New ship called Rijndam and smaller ships stay for another 10 years

[jakkojakko]

During the mariners lunch on Rotterdam hotelmanager van Belleghem, captain was on the bridge due fog, announced the new ship Rijndam and that the company has decided to keep ships of Rotterdam sizes for another 10 years. He is pleased wi😀😀😀th that decision and so am I.

[terrydtx]

28 minutes ago, jakkojakko said:

During the mariners lunch on Rotterdam hotelmanager van Belleghem, captain was on the bridge due fog, announced the new ship Rijndam and that the company has decided to keep ships of Rotterdam sizes for another 10 years. He is pleased wi😀😀😀th that decision and so am I.

That is good news for the R Class ships, but it sounds like the two remaining S Class are still on the chopping block.

[jakkojakko]

He called it the smaller ships so the S class might be included.

[puppycanducruise]

Good news, thanks.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Interesting.

 

Thank you

[CruiserBruce]

Only sounds reasonable. I don't believe they have any more new ships scheduled (other than the new Ryndam), so they probably won't continue the current, general schedule of retiring two small ships every time the accept a new Pinnacle class ship. If they announce a new ship contract, with a 2 or 3 year building schedule, then we will probably hear of two more old ship retirements. But it will still take 10 or more years to retire out the S and R class ships.

[TiogaCruiser]

Note to self: gotta get on Maasdam.

[Himself]

They have made quite an investment in the Maasdam so I think it will stay for a while. Would not be surprised to see the Veendam  Glad to see the R class ships will be around for a while. 

[rotjeknor]

Good news ! 

And hopefully, they will build a new Prinsendam ....

The Prinsendam 1 and 2 have always been in a class of their own, so why not make a number 3 ?

[cruzingnut]

1 hour ago, rotjeknor said:

Good news ! 

And hopefully, they will build a new Prinsendam ....

The Prinsendam 1 and 2 have always been in a class of their own, so why not make a number 3 ?

 

When Orlando was on the current World Cruise, he said that “the math” doesn’t work out to have a ship the size of the P’Dam.  That being said he’d like to see the smaller ships 1,200 ish size continue but again, the math has to work out.  He can want what we all want but he’s constrained by the Carnival Corporation and “the math”.  I do believe he understands our desire to have smaller ships; he even said that trying to do a world cruise on the K’Dam sized ships just wouldn’t  be a “World Cruise”.  

 

Linda R.

Edited May 9, 2019 by cruzingnut

[kazu]

2 hours ago, rotjeknor said:

Good news ! 

And hopefully, they will build a new Prinsendam ....

The Prinsendam 1 and 2 have always been in a class of their own, so why not make a number 3 ?

 

 

There is hope.  At least according to our HD on the Prinsendam.  A new build is considered in 2 years.  They know full well that they have cut out a lot of ports when they cut out the Prinsendam.  

 

1 hour ago, cruzingnut said:

 

When Orlando was on the current World Cruise, he said that “the math” doesn’t work out to have a ship the size of the P’Dam.  That being said he’d like to see the smaller ships 1,200 ish size continue but again, the math has to work out.  He can want what we all want but he’s constrained by the Carnival Corporation and “the math”.  I do believe he understands our desire to have smaller ships; he even said that trying to do a world cruise on the K’Dam sized ships just wouldn’t  be a “World Cruise”.  

 

Linda R.

 

I guess we will wait and see.  The talk was a ship smaller than the Maasdam but if it happens and how is another story.  And IF it can do what the Prinsendam did.

 

I looked at Koningsdam’s South America itinerary as friends were considering it and was shocked to see the ports it wasn’t going to.  The destination is not South America, but the ship IMO.  Compared to the Zaandam, the Zaandam’s itinerary was far superior IF you want to see South America.

 

Considering that HAL has always been about itineraries, they need the smaller ships to do some of these itineraries.  I hope they MAINTAIN them and put them to good use 🙂 

[Himself]

I was on the Westerdam II in 1998, when HAL celebrated 125 years.  He said, at that time HAL would build smaller an d smaller.  Sine then we pick up four R Class ships, the Prinsendam, four Vista class ships, 2 Signature Class ships, 2 Culinary Class with a third on the way. So much for smaller and smaller ships.

[TAD2005]

I love the smaller ships, especially the "R" class.  But I wish HAL would get real and call a veranda cabin a veranda cabin and not a suite.   Once you add the "Suite" name the price jumps up.  The Vista Suites on the Rotterdam and Maasdam, if placed on the Westerdam (for example) would be considered regular veranda cabins, not suites.  

