What's the risk on final sailing?

[doublebzz]

I am considering Ryndam's 28 day Venice to Singapore cruise next October. I understand this will be her last cruise before being sold to P&O. I am concerned about a big letdown by the crew or lack of physical maintenance of the ship given the final voyage. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

[sammiedawg]

I would avoid any ship during the "limbo" timeframe. Maintenance is likely to suffer.

Likewise I would not book the Ocean Princess until Oceania refurbishes her.

[doublebzz]

I would avoid any ship during the "limbo" timeframe. Maintenance is likely to suffer.

Likewise I would not book the Ocean Princess until Oceania refurbishes her.

 

That's my concern as well. I thought Ocean Princess was in Princess' fleet. Also, I read where Oceania was just sold to NCL.

[OCruisers]

Good question! Will certainly be interested in the replies.

LuLu

[sammiedawg]

That's my concern as well. I thought Ocean Princess was in Princess' fleet. Also, I read where Oceania was just sold to NCL.

 

Oceania is buying the Ocean Princess, just announced.

[sail7seas]

I wonder if there might be some stripping down of the ship? HAL surely will be retaining some art/contents/not permanently attached property. HAL will keep the ship in good condition I'm sure especially given it is staying in the Carnival family but the crew will be 'looking forward' to wherever they go when the ship docks. One has to expect a great many are leaving either for home or another ship.

 

No........ I would not book that cruise but that is just me.

If you really love that itinerary and badly want to go, wait as long as you can before booking to see if they start to offer some great pricing. If you don't have to plan far in advance because of work or other obligations, I suggest waiting it out for a bit. :)

Edited November 25, 2014 by sail7seas

[oofroggie]

I was on the last sailing of the old Westerdam. The whole cruise was spent packing up all the extra booze, silverware anything with the HAL logo, salt and pepper shakers, etc. By the time we docked the ship was pretty well striped. Would never do it again.

[headhunterke]

The Ryndam leaving HAL's fleet was a major concern for me as well when booking my cruise for the upcoming winter.

I ended up taking a 2nd cruise on the Noordam as I was also very concerned about the ship's state & the staff's motivation.

 

But it might as well be 'just another' sailing. But to me, it was not worth taking a risk.

[RuthC]

I was on the final cruise of Rotterdam V. True, she was the HAL flagship, and may have had some more ceremony because of it, but it was one heck of a good time. I would not have missed it for the world.

 

Mechanically, the ship (38 years old at the time) was in sad shape. One of the comedians pointed out as part of his act "Well, you don't think they're going to fix her now, do you???"

We missed port after port due to a succession of storms in the Pacific, going 8 full days at sea. The entertainers who were supposed to be changed out at one of those ports were not, and those who remained on board were pressed into further performances. They were great!

Nothing was removed from the ship in advance of our final docking. The officers, staff, and crew, could not have treated the passengers better.

 

It was a very special cruise, in spite of all that went wrong---perhaps because of it. If I weren't already committed to a different cruise at the same time, I would be on that Ryndam final cruise.

[sail7seas]

I was on the final cruise of Rotterdam V. True, she was the HAL flagship, and may have had some more ceremony because of it, but it was one heck of a good time. I would not have missed it for the world.

 

Mechanically, the ship (38 years old at the time) was in sad shape. One of the comedians pointed out as part of his act "Well, you don't think they're going to fix her now, do you???"

We missed port after port due to a succession of storms in the Pacific, going 8 full days at sea. The entertainers who were supposed to be changed out at one of those ports were not, and those who remained on board were pressed into further performances. They were great!

Nothing was removed from the ship in advance of our final docking. The officers, staff, and crew, could not have treated the passengers better.

 

It was a very special cruise, in spite of all that went wrong---perhaps because of it. If I weren't already committed to a different cruise at the same time, I would be on that Ryndam final cruise.

 

 

 

It was another place in time....... so much has changed since then.

I don't recall just when she left the fleet but my guess is about 20 or so years ago. I would have liked to be on that final cruise then, as the cruise line was then. :)

 

Rotterdam V was such a special ship and meant so much to crew and HAL loyalists.

 

[Topsham]

I was on the final cruise of Rotterdam V. True, she was the HAL flagship, and may have had some more ceremony because of it, but it was one heck of a good time. I would not have missed it for the world.

