HAL needs some new itineraries in the Caribbean

[Hobbsey]

:) We booked that cruise, as well, and agree it is a nice itinerary. We love when we get that late departure from San Juan. :)

 

Thanks for mentioning that Maasdam cruise. I might have to look into it - I love that smaller ship and the itinerary for both the 10 and 11 day cruises are very intriguing and diverse. Always wanted to go to St. Lucia....I'm also pleased to see the omission of Aruba from both.

[kazu]

Thanks for mentioning that Maasdam cruise. I might have to look into it - I love that smaller ship and the itinerary for both the 10 and 11 day cruises are very intriguing and diverse. Always wanted to go to St. Lucia....I'm also pleased to see the omission of Aruba from both.

 

You are more than welcome - actually it was Sail as she posted the itinerary and that got me looking. So it's all her fault :D we're doing the March 2nd sailing. Unfortunately, Sail chose a different date.

 

One of these days, we will meet up I hope :):)

[Hobbsey]

Well if the price is right I'd consider either of these. I'd have to wait till april though - a good time to get away from work since things are slow here. Maybe the 6th if I can talk Becky into it.

 

Thanks again.

[innlady1]

HAL offers some of the best Caribbean itineraries, IMO - especially the Maasdam itineraries. We have been hoping that some of the other HAL ships would offer more of the ports offered by the Maasdam- to create more choices.

 

We just did a wonderful Noordam cruise to: St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados, Martinique, St. Thomas, and Half Moon Cay. Have wondered if they would consider changing St. Lucia to St. Kitts, and St. Thomas to Tortola, every other year, and perhaps make similar changes to the other Noordam 10 day offered-just for variety.

 

By the way, we thoroughly enjoyed Martinique and note that not that many ships stop there now. It was just beautiful- with good roads. Also, would like to see Guadeloupe on more itineraries. How do others feel about these ports?

 

I agree. We're repeating the same Maasdam itinerary we did last year. Getting tired of the "same old - same old" itineraries.

[diamondgirl54]

I love 7 day cruises and have been on many to the same ports over and over. I love sea days. I would love a cruise with 2 days at HMC and the rest at sea. It would be a good idea for saving on fuel for the cruise line also. There are many ports out there that I don't feel that safe at either.

[pms4104]

Princess is able to sell a 14 day itinerary on the Grand Princess. I wonder why HAL does not at least try to do so as well.

Sadly, that no longer is true. If you search Princess for the Carib season starting in the Fall, you will find only B2B (7 plus 7 day) for their 14 day itineraries. We are ever so glad we did the true 14 day on the Grand last Fall, as it no longer is offered. On our sailing, the first after the European season, there were only 1700 people onboard a ship that has a capacity for 2600 people.

 

Also, HAL used to offer true 14 day on the Maasdam. Unfortunately, they ran the identical itinerary for at least 3 years ... well, a full repeat was of little interest to us. And that's why we did the Grand last year. And now I believe that HAL's 14 day are really B2B sailings of 7 pluys 7.

 

Particularly in this economy, perhaps the cruiselines find it easier to sell the 7day as B2B ... a 7 day can be marketed alone or in combination with either of two other 7s for a 14 day. Makes for interesting logistics, but perhaps that's how they best can fill the ships.

[Hlitner]

Many of these islands do limit the size and/or number of ships. To be blunt, some islands like Anguilla and St Barts (we love this island) are places that attract a high-end clientele that does not want to share their paradise with a large ship and lots of passengers. The tourist infrastructure on some of these island is not good for cruise ships since there are not the large buses and places to go that satisfy the "we must take a ships' excursion" crowd. Some of the other island like Barbados and the Domincan Republic are visited by Princess, Celebrity (and RCI) who we think has done a lot (with Carnival) to expand ports in the Caribbean. But it is a double edge sword for the cruise lines. We were on the Grand Princess last fall when she made her first call (ever) into Santo Domingo (she was the largest ship to ever enter this harbor). Our ship barely made it into the port (cleared the bottom by about 6 feet) and the Captain even had the aft pool drained to get the stern a few inches higher (more clearance). DW and I loved the port and had a great day. But a majority of the passengers were upset because it was not a typical Caribbean port (no nice beaches close to the ship) and, my goodness, there was poverty. When we cruise to African and Asian ports that have lots of poverty, and passengers do not complain. But take the typical Caribbean passenger in a port without Diamond International , Columbian Emeralds, nice beaches, etc etc...they are not happy cruisers.

 

Hank

[pms4104]

...Our ship barely made it into the port (cleared the bottom by about 6 feet) and the Captain even had the aft pool drained to get the stern a few inches higher (more clearance). DW and I loved the port and had a great day.

