarded for crossing the finish line.  .

[AV8rix]

5 hours ago, kazu said:

 

I know - I was there at all 3 of them.  Very short although the Mariner rep hung around after a couple of them and chatted and we could still chat.  A very small group on all 3.

 

The one I just attended on the Rotterdam was a much larger group, thankfully but still a relatively short ceremony.  At least they passed out the silver and gold medallions to the recipients unlike the Koningsdam where people had to bring them.

 

Yeah, you and I were both on that sequence of Kdam segments last holiday season (when, as I said, my silver was dropped on my bed).  My friend who was also on the preceding segment said that as he was entering the reception he overheard Captain Kan (at least that's who I think it was) saying to the Hotel Director, "Let's just get this over with".

 

And yet another degradation of the brand since the resumption post pandemic shutdown.  Again, JMO. 

[kazu]

15 minutes ago, AV8rix said:

Yeah, you and I were both on that sequence of Kdam segments last holiday season (when, as I said, my silver was dropped on my bed).  My friend who was also on the preceding segment said that as he was entering the reception he overheard Captain Kan (at least that's who I think it was) saying to the Hotel Director, "Let's just get this over with".

 

And yet another degradation of the brand since the resumption post pandemic shutdown.  Again, JMO. 

 

That’s how it felt on board the K.  They did a much nicer job on the Rotterdam, thankfully.

[sunviking90]

I can remember my late parents proudly showing me the pins they had received years ago. I think they had only reached 2 stars at that point and they certainly never became more than 3. These things were very important to them back then. When we did our first cruise back in 1991, most of the lines had under 5 ships, fewer people cruised, and it was a LOT more expensive. These milestones were much more unique, and the cruiselines obviously really valued their top cruisers. 

Now with truly mass market cruising, SO many people are reaching or have reached the premium levels on the cruise lines, it’s not unusual anymore. I really don’t think they care anymore.

 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

39 minutes ago, AV8rix said:

Yeah, you and I were both on that sequence of Kdam segments last holiday season (when, as I said, my silver was dropped on my bed).  My friend who was also on the preceding segment said that as he was entering the reception he overheard Captain Kan (at least that's who I think it was) saying to the Hotel Director, "Let's just get this over with".

 

And yet another degradation of the brand since the resumption post pandemic shutdown.  Again, JMO. 

This is just so sad 😞 I remember being so proud of when we got our 100 day medal. It was truly a big deal and I felt Holland America was amazing. How things have changed. Although I do think there are some HAL Officers left that still care.

This is a pic from Feb 24 2008 when we got our Copper.

 

[OlsSalt]

51 minutes ago, AV8rix said:

Yeah, you and I were both on that sequence of Kdam segments last holiday season (when, as I said, my silver was dropped on my bed).  My friend who was also on the preceding segment said that as he was entering the reception he overheard Captain Kan (at least that's who I think it was) saying to the Hotel Director, "Let's just get this over with".

 

And yet another degradation of the brand since the resumption post pandemic shutdown.  Again, JMO. 

 

There were already five medical evacuations on that same Konigsdam holiday cruise. I suspect the key personnel had a greater stress load than on other cruises.  Who knows what they need to do in response to those unplanned impacts.

 

With as many kids also on board, it was not the most 'restful" cruise by  long shot. Assume the staff was taking a lot of wear and tear too. 

[CNSJ]

7 hours ago, AV8rix said:

I believe the wearing of our medallions to the reception continued after "2014 or 2015", on up until the pandemic caused the cessation of cruising.  IMO that's because up until that time ALL captains held a nice medallion reception for ALL awards (even the bronze/copper) on the last sea day and ALL 4* and 5* were invited to attend. 

 

It was only after the resumption of cruising that invitations were limited to the upper echelon of 5* and medallions were unceremoniously dropped on your bed.  Even my silver was left on my bed, although I was invited to the reception. And some captains even discontinued the practice of placing the medallion on the recipients and merely read the names of the recipients in a VERY short ceremony.

 

I don't know if the loss of the old beautiful reception had anything to do with the retirement of the Director of the Mariner Society, Gerald Bernhoft.  So far he has not been replaced.

 

Again, all of this is IMO.

 

On the Westerdam transpacific crossing in 2022 (Westbound) the Captain held a nice ceremony in BB Kings and presented the Medallions and had photos taken.  In addition he recogniized those platinum and I believe a Presidents club member onboard.  Very nicely done, even on the coattails of COVID. 

[NCTribeFan]

I believe I'll pass 100 nights while on Eurodam in January.  Does that mean I'll receive a medal?  Yay!  Something else to put in my nightstand drawer. 😁

[RuthC]

36 minutes ago, NCTribeFan said:

I believe I'll pass 100 nights while on Eurodam in January.  Does that mean I'll receive a medal?  Yay!  Something else to put in my nightstand drawer. 😁

If it is a true 100 nights on board, without counting any spending or Suite days, then you should receive your copper medallion on that cruise. 
If you do not, then ask about it at the Front Desk. Even better, ask about it before the cruise gets too far along, so that you won't be left out when the medallions are distributed. 

[POA1]

Remember the old, mile-based medallions? Or the # of voyage pins? It's like the pre-decimilization British Pound.

 

I will continue to refer to mine as "bronze-like." The Mariner Society calls it bronze as well.

 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/blog/recent-articles/whats-new/why-to-join-holland-america-mariner-society-loyalty-program/

 

I know that copper is worth more than bronze 🥉, but I associate it with gold 🥇and silver 🥈medals. It just screams, "I'm number three!"

[Haljo1935]

54 minutes ago, RuthC said:

If it is a true 100 nights on board, without counting any spending or Suite days, then you should receive your copper medallion on that cruise. 
If you do not, then ask about it at the Front Desk. Even better, ask about it before the cruise gets too far along, so that you won't be left out when the medallions are distributed. 

I passed 100 actual cruise nights on Eurodam during AK April 29 - May 6 2023 cruise and received nothing. I emailed the Mariners Desk when I got home and was told I would get it during my next cruise.

I'm currently on that cruise, so we'll see what happens. 

[OlsSalt]

For some reason in 2009 we got invited to a Medallion ceremony in the MDR on our very first 11 day HAL cruise.  We were no-star.Maybe they did it that way back then.  

 

But when they handed out the 100 day bronze medallions, it was beyond my wildest imagination that anyone could ever accumulate that many days on board a cruise ship. A week here, a week there maybe but 100 total  whole days. Unreal. 

 

It seemed like such a far fetched and out of touch goal. But it happened anyway. Almost 700 days now. Wow, we just say to ourselves, just wow.

 

Thanks HAL for the always enticing new itineraries. Thanks HAL for the memories. And thanks to DH for the stacks of hard copy photo albums he still puts together after each cruise. 

[sunviking90]

43 minutes ago, Haljo1935 said:

I passed 100 actual cruise nights on Eurodam during AK April 29 - May 6 2023 cruise and received nothing. I emailed the Mariners Desk when I got home and was told I would get it during my next cruise.

I'm currently on that cruise, so we'll see what happens. 

This thread made me go in and count my actual days, and I just realized I’ll pass 100 days during our upcoming Volendam cruise. I never knew before that there was any such thing as a 100 day medallion, but I guess I’ll get one? I thought only star levels mattered.