French Polynesia to limit cruise ships by size starting Jan 2022

[nocl]

54 minutes ago, Sue from Canada said:

Maybe HAL will use either the Volendam or Zaandam for these sailings.  I'd like that.

Even Volendam is too large for Bora Bora now with 1400 passengers.

[erewhon]

7 hours ago, KirkNC said:

I may be confused by the wording, not sure what “transpacific” or “transpacific repositioning” mean but the cruise I am referring to has seven stops in FP.

 

The "transpacific" cruises we have sailed, have been from North America to Australia/New Zealand. That is how they were described on the HAL website.   The ships sail south (reposition) for our summer season, they then reposition back to North America for the Alaska season.

[KirkNC]

8 hours ago, nocl said:

only BB should be impacted. Ship size can go up to 3500 for the others.

I hope your right but it seems counter intuitive that the largest port limits itself to 1,200 while much smaller ones allow 3,500.

[Heartgrove]

One of my bucket list cruises is the Arenui 5 through the Marquesas Islands. A working ship through the islands would be a true immersion experience.

[Sea42]

We too enjoyed our land stay on Moorea. For us, there were much better opportunities for hiking and land based exploring for an extended stay.

On our cruise, we had 2 days visiting Bora Bora and enjoyed the water around there more than Moorea and our day with Maohi Nui was incredible! We visited on a smaller ship that would still be allowed under the new rules but even then when we did our land touring the island felt very crowded.

[Fred321]

This is another reason why we decided to forego the 2023 world and book the Volendam South America and then move over to Viking for a 2024 World Cruise. We used to really enjoy some of the smaller ports that the Prinsendam or even the Amsterdam could access but with the changeover in size of ship for HAL's 2023 world I think you are going to see more "generic" ports and I can't even imagine what a zoo any tender ports will be. Tendering on the Amsterdam was bad enough. On the Zuiderdam, good luck.

[zelker]

3 hours ago, KirkNC said:

I hope your right but it seems counter intuitive that the largest port limits itself to 1,200 while much smaller ones allow 3,500.

Interesting.  I always envisioned Papeete being the largest port.

[Tampa Girl]

7 hours ago, Sue from Canada said:

Maybe HAL will use either the Volendam or Zaandam for these sailings.  I'd like that.

Don't they hold 1280 passengers?  If so, HAL could limit it to 1,200 but they would obviously mean a loss of income.  Are the FP cruises usually fully booked by pre-pandemic count?

[RuthC]

1 hour ago, Tampa Girl said:

Don't they hold 1280 passengers?  If so, HAL could limit it to 1,200 but they would obviously mean a loss of income.  Are the FP cruises usually fully booked by pre-pandemic count?

1280 was the size of the S-class ships. The R-class ships (Volendam and Zaandam remaining) were slightly larger at about 1400. 
Of course, HAL could keep the passenger total to the limit if they truly wanted to include Bora Bora. Would they? Ah, that is the question. 

[zelker]

Just now, RuthC said:

Of course, HAL could keep the passenger total to the limit if they truly wanted to include Bora Bora. Would they? Ah, that is the question. 

As long as they don't cancel my bookings from Zuiderdam next February and October, I'm all for it!!  😄

[dchip]

Amen!!!!! We should be leaving right now for a 45 day South Pacific cruise that  was canceled. I do want to cruise in February and March. 
Denise

Edited September 25, 2021 by dchip

[Daniel A]

I'm a little unsure about what is being said.  In 2019 Bora Bora blocked ships with a capacity of 1200 passengers from their lagoon.  Now, from what I am reading is that they are limiting the number of passengers who can disembark on Bora Bora.  I'm not seeing where they banned any ships under 3500 passenger capacity from stopping at Bora Bora.

 

Am I wrong in thinking that a larger ship can still call on Bora Bora, but the number of people who can go ashore is limited to 1200?  Would a cruise ship be able to require any passengers who wish to go ashore to take excursions say, in the morning with one group of 1200 passengers and then  permit another 1200 to go ashore in the afternoon?

 

This sounds vaguely familiar to the Key West ordinance where if more than one ship called on the same day, only a percentage of the passengers would have been able to go ashore.

 

 

[cruisemom42]

13 hours ago, kazu said:

And this is why the Prinsendam should never had been sold.  That ship was welcomed everywhere we went. 840 passengers max.

 

I would to think that somewhere in the HAL headquarters there is not only a feeling that they may have been too hasty in unloading their smaller ships, but that they should look at options to remedy that situation.

 

Assuming, that is, that there is still any interest in being more than just a mass market line with a few interesting itineraries. (And that may be a big assumption....)

[Heartgrove]

2 hours ago, Fred321 said:

This is another reason why we decided to forego the 2023 world and book the Volendam South America and then move over to Viking for a 2024 World Cruise. We used to really enjoy some of the smaller ports that the Prinsendam or even the Amsterdam could access but with the changeover in size of ship for HAL's 2023 world I think you are going to see more "generic" ports and I can't even imagine what a zoo any tender ports will be. Tendering on the Amsterdam was bad enough. On the Zuiderdam, good luck.

