Have a HAL complaint? Gary Bembridge has a response

[Mary229]

 

[Kay S]

Yep.  I watched that.  He's right about how they have destroyed the Music Walk.

[rodndonna]

Thanks for posting.

 

He is one of the better (probably the best) of the cruise Youubers. Always informative and well-balanced views.

[Mary229]

Yes, Gary never does the hype. I used to complain to him that he was too much of a cheerleader but he has matured to become a serious travel journalist.  His recent Cunard videos convinced me to try their crossings.  

[shipshapegirl]

I got off Ms Volendam a week ago on a 13 day cruise and String Trio performed in the Explorer's Lounge twice daily.  They haven't completely gotten rid of the classical musical.  I am not a classical musical fan, however, they sounded beautiful.

[CruiserBruce]

8 minutes ago, shipshapegirl said:

I got off Ms Volendam a week ago on a 13 day cruise and String Trio performed in the Explorer's Lounge twice daily.  They haven't completely gotten rid of the classical musical.  I am not a classical musical fan, however, they sounded beautiful.

Similar on Zaandam for two weeks last month. 

[rodndonna]

16 minutes ago, shipshapegirl said:

I got off Ms Volendam a week ago on a 13 day cruise and String Trio performed in the Explorer's Lounge twice daily.  They haven't completely gotten rid of the classical musical.  I am not a classical musical fan, however, they sounded beautiful.

 

Good to hear,

 

We are not "big" Classical fans .. but we enjoy it on cruises since it is not something we get to experience much (live classical perfomance) 

[QuattroRomeo]

We just watched this yesterday; he also mentioned the lack of main stage entertainment, but added that it is gradually getting better. And, perhaps the biggest irritant- the new push for families on board!

[Blackduck59]

For us the biggest thing is the shift to encouraging families, when the ships are woefully under

prepared for a large contingent of kids.

For those saying the "Traditional" HAL demographic is dying off, no they are not. For those aging out of cruising their are those that are aging into the prefer fewer kids while on vacation demograhic. There are plenty of kid friendly lines as well as many party ships from certain lines. What there is few of is ships with some quiet elegance few kids and great itineraries. Why can't the marketing wogs just butt out. I haven't heard of HAL ships sailing half full and in need of attracting "families" most of which would be a constant stream of complaints about "being bored"

Couldn't Carnival Corporation just leave HAL as a haven for cruisers who don't want hustle and bustle, where there is some small acknowledgement that there is a large group of international travelers who choose to not travel with kids..

[kcl491]

On the Nieuw Amsterdam in late 2021 (still "Covidian" with masks, etc.) with a friend and we both agreed the absolute high point of the cruise for us was the Lincoln Center Stage classical performances.  We attended every single one and, by the way, it was standing room only for every single one.  I realize that all cruise lines are trying to attract younger passengers and families but eliminating the classical performances is a shame.

[mcrcruiser]

1 hour ago, Blackduck59 said:

For us the biggest thing is the shift to encouraging families, when the ships are woefully under

prepared for a large contingent of kids.

For those saying the "Traditional" HAL demographic is dying off, no they are not. For those aging out of cruising their are those that are aging into the prefer fewer kids while on vacation demograhic. There are plenty of kid friendly lines as well as many party ships from certain lines. What there is few of is ships with some quiet elegance few kids and great itineraries. Why can't the marketing wogs just butt out. I haven't heard of HAL ships sailing half full and in need of attracting "families" most of which would be a constant stream of complaints about "being bored"

Couldn't Carnival Corporation just leave HAL as a haven for cruisers who don't want hustle and bustle, where there is some small acknowledgement that there is a large group of international travelers who choose to not travel with kids..

Agreed 1000%

[Liao]

I am ohsoclose to booking my first Cruise on HAL Oosterdam 15 day TA.  I was super excited when I heard about their music walk and especially the Lincoln Center venue, so that’s a bummer.  It’s a long TA so Im thinking won’t be very many kids, there were VERY few on my Celebrity TA.  What say you HAL veterans?  

[Boatdrill]

11 minutes ago, Liao said:

 It’s a long TA so Im thinking won’t be very many kids,

Agree

[Wehwalt]

15 minutes ago, Liao said:

I am ohsoclose to booking my first Cruise on HAL Oosterdam 15 day TA.  I was super excited when I heard about their music walk and especially the Lincoln Center venue, so that’s a bummer.  It’s a long TA so Im thinking won’t be very many kids, there were VERY few on my Celebrity TA.  What say you HAL veterans?  

We were on the eastbound transatlantic on the Oosterdam last month. There were very few kids. 

[Fouremco]

1 hour ago, Blackduck59 said:

There are plenty of kid friendly lines as well as many party ships from certain lines. What there is few of is ships with some quiet elegance few kids and great itineraries.

Indeed. When we plan a cruise with our kids and our grandkids, we look to RCI, but when it's just my DW and me, we book with Holland America. Or Celebrity on occasion. 

 

A few years ago we booked a seven-day HAL Alaskan cruise departing Vancouver in mid-September. But there was a teachers' strike that year, and the ship had far more children aboard than I've ever seen on a HAL ship. I wouldn't say that they spoiled the cruise, but there was a very different ambiance aboard.

 

[shandryl]

speaking as a  mariner! I 💖 HAL! 🥳 🎉 (just saying) 

Edited May 13 by shandryl

[oakridger]

2 hours ago, Liao said:

t’s a long TA so Im thinking won’t be very many kids, there were VERY few on my Celebrity TA.  What say you HAL veterans?  

