HAL Cancelling Noordam Cruises from NYC November 2008 (Merger of Several Threads)

I'm currently booked on the Noordam for the 1/26/08 cruise out of NYC. I wanted to move it to the 11/08/08 sailing, but my TA just informed me that HAL has cancelled all NYC sailing for November. I know they are moving the Noordame to Ft. Lauderdale in 2009, but why are they doing it in 2008 now when the demand is so high for NYC? I'm thinking that it's just a matter of time before my january cruise is cancelled as well :(

This is interesting. HAL's web site and that of online cruise sales are showing the Noordam sailing from NYC on 11/8,11/9 and 11/29. So either your T/A got the scoop before anyone else or your T/A is mistaken.

Changing intineraries 14 months into the future is not uncommon by all cruise lines. That the Noordam may or may not be sailing from NYC in 14 months, is no reason to speculate that they will cancel sailings 3.5 months before sailing.

Why does it have to be "all or nothing" ?

I think it's sad the Noordam is cancelling their NYC sailings. It's precisely why I booked the same cruise this year as we did last year. Once they're out of NYC, it's back to Florida for winter sailings. :(

Durn, I was planning on booking that cruise. Rats! :mad:

I was thinking about booking one of them, too. :(

I was hoping to at least manage one more on the Noordam in very early 2009 (I was hoping they would finish the spring in NYC)....oh well, looks like that may be over. DH won't fly, so we'll be stuck waiting for HAL to move a ship back to NYC.

Rev Neal,

You are pretty much someone that we can all look for information. I have a question? Could this be Noordam's dry dock time? We know that she will be in Europe for the Spring and Summer of 2008 and she has been in service since 2006. Doesn't all HAL ships have a schedule of about 2 years between dry docks. Noordam came from Italy to USA in January 2007, and she has not had a dry dock yet or even a wet dock. I am thinking that it would be a great time for the Noordam to have a dry dock in Europe at the end of her Med season. Maybe HAL is planning something big for her if she is going to be out for a whole month? Maybe in something of a Eurodam type update. Just speculating with it. However a month of cancelled cruise would really look like a 20 or so day dry dock in Europe for some reason.

Geoffrey

I think the information my TA relayed to me is fairly accurate. When I go to the HAL site and try to book the 11/08/08 sailing, I get a SailingId is not valid (Advisory 5214) message. You are right though, there's no reason why they would cancel the January cruises just because they're cancelling the November ones. I'm really bummed that I won't get to sail out of NYC (considering I'm just a short cab ride from the port) on HAL now because the January timing just doesn't work out for me.

Rev Neal,

You are pretty much someone that we can all look for information. I have a question? Could this be Noordam's dry dock time? We know that she will be in Europe for the Spring and Summer of 2008 and she has been in service since 2006. Doesn't all HAL ships have a schedule of about 2 years between dry docks. Noordam came from Italy to USA in January 2007, and she has not had a dry dock yet or even a wet dock. I am thinking that it would be a great time for the Noordam to have a dry dock in Europe at the end of her Med season. Maybe HAL is planning something big for her if she is going to be out for a whole month? Maybe in something of a Eurodam type update. Just speculating with it. However a month of cancelled cruise would really look like a 20 or so day dry dock in Europe for some reason.

You're very kind. Thank you.

Looking at the Noordam's cruise schedule, she's supposed to depart Civitavecchia on October 4, 2008, on a 14 day cruise to New York, arriving on October 18th. Then, she has an October 18th 11-day cruise and an October 29th 10-day cruise scheduled. If those two cruises are not cancelled, then it's not a dry-docking in Europe. She could be going into dry dock here in the states in November, but I don't know. It may be that the ship is chartered for one or two of those November cruises. I just don't know.

Right now HAL's website shows the cruises in November as still open for booking. Personally, I was thinking about that October 29th cruise because it would only have me miss 1 Sunday (the first Sunday of November).

I think the information my TA relayed to me is fairly accurate. When I go to the HAL site and try to book the 11/08/08 sailing, I get a SailingId is not valid (Advisory 5214) message. You are right though, there's no reason why they would cancel the January cruises just because they're cancelling the November ones. I'm really bummed that I won't get to sail out of NYC (considering I'm just a short cab ride from the port) on HAL now because the January timing just doesn't work out for me.

I now see that even though HAL and agencies continue to show three sailings in 11/08, they are not booking them. I also tried to book an October sailing as well as the repositioning cruise and they too are not selling.

So either this is a computer glitch or the Noordam's return to the U.S. is being delayed............or might the Noordam be going elsewhere?

Well - I will be following this thread -- we live in weatern PA and to get to NY is a nightmare - thus we have never bothered to book the Noordam.

We only have "puddle" jumpers flying to all 3 airports with no guarentee that luggage will be on the same plane as us.

Thus we are looking forward to HAL moving the Noordam out of NY.

My TA was officially notified today of the cancelation of our Oct. 18, 2008

Noordam sailing out of NY. She will be going streight to Ft. Lauderdaul after

Europe. We were offered a shipboard credit and were able to rebook for the

same date out of LL, at the same price. Not happy, but there is not much

choice for Oct. Gayle

Based upon this new information, it appears that the 3/8 Caribbean sailing will be the last for the Noordam, for awhile.

Given the price points necessary to fill the ship, this winter and the cost of fuel for the two days coming and going, continued sailings from NYC do not appear profitable enough to be sustained.

What a shame that demand has not been sufficient to fill the ship, without deep discounting. :(

Gee, I think I may know why there’s a change in the ms Noordam’s itinerary for 2008.

