HAL is surveying itineraries for future world cruises

[mwj]

HAL has released a 42 day cruise roundtrip from Sydney in Jan 26.

 

[Tampa Girl]

5 hours ago, mwj said:

Here is a small picture of the 2018 Grand Asia

 

 

What marvelous memories this picture brings forth!  Thank you for posting it.  One of our favorite pictures is that of the training site for the sled racing dogs in Kamchatskiy, not to mention looking at about six "Mt. Fuji's:, across the sound from Petropavlovsk.  Beautiful!  Unfortunately, that port is not likely to be re-visited on any future Grand Asia..  

[scubadawg]

2 hours ago, mwj said:

HAL has released a 42 day cruise roundtrip from Sydney in Jan 26.

 

We put the 28 day legendary voyage on hold Fri and booked it today. Does Sydney to Auckland starti g Jan 4th 2026. We had been to NZ before but will add some time at the end. Looks like a great itinerary. 

[OlsSalt]

27 minutes ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

What marvelous memories this picture brings forth!  Thank you for posting it.  One of our favorite pictures is that of the training site for the sled racing dogs in Kamchatskiy, not to mention looking at about six "Mt. Fuji's:, across the sound from Petropavlovsk.  Beautiful!  Unfortunately, that port is not likely to be re-visited on any future Grand Asia..  

 

We had been chasing puffins all over Norway and Iceland, and never saw a single one. But there floating in the Petropavlosk Bay, we finally saw a puffin. Now we could believe it was not a mythical creature after all.  even though this was a Pacific Ocean/Alaska puffin.

 

Were you also on one of the last  Maasdam In-Depth cruises that took us deep into Russia Far East and on to Japan?

 

[Boatdrill]

On 1/20/2024 at 6:42 AM, cruisemom42 said:

Why don't any of them visit Japan and China?

Perhaps it's because at that time of year,  it's winter in the North Pacific.  

[cruisemom42]

9 minutes ago, Boatdrill said:

Perhaps it's because at that time of year,  it's winter in the North Pacific.  

 

As already pointed out upthread, the 2024 WC is going to Japan and China, and the temps are not that off-putting. 

[Tampa Girl]

16 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

 

We had been chasing puffins all over Norway and Iceland, and never saw a single one. But there floating in the Petropavlosk Bay, we finally saw a puffin. Now we could believe it was not a mythical creature after all.  even though this was a Pacific Ocean/Alaska puffin.

 

Were you also on one of the last  Maasdam In-Depth cruises that took us deep into Russia Far East and on to Japan?

 

 

Unfortunately we were not on that cruise. In What year was the cruise?  BTW, we, too, never glimpsed a puffin in Iceland - nor in Petropavlosk Bay, although, honestly, I probably would not have recognized one since I had not yet been to Iceland and had seen puffin pictures by the hundreds.  Interesting and appealing birds.

[mwj]

Getting back to the world cruise survey, what I find interesting is that four of the five itineraries include Antarctica. It's almost as if they have already decided to include Antarctica. The last option without Antarctica may have been added at the last minute. I'm not crazy about A or the eastward itinerary. The other three are acceptable to me.

 

Personally, what I would like to see isn't among the options given. How about a pole to pole with Asia.

South America/Antarctica

Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific

Southeast Asia/Indonesia/Philippines

Japan/Korea/China

Alaska/Arctic Circle

 

A 'world' cruise ala the '25 P2P ... '26 P2P

[cruisemom42]

36 minutes ago, mwj said:

Getting back to the world cruise survey, what I find interesting is that four of the five itineraries include Antarctica. It's almost as if they have already decided to include Antarctica. The last option without Antarctica may have been added at the last minute. I'm not crazy about A or the eastward itinerary. The other three are acceptable to me.

 

Personally, what I would like to see isn't among the options given. How about a pole to pole with Asia.

South America/Antarctica

Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific

Southeast Asia/Indonesia/Philippines

Japan/Korea/China

Alaska/Arctic Circle

 

A 'world' cruise ala the '25 P2P ... '26 P2P

 

I like it!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

21 hours ago, mwj said:

HAL has released a 42 day cruise roundtrip from Sydney in Jan 26.

 

Looks good.

[WriterOnDeck]

21 hours ago, mwj said:

Getting back to the world cruise survey, what I find interesting is that four of the five itineraries include Antarctica. It's almost as if they have already decided to include Antarctica. The last option without Antarctica may have been added at the last minute. I'm not crazy about A or the eastward itinerary. The other three are acceptable to me.

 

Personally, what I would like to see isn't among the options given. How about a pole to pole with Asia.

South America/Antarctica

Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific

Southeast Asia/Indonesia/Philippines

Japan/Korea/China

Alaska/Arctic Circle

 

A 'world' cruise ala the '25 P2P ... '26 P2P

It's a Grand Asia with some of SA added in. I like it! Especially if they add more new Asia ports.

[Boatdrill]

On 1/22/2024 at 2:47 PM, cruisemom42 said:

 

As already pointed out upthread, the 2024 WC is going to Japan and China, and the temps are not that off-putting. 

