DAY 51 — February 24, 2017 — Sailing
the Yellow Sea
Holland America
President Orlando Ashford joined the cruise for a week in Seoul, Korea
with his family and other HAL executives.
He has been getting an earful from veteran World Cruisers about what they
like and don’t like. Tonight, he hosted a Mariner Appreciation night
which means everyone gets complimentary drinks at the cocktail party and wine
with dinner. This tends to make even the
grouchiest passenger happier.
We spoke with Stephanie
Ashford at the cocktail party. We
learned she went to college at Purdue where she met Orlando and, no, she
is not from Indiana. She is from Plainwell,
Michigan! Another small world
moment for Ron.
The evening's Gala/Formal event was also the cruise’s Red Lantern Night with all the dining areas lit up to celebrate our visit to China. |
DAY 52 — February 25, 2017 — Sailing
the East China Sea
This morning, I
took another floral class. I’m not sure I am learning anything because the
florists are pretty much “hands on” in making certain that your design is perfect
before you walk out of the class with it. But it
is a great way to get stunning flowers in your cabin at a very low cost.
This afternoon featured a Q & A session with Orlando Ashford, President, Holland America Lines. What we learned:
2016 was HAL’s best financial performance
in 8 years.
Ninety percent of Holland America’s business is done with passengers on
cruises of 21 days or less. All
planning is done with this fact in mind.
Repeat Grand Voyagers are considered
“residents” and, as such, have different
needs and concerns. They are still
important but, as a very small part of HAL’s business, they figure into
planning to a much lesser degree.
HAL is putting a
$300 million cash infusion into making current ships better.
There are no
plans to replace the 800 passenger Prinsendam with another small ship.
The next new ship
will be the (New?) Statendam in 2018, a Pinnacle Class ship,
with another to follow in 2021.
The latest
Pinnacle Class ship, the Koningsdam, was built in 2015 without a library
but that was done “in error” and it will be retrofitted with one. HAL wants us to know it is not giving up its
libraries.
Holland America
Lines is partnering with America’s Test Kitchens and O Magazine. Oprah will be on board for the July
15, 2017 Alaska Cruise.
Grand Voyagers will no longer compete for Grand Dollars (and the merchandise
they buy) after 2017.
Questions from the “passenger/resident”
audience:
Q: You promised us six dance hosts and
there are only four. And, they aren’t
very good. What are you going to do
about that? A: Don’t know.
Q: Can you put more support bars in the
public area toilets? A: Probably.
Q: What can you do about the air quality on the
ship? We have too many damn “dam
colds and coughs.” A: New air filters will be installed after
Shanghai but air quality isn’t the reason everyone on board gets the common
cold.
Q: We want better entertainment. A: The line offers Lincoln Center, Billboard on Board, BB King, and BBC Earth on its ships
that do shorter cruises. It is tough to
offer these on the Grand Voyages ships because of lack of room for the venues.
Q: Why can’t you better regulate the ship’s temperatures
on this voyage? This ship so cold in some places and so warm
in others. A: Well, it is hard go from the hot
climates of the Caribbean, Hawaii, and Guam to the cold climates of Japan, China,
and Korea and then back to the hot climates again. Seattle regulates shipboard temperatures.
Afterwards I
heard most passengers say the Q & A wasn’t all that enlightening for them but
they did speak with pride about their “resident” label because that is exactly
how they see themselves. They move in,
the Amsterdam welcomes them home after every port stop, and they are as comfortable
here (maybe more so) as they are at their own homes, except for not enough “grab
bars” to help them sit down and stand up in certain places. Some have been on the Amsterdam so many
times, they say the “own” the ship. I
did not hear many say anything about how HAL only spends 10% of their resources
on travelers like them. You hear what
you want to hear, I guess.
The biggest
criticism I have heard the most on this voyage is the lack of unlimited Internet
for a reasonable price. The cheapest
package at 25 cents/minute is still pricey given how much we all use social
media these days. No one asked the
President about that even though we know other cruise lines have started
offering special deals like free Facebook and Twitter access or a limited number
of free minutes.
I give Ashford credit
for making himself available to passengers throughout the entire week he was on
board. He heard a lot of good comments
along with the criticisms and he made sure everyone knew he was here to listen
to them. But, he is a money guy with a goal
of continuing the financial successes under his tenure so far. Grand Voyages will still be available but the
focus of HAL will be on the shorter, more profitable cruises. Cutbacks on the Grands will continue. The dam/grand dollar program is an easy and
very popular program on these cruises.
Cutting that out seems dumb. Pillow
gifts are getting fewer and less impressive.
The progress toward unlimited Internet in going to be a long slog. Gone, I believe, are the days when the Grands
were truly special.
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