No more event staff - what next?!?

[kryos]

The dance host are history except on the 4 grand voyages. I was just on the Amsterdam for 42 days. 22 + 20. There were no hosts onboard even though a friend of mine was told by HAL that there would be.

Now this must be something VERY new. We had four "social hosts" (that's what they call them now) on my 35-day Hawaii/South Pacific sailing from September 20 to October 25 of last year. If HAL has since eliminated them from the longer cruises, there's gonna be a lot of very, very disappointed passengers. Those longer sailings are loaded with single and solo passengers who like to dance in the evenings and depend on the services of these social hosts to be able to do that. Depending on the officers to provide this service isn't gonna work since they only dance with passengers occasionally in the lounges, and then for special balls and events like that. Man, this is not a smart move on the part of HAL ... not on those long cruises anyway.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

Things are changing and as someone that likes going on cruises I need there to be cruise lines. If they make no money, bye bye. We are all looking for that great deal not realising that it has to come from somewhere. So they will do what they have to to survive and I will be happy that they are.

They make a ton of money on those longer, exotic voyages. They are not cheap nor will they ever be. So, the little touches that may have been eliminated on the shorter cruises; the ones where price is very competitive ... should not be missing on the longer voyages. HAL will never have to cut price significantly on those longer voyages because the type of passengers who take them generally have no problem paying for them. They are generally older, set financially and are willing to pay extra bucks in order to sail to more exotic regions.

 

So, you don't have to worry about HAL going broke on those longer voyages. Quite the contrary, they generally fill the ships for them and even have to turn people away. I did the Hawaii/South Pacific sailing twice now. The first time back in 2006 the ship was so overbooked that HAL was making offers to passengers to back off the sailing. Offers as in the World Cruise in exchange ... that's the offer I got. I only wish I could have taken them up on it ... but unfortunately I still work and couldn't do a World Cruise. The second time I did this trip was last September. We sailed at 100% capacity.

 

So HAL is making plenty of money on these longer sailings, and the cost-cutting measures put into place on the shorter ones, by necessity, should have no place on these voyages.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[ivoryboi]

Now this must be something VERY new. We had four "social hosts" (that's what they call them now) on my 35-day Hawaii/South Pacific sailing from September 20 to October 25 of last year. If HAL has since eliminated them from the longer cruises, there's gonna be a lot of very, very disappointed passengers. Those longer sailings are loaded with single and solo passengers who like to dance in the evenings and depend on the services of these social hosts to be able to do that. Depending on the officers to provide this service isn't gonna work since they only dance with passengers occasionally in the lounges, and then for special balls and events like that. Man, this is not a smart move on the part of HAL ... not on those long cruises anyway.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

 

There are dance hosts on the current 30 day S Pacific Ryndam cruise

[jig]

The Dance Host got off the ship in San Diego after the Asia Grand Cruise. We were told it was just selected cruises. Someone said it was for under 39 days. However HAL can always get around that by selling it as two or three segments. Ours was sold as 20 + 22 or as a 42 day cruise. Personally I don't care one way or the other but our friend was very upset.

HAL makes less on a per day basis on these long cruises. Less Spa time, Empty Pinnicle, Empty late nights. Plus much more fuel. They are having a hard time filling the cabins. We were not full on either segment. There werea lot of Russians. They paid much less then we did but HAL has entered that market to try to entice them onboard. However I don't think not one booked another cruise while onboard. There were also lots of Latin Americans. On the Antartic part most of the time we did not hear english around us. On the first part HAL printed the menu's in Russian.

One other thing. There was never music by the pool during the day. This is the first cruise that there was neven and entertainment by the pool during the day.

Also we got to Plan F. But we were told that we would be in the bay between 8AM to 11AM and the christmas pagent was set for 9:00. Ok, if that was it but things overlapped that you began to really question the planning.

