Adios, statendam

[c-legs]

Today, the elder '' stateslady'' of the Fleet, MS Statendam, is docked

in Vancouver for the last time in her illustrious career.

She'll be missed.

A lot of us cruise afficionados, specially HAL's troopers, will be at the Pier to salute her properly as she sails away.

Very good weather here today....a bit anticlimatic....

22 years of valuable service for HAL is a feat not matched too often in our industry.

Cheers

 

sniff.....

[PathfinderEss]

Today, the elder '' stateslady'' of the Fleet, MS Statendam, is docked

in Vancouver for the last time in her illustrious career.

She'll be missed.

A lot of us cruise afficionados, specially HAL's troopers, will be at the Pier to salute her properly as she sails away.

Very good weather here today....a bit anticlimatic....

22 years of valuable service for HAL is a feat not matched too often in our industry.

Cheers

 

sniff.....

I'm with you c-legs, double sniff.:(

[CruiseWhere]

Triple sniff!!! As much as people complained about the wading pools, or whatever you want to call them at the sea view area, she holds some of the dearest memoires made!! I will miss her!!:(

[Krazy Kruizers]

We will miss her as well even though we sailed on the Ryndam more than on the Statendam.

[luvtwotrvl]

I will definitely miss the Statendam! Sorry to see her go.

 

David

[ceeceecruiser]

I will definitely miss the Statendam! Sorry to see her go.

 

David

 

I hope that something special will be done at the Port to give her a special farewell. I'm watching it from our deck.

[tomvet]

Where is she going?

[Tante Amalie]

I'll miss the Statendam. We had several wonderful cruises on her, including the 30 day South America trip earlier this year. It was great.

 

But what I'll really miss is the old HAL business model. The departure of the Statendam is one more step in the transition from smaller ships that emphasized great service to larger and more impersonal vessels with higher density. The switch from the Statendam to the Konigsdam is symbolic of a new HAL strategy. The Konigsdam has almost nothing to offer that the Statendam lacked (at least for things I value), but doubles the passenger load and is likely to give you longer lines, crowded dining, and greater competition for scarce resources, like chairs at the pool or seats in the theater. I'm sad to see HAL go down this road and the loss of the Statendam is another step in this direction.

[ceeceecruiser]

The ms Ryndam and ms Statendam, are being transferred to the P&O Cruises Australia fleet. The ms Statendam is just about to depart Vancouver on its final journey from N. America to Singapore. Each ship will be refurbished and reconfigured to add features tailored for Australian and New Zealand passengers.

[Iwant2BatC]

I'll miss the Statendam. We had several wonderful cruises on her, including the 30 day South America trip earlier this year. It was great.

 

 

 

But what I'll really miss is the old HAL business model. The departure of the Statendam is one more step in the transition from smaller ships that emphasized great service to larger and more impersonal vessels with higher density. The switch from the Statendam to the Konigsdam is symbolic of a new HAL strategy. The Konigsdam has almost nothing to offer that the Statendam lacked (at least for things I value), but doubles the passenger load and is likely to give you longer lines, crowded dining, and greater competition for scarce resources, like chairs at the pool or seats in the theater. I'm sad to see HAL go down this road and the loss of the Statendam is another step in this direction.

 

 

You sum it up beautifully!!

[igraf]

In all fairness, HAL maintained favorable passenger to space ratios throughout the Vista-class ships. At least until some of the public decks were replaced by the new cabins in the latest dry dock makeovers. I would also add that the added public venues in the Vista-class ships like the external glass elevators and the BB King Blues Club in the Queen's Lounge are a bona fide improvement over the older ships

 

Unfortunately, the trend is towards larger crowds, less favorable space ratios and privatized deck space as seen in the newer Signature and Pinnacle class ships.

 

igraf

 

 

 

 

....But what I'll really miss is the old HAL business model. The departure of the Statendam is one more step in the transition from smaller ships that emphasized great service to larger and more impersonal vessels with higher density. The switch from the Statendam to the Konigsdam is symbolic of a new HAL strategy. The Konigsdam has almost nothing to offer that the Statendam lacked (at least for things I value), but doubles the passenger load and is likely to give you longer lines, crowded dining, and greater competition for scarce resources, like chairs at the pool or seats in the theater. I'm sad to see HAL go down this road and the loss of the Statendam is another step in this direction.