HAL ending Bermuda Cruises after 2012

[Vic The Parrot]

Typical ...

 

 

I had a gut feeling HAL would be wishy-washy about offering NY departures.

Thanks for nothing, Seattle HQ. Think I'll be taking my business back to Cunard.

[catl331]

 

 

Here she is again, two yeas earlier in 1937.

 

I don't remember seeing any bicycles in Hamilton last month, but there were zillions of motorscooters! :D

[startwin]

Sorry, my mistake. I thought that is why there was a search feature. No big deal...

 

Evidently it's still topical because with so many responses. Lots of us miss these things first time around, and anyway the search function is often useless.

[bahrain_not_dubai!]

It appears that HAL has needed to offer a "major price drop" and have the "rates hit rock bottom" to entice some people to book this itinerary. If the market won't support the Veendam's Bermuda sailings, HAL has to move her elsewhere. I know we want HAL to remain in business.

 

 

For sure, cruise lines are businesses and need to go where the money is. What I meant was perhaps it is a shame that this cruise didn't make as much money as they would have needed for it to stay on.

 

 

PS- it seems I have made a double post.

[innlady1]

For sure, cruise lines are businesses and need to go where the money is. What I meant was perhaps it is a shame that this cruise didn't make as much money as they would have needed for it to stay on.

 

PS- it seems I have made a double post.

 

I don't understand either...people were clamoring for HAL to do a NYC run with a "cruise to somewhere" when they pulled the Noordam out of NY. Just the treat of sailing past Lady Liberty is worth the price of admission!

I have been booked twice and had to cancel, and am determined to do it in May! So have looked at many Roll Calls...the interesting thing is that most of the cruisers are "Bermuda cruisers"...not necessarily "HAL cruisers." Why all of those folks who love HAL haven't taken this opportunity for a great cruise is beyond me :confused:

[knitlady037]

I don't understand either...people were clamoring for HAL to do a NYC run with a "cruise to somewhere" when they pulled the Noordam out of NY. Just the treat of sailing past Lady Liberty is worth the price of admission!

I have been booked twice and had to cancel, and am determined to do it in May! So have looked at many Roll Calls...the interesting thing is that most of the cruisers are "Bermuda cruisers"...not necessarily "HAL cruisers." Why all of those folks who love HAL haven't taken this opportunity for a great cruise is beyond me :confused:

 

I agree with you Sheila. Alot of the passengers on our Bermuda cruise were not HAL lovers but were on the ship just for the Bermuda experience. And it really is a bargain when you consider what airfare, hotel and meals would have cost for the 4 of us to go on a land vacation.

Personally, I do not like 7 day cruises. I like to book at least 10 day or longer. If HAL brought the Noordam back here for the Caribbean run that they used to have, I would cancel my next NCL cruise in a NY minute!

[peaches from georgia]

I don't understand either...people were clamoring for HAL to do a NYC run with a "cruise to somewhere" when they pulled the Noordam out of NY. Just the treat of sailing past Lady Liberty is worth the price of admission!

I have been booked twice and had to cancel, and am determined to do it in May! So have looked at many Roll Calls...the interesting thing is that most of the cruisers are "Bermuda cruisers"...not necessarily "HAL cruisers." Why all of those folks who love HAL haven't taken this opportunity for a great cruise is beyond me :confused:

I so agree!! One of our favorites. There's not an island anywhere that can beat Bermuda.

[innlady1]

I agree with you Sheila. Alot of the passengers on our Bermuda cruise were not HAL lovers but were on the ship just for the Bermuda experience. And it really is a bargain when you consider what airfare, hotel and meals would have cost for the 4 of us to go on a land vacation.

Personally, I do not like 7 day cruises. I like to book at least 10 day or longer. If HAL brought the Noordam back here for the Caribbean run that they used to have, I would cancel my next NCL cruise in a NY minute!

