Any Chance Nieuw Amsterdam sails from New York

[cruiserking]

I think it's great that HAL has returned a ship to homeport in New York. The Veendam cruises to Bermuda this April are a welcome sight. But, what are the chances of a new ship either a Vista or Signature Class Ship sailing out of the Big Apple in the very near future.

We were all so thrilled to have the Noordam sailing Caribbean runs in couple of years ago, but, just as quickly as she appeared she vanished into the New York night.

Yesterday, at the New York Travel Show I tried unsuccessfully to glean some information from a couple of HAL sales reps. The HAL rep mentioned the Veendam sales have been very strong and that Holland America had been disappointed with the per diem rates on heavily discounted sailings on the Noordam.

We would certainly pay a few bucks more for convenience of leaving out of New York and would love to see the Noordam return to New York. What do you think the chances are that the Nieuw Amsterdam will sail out of Manhattan in 2010?

I mean the ship is named after New York and features design scheme based on the city, the Manhattan Dining Room. I am hoping that the successful sails for Veendam will prompt the HAL suits to reconsider a larger ship out of New York City and hopefully Nieuw Amsterdam will be the one.

Celebrity will be homeporting their new Solstice Class Silhouette out of New Jersey in 2011 so, the time is right for HAL to jump on board and create some competition for our cruising dollars.

Jonathan

[sail7seas]

The 2010 - 2011 Cruise Planner shows Nieuw Amsterdam sailing the Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale.





We would certainly pay a few bucks more for convenience of leaving out of New York and would love to see the Noordam return to New York. What do you think the chances are that the Nieuw Amsterdam will sail out of Manhattan in 2010?




Many people say this now but when Noordam was sailing from New York, they were not quite so free spending. I was told people were not willing to pay what was necessary for the ship to spend all that fuel to make the run round trip from New York. Cruisers were squeezing the last penny. :( That might not be the only reason she was moved but it was one of them.

[Typhoon1]

I spoke with a HAL charter sales rep on our last cruise and was informed the ship would spend 2010-2011 at Fort Lauderdale, then the following summer in Europe.

[sail7seas]

That is what the 2010 - 2011 Cruise Planner shows. All HAL ships leave the Caribbean from mid April until mid October each year.

April 3, 2011 is the date she boards her Transatlantic crossing.

[jtl513]

As others said, it's not planned for 2010 or 2011. At a Captain's Q&A on out last cruise, he said besides the extra fuel costs to get to the Caribbean, the NYC labor and other port costs are too high. OTOH, the Caribbean is pretty saturated in the summer right now, so ?????? :confused:

[sail7seas]

Are there really that many ships in the Caribbean during the summer, jtl?

We spent 8 days at Hyatt Pier 66 June 2008 and saw exactly 2 ships come into Port Everglades during that time. Maybe they're mostly sailing from Miami? Carnival, NCL? Not many HAL, Princess or "X" in FLL.

[jtl513]

Are there really that many ships in the Caribbean during the summer, jtl?Sorry, I meant in the winter! :o

[sail7seas]

Ahhh soooo......... :)

[knitlady037]

I know that when the FCC is available in the Neptune on our upcoming cruise we will probably not be making a reservation again. Will be looking at the new Celebrity ship sailing out of NJ. The last blizzard and the threat of another storm right before we leave this week is really making us rethink a Florida departure. Will be sad to not sail HAL, but the 7 day to Bermuda does not appeal to us at all.

[foodsvcmgr]

If HAL were to reconsider putting a newer, larger ship out of New York
in the Fall and Winter, NIEUW AMSTERDAM would be a better choice than a "Vista" due to her more economical power plant design, in addition to
the obvious name/theme connection.

Unfortunately, I recall having the same high hopes when the previous
NIEUW AMSTERDAM debuted in 1983, a ship which ultimately spent
little or no time in her namesake port.

[DutchByAssociation]

I think it's great that HAL has returned a ship to homeport in New York. The Veendam cruises to Bermuda this April are a welcome sight. But, what are the chances of a new ship either a Vista or Signature Class Ship sailing out of the Big Apple in the very near future.

