OlsSalt

Wonder if the old "Maasdam EXC In-Depth" cruises, before she was sold, were money-makers or money losers. Or were just the last chance for the lucky HAL Captains to act out their own cruise route fantasies, with so many of the out of way ports. Certainly the ones we took were highlights of our entire time on HAL ships. 1. FLL to Papeete via Panama Canal, Easter Island, remote Polynesia; 2. SF to Tokyo via Alaska, Russia Far East and two weeks around Japan.

MSC - for those who like traveling with a small city - Yacht Club or no Yacht Club: Preziosa - 4,300 Bellisima - 4,500 Seascape - 5,877 Meraviglia - 5,642 Seaside - 5,420 900 passenger MSC ships coming on line will compete with the smaller luxury brands. No one yet offers HAL's unique range of smaller ships (1200-2000), entry level pricing, unique itineraries, and range of cabin varieties. My own wish obviously is HAL survives well into the future, bringing the joys of cruising and world travel to an entirely different and unique passenger base - the small town at sea, with the upfront expectation all the bells and whistles belong to other cruise lines. If it takes the new HAL behemoths to "pay the bills" on their short bus trips, so be it.

I am only surprised you remain "surprised" there have been cut backs.

Notice the irony of HAL trying to smooth out complaints about embarkation back-ups by assigning embarkation times, which may also be linked to the work schedule required for the readiness of sections of cabins on arrival. Yet, the common message here is to ignore any assigned embarkation times....and ..... to complain about embarkation back-ups and cabins not being ready. Sigh. One, or the other, folks. 😵‍💫

DRIVE-BYS OFFER IN-DEPTH OF EXPERIENCES TOO: One gets the full walking with the penguins experience, thousands of them, on the Falkland Islands, Watching all their daily activities at all age levels, as well as nesting penguins over their eggs very much in the wilds and all their interactions, since this port typically included in the drive-by Antarctica cruises. One gets the full sight, sound and smells that come with visiting these very large penguin colonies. Truly amazing, no question about that, but whether one has this same experience on the Falklands or in Antarctica itself is simply differences of latitude in these remote outposts, plus getting the Falklands Island experience itself. We also had many crew members from the US Palmer station come on board for a few days, and got to talk with them personally as well as have a formal Q&A panel discussion with them at the main stage. We even got a daily new penguin joke, from one of the many onboard enrichment speakers who were excellent. One wonders if there are only a few penguin jokes shared among all the various Antarctic cruises of all types, or did this guy on the 2020 Zaandam drive-by have a unique corner on them.

Why am remembering more outlets and USB ports in the refurbished Zaandam cabins? BTW: there was nothing wrong with an essentially "internet free" cruise experience in the very near past. Plenty of opportunities to connect in port. Might become a signature, like "quiet cars" on many train systems.

We came close to returning to this area on a SilverSea Expedition ship - mainly to get to South Georgia and Tristan da Cunha on a repositioning back to Capetown. Quite frankly the extra work, cleaning protocols and required clothing for "landings" did not sound like a good trade-off for being able to say one put their foot on the ground on this continent. The intimacy of the scenery on "drive-by" was equally rewarding. Rather than waiting for your turn on the Zodiac, and never knowing if/when you might be suddenly called back to the mother ship due to weather. However, getting to South Georgia, as we are Shakleton fans, is till out there on our wish list. Just not near the top any longer due to cost and difficulties. Constantly changing "covid protocols" made the decision for us, so we ended up cancelling that Silver Sea expedition cruise. Makes no sense to demean someone as "not being able to afford" an expedition cruise, when in fact it is perfectly good decision to visit this area only on a comfortable drive-by.

Plan ahead, where and how you will eat a full dinner in your cabin. Using a knife and fork - what steady, spread-out space do you have at a comfortable table height for more formal dining? We like in room dining more for sandwiches and snack items. Love to hear our others manage full meals. Perched over the low coffee table? Clear the desk for one person to sit at table height? Even Neptunes and Signature suites have little full dining spaces left - no more adjustable height tables.

