No more Travel Guides/EXC Guides on HAL

[cowmilker]

39 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

 

 My last two cruises were on the K and I just don't like that ship. I wasn't happy on it. It didn't "feel like HAL."

 

 

 

For what it's worth, we sailed the Koningsdam and loved it. Right after that, we sailed MSC's Meraviglia and wouldn't do that again if it was free.

Different strokes, I guess.

[Hlitner]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I support your thinking in your entire post.  I chose this passage to quote because of your statement that "Mr. Ashford needs to kick some butt..."  I would love to know why Mr. Ashford was chosen to become President of HAL with the background he had in the business world.  There are other executives with maritime experience that could have been wooed to jump from where they were employed.  Some will take issue with my opinion of Stein Kruse, but I think he was an excellent CEO for HAL, a fitting replacement for Kirk Lanterman.  (Mr. Lanterman:  where are we when we need you?)  Does some "butt need to be kicked"?  Maybe a better question is why some of the new executive hires that have been made to replace those who have retired were hired.  The new VP in charge of Food and Beverage is a disaster based upon my January cruises on Nieuw Statendam when I dined in the MDR.  The Wine List was "improved":  yes, in the interest of the bottom line and a loss of long available quality wines.  Many MDR dinner menus offered selections in all categories that may be "in tune with the dining fads of the time", but were a turn-off for me.

 

I've booked MSC Meraviglia in Yacht Club for a January cruise following my Volendam's Christmas/New Year's cruise in my regular F category stateroom (when I can get it).  I'm looking forward to the comparison.  (Or maybe the cultural shock?)

We are equal opportunity cruisers having been on 15 lines (a 16th is coming up in July).  Last Nov-Dec we cruised on MSC's Divina in the Yacht Club as was "blown away" by the entire experience.  In terms of service, value, and quality we have never experienced anything quite like it...and that is after forty+ years of extensive cruising.  Was it perfect?  No way.  But for about $300 per passenger/day it was amazing.  If I spent $1000 a day on a large HAL suite, the service and amenities would not even come close.  All we would get on HAL would be a much larger cabin (big deal) and the Neptune Lounge where I would have to pay for my drinks (in the YC we did not pay for drinks).  

 

Getting back the HAL, perhaps it is because we have cruised on so many other lines that we are confused by HAL.  To be blunt, the only reason we continue to book HAL is because of some of their itineraries.  In terms of quality, ships, service, cuisine and entertainment they would no longer be in our top 3 list among even the mass market lines.  On MSC, DW and I were out every evening until at least midnight because the ship was alive, had lots of entertainment, and actually had other passengers awake until past midnight.  One irony was that the beverage manager on the Divina was an old friend from HAL!  MSC has some "issues" with their rapid expansion and seem to be grabbing some experienced managers from other cruise lines.

 

Yes, you are going to have cultural shock going from HAL to MSC.  Many HAL friends would hate MSC (even in the YC) but their YC  is a unique ship within a ship concept.  On MSC you can get that high level of service without booking a large suite.  In fact, on the newest ships they even have some inside cabins that are part of the YC.   For us, it was great that we could pay for a very high level of personal service (and a private part of the ship) without having to shell out the really big bucks for a large suite that is of no use to us (we do not spend a lot of time in our cabin).  In fact, on most MSC ships the largest cabins are not even part of the Yacht Club.  MSC also has a very unique production show set-up.  They use an onboard group of permanent entertainers who actually work 7 nights a week (there are enough in the company that they can rotate some days off).  The shows are very International and refreshingly/different.   Unlike on HAL you will never find a movie as the evening entertainment nor will you ever have a "dark night."   I am sure some HAL cruisers would hate the shows on MSC because they are not going to hear "Evita" or something from the 40s.  They will get a variety of music (from rock to country to opera) mixed with some Cirque de Soleil kind of entertainment.  You will not get a lecture on MSC since it is a very international cruise line with passengers speaking many different languages. The difference between MSC and HAL is that MSC knows what they are (a Euro-Italian cruise company) where HAL is a rudderless vessel.

 

During our 3 weeks hanging out in the Divina's Yacht Club lounge we made friends from the USA, England, Germany (quite a few), and Finland.   We also met others from France and Italy, but language differences prevented a lot of socialization.