[kryos]

HAL makes less on a per day basis on these long cruises. Less Spa time, Empty Pinnicle, Empty late nights. Plus much more fuel. They are having a hard time filling the cabins.

Yes, less in onboard expenditures per day. But much more in per diem rates.

 

And even the onboard expenditures part ... that's iffy too. Guess it depends on the passenger mix onboard for that particular cruise. If you get a lot of older folks, then maybe they are more conservative in their spending because they've cruised a lot over the years and seen and done it all already. They probably don't spend a lot on shore excursions because there really isn't much they haven't seen in the past. Maybe some don't drink due to various medications they are taking.

 

But on my 35-day cruise this past September/October, I seem to think that people were spending like crazy. The spa was pretty busy, and the casino was generally packed in the evenings. The Statendam introduced this new "twoferone" cocktails at certain times in the various lounges and bars ... and that Ocean Bar was absolutely packed between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m.

 

I don't know what people spend onboard during the shorter cruises, but on this particular 35-day sailing it seemed like people were spending plenty. Maybe the expensive jewelry shops weren't overrun by customers, but the art auctions seemed to be drawing them in, and the liquor tastings were certainly well-attended.

 

But then that cruise was a bit unusual for a long cruise in that there were plenty of younger and middle-aged folks onboard. Not like the same cruise back in January of 2006 where the ship bore a striking resemblance to an eldercare home. On this more recent sailing we had a good percentage of older passengers, but we had quite a lot of younger ones too ... including a few children.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[MightyQuinn]

jig - I left a question for you in your Roll Call last month. We're on the Amsterdam in March/April doing your cruise in reverse Rio-Seattle. If you get a chance to visit the Roll Call again, I'd love to chat! :):)

[COLLEYBERRY]

May I ask ,what is a 'dance host' . :) Thanks.

[RuthC]

 

May I ask ,what is a 'dance host' . :) Thanks.

"Dance hosts" are men brought aboard to dance with single women. They also go out on the tours as HAL reps, and generally are supposed to make nice with women who are all alone.

Or, at least that's the way it's supposed to be. :rolleyes: (Don't get me started.)

 

They used to be on every cruise longer than 10 days, but as time has gone on, the length of the cruises has gotten longer and longer.

[RevNeal]

WOW! What airline only charges $100 to upgrade to first class? I've always seen prices that were 3 or more times the coach price. Like someone posted earlier, we only upgrade when we can use FF miles to do so because of the costs.

 

American Airlines, for one. In order to have priority in accessing complimentary or for-pay upgrades to Business or First Class one needs to be in one of the AAdvantage-Elite levels. For example, as an AAdvantage Gold member I can upgrade from Sardine ("Economy") to Business or First Class (depending upon the type of aircraft) on Domestic Flights by using 500-mile upgrades (how many upgrades it takes depends upon the length of one's flight). One obtains these upgrades by flying on the airline (one earns four 500-mile upgrades for every 10,000 miles flown), by trading in FF Miles to purchase 500-mile upgrades, or by paying cash ($30 per 500-mile upgrade). For my flight to Fort Lauderdale next week I will need three 500-mile upgrades to get from Economy to First; since I've spent my earned supply of 500-mile upgrades on previous flights I will have to buy three for me ($90) and three for my traveling companion (another $90). I paid about $220 per-person for these tickets to Fort Lauderdale from DFW ... so, by paying just $90 per-person (for a total of $310 per-person) we're getting into first-class. :)

 

For international flights I use my FF Air Miles because they don't allow one to use 500-mile upgrades on such flights. However, it really IS worth it on international flights to go from sardine-economy to Business Class. It costs me 25,000 airmiles plus an upgrade fee, but that gets me a seat in Business for LESS than half the price it would have cost me to buy it in Business outright.

[RevNeal]

"Dance hosts" are men brought aboard to dance with single women. They also go out on the tours as HAL reps, and generally are supposed to make nice with women who are all alone.

Or, at least that's the way it's supposed to be. :rolleyes: (Don't get me started.)

