No more event staff - what next?!?

[fann1sh]

Last Nov. on Veendam, the team trivia was conducted by the DJ.

 

I would volunteer to run Pictionary, Scattergories, Pictionary, etc. for Dam Dollars, etc. After teaching 6th graders for 30 years I could handle it!! And after 49 cruises, I've participated enough in those games to know how they do it!!;)

 

I would hate to see those activities dropped. Bad enough that they have dropped as many as they so far. For me (I know it is sad) I would be looking to another Cruise Line for my fun activities! Different strokes for different folks, but they are a very major part of my cruising experience!

 

First the changing of the nightly shows:p and now maybe the lose of the daily games. Come on HAL!!

 

OKay....ranting and raving now done! I'll move on...... Deb C.

 

Like Deb C., I'm really going to miss the activities. It's not that I can't amuse myself...but when I travel alone, it's a painless way to meet people, make friends for shore excursions.

 

It's amazing what's a "deal breaker" for some of us...but I'm looking at the daily schedules of Celebrity, Princess, and even Regent.

[usha]

These cutbacks are real. I saw this ad in HAL's "Cruise Positions Available" website:

 

Ship's Doctor

Requires 10+ years experience as MD, licensed in US, prefer cruise ship expereince. Must handle a wide variety of medical and non-medical tasks, including

• diagnosis and treatment of injuries and illnesses
  
• coordination with medical personnel at ports, as required
  
• consultation regarding common seaborne virus treatment and containment;
  
• clearing tables between dining seatings;
  
• prefer candidate who is multi-lingual, can play several musical instruments, and is experienced in stand-up comedy.

LOL, really, truly!:D

[Jade13]

We got off Noordam a few weeks ago and although this was a port intensive Med cruise, my DH noted that there were very few activities, and this was someone who was mainly looking at our two sea days and two half sea days. He definately noticed there had been much more on previous cruises and previous ships.

 

As I mentioned previously the first night there was no show in the theater and the last night was the same show we had seen last year on Westerdam, so that was disappointing. I have heard that Princess (also of course owned by Carnival) really wins big in the entertainment department.

 

Btw, those who did the 10 night Western and Eastern btb last year complained all the shows repeated the second ten days. That was why I was surprised to find the same show again 12 months later.

[mikjr]

I know on Princess in the past... they have used the singers and dancers from the stage shows during the day for various activities, but they also had an activities staff of five in addition...

 

Maybe they can use the captain to run bingo!! I'm sure he'd appreciate that.

[arlenez]

 

Maybe they can use the captain to run bingo!! I'm sure he'd appreciate that.

 

LOL. That's the funniest thing I have heard today. :)

 

Regards,

Arlene

[vanders]

LOL. That's the funniest thing I have heard today. :)

 

Regards,

Arlene

 

 

Can you picture Captain Frans Consen calling bingo??? He does love the mic, but all those numbers with Rrrrrrrr in them... :)

[Copper10-8]

Can you picture Captain Frans Consen calling bingo??? He does love the mic, but all those numbers with Rrrrrrrr in them... :)

 

 

A33 - A THIRRRRRRRRRRTY THRRRRRRRRRRREE

Dirrrrrrrty knees, All the thrrrrrrrrrees

[pipedreams62]

Because of the some of the event staff being eliminated, they will have more games for the passengers such as

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Taxguy7]

Maybe they can use the captain to run bingo!! I'm sure he'd appreciate that.

 

I can just see some of the European Capt. reaction to that!;) They might just decide to ride the ship home, regardless of what country was home or where the pax thought they were going.:cool:

[sammiedawg]

I dont attend as many activities as some.

I have noticed Princess is the line that seems overloaded with cruise staff. I notice it when they have the first night introductions in the theatre, Sr Cruise directors, assistant cruise directors, Junior cruise directors. They have so much staff they split the bingo sessions in half. One person calls half the games, then someone else in and finishes the session.

[cruzincurt]

I doubt anything will happen to bingo. It's a big money maker for the cruise lines.

 

Regards,

Arlene

 

I assumed the cruise line gave the majority of money collected back to the bingo players as the prizes? If not what do you think their rake (vig) off the top is?

 

I really appreciate that the performers singers/dancers currently also function as the life boat captains. Let's all gather for muster in the theater and calmly proceed to the lifeboats.

[m steve]

You should pick up your cabin phone and dial 7. That will connect you to a special customer service person in Mumbai, India who will take care of the problem.:D

[SakeDad]

I really appreciate that the performers singers/dancers currently also function as the life boat captains. Let's all gather for muster in the theater and calmly proceed to the lifeboats.