But I guess with the smaller ship, HAL still wants the same revenue per sailing as they get on a Vista class ship of a larger size.  On Rotterdam and Maasdam, there are insides, ocean views, lanai cabins, and then vista suites and Neptune suites.  No verandas with the associated lower prices.  The lanai cabins are nice but they don't hack it for being like a private veranda.  

[rkacruiser]

Re:  a new Prinsendam:

 

The Volendam for 2019-2020 appears to be assuming some of the itineraries that have been historically Prinsendam's.  I recently booked the Volendam's 2019 Christmas/New Year's Cruise.  The price I am paying decreased since I first started shopping!  If the "traditional itineraries" don't produce the revenue yield for a ship the size of the Volendam and HAL still wants to attract those guests who will book such an itinerary, that might nudge the decision to build a new Prinsendam.  I still think a modification of one of the older Seabourn ships would work as a new Prinsendam.  And, doing so, ought to be a good deal less expensive than a newbuild.

[rotjeknor]

12 hours ago, kazu said:

When Orlando was on the current World Cruise, he said that “the math” doesn’t work out to have a ship the size of the P’Dam.  That being said he’d like to see the smaller ships 1,200 ish size continue but again, the math has to work out.  He can want what we all want but he’s constrained by the Carnival Corporation and “the math”.  I do believe he understands our desire to have smaller ships; he even said that trying to do a world cruise on the K’Dam sized ships just wouldn’t  be a “World Cruise”.  

 

Linda R.

The math works both ways. If you have 800 pax who each pay e.g. 200 euros a day or 1600 that pay  a 100 euros a day. You both end up with 160000 euros . Prinsendam has always been more expensive than other ships purely because of its size and crew/pax ratio : 460 crew to 785 pax or 800 to 1900 on a Vista class.

There seems to be a market for smaller ships at higher prices, look at Viking or Regent. CCL really only has Seabourne in their portfolio in the upscale market. Princess has one small ship ( former R-Three from Renaissance cruises) and that's really all in a fleet of about 115 ships. So a small new build for say 1000 pax max would be a nice addition for CCL, and for HAL lovers as well 😉

[AncientWanderer]

This is good news.  We've experimented with the new bigger ships.  They're just not for us and we won't book them anymore -- Vista class is as large as we'll go.  Larger than that, the ships seem to become just big floating resort hotels.

Happy news!  

[terrydtx]

13 hours ago, TAD2005 said:

I love the smaller ships, especially the "R" class.  But I wish HAL would get real and call a veranda cabin a veranda cabin and not a suite.   Once you add the "Suite" name the price jumps up.  The Vista Suites on the Rotterdam and Maasdam, if placed on the Westerdam (for example) would be considered regular veranda cabins, not suites.  

But I guess with the smaller ship, HAL still wants the same revenue per sailing as they get on a Vista class ship of a larger size.  On Rotterdam and Maasdam, there are insides, ocean views, lanai cabins, and then vista suites and Neptune suites.  No verandas with the associated lower prices.  The lanai cabins are nice but they don't hack it for being like a private veranda.  

Most likely even if HAL changed the Vista Suites to a standard verandah category, the price would stay the same. At least with the suite designation you get some of the suites benefits like double cruise night credits. The R and S class ships have never had any standard verandah cabin categories. BTW I think the Volendam also has lanai cabins. I agree the lanai cabins lack privacy as you have people walking by your "lanai" door and windows all the time on the promenade deck, but for the price they are a nice option over the standard OV cabins.

[terrydtx]

25 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

This is good news.  We've experimented with the new bigger ships.  They're just not for us and we won't book them anymore -- Vista class is as large as we'll go.  Larger than that, the ships seem to become just big floating resort hotels.

Happy news!  

We have sailed on the N. Amsterdam several times and I wish HAL would build more of the Signature class ships but that isn't going to happen. The Eurodam and NA only have a capacity of about 200 passengers more than the Vista's but they have more space and amenities like the Tamarind specialty restaurant. We have sailed on much larger ships on other lines and I agree with you they are not for us. 

[Himself]

18 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

We have sailed on the N. Amsterdam several times and I wish HAL would build more of the Signature class ships but that isn't going to happen. The Eurodam and NA only have a capacity of about 200 passengers more than the Vista's but they have more space and amenities like the Tamarind specialty restaurant. We have sailed on much larger ships on other lines and I agree with you they are not for us. 

I agree with you.  I wish they had built two more Signature Class ships  before they went to the Pinnacle Class ships.