 

Mechanically, the ship (38 years old at the time) was in sad shape. One of the comedians pointed out as part of his act "Well, you don't think they're going to fix her now, do you???"

We missed port after port due to a succession of storms in the Pacific, going 8 full days at sea. The entertainers who were supposed to be changed out at one of those ports were not, and those who remained on board were pressed into further performances. They were great!

Nothing was removed from the ship in advance of our final docking. The officers, staff, and crew, could not have treated the passengers better.

 

It was a very special cruise, in spite of all that went wrong---perhaps because of it. If I weren't already committed to a different cruise at the same time, I would be on that Ryndam final cruise.

 

 

Hi Ruth....

 

I was on board and the two cruises before to make back to back to back -3 cruises. Yes, we did have 8 days at sea..because of weather.. not because of any problem with mechanical. Granted there was a few air conditions problem in Panama Canal.Do you remember the limrick....

 

 

 

To you lemerik ...ROTTERDAM Five about ROTTERDAM Six. ?

 

Too muck tot to remember!

 

It was rude and very non PC!!!!

 

Stephen

Edited November 26, 2014 by Topsham

[DeeniEncinitas]

I wonder if there might be some stripping down of the ship? HAL surely will be retaining some art/contents/not permanently attached property. HAL will keep the ship in good condition I'm sure especially given it is staying in the Carnival family but the crew will be 'looking forward' to wherever they go when the ship docks. One has to expect a great many are leaving either for home or another ship.

 

No........ I would not book that cruise but that is just me.

If you really love that itinerary and badly want to go, wait as long as you can before booking to see if they start to offer some great pricing. If you don't have to plan far in advance because of work or other obligations, I suggest waiting it out for a bit. :)

 

I agree with sail7seas!!!!!! For the amount of money and such a fabulous itinerary why risk it and end up possibly not enjoying your trip because of all the imperfections. I would wait also to lock in a fantastic price on a wonderful suite if you are really wanting to go for the itinerary.

 

Sailing B2B Western/Eastern Caribbean on Nieuw Amsterdam March 2015

3 STAR MARINER

[rkacruiser]

Call me, if you will, loony tunes: but, I have booked the Statendam's final HAL voyage from Seattle to Singapore. The price for an outside cabin in my preferred location as a solo was hard to reject. The itinerary includes ports in Hawaii that I would love to re-visit as well as many other ports that are seldom visited by a cruise ship and most certainly ones that I have not visited. Singapore as a destination: what is there not to love about that port!

 

Plus, I have reasonable reason to believe that these final voyages will be marked by special events/ceremonies that will add another positive dimension to the Statendam's cruise and, I would imagine, the Ryndam's as well.

 

The ships do have many nautical miles under their keels. But, being transferred to P&O Australia which is another brand under the Carnival Corporation umbrella, is it reasonable to think that our Down Under friends are going to receive an inferior vessel?

 

Indeed, some friends have told me that a Deck Officer who has served on the Statendam will remain aboard and join the P&O Australia team.

 

Will there be issues? Maybe; hopefully not. But, check the Roll Call for the Statendam's final HAL voyage and one will find some experienced voyagers who have signed on for what promises to be a most unique cruise.

[GUT2407]

Personally I doubt that either of the HAL ships that are going over to P&O will be "Let Go" as they are part of the same line and it will probably cost more to fix something they let slide then maintain it now.

[ShipsAreTheBest]

It's important to note that Stein Kruse has oversight responsibilities for P&O Australia too. Ryndam and Statendam aren't being sold, but transferred. So, yes, while it might be a bit strange for the last voyage, I don't imagine you would have to worry about reduced maintenance. Maybe if they were selling to another company, but since it is an internal Carnival Corp transfer, probably not.

[sammiedawg]

I would worry about a decline in soft goods, dirty carpet, upholstery, linens worn out. Why would these items be changed out when everyone knows the new owners will redo the ship in their own style.

[SilvertoGold]

Call me, if you will, loony tunes: but, I have booked the Statendam's final HAL voyage from Seattle to Singapore. The price for an outside cabin in my preferred location as a solo was hard to reject. The itinerary includes ports in Hawaii that I would love to re-visit as well as many other ports that are seldom visited by a cruise ship and most certainly ones that I have not visited. Singapore as a destination: what is there not to love about that port!

 

Plus, I have reasonable reason to believe that these final voyages will be marked by special events/ceremonies that will add another positive dimension to the Statendam's cruise and, I would imagine, the Ryndam's as well.

