Is HAL considering cruising out of Norfolk, VA?

[Orcrone]

I just filled out an online questionaire from HAL. One of the questions was "which homeport do you prefer cruising from?" One of the options is Norfolk, VA. As we live only 20 minutes from the cruise terminal I'd love to see them return. If you go to the HAL website they don't list Norfolk as a departure port.

 

Has anyone heard any rumors about HAL returning to Norfolk?

[rebeljohn]

I wish they would.............I like the three hour drive vs. going to Florida.........Their port area has been redone, so it would be wise for some cruise line to use it..............wish it was HAL..............

[Orcrone]

I wish they would.............I like the three hour drive vs. going to Florida.........Their port area has been redone, so it would be wise for some cruise line to use it..............wish it was HAL..............

Carnival sails out of there for three 6-day Bahama cruises and a couple of cruises to nowhere. RCI is doing some Bermuda, Canada/New England and Caribbean cruises from Norfolk also. I'd just like to see some more choices.

[hammybee]

HAL used to sail out of there, didn't they?

 

Why did they stop doing so?

[CDRMark]

HAL used to sail out of there, didn't they?

 

Why did they stop doing so?

Maasdam was here for 2.5 years. We did two cruises on her from here. Wonderful, but wrong ship/port mix. Time/distance required her to go max speed through the Bermuda Triangle chop and she had some engineering issues causing her to be late a little too often. Norfolk's cruise "facility" at that time was an improv that no one liked. (New one is very nice) So rather than replace her here the Noordam went to NYC for the same itinerary with no on-time issues.

Sigh

We are looking at the cruises from here as they are SOOO convenient, but cannot get excited about the itineraries/ships/lines.

Cheers

Mark

[CDRMark]

I just filled out an online questionaire from HAL. One of the questions was "which homeport do you prefer cruising from?" One of the options is Norfolk, VA. As we live only 20 minutes from the cruise terminal I'd love to see them return. If you go to the HAL website they don't list Norfolk as a departure port.

 

Has anyone heard any rumors about HAL returning to Norfolk?

Hey Marc!

On our last Maasdam cruise Captain Van der Loo said that HAL was still very interested in sailing from Norfolk, but I don't know how much of that was "feel good' speak. Friends in the "City" are interested in any line at all but some have expressed a preference for HAL. HALs crew was well regarded and they loved it here (the crew I spoke with said it was very inexpensive around town and everybody was friendly).

Let's keep hopin'!

Cheers

Mark

[madelinerose]

Norfolk would work for us, but Baltimore would be even better. We're 7 miles from the port. ;)

[CDRMark]

Interestingly, (or not...) Fred Olson, Seabourn and Princess all have ships calling here in October.

Cheers

Mark

[hammybee]

Maasdam was here for 2.5 years. We did two cruises on her from here. Wonderful, but wrong ship/port mix. Time/distance required her to go max speed through the Bermuda Triangle chop and she had some engineering issues causing her to be late a little too often. Norfolk's cruise "facility" at that time was an improv that no one liked. (New one is very nice) So rather than replace her here the Noordam went to NYC for the same itinerary with no on-time issues.

Sigh

We are looking at the cruises from here as they are SOOO convenient, but cannot get excited about the itineraries/ships/lines.

Cheers

Mark

 

I am obviously not familiar with the intineraries. I wonder if fuel costs made sailing to/ from Norfolk versus charging what the market would bear, a no go for HAL. I am thinking this is perhaps the same issue that exists in NYC.

[Orcrone]

I am obviously not familiar with the intineraries. I wonder if fuel costs made sailing to/ from Norfolk versus charging what the market would bear, a no go for HAL. I am thinking this is perhaps the same issue that exists in NYC.

A definite possibility. It's a couple of sea days getting from here to the Caribbean, burning a lot more fuel than sitting in port for 10 hours.

[Orcrone]

Perhaps the purpose of the question is to gauge interest in returning or starting to sail out of certain ports. If enough people express interest in Norfolk, well you never know....

 

Here's the link for the survey. If you're interested in HAL returning to Norfolk then give the survey a try. They're giving away a free med cruise to one lucky winner!!

[Orcrone]

Duplicate post

[CDRMark]

Perhaps the purpose of the question is to gauge interest in returning or starting to sail out of certain ports. If enough people express interest in Norfolk, well you never know....

 

Here's the link for the survey. If you're interested in HAL returning to Norfolk then give the survey a try. They're giving away a free med cruise to one lucky winner!!

Thanks Marc

Interesting that Norfolk is listed as a homeport.

Cheers

Mark

[gizmo]

Orcrone,

 

Besides Norfolk, what other ports were listed ?

[Orcrone]

Orcrone,

 

Besides Norfolk, what other ports were listed ?

 

Boston, MA

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

Copenhagen, Denmark

Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Lisbon, Portugal

Los Angeles

Montreal

NY, NY

NORFOLK

Pt. Canaveral,

San Diego

San Francisco

Seattle

Tampa

Vancouver

[SandRaven]

I heard the reason HAL left Norfolk is because the port charges by gross tonnage, as it would for cargo vessels, and they would not make concessions for HAL. Carnival and Royal Caribbean are running larger capacity vessels Carnival Victory and Grandeur of the Seas through Norfolk this year. Compare these to Maasdam:

 

Massdam: 1266 passengers, gross tonnage = 55,451 (passenger to gross tonnage ratio is 1:44)

 

Grandeur of the Seas: 2446 passengers, gross tonnage = 74,000 (passenger to gross tonnage ratio is 1:30)

 

Carnival Victory: 3427 passengers, gross tonnage = 101,509 (passenger to gross tonnage ratio is 1:30)

 

 

Another reason could be that they would like to avoid the rough chop offshore (top of the Bermuda Triangle, also called the graveyard of the Atlantic).

[cruisinbulldog]

 

 

Another reason could be that they would like to avoid the rough chop offshore (top of the Bermuda Triangle, also called the graveyard of the Atlantic).

 

I have never understood why when a pax boards a ship he/she should not expect some ocean motion??:rolleyes:

 

Bulldog

[cheric]

I would love it if HAL would come back to Norfolk. We were on the Maasdam out of Norfolk two years in a row and loved the convenience. HAL then pulled out of Norfolk. We also did two on Celebrity on the Galaxy out of Baltimore ... then Celebrity pulled out of Baltimore. We are now booked on the Noordam out of New York. I'm glad we still have at least that option available here in the Northeast, but really liked leaving from Baltimore and Norfolk. We dropped our son and his new bride off at the Port of Baltimore this past Sunday for their honeymoon to Bermuda and their new terminal is much better located than the one they had before. Norfolk's is new too. I don't understand why they can't have more sailings out of those two ports. Yes, there was motion in the ocean ... but that's what you expect on a cruise!

[O2cruise]

Cheric - you gotta quit sailing :) Looks like every ship you sail quits the port you sailed from - now we know why the Noordam is leaving NY :) That's the one that saddens me - loved sailing out of NY.

[cheric]

I didn't realize that the Noordam was pulling out of NY!!. Glad they will wait until after our cruise! What port do you think I'll close next? I hate the thought of flying to Florida to cruise, but it sounds like that may be our only option for a longer cruise in 2009.

[O2cruise]

I can't imagine what port might be next but I sure hope they come up with another port for the carribean besides Ft Lauderdale. I like it and all, but half the fun for us is flying into the port city a couple of days early and seeing all the sights.