 

They used to be on every cruise longer than 10 days, but as time has gone on, the length of the cruises has gotten longer and longer.

 

Dearest Ruth, you can always dance with me!! I'm a Gentleman. Or ... at least I try to be. :D ;)

[RuthC]

dearest ruth, you can always dance with me!! I'm a gentleman. Or ... At least i try to be. :d ;)

k! :d

[the_dylaness]

"Dance hosts" are men brought aboard to dance with single women. They also go out on the tours as HAL reps, and generally are supposed to make nice with women who are all alone.

Or, at least that's the way it's supposed to be. :rolleyes: (Don't get me started.)

 

They used to be on every cruise longer than 10 days, but as time has gone on, the length of the cruises has gotten longer and longer.

 

Ruth...

 

As much as I hate to get you started, I am very curious about your experience with the dance hosts. This concept is fascinating to me... I've sailed twice with my mom (once before I was married and once afterwards) and that first trip I was a little surprised at the lack of, um, social opportunities for single ladies. (This was a 12 day Aust/NZ cruise in January, and I think the only eligible men onboard were officers and crew...)

 

Please elaborate, thanks!

[the_dylaness]

I'm sorry I should clarify;

 

the only eligible men onboard under 60 were officers and crew :D

 

I did have a date with one of the purser's desk attendants but I was dismayed to see he'd invited not one, but TWO ladies to share his evening. I felt we were being "evaluated" and then chosen between... well, he chose me, and as soon as I figured it out I thanked him for the drink and walked out the door, leaving him very awkwardly with the girl he'd turned his back to :eek:

[Sleepladypalmdesert]

"Dance hosts" are men brought aboard to dance with single women. They also go out on the tours as HAL reps, and generally are supposed to make nice with women who are all alone.

Or, at least that's the way it's supposed to be. :rolleyes: (Don't get me started.)

 

They used to be on every cruise longer than 10 days, but as time has gone on, the length of the cruises has gotten longer and longer.

 

ewww...for some reason the hair just stood up on the back of my neck. What if there were women who were paid to "make nice" with the gentlemen on board....sounds a little, well, you know.....my strict Baptist upbringing is making me blush all over. Pass the wine!

[RuthC]

As much as I hate to get you started, I am very curious about your experience with the dance hosts.

I'll start by saying the four hosts on my '01 trans-At Big Band cruise were wonderful. They danced every dance, and made sure that every woman who wanted to dance had a chance to. They really circulated. They chatted, and were fun to be around, even if they were off duty (on the Lido deck, Sleeplady. ;))

 

But such is not my usual experience. What I have seen the rest of the time is hosts who dance with the same few women all the time, or don't bother to dance at all.

On my first Voyage of the Vikings the four hosts danced with 6-8 women exclusively. On the Voyage of the Spammed I would sit and watch as a couple of the men would stand by a lolly column in the Crow's Nest during cocktail time.

There were many other cruises with similar stories. :rolleyes:

[RevNeal]

ewww...for some reason the hair just stood up on the back of my neck. What if there were women who were paid to "make nice" with the gentlemen on board....sounds a little, well, you know.....my strict Baptist upbringing is making me blush all over. Pass the wine!

 

Never fear ... there aren't any. :D Oh, on occasion the ladies of the ship's cast have been known to dance with unattached men at events like the Captain's Black and White Ball, etc. I've enjoyed several such dances, though they being professionals and my being a rank amateur with two left feat have made me feel quite conspicuous. But, I managed not to clobber her instep, so I suppose they were all marginal successes.

 

What's really funny is when, serving as Chaplain, I've had ladies ask ME to dance! Once we were sitting in the Piano/Seaview Lounge listening to the piano player do a nice danceable number and one little old lady who had been at my service that morning got up and said "Come on, Reverend, cut the rug with me."

 

Another of the ladies said "Now Annie, he's not a gentleman host, he's the Minister!"