I am reminded of a favorite quote; The reward for a good life, is the good life itself. Welcome back - yes, comfortable old shoe has always been my own way of describing HAL too. Something just fits - not trendy, glamorous or even edgy. Just comfortable and welcoming. (NB: Pinnacle class ships excepted)

Cheers from us too! 😍

You will see only a very small part of the entire continent- the map shows you were you will be going. Mainly just an arm of the full continent and passage way through some of the adjacent islands. This is where the sailing will become serene as one is protected by land on two sides. I honestly do not even remember if the Drake was shaky or quiet because seeing what we did see of this down under continent eclipsed everything prior. You will take another passage up to the Falklands, or vice versa if you are coming down from the Falklands - also known for its rough seas on occasion too. That said, it is a fabulous cruise and agree with prior posters, it is unlike anything you will see anywhere else. And penguins, penguins, penguins. One of the best HAL itineraries, and one many of us want to repeat again and again. Oh yes, and whales, whales, whales too... The weather is too variable for any predictions. Some times full sun - almost 24 hours long, and other times misty with peaks are lost in the clouds. You made a good pick, but be sure you know this will be only a teaser to the rest of this immense continent which is expedition travel; not cruise ship travel.

Do you know what actually goes on during a turn-around day? Think about this for a while, and why it is understandable the onboard crew will be stretched very thin, have been working through the night before getting all the departing passenger luggage hauled out of the passageways, going through all sorts of end of cruise food services cleaning and inventory accounting for the next one, let alone getting ready to bring on new replacement crew members, after saying good by to the current ones. All in one very busy day, and previous night before. Hope over time, and on any other cruise line you choose, you recognize how cruise ships in fact do operate and how they cannot call out for shore-side, temporary Kelly Girls to provide you ensuite breakfast on turnaround day. Bon appetite. Turnaround day requires cutting some slack Now you know. No mistakes next time.

Tropa-Mango-Mojito - which is sweet, and is ice blended and does come with a straw for us sissy drinkers. And can give you an ice-cream headache, if/when the ice slush hits your soft palate. But other than all that, it became our tradition once when taking the long slow cruise out of Sydney Harbor. It is now our go-to embarkation drink and our farewell to another great cruise drink. Getting harder to find bar tenders who know how to make it. Was a featured HAL drink once, but no longer shows up on their menus. From the WayBack Machine, when Tropical Specialties were $6.95, thanks to HalFacts: https://halfacts.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/nrdm-Bar-Menu-.pdf

The animal spirits of the market place have very keen senses. They know where to look to spot trends.

Maybe someone here is trying to "pump and dump" the brand. Maybe even a tag team. You never know what goes on behind this internet mask.

Anyone know if the crew like these longer cruises on the smaller ships better? I would assume they would, but have heard the crews like the newer ships - the shorter cruise over and over cruises. Wonder also since there are more chances to get to know each other on the longer cruises, if the additional personal tipping is more dedicated and generous as well.

Link to an ongoing threat about cruising "solo" - sharing tips others have found that work for them- some new to solo cruising, some long-term solo cruisers:

We used full, easy to carry net head covering at one Greenland stop on Voyage of the Vikings, While keeping the rest of use pretty much covered.

Perhaps HAL management wants to shed their "old people" cruise line imagery. Therefore, they use this constant piped-in tuneless techno music to give no quarter to "old people", who seek more peace and quiet and will now flee the new HAL brand. Not unlike using classical music in front of 7-11 stores, to discourage unsavory loitering. 🙉🙉🙉🤔

Rule of thumb: Any time one hears it reported .."no one dresses up anymore for (Alaska) (Caribbean) (etc) ",......... they actually do. Do what makes you happy.

One might assume, it repairs are required for some cabanas, it would most efficiently handled to have access to the entire area to get any possible repairs done as quickly as possible. Plus those who did pay for the retreat cabana experience would be perhaps negatively impacted by the necessary ongoing repairs as well. Hope you can learn more about what exactly happened to them. Hard to speculate what needs to be done at this point. Nor can some repairs be made on the fly with whatever materials are available on board the ship at the time. Might need special ordering, Or might be something that requires waiting until the next dry dock. All unknown at this time.

Of course, HAL is not equipped to do this at present. That is a given, considering the directions they have recently taken - trying to compete with the big onboard recreational ships. If they can sell off their older, popular smaller ships; why not sell off their newer ones that confuse the former HAL brand - destination ships for older, quieter travel oriented passengers who can roll with a little "inconsistencies" and not reject the entire cruise experience when where they are going is still what matters most? Hard to retain brand loyalty to just a name, when the product itself has become so inconsistent and confusing.

For every person who says HAL is boring and for old people, I say ...bye.

Rather than compete with those other cruise lines onboard distractions, HAL's niche is offering a retreat from them. HAL needs to concentrate being the destination travel cruse line option, not the floating convention hotel bus trip cruise line. There is room in the cruise market for both niches.

I loved "reading" my audio books onboard these smaller ships - plenty of places indoors and out with just enough sound buffer when using the earphones. Good thing with smaller ships you can easily survey where others have also found the quiet corners. And you can also easily move to a new spot, if things do get noisy or used for a public activity.