Eurodam went out of New York up to Quebec and back for several Canada/New England trips. She also arrived into New York on the transatlantic last year and will again this year.

The issue isn't is there a new ship out of NYC, it sounds more like it's a "is there an itinerary YOU want to go on going out of NYC" ;)

[cruiserking]

Eurodam went out of New York up to Quebec and back for several Canada/New England trips. She also arrived into New York on the transatlantic last year and will again this year.

The issue isn't is there a new ship out of NYC, it sounds more like it's a "is there an itinerary YOU want to go on going out of NYC" ;)

We would be more than happy to cruise to Canada on the Eurodam. But, the ship only sails from New York twice in late September and the scheduling does not work for us.

Jonathan

[Himself]

Someone mentioned the Summer in the Caribbean. HAL used to keep a ship in the Caribbean all summer. That stoped several years ago. The Last ship to do the summer Caribbean was the Zuiderdam. I believe the last summer for the Zuiderdam in the Caribbean was 2004 or 2005. Then they started sending her to Vancouver for the Summer months. I would like to see a ship stay in for the summer. The Zuiderdam was over booked the two weeks I was on her in the summer of 2003. One week we did the Eastern Caribbean and the next week we did the Western Caribbean. I would also like to see the new NIEUW AMSTERDAM doing Alaska as did the old Niew Amsterdam.

I don't mean to be offensive to anyone but personally I would rather go the Caribbean out of Ft. Lauderdale or Tampa.

[sail7seas]

Flying these days being what it is and how long it takes to transit any airport and seeing as NY airports can sometimes back up very badly particularly when we get miserable Northeast weather, I think I'd rather cruise from FLL also.

At least we are in warm weather for the cruise right away and don't have the cold to coolish day and a half before we start to reach warm weather. Roundtrip NY to NY to the Caribbean means at least three days of less than 'swimming weather'. Seeing as we have to fly anyway, may as well just fly to FLL. For us, it's not that different timewise.

I certainly understand for people who live in PA, NJ and NY wanting to avoid flying and board close to home. I adore doing that with 'my' Maasdam each summer in Boston.

[Jade13]

Eurodam went out of New York up to Quebec and back for several Canada/New England trips. She also arrived into New York on the transatlantic last year and will again this year.

The issue isn't is there a new ship out of NYC, it sounds more like it's a "is there an itinerary YOU want to go on going out of NYC" ;)

We would like to do a 3 day cruise from NYC to NoWhere as we did on Eurodam in 2008. Any chance? When will she be in NYC for the transatlantic?

[Vic The Parrot]

Hey J!

How ya been?


If scheduling is a problem, there's always another option ... QM2 :D ;)

[funlovin'cruiser]

As many people have pointed out in many posts for a long time, HAL has a marketing and research department that plans out HAL itineraries. Obviously, both cruising from New York to the Caribbean and cruising in the Caribbean during the summer does not make HAL as much money as does other itineraries for those ships. I wouldn't hold my breath for either, as we have recently seen that the real money apparently is turning to cruising in Australia and Asia (evidenced by RCCL moving a ship and HAL repositioning a second ship down under). I realize that there is an interest for people of the northeast to cruise close to home, but it's obviously not enough to make HAL blink twice until the research proves otherwise.

[jtl513]

We would like to do a 3 day cruise from NYC to NoWhere as we did on Eurodam in 2008. Any chance? When will she be in NYC for the transatlantic?Sorry, no chance. After the 2010 summer season in Europe she leaves Lisbon on 28 Oct direct to Ft Lauderdale, arriving on 7 Nov. (The only stop enroute is HMC.) She immediately begins 7-day cruises in Caribbean until 3 Apr 2011, when she heads directly back to Europe. She never comes anywhere near NYC.

Schedules aren't showing yet what happens at the end of the 2011 Europe season.