 

Ahhh, that was a wonderful cruise...the Noordam out of NYC. I'm glad we did it twice given that they pulled that itinerary the next winter. I don't understand the resistance to cruises out of New York....I guess it's more cost effective to sail out of Port Everglades directly to the Caribbean and back. All I know is that both our Noordam cruises were filled to capacity.

Our first cruise was 7 days and I vowed that I'd only do 10 days or longer after that (and we've done one cruise a year: two 20 day b2b's and then two 14 days cruises. With seven days, it seems like it's over in a NY minute! ;)

[islegroove]

HAL had warned the Bermuda Government it would pull its ships if Casinos were not allowed to be open at night.

 

http://bermudasun.bm/main.asp?SectionID=24&SubsectionID=270&ArticleID=55310

[GeriatricNurse]

I so agree!! One of our favorites. There's not an island anywhere that can beat Bermuda.

 

 

In your opinion/view? :confused:

[peaches from georgia]

In your opinion/view? :confused:

Obviously. And in the opinion of many others, too. Aren't most posts on CC personal opinion, including your own? That's one of the purposes of the forum. :rolleyes:

[lettienets]

Maybe it's the Veendam that is the problem. Who wants to go to a warm climate in summer and be stuck with one crumby midship pool and kids.

I will no longer go on Rotterdam or Veendam because of that alone. I want a seaview pool or at least a ship with an adult only pool when sailing in warm or hot climates.

[jtl513]

Maybe it's the Veendam that is the problem. Who wants to go to a warm climate in summer and be stuck with one crumby midship pool and kids.

We went in October, after schools were back in session. Beatiful weather, few kids, no Lido pool crowds. :)

[GeriatricNurse]

Maybe it's the Veendam that is the problem. Who wants to go to a warm climate in summer and be stuck with one crumby midship pool and kids.

I will no longer go on Rotterdam or Veendam because of that alone. I want a seaview pool or at least a ship with an adult only pool when sailing in warm or hot climates.

 

Wishful thinking, perhaps? ;) Some would even call it dreaming in technicolour! :D

[bunnyman]

That is a real shame. I took this cruise this Summer and loved it. The ship was full but perhaps they don't make much on board revenue.

 

To me this cruise had something wonderful about it- it was a voyage to sunny island, akin to the Caribbean, but still not so touristy, still relatively untouched to, say, St. Thomas, Nassau or St. Martin. I fell in love with Bermuda, and the cruise that HAL offered. Docking in Hamilton adds a lot more to the cruise imo, and the stop in St. George is also a great way to enter Bermuda. With all cruises now using the Royal Dockyards, with the Norwegian Breakaway etc. soon to be based in Bermuda, I won't be surprised if the next time I visit this beautiful island it would be much more (negatively) developed in a touristy sense.

 

I hope someone fills the void and docks in Hamilton, but other than HAL I can't see which mainstream line has a vessel small enough to do it. Horizon and her sister are now gone, as is Empress of the Seas and the smaller Carnival ships. I guess the Princess R ships, but they are off doing much more exotic voyages.

 

It would seem that with the withdrawal of the Veendam, the last remnant of Home Lines, Bermuda Star Line, even HAL ''classical'' style Bermudan cruising is gone, with the giants of today taking over.

 

 

I leave you with a photograph of the much loved Queen of Bermuda docked in Front Street.

 

All who have been on this cruise and the ones before it are very lucky to have experienced Bermuda in the ''classical'' way, rather than be strewn at the Royal Navy Dockyards- nothing wrong with the latter, but something intimate would have been lost.

 

RMS Queen of Bermuda docked in Hamilton on a cruise from New York City in 1939

 

 

 

Here she is again, two yeas earlier in 1937.

 

 

You know what, my father sailed on one of the Queen Of Bermuda trips before WWII with his parents (my grandparents).

[bunnyman]

In the past they have had strikes. At times the busses are full. & there is a wait for busses & the ferry as to be expected.