 

Hank

[Shmoo here]

1 hour ago, josumello said:

This post has really made me stop and think. We were planning on booking a 32 Day Hawaii/Tahiti cruise round trip from San Diego. This would be our first HAL cruise. Over the years we’ve cruised many lines from budget to luxury. Some better than others. 

What worries me about HAL is what appears the lack of activities and the lack of entertainment. The itinerary is excellent. However with a lot of sea days we would like some activities. 

Will have to rethink this cruise. 

 

We're just back from the 28 night Hawaii/Tahiti cruise this year.  The biggest issues I had with the "entertainment" onboard was - no production shows (of any kind).  I get not being able to mount a different show every night, but certainly 2 or 3 on a 7 night cruise should be doable.

 

Also didn't care for the trivia games.  Now, I love trivia, but they only had the trivia games twice at day, at the same time each day - 3:00 and 7:00. We were on a very active Roll Call here on CC so we had a games room reserved for all sea days form 2-4.  So that meant the 3:00 trivia wasn't doable.  We had 5:30 seating for dinner, so there was very little chance that we'd make the 7:00 trivia.  Most of the "activities" in the morning/early afternoon were "come to the shops and spend money" types of activities.  The few real games (trivia, majority rules, scattergories) were only once a day, every couple of days.

 

 

 

 

[josumello]

10 minutes ago, Shmoo here said:

We're just back from the 28 night Hawaii/Tahiti cruise this year.  The biggest issues I had with the "entertainment" onboard was - no production shows (of any kind).  I get not being able to mount a different show every night, but certainly 2 or 3 on a 7 night cruise should be doable.

 

Also didn't care for the trivia games.  Now, I love trivia, but they only had the trivia games twice at day, at the same time each day - 3:00 and 7:00. We were on a very active Roll Call here on CC so we had a games room reserved for all sea days form 2-4.  So that meant the 3:00 trivia wasn't doable.  We had 5:30 seating for dinner, so there was very little chance that we'd make the 7:00 trivia.  Most of the "activities" in the morning/early afternoon were "come to the shops and spend money" types of activities.  The few real games (trivia, majority rules, scattergories) were only once a day, every couple of days.

 

 

 

 

You have confirmed my worst fears. It sounds like HAL really is pretty subdued. We don’t need to be entertained 24/7 but would enjoy a little entertainment and nightlife. 

We have always avoided booking HAL from many reports of the ships being very quiet but thought this itinerary would be just what we were looking for. However 32 das is a long time to be lulled to sleep. LOL 😂 Princess has a similar itinerary. Dates not as good though. Decisions, decisions....

[Shmoo here]

10 minutes ago, josumello said:

You have confirmed my worst fears. It sounds like HAL really is pretty subdued. We don’t need to be entertained 24/7 but would enjoy a little entertainment and nightlife. 

We have always avoided booking HAL from many reports of the ships being very quiet but thought this itinerary would be just what we were looking for. However 32 das is a long time to be lulled to sleep. LOL 😂 Princess has a similar itinerary. Dates not as good though. Decisions, decisions....

I don't mean it to say that there's no entertainment.  Just no production shows in the big theater.  Often it's just an individual entertainer (magician, ventriloquist, comedian, singer).  On our cruise they also played one of the Plant Earth shows with live orchestra accompaniment.

 

There was also live music (classical mostly) in Lincoln Center Live.  BB Kings night club (not our kind of music, so that didn't appeal to us, but others like it).  Also had dual piano players in Billboard Onboard, we did that usually for a couple of sets after whatever the show was in the main theater most nights.

 

We've also cruise Princess, and they had the same cruise, but we opted for the HAL one.  The reason - the Princess one had 4 stops in Hawaii and HAL had 2 (but 2 other stops in French Polynesia that Princess didn't have).  We've been to Hawaii before and we wanted to go to the other places more.

 

Edited May 10, 2019 by Shmoo here

[AtlantaCruiser72]

I think HAL has three major issues:

 

First is lack of vision/leadership at the top.  Mr Ashford simply seems ill placed in his role at the helm of a hospitality/travel corporation.  He seems to think that "branded" entertainment partnerships means quality and that one can dilute and strip away the very traditions of cruising to a bland milquetoast shadow of itself and that consumers will be happy.  I am sure he has been charged by Carnival Corp to reduce operating expenses, improve HAL margins, and streamline the operation.  His approach seems to make things as uniform as possible and to cut almost all non revenue positive items that he can.  this is the HR manager thought process at its essence.  He just does not seem to understand the emotional attachment and response that travelers have to the shipboard life and experience.  Cutting cultural and destination enrichment activities is the latest in a line of changes that dilute the brand promise and make HAL less attractive a choice.