[jtl513]

Jade13 - in your post #15, were you asking about the subject of this thread, the Nieuw Amsterdam, or about the Eurodam that DBA had just mentioned? My answer above is about the N.A.

If you meant the Eurodam, she will be doing 10 day cruises from NYC to Quebec on 9/6/2010, 9/26/2010, 9/10/2011, and 9/20/2011.

[cruiserking]

Hey J!

How ya been?


If scheduling is a problem, there's always another option ... QM2 :D ;)

Hey Vic,

Been Good, how 'bout you?

Absolutely, we hope to cruise the QM2 again sometime soon. I thought I saw something about the Victoria coming out of New York for a sail or two somewhere, a 10-day hop to the Caribbean or something.

That's what I'd really like is to try out the Victoria or the new Queen Elizabeth.

Jonathan

[bob brown]

I would love to see any Hal ship be homeported in New York all year round.
I was one of those that enjoyed the Noordam 11 day winter cruise to the Caribbean. At the time, the competition was tough with four other ships doing likewise. Currently, there is only two...the Explorer of the Seas and the NCL Gem.
As for the cold days enroute...HAL ships have the advantage of the Magrodome, which enables use of the pool right out The City.
In addition, the ship could offer a broad variety of 7 to 14 day or longer itineraries. And in the spring, summer and fall do some varied Canada and New England, and perhaps throw in a round trip or two to Europe. Perhaps to the Med, or the Baltic.

The "Worlds Leading Cruise Lines" have no presence in New York at all while the QM2 is away on its three and a half month world cruise.

[sail7seas]

As for the cold days enroute...HAL ships have the advantage of the Magrodome, which enables use of the pool right out The City.
In addition, the ship could offer a broad variety of 7 to 14 day or longer itineraries. And in the spring, summer and fall do some varied Canada and New England, and perhaps throw in a round trip or two to Europe. Perhaps to the Med, or the Baltic.

The "Worlds Leading Cruise Lines" have no presence in New York at all while the QM2 is away on its three and a half month world cruise.

There is no one that loves Noordam more than us. :) ;) No one.
We adored every moment of our 11 day Noordam Caribbean cruise round trip NY. DH loves aft pool (as do many other people) .... he isn't a Lido pool sitter but, of course, adjusted to ambient conditions and sat under the dome but was yearning for his aft pool. Aft pool was not useable for at least the better part of two days.

Maasdam does Canada/New England itineraries annually and they're great from Boston. Eurodam does a few itineraries for Canada/New England from New York.

HAL tried it and moved Noordam out of New York. They have the facts and figures we don't have access to. They know how to run a cruise line but I don't have a clue. One has to think it didn't work well enough when they gave New York a chance. There most likely were numberous reasons including high labor for dock workers, costly supply/provisioning, too many bargain hunters not willing to pay enough(?), not high enough on board revenue and really high cost of fuel going up and down the coast. There are probably many more reasons about which I have no idea.

[Rhea58]

CruiserKing: I too was at the HAL booth on the 27th. The guy was w/the
bus company so knew zip about HAL and the gal wasn't very well
informed. I have found this true of HAL at the last 3 Travel shows I
have been to.
Since I am discouraged about the Veendem tendering into Bermuda
which was on my Bucket List, I went over to NCL where I am also
a card-carrier....Now, their reps were very well-informed.

Doesn't bode well that HAL consistently persons their booth w/
unknowledgeable folks.

And I also wonder what Princess and NCL Marketing depts. findings
are since they obviously think it IS profitable to sail out of NYC.

[cruiserking]

CruiserKing: I too was at the HAL booth on the 27th. The guy was w/the
bus company so knew zip about HAL and the gal wasn't very well
informed. I have found this true of HAL at the last 3 Travel shows I
have been to.
Since I am discouraged about the Veendem tendering into Bermuda
which was on my Bucket List, I went over to NCL where I am also
a card-carrier....Now, their reps were very well-informed.

Doesn't bode well that HAL consistently persons their booth w/
unknowledgeable folks.

And I also wonder what Princess and NCL Marketing depts. findings
are since they obviously think it IS profitable to sail out of NYC.

Rhea58,

I sure hope HAL has a change of mind and puts a larger ship in New York again. It looks like Celebrity will be putting their new Silhouette out of Bayonne and it looks like MSC will start running the Poesia out of New York too. Hopefully, HAL will follow suit.

Jonathan

[bob brown]

Rhea58,

I sure hope HAL has a change of mind and puts a larger ship in New York again. It looks like Celebrity will be putting their new Silhouette out of Bayonne and it looks like MSC will start running the Poesia out of New York too. Hopefully, HAL will follow suit.

Jonathan
I doubt that I would be interested in MSC, unless that is, they "make me an offer I can't refuse".

I would be interested in the Celebrity ship. Is it going all winter from Bayonne along with the Explorer of the Seas?

[cruiserking]

I doubt that I would be interested in MSC, unless that is, they "make me an offer I can't refuse".

I would be interested in the Celebrity ship. Is it going all winter from Bayonne along with the Explorer of the Seas?

According to a Celebrity Rep I spoke with the new S-Class Silhouette will sail from Bayonne, NJ in 2011. Whether she sails to the Caribbean or Canada/New England I'm not sure.

I would give MSC a shot, the Poesia looks like a beautiful ship and I hear the pastries are tops.

Jonathan

[cruiseapril]

We are among those who would enjoy having HAL sail from more East Coast ports. We like a variety of departure ports and hope HAL considers Baltimore, Charleston, and Port Canaveral in the future.

[DutchByAssociation]

We would like to do a 3 day cruise from NYC to NoWhere as we did on Eurodam in 2008. Any chance? When will she be in NYC for the transatlantic?

No plans I'm aware of for another cruise to nowhere. Those are VERY rare as far as HAL goes. That was more of a "show-off" period for regional travel agents, and also a revenue cruise for guests that wanted a peek. There was also a 3 day pre-inaugural and a 3 day in Ft. Lauderdale upon her arrival.

Not aware of plans for similar for Nieuw Amsterdam , but you never know

[DutchByAssociation]

We would be more than happy to cruise to Canada on the Eurodam. But, the ship only sails from New York twice in late September and the scheduling does not work for us.

Jonathan

With all the commuter trains, etc on the east coast and just the fact you all tend to have smaller states :) is Boston really that far out of your way? You could do the Maasdam and there's a lot more opportunities for dates (and some in the spring as well

[bob brown]

[quote=DutchByAssociation;23394729]With all the commuter trains, etc on the east coast and just the fact you all tend to have smaller states :) is Boston really that far out of your way? You could do the Maasdam and there's a lot more opportunities for dates (and some in the spring as well[/quote
I love the Maasdam, but alas, she leaves the northeast for the winter. We need an all winter ship!

[Gerd]

No plans I'm aware of for another cruise to nowhere. Those are VERY rare as far as HAL goes. That was more of a "show-off" period for regional travel agents, and also a revenue cruise for guests that wanted a peek. There was also a 3 day pre-inaugural and a 3 day in Ft. Lauderdale upon her arrival.

Not aware of plans for similar for Nieuw Amsterdam , but you never know




Hello "Dutch"

I am a bit confused about your statement, because following my booking for the first 22 days on the "MS Nieuw Amsterdam", there is indeed an prelude / revenue cruise in Venice.
Not (yet) a pre-inaugural, but it is mentioned like this by HAL.

On our data sheets I see, that we will set sail on July 4th for just 3 days and then be back at Venice. This is for me a sign, that Hal is doing something like discussed.
And understanding all other CC members comments from its MS Eurodam first sailing, this short cruise is certainly a "pamper" cruise for they’re travel agents and celebrities. But why not – I do not care.


But what my really concern is, will HAL again do the same shameful and inappropriate type of treatments to all other "full / normal paid" passengers => as on the on this board highly criticized behavior during the first 3 days on the MS Eurodam ??:mad:



I wish you could explain and appease it for me and to all other "normal" passengers.

