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How Long do you think HAL Will be Sailing the Seas?


sail7seas

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A thread on another forum got me thinking about the really long term of the cruise industry and specifically HAL within it.

 

What's the future of HAL.... not 5 or 10 years but something like 50 years? Do you think people will still be cruising? Will the cruise industry fade due to lack of interest? How do they keep it stimulating and attractive?

 

As people get more sophisticated, more educated, travel far and wide, will it be on cruise ships?

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A 5 yr business plan nowadays is considered long term. No one can say what leisure activities will be available in 10 yrs much less 50.

 

My guess would be that more and more people will want to see more distant parts of the world as they open up and the short Caribbean type cruises over and over will become less popular. With larger and larger ships the cost of more distant travel will be possible for more people.

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a very interesting question Sail. No one has a crystal ball, but i do think cruising will become more popular as the baby boomers get older.

 

We also see a lot more younger people cruising now.

 

Where will HAL be in all this? JMO - I think as long as they have smaller ships and keep them in good shape with the same good service then they will have a real 'niche' market. Not everyone wants to get on a 'city' to cruise.

 

Only time will tell - and who knows, the demographics will dictate what the people want. :)

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Wow....50 years!?! Admittedly, and in all honesty, I doubt that I have 50 years left on my watch so to speak. Maybe half of that if I'm lucky but I'm getting to the age where I understand the idea that a good day is any day you wake up. :) Looking back 50 years there was virtually no cruising as we know it today, maybe some but not much. I certainly didn't know anybody who ever cruised back then and I lived in a pretty good size middle class area. Going back 58 years ago I was on my second "cruise" and that was actually transportation from England back to the US and the notion of taking a ship for purely transportation purposes is a hardly more than a novelty today. There are lots of other variables like the economy, geopolitical considerations, the environment, the availability of fuel or oil substitute, etc., etc., that kind of make it a guess. People will always want some kind of release in the form of a vacation. Will cruising be one of them....who knows.

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My late parents cruised frequently beginning 30 yrs. ago. They enjoyed it very much. That is one of the reasons we took our frist cruise and became cruise addicts. We never did get to cruise together. I certainly wish we had.

 

My point...People have been cruising for a long time, and new generations are enjoying it all the time. There have been several people at DH office who have taken a cruise and enjoyed it with their family, because we enjoy cruising. I believe it will get better and better.

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My parents sailed Rotterdam V in 1962 or 1963. I remember my parents running a big Bon Voyage party at our home for my grandmother who was going on a lengthy cruise (probably something equivalent to World Cruise). I was a young child and only remember the house being all decorated with nautical and shipboard type things. That party had to have been at least 50 years ago.

 

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My first cruise was in 1959. So let me think ... that's about 52 years ago and I was exceptionally young and very lucky to go on a cruise with my grandmother. I remember it clearly because it was that exciting, that wonderful. Nothing has come close since and I've been on some pretty exotic, amazing cruises and vacations.

 

If the changes that have taken place from that day to this are any indication, we cannot even fathom what the cruise industry will be 50 years from now. I do know one thing ... I'll be dead as a doornail:).

 

Cruising today barely resembles cruising of yesteryear. That's not saying I don't love it now, but it's not even remotely close to what it was then.

 

I think cruising is forever, but always changing. As to whether HAL will be around who knows? Most of the cruise lines that were here even in the '80s are now gone or blended into other cruise lines.

 

Even HAL isn't the same as what it was before Carnival took over. The more mergers and acquisitions that take place in the cruise industry, the less different each cruise experience will be and that's too bad.

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50 years--HAL, Carnival, Princess, Etc. All gone unless they go back to canvas. Global oil prices and supply will cause extinction of the leisure cruise industry. We are the last full generation of crusiers. It was nice while it lasted!

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With the ratcheting-up of security and the high cost of energy, it may be that airlines will go first.

 

Ships are more fuel efficient and it wouldn't surprise me to see a competitive transatlantic ferry once again.

 

I could be wrong - often am.:)

 

Smooth sailing...

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My crystal ball shows full steam ahead for cruises in 50 years. I wouldn't worry about oil, whatever fuel is in use, cruise ships can be adapted to use it. Cruises are fun and pretty cost effective vacations, I don't see that changing.

 

I doubt if HAL will be around though. Looking at past history, it seems like cruise companies don't last forever. Maybe Carnival will survive, but I would guess HAL goes the way of the Mercury or the Oldsmobile. I certainly hope not, but that would be my guess.