 

Second is that the onboard staff seem to be rife with a "my ship, my way" mentality among many department heads/managers.  This leads to an inconsistent product delivery, which rails against the very standardized approach that Mr Ashford seems to desire.  Ships are slow to implement new policies/procedures, or just do their own 'dam' thing because "that's the way we've always done it".  In short you have a wildly inconsistent product from ship to ship, sailing to sailing, venue to venue, which ultimately lowers guest satisfaction with the experience.

 

Third, I think there is also a lot of "old guard" at HQ in Seattle that are fighting the changes from the top, and are not sharing information between departments.  HAL seems very slow to adapt and change their processes and procedures, and everything seems very compartmentalized.  Getting the information to the ships and getting them to implement changes seems slow and haphazard at best (see problem #2 ....... wash rinse repeat ....)

 

 

HAL is lost, and the brand is suffering ......

 

So the question is how do you fix this?

 

 

Carnival corp needs to install a leader at the top of HAL that has a clear vision, a passion for hospitality and travel, and be given the tools to effect swift, meaningful change for the brand.  She or He needs to distill what has attracted many loyal clients to HAL over the years, what recent changes actually have worked and resonated well with guests, and find a way to craft a unique experience that stands out as truly "premium" within the mainstream cruise industry without significant price increases.  I personally think that they have been onto something with splitting the product into two basic experiences - small ship on the S & R class vessels and big ship on the Vistas and above.  These subfleets can, and should, serve different missions and client bases and the onboard product/experience should be reflective of that.  Unfortunately the leadership currently in place does not seem able to deliver this for the reasons I listed above (and more I am sure).

Edited May 10, 2019 by AtlantaCruiser72

[bcummin]

deleted

Edited May 10, 2019 by bcummin

[bcummin]

On 5/8/2019 at 11:09 AM, Copper10-8 said:

If true, just another "brilliant" move by HAL's director of entertainment, right in line with doing away with the production cast and shows. He's on a roll 🙄

 

Found this online:

 

ttps://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/component/content/article.html?id=1845:102308-holland-america-launches-new-entertainment-employment-website

Edited May 10, 2019 by bcummin

[Storylady]

It seems to me that we have moved away from the topic about the “No more Travel Guides on HAL” to everything that is wrong with HAL. I naively thought that by making everyone aware that this change is going to happen that Cruise Critic members would voice there dismay and let Holland America that this one change that shouldn’t happen. 

 

And to to those who think it is just a rumor, it is not! Another staff member not connected with the EXC program also confirmed it is happening. 

 

Cruise Critic sometimes is able to reverse a change. But the way to do it is not to complain about everything that is wrong with HAL. So please post about the topic I originally posted.

[billbunger]

It is nothing more than a rumor until HAL makes an official announcement regarding EXE guides.

[IslandThyme]

This is really a sad thread. For me, HAL seems to always have the most interesting itineraries. I did the Grand Asia this past winter, and have been contemplating the World 2020. But you all are confirming what I experienced on the Grand Asia: the food was boring and bland for be to the point that I dreaded meal time after just a few weeks on board, there was virtually no evening entertainment of any interest, and the sea days were devoid of intellectual stimulation most of the time. The port talks were not focused on sales, but were still almost devoid of real useful information. I had the luck to be in a Neptune, but found myself spending a LOT of time in it, because there was so little of interest going on anywhere on the rest of the ship.

[Gsel]

Hlitner, agree with everything you said. After years of nothing but HAL we sailed with another line for a while. Then returned to HAL for a 17 day on "O".  Have decided unless it is a very , and we mean a very very, special itinerary, we will not return. They have taken away most of what made it special!  We Were in  NS, and for example, most every towel in our cabin was either torn or threadbare. The crew was great, but they can only do so much. Not worth what you have to pay. Definitely not the HAL we were used to!

[TiogaCruiser]

I’m wondering how this will effect Maasdam. I’ve got my eyes on one of the itineraries and if the special EXC concept is gone from it, I’ll more than likely not book.

