Europe 2009 -We have ignition!

[rich_cathybrock]

Yeah! I've been checking daily, and Holland has posted Europe 2009 out to at least October. Woo-hoo!

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for the information.

[EastCoast]

Thank you , thank you. Something to review while enjoying a glass of wine on a Sunday afternoon!:)

[mjs125]

Good news! Thanks so much for posting this info. I may take EastCoast's suggestion and enjoy a glass of wine while reviewing as well. :D

[babygirl722]

Good news! Thanks so much for posting this info. I may take EastCoast's suggestion and enjoy a glass of wine while reviewing as well. :D

Sounds like a plan to me! I however, may sip some type of rum drink to remind me of last's weeks Caribbean cruise on the Noordam.

[ger_77]

I agree, it's great - although here in the "frozen tundra" I think I'll slip an ounce or two of Bailey's or Amarula Cream Liquer into my morning coffee! Then I'll think about wine and rum later on . . . :D

Anybody with plans for Europe 2009? We booked ours on Friday.

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[babygirl722]

I agree, it's great - although here in the "frozen tundra" I think I'll slip an ounce or two of Bailey's or Amarula Cream Liquer into my morning coffee! Then I'll think about wine and rum later on . . . :D

Anybody with plans for Europe 2009? We booked ours on Friday.

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

Which cruise did you book?

[ger_77]

Which cruise did you book?

We booked the 14 Day Black Sea & Egyptian Explorer on the Rotterdam, October 3, 2009. The itinerary is: Athens, Greece; Varna, Bulgaria; Sevastopol, Ukraine; Sochi, Russia; Istanbul, Turkey (overnight), Kusadasi, Turkey; Ashdod (Jerusalem), Israel, Alexandria, Egypt; and back to Athens.

This will be our 3rd trip to the Mediterranean, but it is so rich in history that we just have to keep going back again and again. The new ports for us will be Sevastopol, Sochi and Jerusalem. If anybody is interested, we're getting together a number of people (friends and strangers) and forming a group with no strings attached, and have a group rate from a Personal Cruise Consultant at HAL. Let me know if you'd like to join us, if for no other reason than to get in on a good group price. You can email me for details at : ger _ 77 @ yahoo . com (just take out the spaces).

East Coast: I'm on my first glass of wine right now, looking at shore excursions. Sigh.

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)
Gerry

[wowzo]

We have a deposit on the July 25 Voyage of the Vikings and will probably cancel tomorrow. It is so different than 2008 - as to not even recognize it - It is now more like Voyage of Iceland !! 7 ports - who knew they had so many on the 'thermal rock' !

They (Capt. Simon Douwes - of the Itinerary Dept) have eliminated all Ireland and France and 'filled' in with all those misc.ports.

I won't pay top dollar for port after port of the same thing when they have eliminated interesting and historical ports.

So I hope it changes, I don't expect to like them all - but - puleese,
M.A.

[wowzo]

My error that I must correct, I stated that there are no ports in Ireland & France on the previous post.

There is one to a famous Glass Factory port (Waterford) '08 has Dublin& Belfast, France is represented by a Never-heard-of island (St. Pierre) '08 has Cherborg.

There are some very nice other 28-30 day cruises in the Europe section.

M.A.:)

[wowzo]

My error that I must correct, I stated that there are no ports in Ireland & France on the previous post.

There is one to a famous Glass Factory port (Waterford) '08 has Dublin& Belfast, France is represented by a Never-heard-of island (St. Pierre) '08 has Cherborg.

There are some very nice other 28-30 day cruises in the Europe section.

M.A.:)

[RuthC]

France is represented by a Never-heard-of island (St. Pierre)
St Pierre has been on the Voyage of the Vikings since '06. Actually, it's a nice little port stop, IMO.

[anchorage1977]

After my first cruise back in 1997, Venice to Barcelona on the Rotterdam, I have become a HUGE fan of having 2 days in port. A city like Venice just can't be had in a few hours. Plus a lot of the time the hotel price is uber-high with the Euro:Dollar exchange rate.

It sounds like HAL's been thinking the same way. As I searched through some of these new postings, I see overnights in:
- Venice
- Barcelona
- Lisbon
- London
- Amsterdam
- Valletta
- Istanbul
- St. Petersburg
- Stockholm

Does anyone see any others? Aside from Venice and Barcelona which I've done on overnight stays, can anyone comment on the nightlife near the pier in any of these other cities?

All in all, this looks like quite a winning year for HAL's Europe. I'm sure once this summer's Rotterdam cruise is behind me it will be time to jump into 09 planning.

Happy Travels

[RuthC]

- St. Petersburg

can anyone comment on the nightlife near the pier in any of these other cities?
There's nothing, absolutely nothing, near the pier in St. Petersburg.
There is an opportunity to go back into the city for a folkloric show with either a HAL or private tour. There's also other HAL tours that take you back into the city.

Remember, in St. Petersburg you need to be on a HAL or private tour, or obtain your own visa, to leave the ship.

[localady]

The only ship that hasn't had it's schedule announced for 2009 Europe is the Oosterdam. According to my well placed source, it will be doing similar itineraries as the Zuiderdam will do this year.

[Jade13]

We have a deposit on the July 25 Voyage of the Vikings and will probably cancel tomorrow. It is so different than 2008 - as to not even recognize it - It is now more like Voyage of Iceland !! 7 ports - who knew they had so many on the 'thermal rock' !

They (Capt. Simon Douwes - of the Itinerary Dept) have eliminated all Ireland and France and 'filled' in with all those misc.ports.

I won't pay top dollar for port after port of the same thing when they have eliminated interesting and historical ports.

So I hope it changes, I don't expect to like them all - but - puleese,
M.A.

Wow, I love that itinerary with all the iceland ports. Still working and cannot take this time off. I wish even the return to Boston could be done in 14 nights.

[Jade13]

It is too bad that HAL does not offer anything including Israel and Eqypt during July and August (as Celebrity and others will be doing in 2009).

The other thing missing is Norway to the Arctic Circle. The only option in July is 21 nights on the Prisendam. Great itinerary but we can not take a month off. Rotterdam has a 14 night this year but not in 2009. Celebrity and Princess both have a 12 night.

Not Europe but I was hoping for a 7 night out of San Diego with Copper Canyon (Sunday to Sunday) for an extra vacation. But the only option is still the 10 night.

Again not Europe, but HAL is still not offering a full Panama Canal transit in 10 days (as Princess does).