 

Annie looked at me and asked: "You're not a Baptist ... are you?"

 

I was wearing a black suit and clerical collar. I said: "No ma'am."

 

Annie nodded and turned back to the other lady with, "He can dance."

 

She was about 90, though, so "dancing" mostly involved rocking back and forth without too much in the way of fancy moves. Besides ... one doesn't do much fancy stepping to "Sentimental Journey."

[mudscraper]

Did you do the "Flat foot Floogie with the Floy Floy? :)

 

 

Rich

[bepsf]

"Dance hosts" are men brought aboard to dance with single women. They also go out on the tours as HAL reps, and generally are supposed to make nice with women who are all alone.

 

Otherwise known as "Brian's Retirement Plan"...

;)

[hammybee]

 

HAL makes less on a per day basis on these long cruises. Less Spa time, Empty Pinnicle, Empty late nights. Plus much more fuel. They are having a hard time filling the cabins. We were not full on either segment. There werea lot of Russians. They paid much less then we did but HAL has entered that market to try to entice them onboard. However I don't think not one booked another cruise while onboard. There were also lots of Latin Americans. On the Antartic part most of the time we did not hear english around us. On the first part HAL printed the menu's in Russian.

One other thing. There was never music by the pool during the day. This is the first cruise that there was neven and entertainment by the pool during the day.

 

I have posted on other threads some of the incredibly low prices I have seen for Antartica, this season. Insides have been running $74-86 p/p, per day. Couple this with dimished onboard spending and no surprise that the onboard experience was different than previous seasons.

 

None of this however, explains the conflicts in schedules of those activities/events that are offered.

[hammybee]

I

 

On my recent 35-day cruise ... a longer one even by HAL standards ... the cruise staff had eliminated many of the games like Scattergories, Pictionary, etc. Someone in our CC group suggested that if they no longer offer those games as hosted events, couldn't they at least mention get-togethers for them and offer them as non-hosted events. Just have someone make sure the game was available in a certain lounge, and let the passengers meet there to play it on their own. Well, he agreed to do that and when the first meet-up was mentioned in the daily program, only this CC member and one other person showed up to play. Since the game, whatever it was, required a minimum of four people to play, obviously it never took place. I have a feeling the turnout was similar when they were hosting the events, and that's why they eliminated them. You'll notice trivia is still offered ... sometimes several times a day. Why? Because that event tends to draw a large turnout, just as the Dam Dollar events do, which are still run several times a day.

 

They keep the activities that are popular and dump the ones that only receive a very, very poor attendance. Helps them to keep their costs down, which makes good sense. Blue skies ...--rita

 

This is one area where opinions sometimes expressed in this forum contradict what happens on most sailing. I too have arrived at events and been the one and only attendee on more than one occasion.

 

A different cruise line that used to lend out a wide variety of board games to passengers ceased doing so because passengers would steal them or key pieces went missing.

 

Onboard changes are often a reflection of passenger apathy and behaviors, over time.

[RevNeal]

I have posted on other threads some of the incredibly low prices I have seen for Antartica, this season. Insides have been running $74-86 p/p, per day.

 

It is impossible to purchase passage on HAL for the remaining Antarctica Cruise this season: one cannot obtain a Visa for Brazil in time. In 2010's South America/Antarctica Season, however, the cheapest available cabin (MM category) on the January 10th sailing of the Veendam is currently listed as going for: $2,599.00 pp. Add in the taxes and port fees (which one MUST do if one is actually going to buy such a cruise) and the total cost comes to $2965.60, or $148.28 pp/pd at double-occupancy rates. For an outside C-category cabin the figure is $235.78 pp/pd. For an A-Category Verandah it's $358.28 pp/pd. The average pp/pd is $260.41 pp/pd, but the ship-wide median (the half-way point above which half the cabins cost more and bellow which half the cabins cost less) is only $210.75 pp/pd (there are a lot more outside and inside staterooms than there are hyper-expensive verandahs and suites). MOST of the passengers who will sail on that cruise next year (and I wish I were going to be one of them, but I'll be waiting until 2011) will pay a price in THAT range.