Actually they are not LifeBoat Captains....they are the folks at the stairwells and doorways directing you to your lifeboats. They also register who is missing and pass that info on. You should see the training video...it's like something from Second City Comedy! Very funny.:D

[pipedreams62]

You should pick up your cabin phone and dial 7. That will connect you to a special customer service person in Mumbai, India who will take care of the problem.:D

 

 

And I'm sure his name is "Jerry"

[Copper10-8]

Actually they are not LifeBoat Captains....they are the folks at the stairwells and doorways directing you to your lifeboats. They also register who is missing and pass that info on. You should see the training video...it's like something from Second City Comedy! Very funny.:D

 

They're Traffic Directors and they are wearing those great looking blue pullover vests;)

[SDHALFAN]

And I'm sure his name is "Jerry"

 

I take it that you have never had the pleasure of talking with "Rocky"? He was very pleasant but was unable to resolve the problem so, with the agreement of his supervisor, he transferred me to "the next level". Guess what? I got an American who identified and cleared up the software problem within less than 5 minutes.

 

Valerie:D

[Tricia724]

Because of the some of the event staff being eliminated, they will have more games for the passengers such as

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good ones. Wherever in the world do you find this stuff???

 

 

You should pick up your cabin phone and dial 7. That will connect you to a special customer service person in Mumbai, India who will take care of the problem.:D

 

This is hysterical but only because it's so true.

[TMWeddle]

I asked the Cruise Director on the Maasdam about this about ten days ago and she said they weren't losing any staff but just changing the job descriptions. I got the feeling this was the company line, though.

[Jade13]

I asked the Cruise Director on the Maasdam about this about ten days ago and she said they weren't losing any staff but just changing the job descriptions. I got the feeling this was the company line, though.

 

We just saw Maasdam for the first time in Bar Harbor yesterday, and saw her departure. What a beautiful ship.

 

I have a totally OT question regarding Maasdam. Yesterday was the second week of September, so understandably all passengers we saw were older seniors (I'd guess over age 60 as anyone with children would not be cruising at this time of year). Was there more age diversity 10 days ago? Just curious. We are thinking of cruising on her next year. We were on Veendam (sister ship) in summer 2006 and one of the youngest onboard. But our last three cruises on HAL have been on Vistas and Signature and much younger passengers and children. My DH just thinks younger Europeans are cruising in Europe and more Americans/Canadians from Montreal to Boston. Thanks.

[mountainguy]

I have personal experience as a HAL cruise director. They are indeed cutting back on staffing and events and it is creating a very bad cruise experience for guests who expect more. HAL and their faithful inner circle will hold the company line when it comes to any criticism within the ranks or from guests. Ships sail with insufficient supplies onboard to run the events and staff are often asked to shop in strange ports for cards, balloons, once even a volley ball net - and the burn-out rate is exceptionally high. They have also cut back on dance hosts, unless the cruise is 15 days or longer; DAM Dollar events; gifts for game winners, etc., so the perception on this board fairly well represents an accurate assessment of reality. They even run Susan G. Komen events without sufficient yellow wrist bands and shirts. There is a huge attrition rate in the HAL Entertainment Department. Even those who stay are sometimes treated poorly and contracts not renewed 90% of the time. Communication between the home office and each ship is extremely sketchy at best and the past year average for scores on the guest response cards were below target. Actually for at least two years in a row now. Regarding Bingo being such a large revenue line item, it should seem so, but in fact, Bingo rarely meets target. Targets are so often missed that a crisis management mentality exists onboard each ship. Morale is deplorable among staff. We really don't get time off and after a while it becomes intolerable. Input from seagoing staff is not appreciated or accepted by the home office. The newly created uniformed Event Manager position is a shame. Did you know that the Event Manager "assigns" the Cruise Director their activities during the day. In the course of one day it isn't unusual for the CD to work the tender platform, host a talk, conduct morning bingo, conduct golf chipping, conduct another afternoon bingo, mc the Master Chef's Dinner twice, while running the entire length of the ship to open and close two shows in the show lounge AND mc a late night event in the Crow's Nest. No wonder so many of them are snippy! No sleep and constant problem solving are debilitating. You have to walk the walk in someone else's shoes to know how it feels to be in the middle of the ocean, scheduled to play Bingo twice a day with no prizes; no dance hosts, and a burned-out staff of one or two (the party planner and dj/mc really don't do anything in the way of activities - now called events) and God forbid it rains for five days....HAL should reverse course and bring back the Entertainment Department if they want to prevent the inevitable. HAL is a great line that needs a course correction, so to speak. Make your suggestions to Bill Prince or Carey Bolton at the home office. Maybe they will listen to the public.

[kryos]

You have to walk the walk in someone else's shoes to know how it feels to be in the middle of the ocean, scheduled to play Bingo twice a day with no prizes; no dance hosts, and a burned-out staff of one or two (the party planner and dj/mc really don't do anything in the way of activities - now called events) and God forbid it rains for five days....

I hate to say this, but what do the cast members do on days they don't rehearse and don't have a show? Why aren't they picking up the slack and assisting the cruise director with some of these activities. Not that I'm saying they will make the cruise director's job a breeze, but there are still a lot of things they can do to ease his/her load. Why not have them running golf chipping and Dam dollar events, assisting with some of the games, etc.?

