HAL and shipping history

[zhuangcorp]

One reason I chose HAL is that because I loved the shipping traditions, and the connection to history. HAL used to transport people and goods from Netherlands to America. If you watch Titanic movie, that shipping line is not operated by Cunard. 

 

I found this interesting article that says only MSC line is still operating shipping business. 

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/how-container-shippings-historic-boom-funded-a-2b-cruise-bailout

 

Anyway, when you are on the HAL cruise, do you feel connection to the heritage? Are there old photos and posters and memorabilia? 

[FlaMariner]

very connected to HAL's storied history....

 

If it is still showing (it was in December), go see "Origin Story" when onboard.....Great presentation...with great video...telling the history of HAL and ending with HAL's covid story.....

 

some of the ships have great pictures of the glory days of transatlantic travel with passengers and staff....those pics lined the hallways in the cabin floors.

 

Lot's of things around that remind you of HAL's history.....Always a pic of the Dutch King....Orange buttons & belts on the crew uniforms....the Dutch Cafe.....Other folks will chime in with more....Seems like there are always Dutch passengers onboard.....And the Captain is usually Dutch.....The crew is still mostly Indonesian (former Dutch colony).  

 

I feel it. 

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

MSC has been in cargo for almost twice as long as it has been in cruises, and are the largest cargo shipper in the world. So, they aren't "still" in the cargo business. They dominate the shipping business.

 

Not sure what your comment about Titanic is all about. Titanic was operated by White Star Lines, which did both cargo and cruise operations. White Star did merge into Cunard.

 

The only connection with Holland America is that, yes, HAL did both cargo and pax for a long time, including immigrants. Some call White Star's and HAL's ships of the time "sisters" because they were built to the same plans on the same ways.. And, most relevant to Titanic, HAL's Ryndam was a in communication with, and a responder to the sinking of Titanic. 

 

 

[zhuangcorp]

28 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

very connected to HAL's storied history....

 

If it is still showing (it was in December), go see "Origin Story" when onboard.....Great presentation...with great video...telling the history of HAL and ending with HAL's covid story.....

 

some of the ships have great pictures of the glory days of transatlantic travel with passengers and staff....those pics lined the hallways in the cabin floors.

 

Lot's of things around that remind you of HAL's history.....Always a pic of the Dutch King....Orange buttons & belts on the crew uniforms....the Dutch Cafe.....Other folks will chime in with more....Seems like there are always Dutch passengers onboard.....And the Captain is usually Dutch.....The crew is still mostly Indonesian (former Dutch colony).  

 

I feel it. 

 

 

Wonderful! This is exactly the type of thing that I love. 

[zhuangcorp]

22 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

MSC has been in cargo for almost twice as long as it has been in cruises, and are the largest cargo shipper in the world. So, they aren't "still" in the cargo business. They dominate the shipping business.

 

Not sure what your comment about Titanic is all about. Titanic was operated by White Star Lines, which did both cargo and cruise operations. White Star did merge into Cunard.

 

The only connection with Holland America is that, yes, HAL did both cargo and pax for a long time, including immigrants. Some call White Star's and HAL's ships of the time "sisters" because they were built to the same plans on the same ways.. And, most relevant to Titanic, HAL's Ryndam was a in communication with, and a responder to the sinking of Titanic. 

 

 

Didn't know that about the Ryndam, that is very cool historic bit. 

 

About Titanic, I just think its cool that such an iconic and cultural piece of history is still connected to use today, by means of White Star's merger with Cunard and that Cunard is still operating today. It's fun to watch any of the movies about Titanic and watch how the passengers ate and carried on their stays and how that connects to use today. It feels like we are carrying on their old traditions, but with modern updates of course. 

 

From the 1997 film, I remember a kid playing shuffleboard, which is still on HAL today. And I remember a scene where the passengers were having church worship service, but I don't know if that still exists on cruise lines. Gyms were on titanic and still exist today. All of these little nuggets help me to appreciate the shipping tradition and culture. 

[OlsSalt]

Friday is the 110th anniversary of the Titanic's sinking. A local movie theater is having a special re-showing of the documentary of discovery of the Titanic, along with the instructive animation they were able to reconstruct once they had found her. 

[Tampa Girl]

9 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

Friday is the 110th anniversary of the Titanic's sinking. A local movie theater is having a special re-showing of the documentary of discovery of the Titanic, along with the instructive animation they were able to reconstruct once they had found her. 

 

How interesting!  Thank you for posting this info.

[rafinmd]

3 hours ago, zhuangcorp said:

I found this interesting article that says only MSC line is still operating shipping business. 

Disagree on that.  While they divested themselves of Crystal several years ago NYK still operates a cruise ship for the Japanese Market, MS Asuka II.

 

Roy

[tntornadox]

I began my fascination with ships and cruising when I first read about the Titanic as a child... it was very tough being a Titanic buff pre-1997 movie, I tell you! But that movie really unlocked a flood of material of shipping history and for that, I am grateful.

 

You are correct that White Star was forced to merge into Cunard during the Depression to become the Cunard-White Star Line. Eventually Cunard bought out the White Star portion and the name reverted back to simply Cunard Line, which it remains to this day. Cunard, much like HAL, was saved by Carnival Corporation. Cunard was on its last legs and had been suffering under lethargic ownership for a long time. HAL was doing much better when it was bought but the fleet has grown massively and the line's reach is truly worldwide thanks to Carnival Corporation.