Please see Heidi13's post #23

"Japan is also in the winter months and is further north than they usually want to travel, when making it around the World in 100 - 130 days."

 

 

[Cruising Is Bliss]

I had no trouble eliminating #D (Eastbound with 4 months with waaaaay too many 23 hour days, no, and also, **** NO!) and #E (no Antarctica drive-by).

 

I'm tentatively ranking the other three as #A, #C, #B but I'll do any of them.

The emailed survey included picking favorite ships, current and past, and I picked Amsterdam, Zaandam, Volendam.

 

Edited January 25 by Cruising Is Bliss

[Cruising Is Bliss]

On 1/20/2024 at 6:16 PM, cruzingnut said:

With the 2 smaller ships we have left, we could most definitely get to some "rarer" ports that the larger ones can't.  That would help if the WC could go back to that size ship.  Plus, some places are starting to limit the size of ships and not allowing them in (Major case in point for us is Bora Bora!).

 

Linda R.

 

Agreed. Interesting that the survey asked about ship preference. I would love to do a world cruise on Zaandam or Volendam.

[cruzingnut]

7 hours ago, Cruising Is Bliss said:

 

Agreed. Interesting that the survey asked about ship preference. I would love to do a world cruise on Zaandam or Volendam.

 

I know exactly why they were asking about ship preference.  Last year was the first year they did it on a larger ship.  The smaller ships are set up for long cruises in that they have more storage below for supplies.  They also have more storage in the cabins for passengers.  You usually need different clothing for where you are going to be around the world.  The larger ships were designed more for short trips and we heard stories of toilet paper and other supplies being stored in unsold cabins!  On prior world cruises (I've taken several starting back in 2010) they had several Balls that were held in the showroom.  There is a dance floor in that venue so it worked well for as many people that wanted to, to gather there.  On the Zuiderdam last year, we had one "ball" and it was split up between 3 venues; Rolling Rock, Ocean Bar and Billboard Online.  Each venue had music that represented those venues.  For us, we wanted to go to Ocean Bar since that music suits us more than the others.  We couldn't get near it so went to Billboard and at least found a couple places to sit.  Rolling Rock was busy, but too loud and not really what we wanted.  Not that we wanted Billboard, we just wanted to be part of the celebration SOMEwhere.  We stayed a short while and then went to our cabin. 

 

All of the world cruises we did (4 1/2) were on the Amsterdam.  I LOVED that ship.  Just like coming home any time we boarded her.  I tried, I really did, to transfer that over to the Zuiderdam.  I even went around saying "Different home, same family".  Meaning that the crew, who we consider extended family, was the same.  They worked hard, really hard and did the best they could.  Henk and his staff worked their butts off to adapt the world cruise to that ship.  For us, it didn't really work, much as I wanted it to.  Although, there were lots of issues along the way that didn't help the situation.  Supply issues; one country wouldn't give us 8 whole containers of supplies that we were counting on, etc. 

 

I'll admit that I'm very biased towards the smaller ships and I'm not saying I won't go on a WC on one of the larger ones (we aren't on this years).  We had over 900 days on the Amsterdam so it's quite understandable that she is/was our all time favorite ship. 

 

One last thing to consider with smaller ships is the places you can go!  Over the years, we visited some very out of the way places and docked places that the larger ships will never be able to.  And, considering some small ports around the world are beginning to limit the size of the ships they let in...I think it's wise to stick to smaller ships.  Otherwise it will be the same old, same old for every world cruise.

 

Wow, I didn't plan on writing all that but there ya go!

 

Linda R.

 

 

[cruisemom42]

I love the smaller ships too. The conundrum for me (and please don't jump on me, HAL loyalists), is that I would worry about issues with things like A/C and plumbing on the HAL smaller ships -- which also happen to be the HAL older ships -- on a long voyage.

 

I have taken 2 cruises on Oceania this year (on their smaller ships) and 2 on Azamara (same smaller ships) and I have to say that I feel those vessels are maintained to a higher standard, that the relevant managements put money into keeping them "fit to sail." My perspective isn't helped by a bad experience on an older HAL ship a few years back (A/C issues, which are big for me), and also by all the tales I heard from Oceania folks about how Princess did not maintain the last Renaissance ship they sold to O, and how much O had to put into her to bring her back to a reasonable level.

 

Now maybe Princess isn't HAL, but there is a certain corporate philosophy at play. This mental hurdle is hard for me to get over.

 

(Although a related thought just occurred to me -- if the ship A/C labors under equatorial conditions, all the more reason to visit some cooler climes....)

 

 

 

[HappyInVan]

22 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

I love the smaller ships too. The conundrum for me (and please don't jump on me, HAL loyalists), is that I would worry about issues with things like A/C and plumbing on the HAL smaller ships -- which also happen to be the HAL older ships -- on a long voyage.