 

Have you researched Viking Ocean? It is not HAL. Their capacity is 930 passengers per ship, and they will be at that capacity. Our cruise this Summer had only 870 passengers and it felt crowded at times. Their ships only carry four tenders so transt times while tendering are not any better.

 

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by Heartgrove

[nocl]

6 hours ago, KirkNC said:

I hope your right but it seems counter intuitive that the largest port limits itself to 1,200 while much smaller ones allow 3,500.

The issue is the crowds and tourism value. Bora Bora is the most in demand of the islands with many very expensive resorts. It is the most attractive to tourists and they want to keep it that way.

 

 Morea is probably second, but does not have a passenger limit.

 

  The others even less si. Papette is the most heavily populated and the most able to handle ships, but is probably the least attractive port 

 

Though they did say that ships 700 and less would be prioritized. So it is possible for a scheduling conflict to occur.

[Daniel A]

1 hour ago, Heartgrove said:

 

Have you researched Viking Ocean? It is not HAL. Their capacity is 930 passengers per ship, and they will be at that capacity. Our cruise this Summer had only 870 passengers and it felt crowded at times. Their ships only carry four tenders so transt times while tendering are not any better.

It looks as if there can still be an issue if there's another cruise ship in Bora Bora that day.

[nocl]

1 hour ago, Daniel A said:

I'm a little unsure about what is being said.  In 2019 Bora Bora blocked ships with a capacity of 1200 passengers from their lagoon.  Now, from what I am reading is that they are limiting the number of passengers who can disembark on Bora Bora.  I'm not seeing where they banned any ships under 3500 passenger capacity from stopping at Bora Bora.

 

Am I wrong in thinking that a larger ship can still call on Bora Bora, but the number of people who can go ashore is limited to 1200?  Would a cruise ship be able to require any passengers who wish to go ashore to take excursions say, in the morning with one group of 1200 passengers and then  permit another 1200 to go ashore in the afternoon?

 

This sounds vaguely familiar to the Key West ordinance where if more than one ship called on the same day, only a percentage of the passengers would have been able to go ashore.

 

 

The limit is 1200 total per day.

 

That also raises the question if that limit is total or per ship. If total thst a smaller, less than 700 ship would get priority  Under the 1200 passenger restriction I doubt you would see a large ship all there, just do what the FP wants and call at the other islands instead.

[dmcfad2]

I think people should just resign themselves to the fact that HAL won’t be visiting Bora Bora in 2022. 

[nocl]

7 hours ago, KirkNC said:

I hope your right but it seems counter intuitive that the largest port limits itself to 1,200 while much smaller ones allow 3,500.

Bora Bora is not the largest port, Papette is. There is one other Island thst you actually dock at as well, the rest are tender 

 

Bora Bora is the most attractive and valuable tourist location.

[SilvertoGold]

17 hours ago, KirkNC said:

I may be confused by the wording, not sure what “transpacific” or “transpacific repositioning” mean but the cruise I am referring to has seven stops in FP.

As the other poster noted, "transpacific" probably/possibly means not sailing back to the US but continuing on to NZ or Australia.  Looks as if your 35 day R/T cruise would be OK :)

[KirkNC]

5 hours ago, zelker said:

Interesting.  I always envisioned Papeete being the largest port.

Actually, it probably is but they are still allowing 3,500 passengers at stops smaller then BB.

[KirkNC]

2 hours ago, dmcfad2 said:

I think people should just resign themselves to the fact that HAL won’t be visiting Bora Bora in 2022. 

Which would be fine if everyone knew that when they booked their 2022 cruise   We have been twice so it’s not a deal breaker for us but others may disagree.

[dmcfad2]

2 hours ago, KirkNC said:

Which would be fine if everyone knew that when they booked their 2022 cruise   We have been twice so it’s not a deal breaker for us but others may disagree.

I agree with you and I don't think it is fine at all, but it is the way things are going with this pandemic. I am booked on a 2022 Hawaii/Tahiti cruise on the Zuiderdam and on the same cruise in 2023 on the Koningsdam. I've been to Bora Bora three times and it still is making me think about canceling, because it is my favorite port and one of the main reasons I take that particular cruise. Unless Tahiti changes their most recent declaration, I just wouldn't be counting on a stop in Bora Bora. Hopefully HAL will let us know soon and not string us along like they did on the California Coastal with Santa Barbara. 

[nocl]

9 hours ago, SilvertoGold said:

As the other poster noted, "transpacific" probably/possibly means not sailing back to the US but continuing on to NZ or Australia.  Looks as if your 35 day R/T cruise would be OK 🙂

Transpacific means any cruise not ending or originating in French Polynesia passing through). Cruises starting or ending there are limited to 2500.

 

So yes the restrictions apply to a cruise starting and ending in the US that visit FP.

[Daniel A]

Deleted

Edited September 26, 2021 by Daniel A
Posted in wrong thread