 

All this to say, I do feel a connection to HAL's heritage while onboard. It's the closest thing to the heyday of ocean liners for many of us since Cunard very rarely cruises from U.S. shores. As has been mentioned, they've taken this and ran with it with the new "Origin Story" welcome aboard show. I saw it two weeks ago aboard the Rotterdam and it was simply fantastic.

 

As an aside, there is a HAL connection to the Titanic as has been mentioned. In fact, several HAL liners sent Titanic ice warnings on that fateful voyage. It was even mentioned briefly during the 1997 movie, a short clip of which can be found online as the captain is showing off the bridge to Rose and her companions... "another ice warning. This one's from the Noordam."

[cruiseaholic78]

If anyone is in Rotterdam this is an interesting place to visit, the former office of the HAL at the pier where many left for America and nowadays still leave to start a cruise.

https://hotelnewyork.com
There is also mention of the SS Rotterdam which is now a hotel/restaurant/museum, also definitely worth a visit.

Rosalyn

 

Edited April 15, 2022 by cruiseaholic78

[zhuangcorp]

oh wow! That is such a fascinating story! Thanks for sharing. I love this kind of history. I hope they show the origin story video on Koningsdam. 

[zhuangcorp]

I plan to watch both Titanic 1997 and Night to Remember before my cruise to help me get into the mood. 

 

I don't know if there are any other good movies that are based on cruising. 

[oakridger]

"The Poseidon Adventure"??..........Well, maybe not!   😳

[ski ww]

If you go to page 4 there is an excellent post about HAL history by Copper 10-8, called "Holland America Line pop qiuz"

[Caribbean Chris]

The Origin Story is very well done. Each cruise director currently assigned on board introduces it and provides some of the narration. 

 

I’ve loved the heritage and nautical antiques I’ve seen on the ships. When Rotterdam VII debuted last year, passengers received a blue Dutch-made commemorative plate to mark the new ship’s arrival. The main dining room had a display of the past Rotterdam ships’ similar plates. 
 

For additional interesting information about the tragic Titanic sinking, visit Halifax, Nova Scotia on a New England/Canada cruise. The maritime museum near where the ships dock has furnishings and passengers’  items recovered floating on the surface waters during the rescue attempt by local mariners. (The museum’s policy is to never buy or display artifacts brought up since the wreck was discovered since it represents a final resting place for so many.)

 

Also on Halifax is the section of a cemetery with some of the recovered passengers’ graves, paid for by White Star Line.

[dawei]

Zhuangcorp---You DEFINITELY need to goto captainalbert.com where you will find a wealth of historical info about Holland America, its ships, captains and just about everything you can think of in HAL's shipping and pax history in Captain Albert's blog.

 

One piece of info that comes to mind from the blog in light of your interest in HAL's shipping history:  Early in the transatlantic passenger business, westbound to NYC, HAL carried a full load of pax in the ship's holds. Dorms and private rooms were created using removable wooden walls/bulkheads. Then, after pax arrived in NYC, these wooden partitions were taken down to create basically empty hold sections for cargo that was then loaded onboard for the ship's return trip to Holland. HAL used this system successfully for a number of years.

 

David

 

 

[OlsSalt]

11 hours ago, cruiseaholic78 said:

If anyone is in Rotterdam this is an interesting place to visit, the former office of the HAL at the pier where many left for America and nowadays still leave to start a cruise.

https://hotelnewyork.com
There is also mention of the SS Rotterdam which is now a hotel/restaurant/museum, also definitely worth a visit.

Rosalyn

 

 

You reminded me of our first HALa departure from Rotterdam, before they expanded the cruise terminal facilities.

 

Then  one could view the historic godowns across from the ship with their romantic  far away places and strange sounding names, that hooked me totally on the romance of the Dutch East India sailing destinations:  Borneo......Java ....... Sumatra.........Celebes ...................

 

So glad to see on a later visit to the Rotterdam port those building with their enticing names are still there, just slightly removed from the direct sight lines.

 

 

 

Edited April 15, 2022 by OlsSalt

[rotjeknor]

3 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

 

You reminded me of our first HALa departure from Rotterdam, before they expanded the cruise terminal facilities.

 

Then  one could view the historic godowns across from the ship with their romantic  far away places and strange sounding names, that hooked me totally on the romance of the Dutch East India sailing destinations:  Borneo......Java ....... Sumatra.........Celebes ...................

 

So glad to see on a later visit to the Rotterdam port those building with their enticing names are still there, just slightly removed from the direct sight lines.

 

 

 

I remember going to the pier in the sixties and early seventies when we went to pick up or say goodbye to my father as he went to sea or came back, all the activity going on . Freighters being unloaded, passengers coming and going . Very busy . And the smell of bales of coffee and tea coming out the warehouses with those exotic names … Borneo, Java, Sumatra and Celebes…… And now my dentist is one of those buildings..😳

[cruisetravlr]

As others have stated, the movie on the “Origin Story” is excellent!  It was shown twice on our 11-day cruise and we highly recommended it to fellow passengers.  Also, many old pictures are on the walls of the cabin areas. It makes a pleasant trip back to your quarters. We tried to take a stroll down different decks each time we returned. And, some memorabilia can be found on the walks throughout the ship (at least on the Eurodam). Be sure to explore every nook and cranny!  There is a daily Catholic Mass on every cruise (at least they try to have a priest on board). And other denominations have passenger-run services. Enjoy your adventure!

Thank you to all who provided insights into the Titanic as I have been a fan since long before Jack and Rose.  😏