 

The other big problem they have is that back a few years ago when they had ships capable of stopping at all three ports (St. George, Hamilton, & The Dockyard), it enabled them to spread out the crowds. When we took the Celebrity Zenith, while we were St. George, there was maybe 1 other vessel there and 1 or 2 in Hamilton, while there might be 1 at the dockyard. Then they basically flip-flopped, as we moved to Hamilton and another took our spot from there to St. George. Now, with only the bigger ships being able to hit the dockyard, it creates a log-jam there with a lot of passengers all at once. Their internal transportation system gets overwhelmed, especially given their recent cut-backs and focus on transporting local residents.

[elbodans]

wow--good to know. i actually found this thread by googling HAL bermuda (why i didn't just search on here is beyond me!) because i'm considering a sailing this coming summer. guess i should do it, as it's the only time i'll be able to!

 

i visited bermuda for the first time in october and loved it. i didn't mind being at the dockyard, but having an extra day (ish) is appealing, as is being docked in hamilton. so i guess it's HAL for my husband and i this summer! (or maybe i'll go without him in may! or maybe BOTH!)

[bunnyman]

wow--good to know. i actually found this thread by googling HAL bermuda (why i didn't just search on here is beyond me!) because i'm considering a sailing this coming summer. guess i should do it, as it's the only time i'll be able to!

 

i visited bermuda for the first time in october and loved it. i didn't mind being at the dockyard, but having an extra day (ish) is appealing, as is being docked in hamilton. so i guess it's HAL for my husband and i this summer! (or maybe i'll go without him in may! or maybe BOTH!)

 

You miss something cruising to Bermuda and not docking in either Hamilton or St. George, so take advantage of HAL while you can. My in-laws have done the Veendam to Bermuda cruise at least 2x in the past two years, and have loved it each time (vs. the dockyard and having to travel via ferry or bus to get to Hamiliton). There's something about your ship being docked right on Front Street and being able to come and go like its from your hotel. You can't beat the convenience!

[BJane]

Am I the only one who did not care for Bermuda? For our 32nd cruise, after sailing the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Bahamas, Alaska and New England/Canada, we decided to try Bermuda. I was very disappointed. So we returned to our previous destinations to finish up our cruising days.

[mariner]

IMO HAL screwed up.

 

First, it offered St George and Hamilton. Then it backtracked by saying Veendam couldn't access St. George unless conditions were perfect. Of course not. They added cabins to the stern. They could have switched ships. They did not.

 

Then there was the pool fiasco. Sorry, don't want to swim with the little ones. Despite warnings that the reconfiguration would fail at sea.

 

A line that once shared a strong market from NYC to Bermuda just blew it.

 

Bigger ships sail the route for less.

[Guest LoveMyBoxer]

Am I the only one who did not care for Bermuda? For our 32nd cruise, after sailing the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Bahamas, Alaska and New England/Canada, we decided to try Bermuda. I was very disappointed. So we returned to our previous destinations to finish up our cruising days.

 

Yes.

[peaches from georgia]

Am I the only one who did not care for Bermuda? For our 32nd cruise, after sailing the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Bahamas, Alaska and New England/Canada, we decided to try Bermuda. I was very disappointed.

Just wondering what disappointed you about Bermuda. This lovely British island has been one of the world's most popular vacation destinations in the world for many many years. It's rare to hear of someone not falling in love with Bermuda and its people.

[Vic The Parrot]

IMO HAL screwed up.

 

A line that once shared a strong market from NYC to Bermuda just blew it.

 

 

 

 

Which is becoming pretty common for HAL. They "dangle a carrot" with these new itineraries for the NY market, then back out without giving it a chance. Hopefully Cunard will start sailing to BDA again ...

[GeriatricNurse]

Yes.

 

Did you conduct a survey? :confused:

[SusieKay]

Bermuda has some lovely B and B's with good rates, especially in the late fall (November) shoulder season. Why not just fly and enjoy more than a day or so on this beautiful island. That's what we plan to do-There are more ways to travel than taking a cruise, as much as we enjoy one.