[OHCruiser]

7 hours ago, AncientWanderer said:

This is good news.  We've experimented with the new bigger ships.  They're just not for us and we won't book them anymore -- Vista class is as large as we'll go.  Larger than that, the ships seem to become just big floating resort hotels.

Happy news!  

 

I agree.  We call the monster ships "apartment buildings on tanker foundations".  They have no appeal to me at all.  I don't enjoy hoards of people..........heck, I don't enjoy so much as a crowded elevator!

[AncientWanderer]

9 hours ago, terrydtx said:

We have sailed on the N. Amsterdam several times and I wish HAL would build more of the Signature class ships but that isn't going to happen. The Eurodam and NA only have a capacity of about 200 passengers more than the Vista's but they have more space and amenities like the Tamarind specialty restaurant. We have sailed on much larger ships on other lines and I agree with you they are not for us. 

 

You are absolutely correct, terrydtx.   I should have mentioned the Signature class as well as Vista.   They accommodate the extra 200 passengers without a sweat.  Eurodam and NA are actually my favorites.  But bigger than those...just not for us.

 

Just musing, I wonder if the cruise lines assumed that avid cruisers would quite easily migrate to the bigger ships.  For us, if smaller ships become prohibitively expensive, we will just switch to land vacations.  We love cruising, but the big ships leave us nervous, rather than relaxed.  I'd imaging there are others out there who feel the same way.

[terrydtx]

22 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

You are absolutely correct, terrydtx.   I should have mentioned the Signature class as well as Vista.   They accommodate the extra 200 passengers without a sweat.  Eurodam and NA are actually my favorites.  But bigger than those...just not for us.

 

Just musing, I wonder if the cruise lines assumed that avid cruisers would quite easily migrate to the bigger ships.  For us, if smaller ships become prohibitively expensive, we will just switch to land vacations.  We love cruising, but the big ships leave us nervous, rather than relaxed.  I'd imaging there are others out there who feel the same way.

We are doing our first Viking Ocean cruise of Greece next year in a 930 passengers size ship. It is not cheap but considering all that is included It is only marginally more than doing a similar Celebrity cruise. 

[AncientWanderer]

18 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

We are doing our first Viking Ocean cruise of Greece next year in a 930 passengers size ship. It is not cheap but considering all that is included It is only marginally more than doing a similar Celebrity cruise. 

 

That should be a beautiful cruise.

I know what you mean about "the bottom line."  On some itineraries, the very small ships can get in tight places so well that even some shore excursions become unnecessary.  That can be a big savings.  So, yes, it pays to do a thorough cost analysis, factoring in all the included stuff.  The results can be surprising.

[TAD2005]

10 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Most likely even if HAL changed the Vista Suites to a standard verandah category, the price would stay the same. At least with the suite designation you get some of the suites benefits like double cruise night credits. The R and S class ships have never had any standard verandah cabin categories. BTW I think the Volendam also has lanai cabins. I agree the lanai cabins lack privacy as you have people walking by your "lanai" door and windows all the time on the promenade deck, but for the price they are a nice option over the standard OV cabins.

We have had Lanai cabins on the Rotterdam, and just booked another one for 29 days,  Rotterdam to Ft. Lauderdale in Oct 2020.   The people walking by our cabin sliding door and window didn't bother us, even at night, because I checked it out.  I turned on every light in the cabin and stood outside at night, with my nose pressed against the sliding glass door.  I could only see the glow of the ceiling lights and a silhouette if somebody passed in front of the light.   But you still have to close the drapes when sleeping because the Promenade deck is well lighted, all through the night.

 

The extra cruise days you get because HAL labels a veranda cabin a Vista Suite is not worth it to us.  We are already at 4-star mariner status, and it's a long way to 5-star, and the additional benefits of 5-star over 4-star are certainly not worth the $2000 per person increase in price from a Lanai cabin to a Vista Suite on our 29 day Rotterdam cruise.  I'll take that $4000 for both of us and book business class air.

[Stakeout]

On 5/9/2019 at 5:55 PM, Himself said:

I was on the Westerdam II in 1998, when HAL celebrated 125 years.  He said, at that time HAL would build smaller an d smaller.  Sine then we pick up four R Class ships, the Prinsendam, four Vista class ships, 2 Signature Class ships, 2 Culinary Class with a third on the way. So much for smaller and smaller ships.

I too remember those same words on the old Westerdam that the Captains used to spew out back then .." HAL will never build bigger ships".. unfortunately they were wrong.. money factor won out