Maasdam --Spring 2017--back home

while trying to put together a few cruises on the Maasdam for back to back to back to Lima --Hawaii-Tahiti and back thru the Canal to Ft Lauderdale in the Spring of 2017 ...I noticed the last leg is a Canal cruise back to Ft Lauderdale, then NY and continues up to Boston.. sure looks like HAL did an about face and brought our favorite ship back to the East Coast to do the New England run once again.. did HAL actually listen to the people who sail her..could it be.. this is not like HAL but hats off to them if they did :)

the Maasdam is scheduled to leave the East Coast in May 2016 heading up to Alaska and then over to Australia to stay in the Pacific thru early 2017-- thought that might be the end of our sailing on her after 25 times and over 500 cruise-days come the end of this month when we board her once again

while trying to put together a few cruises on the Maasdam for back to back to back to Lima --Hawaii-Tahiti and back thru the Canal to Ft Lauderdale in the Spring of 2017 ...I noticed the last leg is a Canal cruise back to Ft Lauderdale, then NY and continues up to Boston.. sure looks like HAL did an about face and brought our favorite ship back to the East Coast to do the New England run once again.. did HAL actually listen to the people who sail her..could it be.. this is not like HAL but hats off to them if they did :)

 

the Maasdam is scheduled to leave the East Coast in May 2016 heading up to Alaska and then over to Australia to stay in the Pacific thru early 2017-- thought that might be the end of our sailing on her after 25 times and over 500 cruise-days come the end of this month when we board her once again

Good to know! She's just the right size.:)

Good news.

I love that ship. :)

I see on the Port Otago ( New Zealand) website that both Maasdam and Noordam have bookings for our "down under" summer season of 2017/2018.

For instance Maasdam 30th November2017, December 30th 2017, and January 8th 2018.

Good chance she'll be sold and out of the fleet by then.

Good chance she'll be sold and out of the fleet by then.

that's what we thought also .. although we had heard the Prinsendam would go bye bye before her

Good news.

I love that ship. :)

I know you do...hopefully it happens

I see on the Port Otago ( New Zealand) website that both Maasdam and Noordam have bookings for our "down under" summer season of 2017/2018.

For instance Maasdam 30th November2017, December 30th 2017, and January 8th 2018.

I remember seeing it on that site or on a similar site earlier this year--forget which.. but hadn't seen this latest move up to Boston in Spring 2017 until just now.. maybe we'll get some more scoop about her when we board the end of this month.. the era of the HAL small ships is winding down and since HAL is in the HAL Group along with Princess and Seabourne my guess is that if one wants to cruise on smaller ships Seabourne will be the one to provide that with their smaller ships

that's what we thought also .. although we had heard the Prinsendam would go bye bye before her

My guess is whichever someone wants to buy first will go. Veendam is the one that may be around the longest. :D :eek:

Could that mean that the Rotterdam is going back to Europe?

Could that mean that the Rotterdam is going back to Europe?

Yes, it was a one-off cycle for her not to be homeported in Europe.

HAL pissed a LOT of people off with that move, btw. They were inundated with complaints.

The 2016-2017 Cruise Atlas shows Rotterdam in Europe May - late August in Europe. She will then do some Canada/NE unti November/December in Europe and after that Caribbean. She'll do a little Panama Canal and back to Europe August 2017.

Of course, that well could change.

It's too bad they can't retrofit the older ships completely (all new plumbing, AC, mechanics) and keep them in service instead of going bigger. Our two favorite ships are Maasdam and NCL's little Sun.

It's too bad they can't retrofit the older ships completely (all new plumbing, AC, mechanics) and keep them in service instead of going bigger. Our two favorite ships are Maasdam and NCL's little Sun.

from everyone we've spoken to.. smaller ships = less profit ..bigger ships bring in the bigger bucks and that's the bottomline I guess..

My guess is whichever someone wants to buy first will go. Veendam is the one that may be around the longest. :D :eek:

 

that was my guess also about the Veendam since it has more cabins after the retrofit a couple of years ago--also more problems still exist from what some have told us... what will win out ???.... then again if it keeps on breaking down like it did last year in Canada and had to hobble on one engine to the nearest available drydock all the way down to Baltimore cancelling cruises it may go sooner than later..

The Vista, Signature, and Pinnacle (after the new wears off) classes have a lower cost per cabin than the S and R classes but more capacity so actually better profit line.

We also love the Maasdam. Looking forward to our Alaska cruise on her. We are excited about sailing on the Koningsdam in the Carribean. Alot bigger ship then we are used to BUT we are going to give it a try.

Good chance she'll be sold and out of the fleet by then.

We hope that she will remain in the fleet to do a second season down here.:)

just checking the Updated HAL site this morning for New England-Summer 2017 shows the Maasdam back to doing the Boston-Montreal-Boston itinerary..sounds good .. HOWEVER I did notice that its season ENDS abruptly in mid-September doing a last run from Montreal-Boston on Sept 9.. I would say that is very unusual.. or is it

HAL does so many unusual things -- you just never know what HAL will do next.

September 2017 is a long ways off.You would not be able to book a flight

on any airline that far in advance.

October 2017 HAL bookings only list half of the fleet and November 2017 only

lists 2 ships.

September 2017 is a long ways off.You would not be able to book a flight

on any airline that far in advance.

October 2017 HAL bookings only list half of the fleet and November 2017 only

lists 2 ships.

I wasn't looking to book it.. I was just commenting on that it's summer New England run stopped a month earlier than it has in the past.. it is due to go bye-bye

HAL does so many unusual things -- you just never know what HAL will do next.

very true :)

just checking the Updated HAL site this morning for New England-Summer 2017 shows the Maasdam back to doing the Boston-Montreal-Boston itinerary..sounds good .. HOWEVER I did notice that its season ENDS abruptly in mid-September doing a last run from Montreal-Boston on Sept 9.. I would say that is very unusual.. or is it

Thanks for the update.

I agree it seems odd mid-September abruptly ends her Canada/NE schedule.

We can speculate what it means but who knows?? :D Iy hope it doesn't mean what I fear.... that maybe they found a buyer. :(

I wasn't looking to book it.. I was just commenting on that it's summer New England run stopped a month earlier than it has in the past.. it is due to go bye-bye

Maybe not bye-bye permanently - she's listed on the Sydney ports cruise data base as coming into White Bay on October 20 2017, then again in November.

Erewhon mentioned her being listed on a New Zealand port schedule as well (see post 4)

http://www.sydneyports.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/33273/Cruise_Schedule_28_Jan_2016.pdf

But then as others have said - HAL don't always let us in on their forward planning information. They could just be 'holding a spot' in the berths' down here :)