The new HAL In-Depth Explorer cruises on the Maasdam

A few of you responding to this thread have mentioned you have booked the Massdam for 2019. Are this the trips that requiring full payment up front? I!m interested in a 40 day one but according to HAL site it requires payment in full. Did you call Hal for different pricing?

Janet

To have more expedition type experiences would be great. I love many HAL itineraries, but their blog shows a picture of a Bali temple with the caption "off the beaten path":o. It's one of the most visited islands in the world.

I read the list of ports, they are not really off the beaten path. But on the other hand, whenever such a port is visited, lots of passengers complain. For those of you who truly want to go off the beaten by ship, check out the January and March 2019 voyages of the Aranui5. This freighter/passenger ship usually travels to the Marquesas islands, also off the beaten path, but nothing beats an itinerary that includes Rapa (not Rapa nui = Easter Island).

A few of you responding to this thread have mentioned you have booked the Massdam for 2019. Are this the trips that requiring full payment up front? I!m interested in a 40 day one but according to HAL site it requires payment in full. Did you call Hal for different pricing?

 

Janet

Oh heck no. No way would I book non-refundable fare this far out! We booked in November when the cyber sale was going on, although as I recall our sailing was not eligible (and I don't see anything on our confirmation except some OBC).

You can always call HAL and ask for the fare with refundable deposit (and they may have one with non-refundable deposit too). That's what I would do during the current Seas the Day thing or whatever it's called.

A few of you responding to this thread have mentioned you have booked the Massdam for 2019. Are this the trips that requiring full payment up front? I!m interested in a 40 day one but according to HAL site it requires payment in full. Did you call Hal for different pricing?

 

Janet

Hi, Janet - I called HAL and asked for a refundable deposit fare for our 40 day itinerary at the end of January. It raised the price by around $300 pp.

Barb

A few of you responding to this thread have mentioned you have booked the Massdam for 2019. Are this the trips that requiring full payment up front?

Mine did not require full payment. It has a refundable deposit, too.

To have more expedition type experiences would be great. I love many HAL itineraries, but their blog shows a picture of a Bali temple with the caption "off the beaten path":o. It's one of the most visited islands in the world.

 

I read the list of ports, they are not really off the beaten path. But on the other hand, whenever such a port is visited, lots of passengers complain. For those of you who truly want to go off the beaten by ship, check out the January and March 2019 voyages of the Aranui5. This freighter/passenger ship usually travels to the Marquesas islands, also off the beaten path, but nothing beats an itinerary that includes Rapa (not Rapa nui = Easter Island).

We took HAL excursions in Bali on the Rotterdam both days we where docked in the tourist area around Benoa/ Denpasar and very much got way off the beaten path, heading north in two different directions. Gorgeous country - still untouched.

We booked the non-refundable, but we are taking this Maasdam cruise this year in just a few more months.

I hope it works.

It is going to take a lot of work to change the image of the existing Holland American.

Odd statement. HAL fills its ships with very loyal passengers. I suspect other cruise lines want to know what HAL's secret is. When HAL tries to compete with the Young and Restless, be everything to everybody 24/7, crowd is when they get into trouble. This new direction for the Maasdam shows HAL gets it - do what they always did best - be a cruise line for travelers.

Really enjoyed Dr. Peter Carey on our Zaandam Antarctica cruise in Feb.2018. He was very approachable and full of interesting information. He will be a wonderful asset to this new offering!