Zuiderdam leaving Caribbean

[WeatherBoy]

I just noticed from the HAL site, http://www.hollandamerica.com/dest/nextYearCalendar.do the Zuiderdam is sailing Alaska next summer. What happened to HAL's year-round presence in the Caribbean they were trying to establish? I guess those polar bears by the pool were really a clue.

[RevNeal]

What happened to HAL's year-round presence in the Caribbean they were trying to establish? I guess those polar bears by the pool were really a clue.

 

They had established it with other ships many years ago and it was taken over by the Zuiderdam when she came online. Now, they've dropped it ... I think, based on conversations we've had on this board relative to the subject, the cause is the Hurricane problem, though I'm not sure. Frankly, Cruises to the Caribbean in the Summer never really appealed to me ... but I know they did to others. Personally, I consider it a shame that the Zuiderdam -- or, at least, some ship -- won't be in the Caribbean during the summer months.

[sail7seas]

HAL will have no ships in the Caribbean a full six months out of 2006. So much for us sun-lovers!!!

 

No HAL ships from mid April through mid October. :(

 

[sail7seas]

They had established it with other ships many years ago and it was taken over by the Zuiderdam when she came online. Now, they've dropped it ... I think, based on conversations we've had on this board relative to the subject, the cause is the Hurricane problem, though I'm not sure. Frankly, Cruises to the Caribbean in the Summer never really appealed to me ... but I know they did to others. Personally, I consider it a shame that the Zuiderdam -- or, at least, some ship -- won't be in the Caribbean during the summer months.

 

 

It used to be that any year a new ship joined the fleet, that ship spent the summer in the Caribbean. On years when there was no new ship, there was always one 'dam' ship or another.

We cruised on Veendam, Zaandam, Zuiderdam and I don't recall which others during their Inaugural summers.

[RevNeal]

S7S, you are essentially correct ... with one tiny little exception: The Amsterdam will be making a Panama Canal Transit and crossing the Caribbean, with stops in Cartagena, Grand Cayman, and Ft. Lauderdale in May.

 

I know ... that's not a Caribbean cruise ... but still ... :D

 

Apart from THAT little sprint across the Caribbean in early May, no HAL ships in the Caribbean until October. You're right.

[sail7seas]

In order to be totally accurate, I think it appropriate to add that Amsterdam cruise boards on April 21 in San Diego. (Most people think of Caribbean HAL cruises boarding in Florida---and Norfolk for Maasdam----yes, there are a few exceptions.)

 

Also, it is either a 15 or 18 days cruise depending upon whether you disembark in FLL or stay aboard to cruise to New York. Most of us think of a HAL Caribbean cruise as being 7 - 10 days----usually.

 

It is a Panama Canal repositioning cruise (HAL calls it a Panama Canal cruise) bringing the ship to New York for her transatlantic crossing.

 

No......I don't call that a 'Caribbean cruise' per se.

 

So long as we are going to :D 'be picky' ;) Seeing as it boards on April 21.....that is mid-April; that is among the last boarding for a ship that will be in that region until mid-October as I originally pointed out.