We received a call from our TA today, letting us know that our 10-day cruise on the ms Maasdam sailing out of Fort Lauderdale on November 3, 2008 has been cancelled according to the phone call she received from HAL. She was told that the following 10-day cruises on the ms Maasdam have also been cancelled: October 24, 2008, November 3, 2008, November 13, 2008, November 23, 2008, December 3, 2008 and December 13, 2008. HAL told her that we could book on the ms Noordam sailing on the following dates: October 14, 2008, October 24, 2008, November 7, 2008, and November 17, 2008. At this time we do not know if the ship is sailing out of Fort Lauderdale and we do not know the itinerary.

Ok, I now have information from a very highly placed source. The October 18th and all subsequent cruises out of NYC have been cancelled. The October 4th crossing from Civitavecchia goes to FLL, not NYC – FLL will then be her homeport from that point on. Yes, HAL's web site is still showing October, November and December cruises for the Noordam out of NYC, with the crossing in October to New York. Obviously, they haven’t gotten around to correcting the web site.

So ... that's that. I won't get another chance for the foreseeable future to cruise south from NYC to the Caribbean and back. :(

As I'm not really crazy about a larger ship, I'm wondering if they'll move one of the fleet from FLL to Tampa? (Which is closer for us).

I have no desire to sail the Noordam.... I don't care if it's in NY or FLL.

Or, better yet, NEW ORLEANS or MOBILE! :)

My TA was officially notified today of the cancelation of our Oct. 18, 2008

Noordam sailing out of NY. She will be going streight to Ft. Lauderdaul after

Europe. We were offered a shipboard credit and were able to rebook for the

same date out of LL, at the same price. Not happy, but there is not much

choice for Oct. Gayle

Gayle........ Sorry to hear about your cruise being cancelled. I know how much you love sailing from NY. Oh well...... Noordam is worth traveling to FLL in order to sail on her.

I'm so happy I have the February 6TH cruise booked on the Noordam. :) I really felt like I had found the perfect answer to my cruising without having to fly. I loved the Noordam, want to go someplace warm in the winter, and don't really care where. So, this was a perfect fit for us. I'm so sad that she won't be coming back to NY.

I really don't want to deal with flying in the middle of the winter with snow storms and flight delays.:(

I'm just talking to my Mom who was supposed to be on the 10/18/08 sailing. Her HAL PVP hasn't contacted her yet (but, then again, I told the HAL person about no more NYC in 2009 anyway :rolleyes: ).

My parents really have health problems, so flying's going to be an issue for them....this ought to be a fun week for me to figure out what they're going to do for next year...:rolleyes:

My parents really have health problems, so flying's going to be an issue for them....this ought to be a fun week for me to figure out what they're going to do for next year...:rolleyes:

That's sad to hear. :(

Do you suppose that you could lay a "leisurely family road-trip" on 'em?

During my folks later years, they enjoyed road trips... as long as they were reasonable lengths.

Good luck with the folks. :)

I'm just talking to my Mom who was supposed to be on the 10/18/08 sailing. Her HAL PVP hasn't contacted her yet (but, then again, I told the HAL person about no more NYC in 2009 anyway :rolleyes: ).

 

My parents really have health problems, so flying's going to be an issue for them....this ought to be a fun week for me to figure out what they're going to do for next year...:rolleyes:

Fortunately, you have lots of time to plan something and there are usually some Cunard sails during the winter.

I'm so happy I have the February 6TH cruise booked on the Noordam. :) I really felt like I had found the perfect answer to my cruising without having to fly. I loved the Noordam, want to go someplace warm in the winter, and don't really care where. So, this was a perfect fit for us. I'm so sad that she won't be coming back to NY.

 

I really don't want to deal with flying in the middle of the winter with snow storms and flight delays.:(

Nope............none of us from snow states like the flying in the middle of winter business. :(

Many of us don't like flying/getting through airports at all. :( No matter where; no matter when.

Rats! I really wanted to sail past the Statue of Liberty, preferably on a HAL ship. Durn. But I wouldn't mind sailing out of New Orleans. I could just hope the train down from Memphis. The train lets me take a whole lot more stuff, or better, bring back lots of stuff and never have to go through airport security. Yes, I know I have to go past security on a train, but not the 3 oz of liquid type of security.

Actually, I'd love to hop a steam boat here in Memphis to connect to a ship in New Orleans, but that is another thread.

Just a wild guess but maybe the Maasdam is being sold??

I was just on the phone with my parents, again...sheesh...gonna be a long night (but I love them too much to not be there for them).

Their medical problems preclude sitting for anything longer than about 30/45 minutes or so at a time - yet they cannot walk far either - it really stinks to be them. So, I'm trying to convince them that the flight (which they took a few years ago) wouldn't be all that bad. Dad's pretty resistant though (last time on a plane, Mom had a pulmonary embolism upon landing - we "lost" her 4 times that night). So, we'll have to see. Means probably doctors visits etc. to see what's OK for them.

Only Dad drives, so a road trip is out - and I'm booked up on vacation time already for next year (unless I hop the flight down with them/return same night and be in FLL when they return - lots of expenses for me with the recent marriage and new house).

BTW, Cunard is also pulling out of NYC pretty much after spring of 2008 as well (we all checked on Cunard's itineraries as well for my DH and myself before we booked Fall 2008 for ourselves on the Miracle).

Getting to be slim pickings out of this area - a real problem if people don't fly.