 

The ships do have many nautical miles under their keels. But, being transferred to P&O Australia which is another brand under the Carnival Corporation umbrella, is it reasonable to think that our Down Under friends are going to receive an inferior vessel?

 

Indeed, some friends have told me that a Deck Officer who has served on the Statendam will remain aboard and join the P&O Australia team.

 

Will there be issues? Maybe; hopefully not. But, check the Roll Call for the Statendam's final HAL voyage and one will find some experienced voyagers who have signed on for what promises to be a most unique cruise.

 

When is this final voyage? Sorry but I can't find it!

[Davidson Duo]

When is this final voyage? Sorry but I can't find it!

 

September 21, 2015

 

Look under Australia/New Zealand - South Pacific destinations. :)

[RuthC]

Hi Ruth....

 

I was on board and the two cruises before to make back to back to back -3 cruises. Yes, we did have 8 days at sea..because of weather.. not because of any problem with mechanical.

I understood that, and posted so. It must be buried in a lot of verbiage. Sorry. :o

 

I remember it was three, count 'em, three!, successive hurricanes that prevented us from getting near to shore. My husband was supposed to join the ship in Acapulco, but had to reroute and meet up with us in Costa Rica. At least he got to go through the Panama Canal, which was the part he really wanted to do.

[RuthC]

I don't recall just when she left the fleet but my guess is about 20 or so years ago.

September 30, 1997. It was the end of an 18-day cruise which started September 12 in Vancouver. We booked the final cruise without having any idea what the itinerary was going to be. I don't believe we were alone in that.

[jaguarstyper]

Personally I doubt that either of the HAL ships that are going over to P&O will be "Let Go" as they are part of the same line and it will probably cost more to fix something they let slide then maintain it now.

 

One does have to wonder about that. I would assume that there will be an extensive "renovation" that will take place as part of the re-branding. Furniture will be replaced, systems will be refurbished or upgraded and the entire ship will probably be gone over from bow to stern. It would not surprise me at all if HAL does let some things go, especially where safety is not at risk. Even though its being transferred within the company, I'm sure each line runs under its own budget and profit center, so I have to believe that HAL would be reluctant and very cautious about spending significant dollars on long term repairs that were not absolutely required.

 

It just makes business sense.

[Wayfairers]

OP: glad you asked this question as I've often wondered the same thing. I also wonder how the first cruise is on a ship. We've stayed at a resort on land during the first 3 weeks of opening and there was a lot of confusion and areas still being opened during our entire stay.

[RJ2002]

I was on the last sailing of the old Westerdam. The whole cruise was spent packing up all the extra booze, silverware anything with the HAL logo, salt and pepper shakers, etc. By the time we docked the ship was pretty well striped. Would never do it again.

 

This would be my fear as well on a "last voyage".

[sail7seas]

September 30, 1997. It was the end of an 18-day cruise which started September 12 in Vancouver. We booked the final cruise without having any idea what the itinerary was going to be. I don't believe we were alone in that.

 

Thanks, Ruth. We sailed Rotterdam VI her first New Year's Eve and I couldn't remember how long before she joined the fleet that Rotterdam V left the fleet.

 

[Topsham]

I understood that, and posted so. It must be buried in a lot of verbiage. Sorry. :o

 

I remember it was three, count 'em, three!, successive hurricanes that prevented us from getting near to shore. My husband was supposed to join the ship in Acapulco, but had to reroute and meet up with us in Costa Rica. At least he got to go through the Panama Canal, which was the part he really wanted to do.

 

 

 

Ruth.. you remember... as well as I can.....

 

ROTTERDAM V taking out of service and ROTTERDAM VI was delayed....

 

 

The ROTTERDAM FIVE voyages stop.

The ROTTERDAM SIX is a flop!

It might have been better,

To fix her and keep her,

Than build them another er..... er..... 'Italian'!

 

By 'The Ocean Bar Crowd'. Repeated over the PA by Captain Bos.

 

 

The only part I missed on the final voyage was the Panama Canal. I got off as the ship passed under the Bridge of The Americas. Went by pilot boat.... then went to the locks by car to see the ship... then by car over to Colon... had a nice lunch on the way.... and then got back on board as the ship sailed out past the breakwater. I was 'escorted' by two of the photographers. Even had to waiver insurance just in I fell in!

 

Stephen