Grand Voyages being "Cut Back"?

[ljones]

Someone on another HAL site said the Grand South America cruise was being 'stopped or paused' after the 2023 trip to begin different itineraries.  Has anyone else heard the same?  Do you know what other itineraries will be replacing it?  I'd hoped there would be one in 2025 as I have other bookings that would conflict with the 2023 sailing.

[Mary229]

That was discussed on a thread on this board, you can search.  The cruise has been running yearly for many years.  I don’t recall what is replacing it but the Grand Australia and Grand Africa are receiving a lot of press.  Some would like to see the Grand Asia and Grand Mediterranean return.  I expect the Voyage of the Vikings to soon be changed significantly 

[CruiserBruce]

Remember HAL has 4 fewer ships. I suspect they will go where the revenues are best. Shipping supplies around the world for unique routes is probably not a revenue enhancer.

[Caribbean Chris]

4 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I expect the Voyage of the Vikings to soon be changed significantly 

Why? Or how? Curious because I plan to book that in one of the coming years. 

[Mary229]

42 minutes ago, Caribbean Chris said:

Why? Or how? Curious because I plan to book that in one of the coming years. 

There are so many lines now doing a similar itinerary and even HAL now has an abbreviated version.  Currently they fill the ship but I wonder if that will continue now that they will be using larger ships.  I think 2023 is the Zuiderdam which is larger than the R class ships they have historically used.  I think sometimes itineraries just get tired and should be shelved for a while 

[rkacruiser]

45 minutes ago, Caribbean Chris said:

Why? Or how? Curious because I plan to book that in one of the coming years. 

 

Good question.  VOV is very popular and is usually sold out.  

[rkacruiser]

1 minute ago, Mary229 said:

Currently they fill the ship but I wonder if that will continue now that they will be using larger ships.  I think 2023 is the Zuiderdam which is larger than the R class ships they have historically used.  I think sometimes itineraries just get tired and should be shelved for a while 

 

I understand your thinking, but, if the 2023 world cruise on the Zuiderdam sails as expected, and is successful, maybe the "thinking" might be:  let's put some different hardware on the itinerary and see how that works.  

[Mary229]

3 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I understand your thinking, but, if the 2023 world cruise on the Zuiderdam sails as expected, and is successful, maybe the "thinking" might be:  let's put some different hardware on the itinerary and see how that works.  

I just think the extra capacity will absorb the demand perhaps even surpass demand.    let’s all be honest - there really isn’t much to see in Greenland😉.   I have seen more cruises which circumnavigate Iceland and more which sail the the Arctic of  Europe where there is more infrastructure.   Just as they are completely leaving South America   I expect them to continue sailing in the region but I would expect some substantial changes to the itinerary 

[Mary229]

I don’t think the VOV actually sells out.  It is how they handle book8ngs.  They designate so many cabins for round trip, so many for eastbound and so many for westbound.  When I sailed in 2017, it was not full.  

[rkacruiser]

3 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I don’t think the VOV actually sells out.  It is how they handle book8ngs.  They designate so many cabins for round trip, so many for eastbound and so many for westbound.  When I sailed in 2017, it was not full.  

 

On Rotterdam VI?  We may have sailed at the same time.  Or, close to that year.  And, the ship was full both ways.  

 

6 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I expect them to continue sailing in the region but I would expect some substantial changes to the itinerary 

 

Could be.  But, given the ports available to handle a HAL sized ship, I think those might be a factor.  

 

8 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

 let’s all be honest - there really isn’t much to see in Greenland😉.

 

Well, I completely disagree with this statement!  

[Mary229]

10 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

On Rotterdam VI?  We may have sailed at the same time.  Or, close to that year.  And, the ship was full both ways.  

 

 

Could be.  But, given the ports available to handle a HAL sized ship, I think those might be a factor.  

 

 

Well, I completely disagree with this statement!  

I was in the lanai, a last minute upsell.  The lanais were not full.  I did not have neighbors, either side on the return voyage and one next door was empty going