 

And, what's with this new "party planner" crap? Is that really a full-time onboard job? If she's not helping out with cruise activities, then perhaps she should be. I realize that technically she works for the Culinary Arts Center, but perhaps her job needs a bit of expansion.

 

Sounds to me that the problem here is poor deployment of available staff. Some people are working their tails off ... like the cruise director ... while others may have it relatively "cushy." If the cast only does two or three shows a week on a seven-day cruise, what are they doing on the other four or five days? Hosting a backstage tour? How big a chunk of their time does that take? If they do the same two or three shows, week in and week out, surely they can't have that many rehearsals. So get them involved in offering some activities, such as the sporting events, dance lessons, Bingo, etc., on their off days. Not saying you have to keep them busy from sun up to sundown, but surely they can each do a few activities to take the load off of the cruise director.

 

We all love to see the prices of our cruises come down and we squeal with glee when we discover that we are paying less today for a seven-day cruise than we paid five to ten years ago. But there is a downside to that, and the downside is that the cruise lines have to cut costs in order to maintain their profit margins. The events staff is probably one area where they are doing that.

 

Also, there are only so many available crew berths, so they have to make sure that every single crew member is "earning his keep" by filling a vital function. If there are more venues onboard ... restaurants, Culinary Arts Center, expanded children's programs, etc. ... then people have to be brought on for those functions. That means there may not be the same number of berths available for staff in other functions. Also, if it's a popular sailing, such as a holiday or whatever, and there will be more staff needed for the kids' program, those extra staff members brought onboard need a place to sleep ... hence requiring reductions in other staffing areas.

 

I say that if HAL wants to cut event staff, then they need to take a long, hard look at the functions other people serve onboard and just how long those functions take to properly perform. Then the work needs to be "redistributed" just a bit by giving those with lots of time on their hands a bit more to do. I use the cast members as an example, but I am sure there are other staff with time on their hands certain days. A good manager has to make sure the load is fairly distributed by utilizing all of the resources he has.

 

Also, I hope HAL doesn't look at events staff as the same exact workload for every ship. I think how many events need to be run is a direct byproduct of the type of itinerary the individual ship is doing. If the itinerary involves a lot of days at sea, then you need more events staff. If it's seven-day Alaska runs with a lot of days in port, then you need less. People will be off the ship most days and won't require a lot of onboard activities to keep them busy. For those few who stay on the ship during port days, then they have to expect that there won't be a whole lot in the way of organized activities offered. You talk about dance hosts. Why should HAL have dance hosts available on shorter cruises? There aren't as many singles and solos onboard for those sailings, so dance hosts shouldn't be all that necessary. What few unescorted singles there are can find their own dance companions. HAL is not about to waste a good cabin for a couple of dance hosts who wind up standing around with nothing to do for most of the cruise. I don't blame them. I'd rather see that cabin allocated to personnel in a more vital function.

 

HAL has some brain power in Seattle. I would hope they'd get to work figuring out how to offer a full slew of activities on the ship without killing any one staff member with mounds of work in order to do so.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[barbon2]

When we did the Eurodam in Dec. the future cruise planners were a young married couple. I did wonder to myself if they were paid, or cruised as sort of a "free honeymoon". If they were paid, I was wondering if it is really necessary to have a future cruise planner on board at all and if it was really necessary to have 2 people in this capacity.

Last year on the Noordam, there was a person in the internet cafe most of the day (this time on the Eurodam the hours she was present were very limited). I know we all want to pay a nice discount when cruising, but when will the line be drawn between low fares and a non cruise cruise experience.

Barbara

[Susie51]

My daughter is currently working on a cruise ship. She works about 60 to70 hours a week in the children's program. I understand why there would be a big turn over in staff, because of long hours and relatively low pay.

[kryos]

Last year on the Noordam, there was a person in the internet cafe most of the day (this time on the Eurodam the hours she was present were very limited).

I can't help but wonder ... was this a seven-day cruise? If so, there shouldn't have been any future cruise consultants onboard. I was under the impression that on shorter cruises, you can just pick up your cabin phone and dial a special number for HAL in Seattle to book a future cruise. The call is also free. Has that policy changed, I wonder?

 

Also, the person who runs the internet cafe ... if I am not mistaken, they are also the ship's IT person. Their hours in the internet cafe are only a small portion of their job. They also have to support all the systems on the ship, such as the point of sale register system, accounting systems, and whatnot. So that particular person is probably pretty busy.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

My daughter is currently working on a cruise ship. She works about 60 to70 hours a week in the children's program. I understand why there would be a big turn over in staff, because of long hours and relatively low pay.

That's exactly what I am talking about.

 

Your daughter works 60 to 70 hours a week, yet there are others who work far less than that. So, it would make sense to give them some added responsibilities in order to ensure passenger services were kept at present levels. If one department gets their staff cut, like the cruise director's staff ... someone needs to figure out who else can be tapped to fill in. In other words, who has it too "cushy?" :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita