Have a HAL complaint? Gary Bembridge has a response

[POA1]

The more I read these threads, the more I realize that everyone misses the HAL Cats. 😎 They were all the rage 10 years ago.

[REOVA]

4 hours ago, POA1 said:

The more I read these threads, the more I realize that everyone misses the HAL Cats. 😎 They were all the rage 10 years ago.

Even then half the passengers said they were too loud or couldn't sing.  Adagio everyone misses, especially in the MDR. 

[cruisemom42]

10 hours ago, REOVA said:

Even then half the passengers said they were too loud or couldn't sing. 

 

Some used to refer to them as the "Hellcats".

[cruisemom42]

15 hours ago, REOVA said:

The "new" push for families and younger crowd began more than a decade ago when the Pinnacle Class ships were ordered.

 

Heck, I still remember the "old" push for families when Zuiderdam, the first Vista class ship, was launched. Sailed on her with my son and parents shortly after she launched. All the marketing hype was about HAL's new family-friendly ships.

[POA1]

3 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Heck, I still remember the "old" push for families when Zuiderdam, the first Vista class ship, was launched. Sailed on her with my son and parents shortly after she launched. All the marketing hype was about HAL's new family-friendly ships.

Yes. The Zuiderdam, with its original Joe Farcus interior, was supposed to be a year-round Caribbean ship. It was, initially, until they realized that the HAL demo was not really into sailing in the Caribbean when it was hot.

 

We sailed on her in 2003 and 15 years later in 2018. She now looks like a HAL shop. I do miss the big Waterford seahorse. I wonder where it went.

[cruisemom42]

14 minutes ago, POA1 said:

Yes. The Zuiderdam, with its original Joe Farcus interior, was supposed to be a year-round Caribbean ship.

 

Gosh that ship was ugly back then. I wondered who thought red and orange and bright pink in the same area was a good idea. I had no idea it was Farcus, but that makes perfect sense.

[POA1]

Back in 2018, I did some research for my "From the WayBack Machine" posts. I contrasted the Then & Now appearance of various areas. The 2003 photos were all actual film (Remember that?) so there weren't as many atmosphere pictures. You had to pay for them after all.

 

This was a very helpful Travel Weekly article.

 

https://www.travelweekly.com/Destinations2001-2007/Zuiderdam-The-new-face-of-Holland-America

 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

47 minutes ago, POA1 said:

Yes. The Zuiderdam, with its original Joe Farcus interior, was supposed to be a year-round Caribbean ship. It was, initially, until they realized that the HAL demo was not really into sailing in the Caribbean when it was hot.

 

We sailed on her in 2003 and 15 years later in 2018. She now looks like a HAL shop. I do miss the big Waterford seahorse. I wonder where it went.

I still have the Waterford Crystal Seahorse they sold on the Zuiderdam, As well as the Waterford Crystal globe like what is hanging in the Atrium of the Oosterdam.