[3rdGenCunarder]

6 hours ago, bcummin said:

 

Found this online:

 

ttps://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/component/content/article.html?id=1845:102308-holland-america-launches-new-entertainment-employment-website

 

I read the article. Too bad the link to the website doesn't work. It isn't "live" so I copied and pasted and got the regular HAL site.

[3rdGenCunarder]

5 hours ago, Storylady said:

It seems to me that we have moved away from the topic about the “No more Travel Guides on HAL” to everything that is wrong with HAL. I naively thought that by making everyone aware that this change is going to happen that Cruise Critic members would voice there dismay and let Holland America that this one change that shouldn’t happen. 

 

And to to those who think it is just a rumor, it is not! Another staff member not connected with the EXC program also confirmed it is happening. 

 

Cruise Critic sometimes is able to reverse a change. But the way to do it is not to complain about everything that is wrong with HAL. So please post about the topic I originally posted.

 

Thread drift happens. And in this case, the drift is staying close to your original topic. The loss of the Travel Guides is part of a larger picture--dilution of the passenger experience that set HAL apart from other lines. 

 

[DaveOKC]

7 hours ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

.......:

Second is that the onboard staff seem to be rife with a "my ship, my way" mentality among many department heads/managers.  This leads to an inconsistent product delivery, which rails against the very standardized approach that Mr Ashford seems to desire.  Ships are slow to implement new policies/procedures, or just do their own 'dam' thing because "that's the way we've always done it".  In short you have a wildly inconsistent product from ship to ship, sailing to sailing, venue to venue, which ultimately lowers guest satisfaction with the experience.

 

Third, I think there is also a lot of "old guard" at HQ in Seattle that are fighting the changes from the top, and are not sharing information between departments.  HAL seems very slow to adapt and change their processes and procedures, and everything seems very compartmentalized.  Getting the information to the ships and getting them to implement changes seems slow and haphazard at best (see problem #2 ....... wash rinse repeat ....)

 

One of my pet peeves with HAL is that the policies/procedures vary by ship, so you never really know what to expect.  While I understand that some flexibility may be necessary, HAL varies far too much for my liking as I like to know what to expect.

  

[kira5]

Just booked a cruise this morning.  (Land of the Rising Sun) and received the EXC brochure attached to my receipt.  It was also part of the promotional material I had received.    I'll doubt HAL's integrity if I later receive notice that this program has been cancelled.

EXC_In-Depth_EN copy.pdf

[Maureenxx]

I agree with so much that has been said here.  On my last after cruise questionnaire I commented on the dislike of Rudi's food and said why.  I agree he needs to be replaced.  He is too much on "celebrity" chefs and not on the food.  Also agree that those at the top need to go.  Just in the past few years we have noticed the decline in daytime activities; last cruise there were maybe two per 24 hours on board on sea days.  Now, we are booked on a cruise that will have no production shows and few staff to organize anything onboard.  We love Holland America and hate to see the things lacking more and more.  Not to mention that we will have to get used to the larger ships which we really don't care for.  Please make your thoughts known on your future questionnaires just in case someone does read them.

 

N

[sail7seas]

18 hours ago, Hlitner said:

We are equal opportunity cruisers having been on 15 lines (a 16th is coming up in July).  Last Nov-Dec we cruised on MSC's Divina in the Yacht Club as was "blown away" by the entire experience.  In terms of service, value, and quality we have never experienced anything quite like it...and that is after forty+ years of extensive cruising.  Was it perfect?  No way.  But for about $300 per passenger/day it was amazing.  If I spent $1000 a day on a large HAL suite, the service and amenities would not even come close.  All we would get on HAL would be a much larger cabin (big deal) and the Neptune Lounge where I would have to pay for my drinks (in the YC we did not pay for drinks).  

 

Getting back the HAL, perhaps it is because we have cruised on so many other lines that we are confused by HAL.  To be blunt, the only reason we continue to book HAL is because of some of their itineraries.  In terms of quality, ships, service, cuisine and entertainment they would no longer be in our top 3 list among even the mass market lines.  On MSC, DW and I were out every evening until at least midnight because the ship was alive, had lots of entertainment, and actually had other passengers awake until past midnight.  One irony was that the beverage manager on the Divina was an old friend from HAL!  MSC has some "issues" with their rapid expansion and seem to be grabbing some experienced managers from other cruise lines.