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Interesting question. Holland America Line will celebrate its 138th anniversary in 2011 so its survived a few changes with the times.

 

I believe it will still be around (and maybe if we are lucky) so will we to be sailing on it.

 

Here's a link to an interesting article I found on HAL's history:

http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/holland-america-line-history-distinction-innovation-and-growth/

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Not sure what generation but I would not be surprised if there were virtual cruises that incorporated the best of the cruise itineraries, compressed them into a time line that met the "cruiser's" needs and allowed them to sleep in your own bed maybe with the gentle rolling motion thrown in. Kinda hope it doesn't happen (I like the real thing) but ya never know.

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A thread on another forum got me thinking about the really long term of the cruise industry and specifically HAL within it.

 

What's the future of HAL.... not 5 or 10 years but something like 50 years? Do you think people will still be cruising? Will the cruise industry fade due to lack of interest? How do they keep it stimulating and attractive?

 

As people get more sophisticated, more educated, travel far and wide, will it be on cruise ships?

 

I have a copy of 'Victorians Travelers Guide of England and Wales', the original printing was about 150 years ago.

In it, it was stated that no one in England was more than four day away from the sea, yes they walked!!!

So the sea is still an attraction, with, or without cruise ships, and while we have found better ways of getting to the sea, I believe that it will that the sea will always be an attraction, it just remains to be seen how much cruise ships improve.:)

 

john

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Great question!

 

Two weeks ago, my wifes 11 year old son did a class speech and chose cruising because it's his favourite vacation. He is pro with three cruises under his belt.

 

This Christmas he will do his first HAL cruise, I hope he will still enjoy cruising.

 

HAL is trying to attract a younger crowd and keep peace with the traditions, that is a hard road. I think their success depends on how well they do with a younger client base.

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I believe cruising will exist in 50 years; but it will be a vastly different product. I can see the pendulum swinging back to cruising being a "sport of kings" so to speak. There will therefore be fewer ships and choices. Will HAL make it? I think so. Her reputation as a more genteel product will help her attract the passengers needed to sustain service.

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Of the responses here (thank you for them), I agree most with Jim. I think the reputation HAL has always maintained as quietly elegant will serve them well in the future. I think cruising will go back to being less available to those with limited funds. But who knows.......

 

We're all just speculating and time will tell.

 

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Just like peoples "need" to own the latest cell phone, lap top, new car, etc., try taking cruising away from succesive generations that regard it more as a "right" rather than a "privilege" - not gonna happen.

 

HAL has survived in one form or another since the 1870's, I see no

reason why they can't or won't continue to adapt going forward.

 

Of course cruising has evolved a lot over the last 50 years, but the

basic premise of a relaxing sea voyage to interesting destinations,

largely inclusive, is unlikely to change IMO.

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I think cruising will be a chosen vacation in the future but it may not be just ocean cruising. The world moves quickly and by then we may be taking space cruises. It is always fun to speculate.

 

It also would not surprise me if the cruise chat rooms of the future discussed the same basic questions Tipping? Dressing? Children? Packing? I won't be around to see it but it should be fun.

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Please don't flame me for my generational-related comments, but I'm just taking from what many have said here...

 

I think that many of the types of people who appreciate what HAL represents will have gone by the wayside (mostly because they will be gone from this Earth). IMHO, it seems that many people today are beginning to become more interested in the "modern, flash and glitz" rather than the elegance and sophistication. I think that HAL will move along with the times and do what they need to do to remain successful.

 

We have to think of how all of the travel industry has evolved. I haven't been around for 50 years yet, but I've seen clips of how it was in the past. Remember how glamorous it used to be to fly...people wouldn't have thought of getting on a plane in shorts or a sweatsuit or even jeans like they do now. Remember all of the old glamorous hotels of yesteryear...ladies in the lobbies in their finest taking tea. They have all evolved as well to keep with the times.

 

Here's a thought...

 

I think that eventually we'll have more and more larger ships offering very limited port offerings where the ship is the destination. I think the "Oasis" and "Allure" are just the beginning. I don't know how big they can get, but the pricing on these two ships prove that they are still selling strong and with that in mind bigger just may be better.

 

Who knows if HAL will try for that market. Perhaps they will focus more on the small market and will eventually become one of the more "upscale" lines of Carnival Corp...maybe the newer ships of HAL will eventually be smaller more elegant and sophisticated ships such as those of the "Luxury" lines like Seabourn and Crystal.

 

I hope that whatever happens, if HAL is still part of the cruising experience of the future, they will remain focused on their service and everything else that continues to make them special now.

 

:) :)

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