HAL Brochures?

[sail7seas]

Now that we all have the internet and HAL's website, do you ever read the HAL brochures? Do you ask your TA to provide you with them? Ask HAL to mail them to you? Or.....do you no longer read them as you can find all the info you want on the internet?

[Randyk47]

We still get them from HAL though I'd admit that we use the Internet for most of our research. We keep them downstairs on our coffee table in the family room and browse through them from time to time or use them to discuss some aspect of a ship or cruise we have planned and/or booked.

[kakalina]

I read and drool over them all the time. There are alot of sites you can not browse by going through the front door if you keep your cookies turned off for security reasons.

[starysacz]

Our TA provides the HAL brochures on a timely fashion. We do receive a brochure from HAL once in a while. We enjoy the planning for future cruises.:)

[jhannah]

Oh, I still want the brochures/catalogs. I keep them by my recliner to thumb through from time to time. I have the whole bunch ... Europe, Alaska, South America, etc. While I do lots of online research, the brochures allow quick and easy flipping among various itineraries for comparison.

[elmorejj]

JIm, you posted exactly what I was going to say!! I always have them right by my chair, and you can often find me browsing while the commercials are on TV!! Even though I do a lot of research online, I have to have a hard copy also. BTW, just got my new Carib./Mexico brochure for 06 through Dec. 07....jean:cool:

[SDHALFAN]

I like the hard copy: I love to drool over them and make plans for future cruises. I also like to have a deck plan on hand when booking a cruise so I can see where my cabin will be located.

 

Valerie:)

[debjo]

I get the "hard" copies from both the cruise lines & our cruise planner. We use them to primarily "pick" our cruise for the next year. Once we have a "ship" and "destination" in mind...then we start comparing sailing dates & pricing. Once we settle on the date & dollars, we then go on-line & begin some serious researching regarding the pros & cons (mostly on these boards). We'll then check out what the cruise line's website has to say before we finally go back to our cruise planner and make our booking.

 

What I like MOST about the "hard" copy brochures is the ability to easily compare the deck plans of different ships side by side, as well as the ease of "picking" my cabin with the ship's various decks pictured next to each other...this is something that is VERY HARD to do on-line. What I wish more "hard" copy brochures gave us were more pictures of the interiors & exteriors of their ships...too many pictures are of couples (presumably) on their ships that are taken so close, you can't see the room or the ship!

 

Just my two cents...

 

Debjo

[scopewest]

I have brochures from all the cruise lines that I'm interested in and have/want to sail on, I like to read them and compare cruises and ships. My TA lives in another state so what I do is head for a major department store with a travel bureau and ask them very politely for the current brochures of one particular line at a time. Since they give me their business card I don't feel guilty about this, if something happens to my TA I'll need a new one and it's nice to have names on cards for future reference.

 

While the Net is fast, it's still great to be able to have reading material at hand when you want to check something quickly without logging on.

[sail7seas]

I so agree with those who say they like the hard copies to drool over and I find it easier to get deck plan info from the brochure than from websites.

 

:D I like to look at the pretty pictures!!! :cool:

[rkacruiser]

Oh, I still want the brochures/catalogs. I keep them by my recliner to thumb through from time to time. I have the whole bunch ... Europe, Alaska, South America, etc. While I do lots of online research, the brochures allow quick and easy flipping among various itineraries for comparison.

 

These are exactly my thoughts, too.

 

I am amazed that a certain cruise line (not of the Carnival family of lines) is no longer including deck plans in their brochures. What are they thinking?

[trubey]

I think you really need the brochures to compare all your options. susana.

[Betsy's Mom]

I really need the hard copy for my happyness! Happyness is planing the next cruise and the internet just does not do it for me.:)

B.

[RuthC]

I get brochures from a variety of sources. I flip through them until I come to the realization of what cruise I want, then keep them for reference.

There's nothing like curling up with those pretty, slick pages. So much warmer than a computer screen, IMHO. :)

[Atomica]

I love the brochures, even though I use the internet for the majority of my serious 'research'. I have a little stash of all the HAL brochures from the last two years...

[Scrumpy]

I would prefer to have the hard copy. Unfortunately, in spite of repeated requests, we rarely get the brochures or the Mariner magazine from HAL. Guess I should request the brochures from the TA. Oddly, we do get brochures from other cruise lines... The internet is okay, but navigating sites can be slow and printing out (so much) info is time-consuming, then you have to organize all those papers. I love brochures...

[Krazy Kruizers]

I always bring home some from each cruise. Brought home 5 from our last cruise. Love looking at the hard copies rather than the website.

[FoxyTerrier]

We must get them all the really big ones and the small ones. I would say at least one a week.

 

Do I read them - YES.

 

Do they annoy me - Kind of - add to already ton of junk mail.

 

The one thing I just don't get is we are currently booked on the Noordam for this summer and have been booked since last Fall - so why do they still send us brouchures telling us about the great Noordam cruises in the Med this summer.

 

And another oddity is they are addressed to me and to DS with both of our Mariner numbers. DH has never once gotten a HAL brouchure. Also DS and I also both get electronic ads - DH never gets them. It's like DH doesn't exist to HAL.

[sail7seas]

DH and I receive most HAL mail addressed to both of us with our individual Mariners numbers on it. I don't see anything wrong about that. The price of those brochures when measured in million of issues and the price of postage is so huge......why send two magazines to the same house? I would call doing that to be very wasteful and unless there was a special reason :) why we would like to have an additional copy of an issue, we'd be throwing one out. That would be a total waste.

[jhannah]

Absolutely. The cost of production and distribution is great, so "one per address" is the only way to get them out while maintaining the quality.

[shipcafe]

"E Brochures" are available here too : http://www.experience-hollandamerica.com

[Tricia724]

I usually like to have at least a Caribbean brochure available because it has deck plans for all of the classes. When checking the websites for available cabins, I like to look at the deck plans and see what is over and under those rooms before making a choice. Scrolling through the deck plans online doesn't quite do it for me. Occasionally I also like to have the "policies and procedures" information available, too.

[Odd Ball]

I like having the brochures just to look at. I consider myself part of the drooling club when it comes to looking at brochures. :D

For pricing, I go on line.

[Pudgesmom]

I LOVE brochures. My TA gives me all kinds to read, cruises, tours, vacations. I order travel brochures from all sorts of companies. I have to VERY careful in travel section of our local bookstore of buying all sorts of books about travel to exotic places. Of course, I research online, too. There's something about holding that prospect "in your hands" that you don't get online. I also like to save a brochure from a cruise I've been on to remind me of the trip.

 

In fact, my friends now come to me with questions about different cruise lines as they know I probably have read about them. Its a nice compliment.

 

Beth