 

While one might, indeed, find flash sales toward the end of the selling-period (i.e., after the final-payment date, assuming the ship doesn't sell out before then) for these cruises which will push the cheapest category (an ROS Guaranteee) down bellow $100 or even bellow $90, THE VAST MAJORITY of the passengers who will book this cruise -- or who actually booked the Cruises that are sailing this January -- simply will not be paying that low of figure.

 

There were people who cruised Antarctica in January 2008 who booked and paid at a rate roughly comparable to $175 pp/pd for an inside cabin. And, yes, for the 2008 sailing I was on there was a flash sale after the final payment date for a limited number of Category MM Inside Guaranties at ~$2700 and a few Category HH Outside Guaranties at ~$3300. But it was a tiny number of passengers who got those cabins; most aboard ship paid a premium to make that cruise. I know ... I was one of them.

[drdaddy]

This whole thread has evolved since the OP first wrote.

 

On HAL, the CD staff, to us, are non-existant. Our choice for one thing, for mainly because we do not cruise HAL for the activities but the ports and especially the service. On our sea days, honestly, the staff were never around anyway.

 

On one of our mis-adventures, I think it was the trip with Hurricane Frances, we ended up cruising for 9 days before we could get back to port. On both of those extra days, there was little activity and the one thing they did was water golf. The two people for the event staff obviously did not want to be there and those of us in the pool had to get out!

 

We just got back from a Carnival trip and the CD and his staff were amazing. They were always around, very personable, and a lot of fun. Amazing energy from both the CD and ACD.

 

Except for certain things, I don't see where there would that much different. I know some folks do utilize the CD staff and this whole trend throughout the industry is disturbing.

[hammybee]

It is impossible to purchase passage on HAL for the remaining Antarctica Cruise this season

 

Agreed ! It's all about the VISA.

 

Let me try this another way....I can right now book a outside cabin on the Veendam for 2009 for about $130 p/p, per day, exclusive of variable taxes and port charges or I can book a similar sized outside on Crystal doing the same # days and intinerary for about $435 p/p.

 

No doubt about it, the average cabin price on HAL is going to be substantially lower than it is on Crystal. And that average price is going to drive a very different out of cabin experience, perhaps one more reminicent of HAL days gone bye.

 

I cannot afford Crystal and the whole deal does not interest me. Having savored every moment of your own and Ruthc's and Arzz's onboard reporting of Antarctica, I must do this intinerary. The only way I can swing it is on a mass market cruise line in one of the less than average priced cabins.

 

And doing so, I accept that the experience is not going to be Crystal-like and what may have been on HAL at a higher price point in times gone bye. I will accept that my incabin experience is not going to be the Deluxe Suite life. It's Antartica ! I'll be doing my own dance and the heck with the dance hosts and board games. It's affordable.

[hammybee]

We just got back from a Carnival trip and the CD and his staff were amazing. They were always around, very personable, and a lot of fun. Amazing energy from both the CD and ACD.

 

The CD staff onboard larger ships often accomplish more than what one typically finds on a HAL ship. The larger the ship, the easier it is to amortize the fixed cost of a larger CD staff, more entertainment and activities over a greater number of cabins. It's the economies of scale at work.

 

At the other end of the spectrum are the smaller ships experiences charging multiples of the price of a typical cabin on HAL. They charge more and deliver more.

 

Cruising to me is all about compromises. Big ships/more passengers/bigger budgets versus small ships/ prices I cannot afford or the few cruise lines in between that are affordable and may not offer the same out of cabin experience found at the extremes.

 

We are fortunate that there are so many choices.

[COLLEYBERRY]

Otherwise known as "Brian's Retirement Plan"...

;)

 

With that wit you should do very well.:D:D:D