Hank

When we were on the Grand and called on Santo Domingo, even with the aft pool drained, the Captain reported about a half meter's clearance ... something like 20 inches:eek:

[sail7seas]

We vacationed in Santo Domingo at least 6-7 times years and years ago and love it there. We returned on Rotterdam VI on Millenium Christmas/New Years Cruises and had wonderful visit. I wish HAL would cruise there.

 

We had a stop at Samana, Dominican Republic on our recent Noordam cruise but we didn't go ashore.

[Krazy Kruizers]

If those itineraries did well and made money, they would still be offered. It is probable they were not popular enough and profitable enough to continue.

 

for a few years the ryndam did the back-to-back 20 day itineraries out of san siego and they always sold out

the old noordam used to do the 14 day southern caribbean cruises out of tampa -- they always sold out -- then the veendam took over that schedule -- and they were always sold out -- you sailed that itinerary -- we took it as well -- very popular

there also used to be the pan/american 21 day cruise -- we did it a couple of times -- sold out months in advance all the time -- popular -- now gone

[sail7seas]

Times and people change.

We did that Veendam itinerary probably about 10+ years ago. In terms of cruise lines in this day and age, that's an eternity. We have done 14 day (not back-to-back) Caribbean cruises and loved them but we also like the 10 and 11 day itineraries.

 

Add a pre and post cruise stay and it's good. With 14 days cruises, it's minimum 17 days for us and I rather a few days shorter away from home, right now.

 

 

[kazu]

Times and people change.

We did that Veendam itinerary probably about 10+ years ago. In terms of cruise lines in this day and age, that's an eternity. We have done 14 day (not back-to-back) Caribbean cruises and loved them but we also like the 10 and 11 day itineraries.

 

Add a pre and post cruise stay and it's good. With 14 days cruises, it's minimum 17 days for us and I rather a few days shorter away from home, right now.

 

 

 

i'm with Sail on this one. If we are doing the Caribbean the 10/11 day does the trick. I prefer to save my longer cruises for the Med and/Med and transatlantic. Makes the flight worthwhile:)

[G&G]

the old noordam used to do the 14 day southern caribbean cruises out of tampa -- they always sold out -- then the veendam took over that schedule -- and they were always sold out -- you sailed that itinerary -- we took it as well -- very popular

 

 

We live in the Tampa Bay area and did this 14 day Southern Caribbean cruise out of Tampa two years in a row. It was on the Veendam & Ryndam and fabulous. What was great with this cruise was that it included ports in both the Western & Eastern Caribbean w/o returning to Tampa. Rarely do you see cruise ships sail both areas of the Caribbean that is not a back to back cruise. Now all the cruises on HAL out of Tampa are Western Caribbean ports :(.

[Randyk47]

We've kind of run the table on Caribbean ports and since we're destination cruisers, in the sense we like to go different places as much as possible, we're looking at different regions. For us though that's inherently a difficult problem as Mrs. K stills works and getting away for more than two weeks is difficult and more than three weeks almost impossible. Our booked Med cruise next year is a case in point as we'll be gone close on to three weeks with the cruise and pre and post-cruise days in Barcelona and Istanbul. She actually went to boss to see if he had any specific issues with her being gone that long. Turns out he didn't and we went ahead and booked the cruise but he also recognized it's not the norm and that a Med or any cruise to or in Europe or Asia or the South Pacific is a somewhat major undertaking.

[Infi]

Quite frankly, I think HAL has some of the best Caribbean itineraries out there. I know the feeling of being sick of a line's itineraries - I'm at the end of my rope with Celebrity's, personally - but HAL's are interesting to me. If you take out the standard 7 day eastern and westerns that every line offers, you still have quite a few choices. The 10 and 11 day ones on Maasdam intrigue me, and I'd like to try one of those in the future. Another important point to note is that HAL visits many islands other lines ignore, like St. Barth's and Martinique. That alone shows me that they put some effort into the itineraries, at least the longer ones.

 

Finally, as others have noted, there's only so many islands to visit anyway, and even less than can be visited during a 7 day travel time frame. HAL and Carnival corp have been trying their darndest to invent new ports for cruisers, so you know they're aware of the issue and trying to do something about it.

[sail7seas]

Cuba....... If the ships could sail to Cuba that would be a fabulous addition to itineraries IMO

 

(I don't mean anything political, just interest in travel options. We would try hard to be booked for the first HAL ship that (someday) sails to Havana.)

[m steve]

and there are a few islands that are rarely visited. Like Guadaloupe, Antigua, Nevis, some of the Bahama islands, Stacia, Barbuda, Tobago and Vieques off P.R. I'm sure some of the tonier islands like St. Barts and Saba don't want the average cruiser but rather the big spenders from the upscale cruise lines.