 

Yes, you are going to have cultural shock going from HAL to MSC.  Many HAL friends would hate MSC (even in the YC) but their YC  is a unique ship within a ship concept.  On MSC you can get that high level of service without booking a large suite.  In fact, on the newest ships they even have some inside cabins that are part of the YC.   For us, it was great that we could pay for a very high level of personal service (and a private part of the ship) without having to shell out the really big bucks for a large suite that is of no use to us (we do not spend a lot of time in our cabin).  In fact, on most MSC ships the largest cabins are not even part of the Yacht Club.  MSC also has a very unique production show set-up.  They use an onboard group of permanent entertainers who actually work 7 nights a week (there are enough in the company that they can rotate some days off).  The shows are very International and refreshingly/different.   Unlike on HAL you will never find a movie as the evening entertainment nor will you ever have a "dark night."   I am sure some HAL cruisers would hate the shows on MSC because they are not going to hear "Evita" or something from the 40s.  They will get a variety of music (from rock to country to opera) mixed with some Cirque de Soleil kind of entertainment.  You will not get a lecture on MSC since it is a very international cruise line with passengers speaking many different languages. The difference between MSC and HAL is that MSC knows what they are (a Euro-Italian cruise company) where HAL is a rudderless vessel.

 

During our 3 weeks hanging out in the Divina's Yacht Club lounge we made friends from the USA, England, Germany (quite a few), and Finland.   We also met others from France and Italy, but language differences prevented a lot of socialization.

 

Hank

Hank,,

 

Do any of their itineraries   Board in a U.S. port  and disembark  IN u.s?

 

Are all announcements made in multiple languages and take forever to finish?

 

Now that I travel solo, I have no wish for long trans atlantic/pacific  flights.  But your post did catch my attention. 

 

 

  sail.noordam@gmail.com

Edited May 10, 2019 by sail7seas

[Hlitner]

34 minutes ago, sail7seas said:

Hank,,

 

Do any of their itineraries   Board in a U.S. port  and disembark  IN u.s?

 

Are all announcements made in multiple languages and take forever to finish?

 

Now that I travel solo, I have no wish for long trans atlantic/pacific  flights.  But your post did catch my attention. 

 

 

  sail.noordam@gmail.com

MSC has been around for years but only recently started cruising out of the USA.  They have 3 ships (gonna be 4 pretty soon) and use the Port of Miami as their home port.  They have altered their European product for the North American market which is a good thing or NOT depending on your point of view.  From our cruise and talking to others it does seem that a majority of their customers are from Europe.  On the US based cruises the announcements are only in 2-4 languages (depending on whose onboard).  Outside of the Yacht Club the experience seems somewhat of a cross between RCI and Carnival in terms of quality,  We would not consider cruising the line outside of the Yacht Club.  The Yacht Club is a ship within a ship and seems to be around 5% of the total passengers.   The cabins (with a few exceptions) are in private part of the ship (accessible with your key card) where they have their own beautiful lounge, sun deck, pool, hot tubs, outdoor eating venue, and also a private restaurant (on the Divina it is located outside the YC). 

 

It is not perfect with the food leaving something to be desired.  But for the money it is a steal. Consider some little things such as their private restaurant (called Le Muse  on the Divina) is open for 3 meals a day whether or not in port!  The lounge (which is large and has a view over the bow (think Crows Nest) is open 21 hours a day.  When in the lounge (or anywhere in the YC) you never need to show your cruise card.  The lounge has snacks (the selection rotates a few times a day) 21 hours a day and the bar is always staffed.  We thought the food in Le Muse was pretty good with a menu that leans Italian.  I suspect that some HAL cruisers would like the food and others would think it not as good as we get on HAL.  The pastas were always fantastic, the seafood pretty good, and the meat so-so..except for the veal which we thought was great.  We really loved the Yacht Club's sundeck since there were plenty of loungers for everyone and it was private!  If we wanted breakfast or lunch on the sundeck there was a small café where a cook made eggs to order (using real eggs) and at lunch made fresh pasta.  On other ships they apparently have a larger menu at that YC grill (called "The One.").   In the evening there was always some kind of entertainment in our private lounge...which was usually a piano player/singer or a classical duo (violin/piano).  

 

Here is the shocker for HAL fans.  Our favorite entertainment on our cruise was a rock duo from Italy.  The guy played amazing guitar and his other half sang.   The man was so good he could play stuff like Hotel California almost as good as Don Felder (the original lead from the Eagles).  But that group often did not even start their first set until around 10PM!  Imagine that on a HAL cruise :).  An entire cruise without one Glenn Miller piece!  On most nights around 10, there would be 3 or 4 musical groups playing at various venues around the ship.

