When was your 1st hal cruise??

[Topsham]

I was so unimpressed by Statendam cruise in 80 or 81 that I did not sail Hal for another 28 or 29 years ( Rotterdam was so much nicer)

 

 

Ouch!

 

I went aboard many times in the 60s and was quite beautiful in the early days... well, not up to ROTTERDAM for sure. Even then ROTTERDAM was not up to NIEUW AMSTERDAM! ;)

 

 

Stephen

[cruz chic]

My first cruise was on the old Noordam in 1984. It was a 14 day Mexico cruise. I just hated it and it took me until 1999 to step on a ship again. I loved it from then on.

[Murray's Pop]

Oosterdam, Caribbean, October 2004. Had a Neptune Suite (then Deluxe Verandah Suite) aft wrap. It was Wonderful. Became spoiled and have only done suites since.:D

Edited August 16, 2015 by Murray's Pop

[earljr]

November, 1966 --10 day Carib.

 

Still have the HAL windbreaker from that cruise

Edited August 16, 2015 by earljr

[solocanadian]

My first Hal cruise with my late husband was on Rotterdam V, South America in 1990. Fell in love with that old girl and Tropic Bar. Met Topsham on that cruise.

[ryndam]

October 1968: Nieuw Amsterdam (the one built in 1938 and scrapped in 1973).

September 1973: Rotterdam V (7 day Nassau cruise from NYC). One of our favorite ships of all time.

And many, many more since then.

[Dave in NJ]

It's really nice to see how many respondents, like myself, experienced Holland America back in the '60s and '70s on such really great ships such as the Nieuw Amsterdam of 1938 and the Rotterdam V. To compare the transatlantic or cruise experiences of that era to today would be akin to writing a short version of "War and Peace", yet many of the touches that made Holland America so memorable then are thankfully still with us.

[Topsham]

My first Hal cruise with my late husband was on Rotterdam V, South America in 1990. Fell in love with that old girl and Tropic Bar. Met Topsham on that cruise.

 

 

 

Thanks. And that 'old girl'.... never forgotten! Mind... lost a few brain cells in the Tropic Bar. ;)

 

Stephen

[holacanada]

—> Follow my signature —>

[pug1]

Our 1st HALcruise was 1970 on the Nieuw Amsterdam. A great ship!

Pug 1

[Tika]

Hello Tika,

 

The fire on board HOMERIC was 1 July 1973. The galley was gutted and as the ship was quite old, Home Lines made a decision to scrap the ship.

 

STATENDAM started the weekly service to Bermuda started in 1974. Before that she came on occasional runs.... going back to 1960. Unfortunately I do not have all the dates for the STATENDAM. I will have to go back to the files. Next chance in Hamilton it should be easy to find what cruise you were on... and about the dock strike roughly that period. July.August 1973.

 

Stephen

 

Stephen, You are right on about the July 1973 date and the dock strike. It would be interesting to see how many pax were on board. Also how many pax booked on the Homeric where transferred over to the Statendam. She was really, really busting !

Were you in Bermuda when the Veendam left Hamilton for the last time? It was so sad with no formal Farewell Ceremony........nothing......happily we did see folks waving from ashore as we pulled out of the harbor but that was it!!!!!!!!!!!! looking forward to hearing from you.

[George C]

October 1968: Nieuw Amsterdam (the one built in 1938 and scrapped in 1973).

September 1973: Rotterdam V (7 day Nassau cruise from NYC). One of our favorite ships of all time.

And many, many more since then.

 

Totally agree on the Rotterdam , I still remember her as one of my favorites even though I last sailed on her in 1978

[rotjeknor]

1980 : ss Rotterdam, 7 day Bahamas out of NYC . I had cabin 35 on boat deck .

[littlebug]

My first HAL cruise was in 2011 on the Eurodam

[106f]

I was looking for a retirement cruise in 2010. A review on trip advisor said,"HAL sucks. They have nothing for kids." Sounded good to me! I took Oosterdam to Alaska and loved it. Been cruising with Hal ever since. Venice to Istanbul is five weeks away!

[Boytjie]

September 2007 - 7-day Alaska cruise from Seattle on the Amsterdam.

[rwr235]

Hello,

 

1974...Prinsendam out of Singapore...Indonesia, Malaysia, Bali...a great introduction to cruising...and I was runner-up in the Table Tennis Tournament :D ...and wow, that sure was a HUGE ship !! ;)

 

Woody

Edited August 19, 2015 by rwr235

[Nanner]

Our first cruise ever was on the Zaandam on January 18, 2003. It was a 7-day Caribbean cruise. We were so hooked that the next April we did the 18-day Circle Hawaii.

 

Frankly, the second one was almost a turn off to us for HAL. We were not quite 50 and that cruise had a lot of folks (more than I've ever seen since) who did not do anything but stay aboard, and so many mobility impaired that the halls were full of scooters. It seemed a hazard to those who walked, and if we had hit rough seas, I would have worried even more. It also made me wary of long cruises, but I've now found that the longer cruises seem to have a great mix of passengers.

 

After a 2005 Alaska cruisetour, we took a 4 year break from HAL to do other types of vacations and to go for our only non-HAL cruise (Celebrity Panama Canal transit).

 

I have again reached a point of wanting to do something else for vacation, so after our January-February trip we will likely take a year off from HAL. I'm sure we'll be back on the ocean, as we both love being on a ship.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Nanner

[HALcruiser2]

1984 - Noordam 7-day to Alaska! I was a young 22-year old and met another girl my age on that cruise. Thirty-one years later and we've remained very good friends, even visiting each others' homes (she's from Canada - I'm from the U.S.). Now we each have a daughter who is the same age we were when we cruised!

[kakalina]

Our first cruise was on the Statendam Circle Hawaii April 2002.

My late DH did not fly and wanted to see Hawaii. He was determined he would not like cruising but it was a means of transportation to where he wanted to go. :rolleyes:

 

Flash forward to day 2 of the cruise. We walk into the Ocean Bar and sat down. Two waiters rushed over, "Sir Virgil, Ma'am Trisha, sprite with lemon and diet coke"? We had been there once. Virgil kicked back crossed his ankles looked at me and said, "Yeah, I could get used to this." We never looked back.:)

[JB&JLG74]

Mid 1980s (I'd have to look up the specifics but I'm not home where my records are).

RT Tampa to the Caribbean. HAL was the first line with regular (albeit seasonal) service out of Tampa and that's how I became a HAL fan.

[Blizzard54]

Our first HAL cruise was 18 days from Seattle to Tampa in 1984 on the then new, now old, Nieuw Amsterdam (built 1983) At the time we were a little concerned about sailing on a ship that was so big :rolleyes:

[57redbird]

September, 2008 --- Seattle to Alaska RT on the Oosterdam.

[DaKa2002]

2001 - Veendam, Alaska - Vancouver to Seward

[Bill S]

It all began after our youngest child completed college and we discovered that paying tuition was like paying for 2 cruises a year and never getting to go. That was in August, 1998 on the Ryndam, B deck, 2nd OV cabin from the stern. It was a 7 day Alaska cruise/land tour combo. We loved it and were hooked! :)