[innlady1]

and there are a few islands that are rarely visited. Like Guadaloupe, Antigua, Nevis, some of the Bahama islands, Stacia, Barbuda, Tobago and Vieques off P.R. I'm sure some of the tonier islands like St. Barts and Saba don't want the average cruiser but rather the big spenders from the upscale cruise lines.

 

The Maasdam does stop at St. Barts. We were there in February and will be on the Maasdam, same itinerary, next winter.

I have friends here who spend the winter in Vieques and from what I understand, it is gorgeous.

On our cruise, we met several people at the beach that were on a British ship from the Thomson Line (?).

They embarked/disembarked in Havana, Barbados, and Jamaica. The ones we spoke with were NOT impressed with Havana.

[elycelynne]

We did a seven day cruise from FLL on Westerdam to Curacao, Aruba and HMC. It was great.

 

I also like this itinerary and was thinking about doing it again this winter. Problem is, I was looking at January and (if memory serves me correctly) aside from the 6-day post-New Year's cruise, the rest of January is unavailable due to various jazz cruise charters.

 

I also wonder why there's only the difference of one island between the Eastern Caribbean itineraries for the Eurodam and the Nieuw Amsterdam? Seems kind of limiting if you want to try a new ship, only to realize that it's almost the same except for the substitution of St. Maarten for St. Thomas.

[innlady1]

Times and people change.

We did that Veendam itinerary probably about 10+ years ago. In terms of cruise lines in this day and age, that's an eternity. We have done 14 day (not back-to-back) Caribbean cruises and loved them but we also like the 10 and 11 day itineraries.

 

Add a pre and post cruise stay and it's good. With 14 days cruises, it's minimum 17 days for us and I rather a few days shorter away from home, right now.

 

 

We've done the 20 Collector's Cruise on the Noordam twice and this past winter, the 14 day Maasdam cruise. Each time, we've spent a few days pre-cruise in Fort Lauderdale, renting a car so we could drive up to Palm Beach, etc; then when we disembarked, we rented a car, and drove over to Naples for another week. It's a great way to spend time away from the Northeast!

[sail7seas]

We did that same Maasdam cruise in April/May and it was great. I would do it again.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

I also like this itinerary and was thinking about doing it again this winter. Problem is, I was looking at January and (if memory serves me correctly) aside from the 6-day post-New Year's cruise, the rest of January is unavailable due to various jazz cruise charters.

 

I also wonder why there's only the difference of one island between the Eastern Caribbean itineraries for the Eurodam and the Nieuw Amsterdam? Seems kind of limiting if you want to try a new ship, only to realize that it's almost the same except for the substitution of St. Maarten for St. Thomas.

 

besides the eurodam and the nieuw amsterdam -- you also have the westerdam doing nearly the same itinerary as the ryndam

four ships with too similar itineraries

[goodearth]

My question is--can HAL pay the port charge to overnight and allow guests to visit an area more intensely than the typical 6, 7, 8 hour layover in one day? I'm NOT talking about St Thomas here..........but places like the smaller islands, Martinique, Dominica, etc It would save fuel costs. I don't have any idea the cost for port charges---although in the end it may be a profitable alternative for HAL and customers...............we'd be 'in' on this--and it would shake up itinerary's because people could do more at their ports of call!

[airlink diva]

HAL offers some of the best Caribbean itineraries, IMO - especially the Maasdam itineraries. We have been hoping that some of the other HAL ships would offer more of the ports offered by the Maasdam- to create more choices.

 

We just did a wonderful Noordam cruise to: St. Maarten, St. Lucia, Barbados, Martinique, St. Thomas, and Half Moon Cay. Have wondered if they would consider changing St. Lucia to St. Kitts, and St. Thomas to Tortola, every other year, and perhaps make similar changes to the other Noordam 10 day offered-just for variety.

 

By the way, we thoroughly enjoyed Martinique and note that not that many ships stop there now. It was just beautiful- with good roads. Also, would like to see Guadeloupe on more itineraries. How do others feel about these ports?

 

Frankly I loved both Martinique and Guadeloupe!

I know alot of people on my sailings didn't care for these islands. But I (this is just my opinion) feel that some don't do any research prior to visiting. These islands are on the Euros which mean things are a bit more expensive. The English factor is limited. I knew this and adjusted. In Fort De France, I enjoyed walking the streets, going to the local market and supermarket (great prices on French wines even in Euros).

In Guadeloupe, I booked a non ship tour that I still rank as the best that I ever taken. I went to unnamed beaches that you had to cross cow pastures to get to, sugarcane fields, a local home that overlooked the ocean for lunch.

But I would love to head back to each one again!!

[Trader Ron]

HAL Ships should call on Grenada more often. A great island I.M.O. Cuba would also be a fine addition.