Any "new Ships" In The Works For Hal???

[many cruises]

Does anyone know if HAL will be building any new ships in the near future? If so, can you give us any info. about them? ;)

[bruceh4]

Does anyone know if HAL will be building any new ships in the near future? If so, can you give us any info. about them? ;)

Yes HAL has announced 2 new ships which will be bigger than anything up do now:( They will be around 2300 passengers and I believe the first is due late 2008 and the next in 2010.

[Krazy Kruizers]

There will be 2 new ships coming out - one in the summer of 2008 and one in the spring of 2010. They will be called the Signature class. They will carry 2044 passengers. According to HAL: "They are suppose to have a 144 seat capacity restaurant and 50 seat lounge surrounded by panoramic views overlooking the ocean expanse and the Lido pool. Other additions include an Explorer's Lounge Bar, a premium wine-tasting lounge, an elegant luxury jewelry boutique,a new atrium bar area, an enhanced and reconfigured show lounge and a new photographic amd imaging center. Plus a new style of stateroom will debut, with ceiling-to-floor and wall-to-wall panoramic windows."

[bepsf]

...They will be around 2300 passengers...

 

Um, maybe w/ all 3rd bunks filled...

 

At 88,000 tons and 2044 pax (double occupancy), they will only be slightly larger than the existing Vista Class.

 

They are due Summer '08 and Spring '10

 

http://www.hollandamerica.com/media/newsRelease.do?fileName=/200601/09_corporate_01.xml

[Krazy Kruizers]

I wonder if the new restaurant will have restrictions like the Pinnacle Grill has on the number of people that can dine there??? Right now HAL keeps the a limited number of staff working the Pinnacle and since on some of the ships the Pinnacle shares the same kitchen, they aloow one seating for each table.

 

Hopefully this new restaurant will have its own kitchen since it will be away from the main dining room and there will be more on hand and possibly more will be able to dine there each evening.

[sail7seas]

All of the Vista ships came out with their own galley. It wouldn't make any sense for the new Signature Class of ships to not have separate kitchens for the specialty restaurants.

 

I have mixed feelings if I wish they would add a second specialty restaurant to the new class of ships. On one hand, I'd love a really good Italian and on the other hand, the more 'other than dining room' eating venues there are, the more I fear the new emphasis on making the dining rooms better and better may fall by the wayside.

 

I realize it more likely IF they were to add a second restaurant, it would be more fitting for it to be Asian but I'd rather Italian :) for my personal taste. ;)

 

[kryos]

I have mixed feelings if I wish they would add a second specialty restaurant to the new class of ships. On one hand, I'd love a really good Italian and on the other hand, the more 'other than dining room' eating venues there are, the more I fear the new emphasis on making the dining rooms better and better may fall by the wayside.

 

I realize it more likely IF they were to add a second restaurant, it would be more fitting for it to be Asian but I'd rather Italian :) for my personal taste. ;)

I'm with you. IF they are gonna add a second restaurant, I'd prefer Italian, but tend to think it will be some sort of Asian Fusion affair.

 

Personally, it really doesn't matter to me which way they go ... as long as they keep the Pinnacle Grill ... cause that's the only restaurant I would pay extra money to dine in while a HAL ship.

 

I also agree with you ... the more specialty restaurants there are, the less motivation HAL has to keep the traditional dining room service levels high. Since those specialty restaurants bring in more onboard revenue, would make sense for HAL to focus their efforts on keeping quality levels up in them ... even if it means letting the dining room slip.

 

I also think that the more specialty restaurants they have, the more HAL will eventually become like a "freestyle" dining ship. People will dine all over the place ... and the dining room will become just one of many venues in which to have dinner. A lot of the "tradition" will go out of traditional dining, if you know what I mean.

 

Ahhhhhh, I guess I can only hope that the smaller ships continue to sail for many, many more years ... the ships that simply don't have the room for all of these dining and entertainment options. I personally have no desire to sail the large ships ... the Vistas nor the Signature Class. True, the Signature Class ships will not carry that many more passengers than the Vista ones ... however, one very important thing people need to remember is that passenger capacity is based on two berths per stateroom. Often ships sail at far over capacity ... if a lot of the staterooms are capable of accommodating three and four people ... and if most of those staterooms actually do have three or four people in them for a particular sailing. Then, believe me, that Signature Class ship will become very, very cozy ... if you get my drift. You'll have far more than 2000 passengers onboard given a prime summertime or holiday sailing.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[sail7seas]

There are safety levels at which they must stop. They cannot simply jam in as many pax as they can stuff aboard.

 

They get to capacity.......and that is it. It becomes unsafe.

 

Not to mention, they need to have a seat for every passenger in the dining room. Each guest has an assigned seat. Four seatings. Only so many tables; only so many guests can be embarked.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

We loved the Marco Polo and Odyssey - Italian food - wish they would bring that back as well.

[Krazy Kruizers]

DH loves Asian food - I don't so we would have a problem there. I can see it now - he would go to one restaurant while I would go to the other one.

[Sunshine91]

They are due Summer '08 and Spring '10

 

Brian - Are we booking the 1st Signature Class Inaugural as a Group Cruise, too? ;)

[bepsf]

Brian - Are we booking the 1st Signature Class Inaugural as a Group Cruise, too? ;)

 

Oh, heck yea!

I'm really, really hoping it sails from Venice - that would make one heck of a Bon Voyage party, at Harry's Bar sipping Bellini's!

:D

[RevNeal]

Are we booking the 1st Signature Class Inaugural as a Group Cruise, too?

 

I'm planning on being aboard for the maiden voyage, that's for SURE. Summer 2008 has already been tentatively blocked off to enable me to do it: no other vacations or cruises scheduled in close proximity to those summer months ...just so long as it's not the very first week in June I'll be ok. It's also one of the reasons why I really would rather move in June 2007 ... I won't have to worry about moving details AND the maiden voyage of the first Signature ship.

[jhannah]

Has there been any word on who will name this new ship? I just saw where Martha Stewart will name the new Crown Princess! :confused: Oh well.

 

Who would you like to see as the first Signature's godmother?

[RevNeal]

Let the maiden voyage be out of Rotterdam in Mid-July, 2008, and let the Queen do it. :D

[jhannah]

Wow! That would be super.

[sail7seas]

Let the maiden voyage be out of Rotterdam in Mid-July, 2008, and let the Queen do it. :D

 

Queen Beatrix was at the Dedication/Naming of ....was it Oosterdam or Westerdam? When they had Rotterdam and the new ship bow to bow in Rotterdam? What a sight that was. They had rigged it so the champagne was swung from Rotterdam to strike the new ship.

 

I have seen her portrait aboard more than one HAL ship so I wonder if she isn't already Godmother for one of the HAL ships. It seems to be I recall a bust of her on Maasdam, as well. So.......hmmm......maybe just a tribute to the Dutch Queen though she may not actually be Godmother to any of the ships.

 

It's at least 2 1/2 years away when there will next be a Dedication of an HAL ship so who knows what lady could emerge in that time. I think perhaps they seek someone who has made a unique contribution in some way.

[JohnR49er]

Perhaps a former Ambassador would be picked as a Godmother??????????????????????

[RevNeal]

Perhaps a former Ambassador would be picked as a Godmother??????????????????????

 

As in a former "Mariner Ambassador." Say ... someone who has had the honor of pouring a glass of champaign over a bell?? Hmmm ... I'd go for that! :D ;)

[jhannah]

Wow! I think you're onto something! Who could they possibly find who would be any more the essence of what Holland America cruising is all about?