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Veendam to Bermuda

jdvmd

By jdvmd,
in Holland America Line

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catl331

catl331

Posted
Posted
He says that things may still change :confused: and that he has a meeting with some officials in Bermuda on Wednesday. Sounds weird to me since their itineraries are already out for the next year or so.
He's probably talking about 2014 or later.
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innlady1

innlady1

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Just off the Veendam yesterday- spoke with the hotel manager about Veendam no longer going to Bermuda. He says that things may still change :confused: and that he has a meeting with some officials in Bermuda on Wednesday. Sounds weird to me since their itineraries are already out for the next year or so. He also encouraged me to write a letter to corporate saying how disappointed I was that HAL was pulling out of Bermuda... not sure how much good it would do, but I might send one in...

 

Interesting, RedSox. A lot of us contacted HAL when they stopped the Noordam to Caribbean cruises going out of NYC after the '08 season...and then they brought in the Veendam to do Bermuda...which people had suggested!

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styles27 "Live from...." Rare

styles27

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Those pictures are fantastic.

 

I think NCL makes it work because they spend one less day in Bermuda, therefore they can have their casino and shoppes open more than HAL can. It all adds up.

 

 

 

Isn't HAL pulling out of NYC completely? Not just stopping the Bermuda run, they're abandoning the port in NY too.

 

It must be very costly for them to run this cruise.

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RuthC

RuthC

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Isn't HAL pulling out of NYC completely? Not just stopping the Bermuda run, they're abandoning the port in NY too.

The E-dam still has NE/Canada NYC to Quebec City (or reverse) on the HAL schedule, so, no, HAL hasn't deserted NYC completely.

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styles27 "Live from...." Rare

styles27

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The E-dam still has NE/Canada NYC to Quebec City (or reverse) on the HAL schedule, so, no, HAL hasn't deserted NYC completely.

 

I noticed that too...but only 2 cruises, one in September and one in October.

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Section9

Section9

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Who was the Hotel Manager?

 

 

David Wood.

 

He also mentioned that the other cruise lines have either halved or severely reduced their trips to Bermuda this year and only one cruise line will be going to Bermuda next year.

 

Also allured that it might be a united offensive by the cruise lines to force Bermuda's hand a bit to at least allow the casinos to stay open while in port.

 

He was very informative and a great guy to talk with, very personable.

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cruisenanny

cruisenanny

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Going to Bermuda again this summer on Veendam. Can't wait!! We did Canada New England the last few years on Maasdam but want to get Bermuda in again before HAL leaves. I HOPE they may be reconsidering!!!

 

Us too! We can hope;)

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RedSox5

RedSox5

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Who was the Hotel Manager?

 

 

Section9 is right- his name is David Wood. We agreed that he was very personable and fun to talk to. We thought the pizza making with him and the Captain in the Culinary Arts center was great- they answered questions from passengers in a very honest and entertaining way.

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innlady1

innlady1

Posted
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Our cruise is overbooked by a considerable amount, I guess, and the offers are going out to move to another date. Our TA got our offer yesterday to see if we'd move to 5/27, 6/3, or 6/10. For a 25% discount. She said this was the 3rd offer they'd done. I would think they could come up with something better than 25% for only 6 days out!

 

From what RedSox said, they had an offer two days prior to the cruise for 50%.

I guess they'll keep "upping the ante" until they get enough takers. So far, no one on our Roll Call is moving.

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sail7seas

sail7seas

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David Wood.

 

He also mentioned that the other cruise lines have either halved or severely reduced their trips to Bermuda this year and only one cruise line will be going to Bermuda next year.

 

Also allured that it might be a united offensive by the cruise lines to force Bermuda's hand a bit to at least allow the casinos to stay open while in port.

 

He was very informative and a great guy to talk with, very personable.

 

 

Thanks.

We haven't sailed with him yet but after your praise I look forward to the opportunity.

 

Interesting idea that the crise lines are banding together to force Bermuda's hand re: permitting casinos to open.

 

I remember last year when bermuda officials took the vote denying the approval and knew then it had to be a bad decision.

 

We'll have to wait and watch to see if HAL returns to regular Bermuda cruises....... My guess is Yes, they will get better terms and they will sail there again.

 

However, if they find Veendam and Maasdam both doing Canada/New England and Veendam doing Viking works out well, why would they bother to switch back?

 

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innlady1

innlady1

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I mentioned the casino thing to a tour guide who called last night. He was vehemently against it...said if they have casinos, they should be in the hotels so the money stays in Bermuda. Seems short-sighted to me...I would think they'd rather have the business the cruises bring in.

So, that must be where the opposition is coming from: All the locals.

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sail7seas

sail7seas

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That tour guide doesn't seem to have thought the concept through very well.

 

All those HAL cruise ship guests that come to his island and book tours with him will no longer be coming....... will no longer be booking those tours. :rolleyes:

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innlady1

innlady1

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That tour guide doesn't seem to have thought the concept through very well.

 

All those HAL cruise ship guests that come to his island and book tours with him will no longer be coming....... will no longer be booking those tours. :rolleyes:

 

Very true.

Very short-sighted.

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innlady1

innlady1

Posted
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Do you think some of the local opposition to onboard casinos is from resorts not wanting ships to have something they don't offer?

 

Sail is right...the resorts don't have it so don't want the ships to be able to allow it either...even though, if they did, it could only be for ship pax.

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sail7seas

sail7seas

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What the resorts hope for, one would assume, is all the cruise ship guests would stay ashore in local establishments each night but what they might not consider is some cruise guests will not patronize their restaurants/bars etc regardless the casino open or not.

 

Some folks feel strongly they paid for their meal on the ship and will not pay for dinner ashore. Their choice, of course, but with so many wonderful places to try it seems a shame.

 

Those who would be in the casino would most likely not be ashore at night regardless IMO

 

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dkcmb1981

dkcmb1981

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What the resorts hope for, one would assume, is all the cruise ship guests would stay ashore in local establishments each night but what they might not consider is some cruise guests will not patronize their restaurants/bars etc regardless the casino open or not.

 

Some folks feel strongly they paid for their meal on the ship and will not pay for dinner ashore. Their choice, of course, but with so many wonderful places to try it seems a shame.

 

Those who would be in the casino would most likely not be ashore at night regardless IMO

 

 

Where would you suggest eating...not necessarly the ones listed in all the tour guides ...there must be others. Or perhaps some that the locals really like...any thoughts?

~K~

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styles27 "Live from...." Rare

styles27

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Honestly, Bermuda doesn't offer much in the way of night life or "gourmet out of this world food" restaurants. We've flown there and stayed at nice hotels, but even the food at Elbow Beach Resort and the Fairmont Hamilton Princess was overpriced and overrated.

 

We've also eaten on Front St in a very nice restaurant, (can't think of the name right now lol) and came out $200 poorer thinking..."hmmm, that was disappointing" lol

 

Also learned that when they ask do you want sparkling or still water to say "tap". "Still" got us a $12 bottle of water. We thought "still" was tap. lol

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sail7seas

sail7seas

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Where would you suggest eating...not necessarly the ones listed in all the tour guides ...there must be others. Or perhaps some that the locals really like...any thoughts?

~K~

 

 

Here is a link to the Bermuda Ports of Call forum.

Hopefully you can get some good suggestions there.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=196

 

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