 

Hank 

[rkacruiser]

sail,

 

I just sent you an e-mail with some more information.  MSC Meraviglia will have a few sailings from New York this year as well as Miami.

[oaktreerb]

10 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

I’m wondering how this will effect Maasdam. I’ve got my eyes on one of the itineraries and if the special EXC concept is gone from it, I’ll more than likely not book.

The EXC 21 day Ultimate Alaska & Pacific Northwest Explorer looked like a great cruise rt out of San Francisco when it was published last year.  There have been  a few changes in the itinerary but it still looks great.   We thought it would sell out quickly but the May dates have not sold well and the prices kept coming down to the point that it is cheaper than the similar 14 day itinerary.

 

The Maasdam will be on the 14 day itinerary next year...which I expected to be the EXC concept...maybe not.  HAL really needs to give EXC a chance for at least 3 years.  The original 14 day itinerary (Amsterdam) which sails into the port of Anchorage took a couple of years to be embraced by HAL cruisers and soon everybody was raving about it.  In fact, I was afraid they would discontinue it.  Next year the 14 day Great Alaskan Explorer sails rt out of Vancouver up the inside passage and it seems to be an even better itinerary.  

 

RE: PORT TALKS ....I found both Seabourn and Azamara deficient in that area and told them so on my review.  I was used to the great port information that HAL has previously provided.

 

I’m looking forward to the EXC cruise on the Maasdam in 3 weeks.  I hope I won’t be bored!

Edited May 10, 2019 by oaktreerb

[rkacruiser]

19 minutes ago, oaktreerb said:

I was used to the great port information that HAL has previously provided.

 

I agree that the port information provided by whomever and whatever their title was generally was informative.  Some were better than others; some had more up-to-date information than others.  The 2018 retired woman from the Grand Cruises, Barbara is her name, I recall, and the current gentleman on the Amsterdam's Grand World Cruise, Ian, were/are among the best that I remember. 

 

What port information that has been lacking for many, many years are the port maps provided to guests.  If one is interested in the "recommended stores" locations:  probably wonderful.  Otherwise, the map is often a waste of the ink/paper resources used to print it. 

[Copper10-8]

9 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I agree that the port information provided by whomever and whatever their title was generally was informative.  Some were better than others; some had more up-to-date information than others.  The 2018 retired woman from the Grand Cruises, Barbara is her name, I recall, and the current gentleman on the Amsterdam's Grand World Cruise, Ian, were/are among the best that I remember. 

 

What port information that has been lacking for many, many years are the port maps provided to guests.  If one is interested in the "recommended stores" locations:  probably wonderful.  Otherwise, the map is often a waste of the ink/paper resources used to print it. 

 

 

Barbara Haenni, currently on the Amsterdam. She does/has been doing the GWV every year when she's not a pirate mom 

 

 

 

[zelker]

1 hour ago, oaktreerb said:

The Maasdam will be on the 14 day itinerary next year...which I expected to be the EXC concept...maybe not.  HAL really needs to give EXC a chance for at least 3 years.  The original 14 day itinerary (Amsterdam) which sails into the port of Anchorage took a couple of years to be embraced by HAL cruisers and soon everybody was raving about it.  In fact, I was afraid they would discontinue it.  Next year the 14 day Great Alaskan Explorer sails rt out of Vancouver up the inside passage and it seems to be an even better itinerary.  

 

We're booked on the 14 night Amsterdam this summer - our third time doing this itinerary.  I was curious about your comment so I just looked at the Maasdam's version for 2020 and IMHO, must disagree with your assessment that it's even better.  I don't think swapping Kodiak for Valdez is better, we've sailed in/around the Inian Islands on Seabourn and other than hoping that it's clear enough to see birds and maybe whales, there's really not much to see (it's not a port, it's just an area close to ISP), Haines is lovely but I'd hate losing a full day in Victoria, and getting into/out of Vancouver is typically more expensive (and with less flights) than into/out of Seattle.  But as long as Maasdam is in good condition, they keep the price consistent with what the 14 day has been priced at since its inception (on the other similarly sized ships), and keep the EXC concept going, I'm sure it will sell well.

 

Edited May 11, 2019 by zelker