St Pete Cruiser

Good morning all. There is a posting with a link to Carnival's new CEO this morning. Rather interesting as it effects all of us who cruise any of the Carnival lines and probably any of the others. The debt load that most of the cruise lines have now that covid has so severely hurt the business, will cause changes for years to come. It will prevent reinvesting profits back into the existing ships and from building new ones as the debt load needs to be paid down. The good news is the new CEO believes in the differences of the individual lines as he recognizes each one has strengths that attract its guests to it. He also knows that some guests prefer the older (can I say smaller) ships compared to the new builds. The competition with newer start up lines will keep pressure on Carnival/Royal/NCL, but will they not have debt load issues as well?

Positives: Building on the strengths of the individual lines. Maintain the older ships that guests like. Negatives: Paying down $35 billion in debt. Not being able to reinvest profits in the ships or building new ones.

Hi Roy. The new Viking ship, Octantis, which was built to access the Great Lakes is 77 feet beam and 665 feet long. Compare that to the Prinsendam or Statendam class, and it is rather narrow. Would love to try it, but at nearly $1000 per diem, that is not going to happen.

Excellent photos. We were there just last month, June 6, on the N Statendam. They had a double decker bus for us to ride into Weymouth from the port at Portland, which I appreciated very much. They also had volunteer aides for us as we got off the bus who were very helpful. An older lady volunteer asked me where I was from, and I told her the US. She asked where in the US, and I replied Florida, have you been there? The answer, "Oh honey, yes, nearly every year since I retired! My daughter works for Disney and I get free passes. I even get to cruise on the Disney ships for almost free with her."

I got a nice letter from Gus Antorcha today thanking me for my loyalty to Holland America and for best wishes for Gerald Bernhoft on his retirement today. He has 45 years service to the company, starting in 1977. If you never got to meet him or know of him, you missed out. He has probably the best collection of Holland America memorabilia as well as knowledge. Think of the changes he has seen! Thanks for all who make this the best place on cruise critic. I agree with the others; so glad I got to see St Petersburg, Russia when I did as I have no plans to ever return since Putin's war in the Ukraine.

I've never been to Avalon, Santa Catalina, but would like to. Thanks for the pictures. Even though it was before my time, I like the song about Santa Catalina: "26 Miles Across the Sea." It even makes reference to 40 kilometers in a leaky old boat. Google it and play it for yourself. I never met Seth, Holland America's brand ambassador, but did listen to him frequently during the covid pause and the restart. I found him informative and very upbeat in a time of much gloom and doom. It would seem they needed him, so not sure why the company is not keeping him or the position.

Good morning all. Looking at the fleet report, most of the BHBs are in cooler places than most of us! Alaska, Iceland, Norway; they sound pretty nice especially in July. Saguenay, Quebec forecast is 75F today. Should be a nice sail up the fjord, some 80 miles from the St Lawrence River. We docked there on the Maasdam in 2014. Wonder if the N Statendam, 100 meters longer, can dock there as well. If you, like me, are not as fortunate to be in one of those cooler locales today, hope your AC, or pool, or fan, or cold drink keeps you comfortable. Try to enjoy your day wherever you are!

Having grown up in Port Huron, I'd love to have been on one of the sailboats. Any pics to share?

Sorry to read about all the covid issues. I was so impressed with itinerary, but in hindsight, am glad we were not onboard. Did you enjoy the cruise despite your covid?

Yes, and she looks good! The new owners have changed her over to use marine oil rather than heavy fuel oil for less emissions. I hope the other S class ships are returned to service.

Bruce, it is on some ships. Holland America did not renew contracts for lobster during the covid shutdown and now have not been able to get adequate supplies at a reasonable cost to them. I see where the Zaandam VoV cruise is featuring lobster on Gala nights and our friends had lobster on their T/A aboard the NSDM in April. I hope it will be back on all the ships soon.

A friend who was on the Island Princess from Ft Lauderdale to Southampton, 30+ days, said over 250 guests and crew tested positive.5

Good morning all. The former Statendam, the first of Holland America's "S" class ships, is now sailing as the Vasco Da Gama. Strangely enough, it was in port in Keil, Germany, today where I had surgery last month. If I was still there, I would have gone to see it. The former Maasdam, Ryndam and Veendam seem to be laid up still by their new owner. One comment/complaint with the Nieuw Statendam is there are no paintings or ship models of the HAL fleet, former or current. Happily for me, the current Rotterdam does have some of the Stephen Card paintings and models. Wondering where the rest of the paintings are? Copper10, John, are you out there today? Anybody know? This painting of the Nieuw Amsterdam, the "Darling of the Dutch" which is prominently featured in the 150 year history of Holland America currently being presented onboard the fleet, is onboard the Rotterdam VII.

Quartzsite Cruiser, Your pics are always some of the best! Thanks for sharing them.

We had 4115 on the N Statendam, and it was quiet. We did not hear the elevator, which it backed up to. There is a sofa, but no coffee table. The sofa has the TV over it, so you can't sit on it and watch the TV. Better than the smallest inside rooms, but not as nice as the Vista large insides and of course smaller than the R (and S) insides.

My Holland America news states that June was a post pandemic record for bookings, with Alaska getting the heaviest of it. There is no question travelers are releasing their pent up dollars. The pics on CC from our people show beautiful sunny days in Alaska, only pushing more of us to click that confirm button. Yesterday, for personal therapy, I looked at booking the N Statendam for Oct 8, Quebec to Fort Lauderdale. The itinerary is better than Zaandam's, with 14 days including Saguenay and port calls at Gaspe and Portland, Maine as well as Boston. My hope was to fly to NYC, overnight for 2 nights, and ride Amtrak to Montreal on the Adirondack, taking in the autumn colors and sites. Found out, that service still hasn't been restored since the border was closed for Covid. Flights to Quebec don't work from down here. Once I get a clear bill of health, I may resume my cruise therapy.

Thank you for cheering the Rays on to a 7-1 win. Yes, the sports authorities hate the Trop, but when it is 90F with strong chance of rain, we like it! Our newspaper says June was record heat here. Just hope it won't be record hurricanes, too.

As previously posted by Frankie Sue, Volendam is scheduled for several of Holland America's longer itineraries including Grand Voyages around South America and a 94 day RT to Australia. Although anything is possible, I really think she will return to service. We saw the former Amsterdam in Barcelona recently, now sailing for Fred Olsen, and understand they were very happy to get her at "fire sale" prices.

Rotterdam has a more attractive MDR. K'dam has yellow walls with darker burgundy carpet whereas Rotterdam has white walls with dark blue carpet. A plus for R'dam The lifeboats were pulled in on Rotterdam from the sides which makes the narrow promenade deck even narrower and worse sight lines. A plus for K'dam. Orange Club on R'dam much nicer, even though I haven't dined there. Agree the Half Moon Bar is better than the little used Blend. Dutch Cafe had more choices, but K'dam may have been updated by now. Both K'dam and Rotterdam have some HAL nautical paintings and models. Nieuw Staendam doesn't have any. What did they do with all of the Statendam paintings by Stephen Card? So all in all, not much difference. Given the same itinerary and price, I would choose the Rotterdam.