 

I'm on the Zuiderdam TA right now and have seen about 4 kids (about 7-9 years old) so far.  They looked like they were enjoying themselves eating at the Dive Inn and were well behaved!! 

 

Music in the Ocean Bar is nice live instrumental music (smooth jazz today) which is good for cocktails and chatting.  They are playing about 4 x 45- minute sets per evening.  I hope they switch up the type of music as the days go along...something more upbeat perhaps later in the evening,  

 

~Nancy

[mawvkysc]

2 hours ago, Liao said:

I am ohsoclose to booking my first Cruise on HAL Oosterdam 15 day TA.  I was super excited when I heard about their music walk and especially the Lincoln Center venue, so that’s a bummer.  It’s a long TA so Im thinking won’t be very many kids, there were VERY few on my Celebrity TA.  What say you HAL veterans?  

I’m on a Zuiderdam right now for a TA. I’ve seen 7 kids so far. The Rolling Stone lounge band is incredible. Haven’t done Billboard much yet but it was packed when we passed by tonight. There was just one piano player, not two. 

Edited May 13 by mawvkysc

[Kay S]

This thread is turning into the kid thread.  Gary had more to say on the subject than just kids.  If you haven't watched the video, I recommend you do.

[Rungee]

Just got off a transpacific on the Westerdam.  The entertainment was a huge disappointment compared to the last time we cruised the Westerday in 2019.  The entertainment was not even in the same league as a Princess sailing we just took. The Lincoln Center violins were gone. Now Explorers Lounge is just a sad empty room with chairs facing an empty stage.  I was told that just two months ago they ended the dueling pianos so we only had one piano player in Billboard Onboard.  The Rolling Stones Lounge band was good - but got repetitive night after night on a 16 day cruise.  The only other music onboard was a laid back jazz trio that was fine but didn't interest me or most passengers as there were only about 6-10 or so guests in the audience most of the  time when I walked by.  The World Theater had zero real production shows  - i.e. with live singers, dancers and a live band.  They only had some Step One Dance shows which used  prerecorded music (no singers or live band).  On some of these dance shows the theater was only about 20% fill. Several nights there was a guest singer or musician - but without a live brass back up band like the 7 piece live band that Princess had for their guest singers.  The Music Walk and live music/entertainment used to be the reason I loved HAL over other lines, but this seems to be mostly gone now.  I hope corporate gets the message that they need to do better.  

[ExArkie]

I did finally watch the video. Some of the points are specific to HAL, particularly the entertainment issue (I was really looking forward to the Lincoln Center Stage). However, the first point, about HAL trying to appeal to a new cohort of customers while “leaving behind” their usual customer base, appears to be a complaint across more than one of the cruise lines. If one peruses the Celebrity and Cunard boards here, the posts tend to echo this. While recognizing that the lines need to expand their customer base if they intend to keep expanding cruise offerings, it is disheartening to see that none of them seem to have figured out a way to not alienate their loyal fans in the process. 

[JohnCoffield]

The video is well worth watching the whole way through. Gary speaks a lot of sense & while HAL isn't perfect (which line is?) for us it ticks most of the boxes & we are booked on Noordam (for the second time) in November & Oosterdam in March. His point about the timing of the cruise around school holidays is spot on.

[Mary229]

1 hour ago, ExArkie said:

I did finally watch the video. Some of the points are specific to HAL, particularly the entertainment issue (I was really looking forward to the Lincoln Center Stage). However, the first point, about HAL trying to appeal to a new cohort of customers while “leaving behind” their usual customer base, appears to be a complaint across more than one of the cruise lines. If one peruses the Celebrity and Cunard boards here, the posts tend to echo this. While recognizing that the lines need to expand their customer base if they intend to keep expanding cruise offerings, it is disheartening to see that none of them seem to have figured out a way to not alienate their loyal fans in the process. 

I think the loyal fans need to exercise a little wisdom and figure this out.  I will not abandon HAL’s long exotic itineraries but I look elsewhere for short getaways (not always a cruise) and common mass market sailings (not that common for me). I sail with two people who are HAL all the time and often I think we could do better for the location and itinerary.  I finally convinced my cohorts to accompany me on a special sailing of a mega ship. 

[HappyInVan]

8 hours ago, ExArkie said:

... it is disheartening to see that none of them seem to have figured out a way to not alienate their loyal fans in the process. 

 

+1

[REOVA]

The "new" push for families and younger crowd began more than a decade ago when the Pinnacle Class ships were ordered. We've always cruised with children (before being empty nesters) and HAL'S always had kids onboard during school breaks, summer and the obvious times when kids could travel, as well as the popular short itineraries (Carribean, Alaska, Europe, etc) that kids can travel on. (Even on World cruises there were kids). The Pinnacle Class ships were designed (pre 2014) to attract a different cruiser (which it does, but not us) and sail short, popular itineraries that more passengers could sail on. It's HALs alter ego which brings better profit margin (more music, more bars, more paid food, etc). The smaller ships still sail where we want on HAL and longer itineraries and we haven't notice any increase in families on those itineraries. 2019 brought a redirection of entertainment which may or may not have worked had 2020 not stopped things. HAL got stuck with its contracts, a loss of 40% of its vendors/entertainment/crew and a struggle to maintain,  which after 3 years of redundant entertainment, new life is growing (according to recent posts). Also HAL seems to be neglected child of its Corporate parent. Maybe because it assumed long time cruisers weren't going to leave (they did but "they can be replaced") or a lack of identity/direction for the brand (or both). The video seems to just be propaganda on a recurring "new" mantra, that really has been evolving for a long time. But it creates buzz, 👍, clicks and chatter.