 

I have taken 2 cruises on Oceania this year (on their smaller ships) and 2 on Azamara (same smaller ships) and I have to say that I feel those vessels are maintained to a higher standard, that the relevant managements put money into keeping them "fit to sail." My perspective isn't helped by a bad experience on an older HAL ship a few years back (A/C issues, which are big for me), and also by all the tales I heard from Oceania folks about how Princess did not maintain the last Renaissance ship they sold to O, and how much O had to put into her to bring her back to a reasonable level...

 

 

That's exactly what I'm worried about. I had a nice Vista suite on the Volendam. The roof panels rattled heavily for a day and night on an Alaska cruise. Stopped once we reached sheltered waters. It would be extremely unacceptable for a TA or TP itinerary.

 

Then, there's the hot water problem I had in a Noordam Signature suite. Completely unacceptable for the price that HAL is trying to charge. For the same $ per day, I have booked a veranda in MSC's Yacht Club.

 

 

[mwj]

One item of interest with respect to the World/Grand Cruise and small ships is that the February Amazon cruise will likely NOT be occurring in 2026. Why is that, because it is scheduled for November 2025. So, is the Volendam going to be used for the World Cruise in 2026, or is there another Grand Cruise during the winter of 2026 for the Volendam? Personally, given most of the potential itineraries for the World Cruise include Antarctica, I wouldn't be surprised if the Volendam is the ship for the WC 2026.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

9 minutes ago, mwj said:

One item of interest with respect to the World/Grand Cruise and small ships is that the February Amazon cruise will likely NOT be occurring in 2026. Why is that, because it is scheduled for November 2025. So, is the Volendam going to be used for the World Cruise in 2026, or is there another Grand Cruise during the winter of 2026 for the Volendam? Personally, given most of the potential itineraries for the World Cruise include Antarctica, I wouldn't be surprised if the Volendam is the ship for the WC 2026.

I agree with you.

[jimdee3636]

This is probably a distinctly minority opinion, but I don't mind the "23 hour day" aspect of an eastbound cruise (assuming, of course, the overall itinerary is better than the other options). Assuming the cruise started and ended at the same port (FLL or wherever), the maximum number of 23 hour days would be 24, less than one day in five on average. (Yeah, I know, there'd be times when the time changes are on consecutive days, but they would be balanced out by longer stretches when there'd be no changing the clocks for a week or more). 

 

Whether I'm at home or on vacation, I'm an early riser. And I always wake up hungry! Let me tell you, it's torture for an early riser to deal with 25 hour days on ships. You wake up at your usual time, but it's not 6:00AM, it's 5:00AM. Nothing is open! You can't even get coffee in the Lido. The only cruise line that solves that problem is Princess, which has a 24-hour "International Cafe" that serves excellent coffee and espresso, along with bagels, muffins, and breakfast sandwiches. It's a godsend for people like me, and I know from my experience on Princess that I'm hardly the only one needing an early morning food and coffee fix. In most respects, Princess is nowhere near as good as HAL, but I'll give credit where it's due. 

 

Jim

[OlsSalt]

HAL has 24 hour room service; not the same thing as a 24 hour cafe, but at  least you can stay in your pajamas at 5am in the morning.

[DCThunder]

23 minutes ago, jimdee3636 said:

This is probably a distinctly minority opinion, but I don't mind the "23 hour day" aspect of an eastbound cruise ...

I totally agree with this.  I'd much rather lose an hour a day than lose 5, 6, or 7 hours all at once on an eastbound flight to Europe from the East Coast of the USA, let alone 8 or more hours flying eastbound to the Middle East.

 

I'm flying home from Sydney via Fiji and LAX next November and I'm already dreading it.  Will be doing a Trans-Pac to get to Oz, but have to fly home when it's done.

[cruisemom42]

The occasional one-hour loss would not bother or affect me any more than the occasional one-hour gain.

 

[Cruise Junky]

We’re in the market for a WC. If HAL went back to the old small ships, they’d be out of consideration.  Wouldn’t even consider it.  

[cruzingnut]

@jimdee3636, @OlsSalt, @DCThunder, @cruisemom42

 

The 2010 WC went east....we dubbed it "The Wrong Way Cruise".  The time changed on sea days for the most part and was done midday.  2PM came along and it was immediately changed to 3PM.  It made it a bit easier during the day, rather than at night but it was still pretty brutal overall.  It was nice not to loose an hour at night but it was still hard.  Plus, (not us) a lot of people were pretty peeved at NOT having their chosen activities happening due to the lost hour.

 

The bonus of this direction was that we went to Asia area in the spring.  Cebu Island had all the cherry Trees in blossom; that was amazing!  We also went to Petropavlovsk before crossing back to the US and had a great experience there.  I don't think Russia will be on any cruise anymore though...

 

The other thing about this cruise was that it was NOT a true circumnavigation.  It began in Ft. Lauderdale and ended in San Diego.  Despite the direction of travel and not going all the way around the world, we loved the trip (of course, it was our first WC) and felt it was worth it overall.  More "jaded" now, I'd prefer not to travel that way at this point.

 

Linda R.