Finally a day at sea, but also a busy one with different activities. It was a good day to stay inside since the temperature was a crisp 48 degrees, windy, with choppy seas. The first big event took place at 2pm with a presentation by Gus Antorcha, the new President of HAL. Informative as well as interesting, his talk lasted from 2pm to 4:30pm. The speech included a special announcement of the 2025 GWV, or should we say two cruises….one a world cruise on the Zuiderdam and one a grand cruise on the Volendam. Surprise, surprise. We did not see that coming. Anyway, more about that later.
We had heard the comment that Mr. Antorcha had better put on his big boy pants, and pull on the wellies (rubber boots), and be prepared for the Q & A after his speech. Love the Aussie humor. Before we continue, we have to say we watched this presentation in our room, and the TV reception was terrible. All of the TV screens throughout the ship were misbehaving as well. But we stayed in our room anyway and did not run to the World Stage with way too many people jammed in there. For this entire cruise, nothing has been done to correct this problem which is sad.
So Gus's talk began with, "Through the years since the 2020 pandemic, they got some things right, but also got some things wrong". They had heard from some world cruise guests and travel agents that things have not gone as expected, and he was prepared to explain why. He began with a quick video of the special event in Rotterdam, concentrating on the Princess and the local big wigs. Not so much the audience. Perhaps this was a way of sharing what the majority of folks onboard had missed since they were not invited. His basic message included tid- bits like the training schools are back for the crew, they intend to retain their special service, and keep the ships that are in the family now. No plans to add any more new builds.
We assume some GWV guests were polled and they requested to retain the turndown service (55%), cocktail hour with better music (42%), retain high tea (32%), and return the after dinner mints (30%). Gus admitted perhaps with these cutbacks, they were not doing the right thing. They intend to bring the dance teachers back and provide a better internet and TV feed. People want more special parties or events, as well as the traditional HAL canvas bags that went away a long time ago. Printed maps were requested and that was applauded loudly. They asked for better menus and better quality of food. The reply to that was the deliveries had supply chain difficulties with this cruise. No kidding. They will try to stock the library with more books, and he added for us to please return what we had read. Printed daily newspapers and printed shore excursion tickets were promised to be "looked at". They are watching their competitors in this category of cruising (not luxury brands) and are trying to keep it the same.
Questions and answers followed, which would keep Gus on the stage until 4:30pm. We give him credit for sticking it through for that long. When asked why we are getting charged more for these cruises and getting less for our money, his answer was they are focused on fuel prices, and needed the cutbacks to break even more or less. Single supplements will continue to be high, they will not get rid of any bathtubs, even though much work needs to be done on this ship. He did say there will be dry docking done on every ship in 2027.
One gentleman said he will not come back to another world cruise if it turns out like this one. Gus's answer was "sorry about that". Others said the entertainment was the worst ever, but the biggest gripe was about the nickel and diming like in the Pinnacle Grill. That brought applause too. The reply to that was that inflation gave the company no choice but to tack on extra charges. Think we heard "boos" in the back round.
One person asked about returning more classical music, and Gus said they will do that in the Ocean Bar occasionally. One guest complimented to Gus it was the best cruise he ever had. No applause for him. We are a tough crowd. One lady said this was the smelliest cruise ever, and he said it was problems with the venting. Others said they loved the crew – big applause as they deserve it. How about the return of dance hosts for the ladies? Not happening….ever. Too much controversy from past years, which we knew. If they could program robots to do the job, they would be safe, ha-ha.
The Lido food was addressed as being repetitious and poor quality. Where had the small packages of cereal, like All Bran, gone? Too much paper waste was the answer. Too expensive. How about the non-working toasters in the Lido? Those can be replaced Gus said. Televised lectures from the guest speakers and more local shows were suggested. Gus would look into that. He would not go into any detail regarding the company's standing in regards to the Carnival stock. Not his department. A question came up with the Mariner program, which he said it was rich enough in perks, and it would not change. How about the dining room dress code? One elderly man said it had deteriorated to meaningless with three types of dress suggested. More applause. And nothing is enforced. We heard no reply on that remark. And what happened to the pillow gifts we always received on formal nights? Gus did not know. One of the biggest complaints was the extra charge for appetizers in the specialty restaurants. And the extra 18% gratuity added was insulting as well. When one nice lady added a comment on the food in the Lido, and the fact many folks got sick eating in there, Ian said the meeting was about over. Again, no reply to that question.
As soon as we get the real itineraries online for the 2025 Grands, we can show you where they are going. The TV screen was so bad, it was all but whited out.
The last event of the day was a dinner for the President's Club members with officers in the Pinnacle Grill at 7:30pm. It began with cocktails in the Rolling Stone Lounge at 6:30pm, where the newly-inducted guests got their pins and photos taken with the Captain and Henk. It's been eight years since we did that. Then we were escorted to dinner. It was a fixed menu with the main course being scallops or beef tenderloin. Starters were a salmon sampler, but one of us got tomatoes and mozzarella cheese slices. A creamy parsnip soup followed, confirming the fact we do not care for parsnips. Dessert was pavlova, but we did not stay that long. Every course took about ½ hour, and since we don't care for pavlova, we said goodnight to our hosts, two people from corporate we have never met before tonight. Glad this day was over. We prefer the laidback sea days much better.
Bill & Mary Ann
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