Happy cruising

G E R D



Our marvelous cruises : :)

MS Ryndam – Wayfarer – March 1997
MS Noordam - Transatlantic Island Hook - April 2001
MS Volendam - Southern Caribbean - April 2002
MS Volendam - Westfarer Caribbean - April 2004
MS Prinsendam - Windmills & Waterford – September 2004
MS Westerdam - Western Caribbean - April 2005
MS Statendam - Hawaii Circle - September 2005
MS Rotterdam - Vikings and Czars – July 2006
MS Veendam - Southern Caribbean – March 2007
MS Volendam – Panama Canal – April 2008
MS Noordam – Mediterranean Enchantment – September 2009

136 days - 34'665 Nm :

http://www.hollandamerica.com/images/3starMariner.gif


Future Cruise : :p


3+7 / 10-day Mediterranean Prelude & Inaugural Cruise :

http://ticker.nauticalcities.com/001/3555772246558c9c770ebc7e38eba56d.png (http://www.nauticalcities.com/)


12-day Mediterranean Empires :

http://ticker.nauticalcities.com/001/a4ed661628a8d0b24f580e2daed576d0.png (http://www.nauticalcities.com/)

[GayleArc]

Jonathan, We to wish HAL would bring a ship back to NY to the Caribbean. Getting a little
tired of slepping (sp?) to FLL. How is Elanie? Love to you both. Gyale

[foodsvcmgr]

Here's another idea - if the "Vistas" and possibly "Signatures" are too
fuel hungry and allegedly too hard to fill every week or ten days, why
not deploy a STATENDAM - class ship over the Winter months?

These ships were originally designed for worldwide cruising, and even
though they are "small" by current standards, they are far larger than
the HAL and other line's ships that sailed regularly out of N.Y. in the
60's and 70's.

If fares approached what they are getting for VEENDAM to Bermuda,
I'm sure they could turn a profit. Most lines are successful in getting
higher per diems out of N.Y. and have been for years. I wouldn't mind
paying $200-300 p.p. more per week to sail from N.Y. - vs - FLL since
I would have to pay that much for the airfare anyway.

[suse]

I really like that song, "New York, New York" by Frank Sinatra. Based on that, I am very sure I would love to cruise out of New York.:)

[mamaofami]

A vote for a HAL ship out of NY here.

[cruiseapril]

Just wondering- is it realistic for a cruise line to sail part of the year from NYC and part of the year from Ft. Lauderdale?- My point being that even some HAL sailings (with itineraries other than Bermuda) from NYC would be most welcome.

Also, if other lines sail to Bermuda and the Caribbean, and alter their itineraries, why not HAL? Does the Veendam have to sail only to Bermuda?

[cruiserking]

Jonathan, We to wish HAL would bring a ship back to NY to the Caribbean. Getting a little
tired of slepping (sp?) to FLL. How is Elanie? Love to you both. Gyale

Hi Gayle,

Great to hear from you. We miss the Noordam and wish HAL would bring her back to New York to cruise to the Caribbean during the winter. Statendam would be good too, any Dam Ship for that matter.

Elene is well. Give our best to Joe and we really look forward to cruising with you both very soon. See you in the Ocean Bar.

Jonathan

[bob brown]

I really like that song, "New York, New York" by Frank Sinatra. Based on that, I am very sure I would love to cruise out of New York.:)
The sailaway from New York, specifically from the Manhattan terminal, especially if it occurs at sundown, is truly a magical experience you will neve forget. It is fantastic to see the golden rays of the sun shining off the skyscrapers, and then to see the lights become more and more prominent. The passing of the ferryboats, the freighters, and other harbor traffic is fascinating. The passing of the Statue of Liberty is a thrilling moment (On NCL they play Lee Grenewood's "I'm Proud to Be an American" at that moment.) Everyone loves to watch the radar mast and stack pass under the Verrazano bridge. The 'show' lasts about one hour.
Sailing from Brooklyn or Bayonne while nice, is just not the same.