Where are all the smaller ships

[willow949]

We like taking the smaller Holland ships, and can’t find any Alaska cruises using them. Anyone know if they were taken out of service or where they might be going in 2022?

[OlsSalt]

Only two smaller, older HAL ships left:  (1)Volendam has a pretty active future itinerary list for shorter cruises,  but looks like the (2) Zaandam has gone pretty off the radar for a while until the global cruising world opens up again.  Still pending is whether and when CDC and port requirements will allow any firm security in cruise planning.

 

Though "smaller" HAL ships today now probably include the Vista classes and all four of them do have active future itineraries. 

 

Appears Jan 15, 2022 might usher in new CDC guidelines for cruise ships which will impact their international sailing viability as well, since many defer around the world to CDC standards as  their own benchmarks too. 

[HAL4NOW]

28 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

Zaandam has gone pretty off the radar for a while until the global cruising world opens up again.

Zaandam is scheduled to start New England and Eastern Canada in May of 2022, with a crossing to Rotterdam thrown in in July.

[CruiserBruce]

Just discussed a couple of days ago, here:

 

 

[shipshapegirl]

This was on Cruise Industry News yesterday.  It may give us an idea when they expect all cruise ships to be back in service and their itinerary.

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/26367-holland-america-line-restart-six-ships-in-service-by-january.html

[mcrcruiser]

The days of the small more intimate cruise ships for HAL are gone . Carnival corp makes the ultimate decisions & all can readily see the direction toward larger cruise ships for economy of scale  .Once this pandemic is behind us   people who want the smaller vessels will have to opt toward those cruise lines who mostly are in the luxury class  .so there will be the mass market cruise lines & the smaller luxury cruise lines 

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

Cruise Industry News as posted above tells when all HAL ships will be in service again. Rollout is timed with the larger ships in service now, I assume to maximize income on limited capacity (and to see how all the new rules and regs. work out, I assume.)

[KirkNC]

Many small ships over the years have ended up with Oceania (4 under 1,000 passengers) and Azamara (4 with 1,000 passengers).  Of course Viking is building ships at a rapid rate and they are all under 1,000.  You have to be willing to pay a premium compared to HAL but the small ships are out there without having to go to the luxury lines.

[rkacruiser]

5 hours ago, shipshapegirl said:

This was on Cruise Industry News yesterday.  It may give us an idea when they expect all cruise ships to be back in service and their itinerary.

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/26367-holland-america-line-restart-six-ships-in-service-by-january.html

 

Thanks for posting the link.  

[visagrunt]

It really should come as no surprise.  The S-class were pretty unceremoniously disposed of, and the Amsterdam and the Rotterdam V were the first of the R-class ships to go (since they had so much high priced real estate with a full deck of Neptune Suites).  Simply put, these ships could not earn as much unless they can command a higher price per passenger night than the Vista, Signature and Pinnacle class ships.

Even the Volendam and the Zaandam will be hard pressed to do so until they can sail at 100% capacity.  The later they come back into service, the more likely that they can be earning positive revenue from their return to sailing.

[OlsSalt]

Thinking back to my own early ocean voyage in the 1970's. I remember telling people it was a really big ship - it went around the world. It was one of the great ocean liners in my mind - not a grand one, but a great one size wise right up there with the legendary ones. 

 

Then many years later I learned online it carried only 1500 passengers - two classes- first class upstairs, and the rest of us packed into bunk bed rooms with bathrooms down the hall and one seating for meals.  

 

 

 

[Sue from Canada]

7 hours ago, KirkNC said:

Many small ships over the years have ended up with Oceania (4 under 1,000 passengers) and Azamara (4 with 1,000 passengers).  Of course Viking is building ships at a rapid rate and they are all under 1,000.  You have to be willing to pay a premium compared to HAL but the small ships are out there without having to go to the luxury lines.

So is Oceania and Azamara my only options for cruising on ships the size of the Volendam and Zaandam?  Viking does rivers cruises - not my cup of tea.

[KirkNC]

2 hours ago, Sue from Canada said:

So is Oceania and Azamara my only options for cruising on ships the size of the Volendam and Zaandam?  Viking does rivers cruises - not my cup of tea.

Viking also does ocean cruises, they started about five years ago so their  ships are not only small (<1,000. Passengers) but they are new as well.  Oceania and Azamara have refurbished smaller ships and from a price point are between HAL and the luxury lines.  There are several options for smaller ships in the luxury line catagory, Crystal, Silver Seas, Seabourn, Regent.  Another option is expedition style lines like Hurtengruten, their ships are around 350 passengers.  In today’s world there are plenty of small ship options but you have to be willing to pay more then you would for a HAL cruise.

[cruisemom42]

7 hours ago, Sue from Canada said:

So is Oceania and Azamara my only options for cruising on ships the size of the Volendam and Zaandam?  Viking does rivers cruises - not my cup of tea.

 

If you want to stay with the "major" mass-market brands -- HAL, Princess, Celebrity, NCL, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, etc. you don't have many choices. 

 

Princess got rid of their one remaining "R" (Renaissance) class ship of about 750 passengers. As mentioned above, Azamara and Oceania have snapped up most of those and refurbished them.

 

HAL shed four ships during COVID. Two of them went to Fred. Olsen, a traditional brand out of the UK who has done some slight refits and is now sailing them. I like some of their itineraries and could consider them but be aware that almost all of their itineraries are round-trip from the UK.

 

Celebrity's smallest class of ship (not counting their specialty expedition ships) is the M class at about 2100 passengers.

 

NCL and Royal Caribbean each has a few older ships that carry about 1900-2100 passengers.

 

Cunard's most recent two ships, both Vista-class, carry about 2000 passengers.

 

And Viking, although I wouldn't classify them as mass market, launched a huge building effort a few years ago and has churned out six brand new oceangoing vessels that carry around 950 passengers each, with two more due next year.

 

 

 

 

[OlsSalt]

10 hours ago, Sue from Canada said:

So is Oceania and Azamara my only options for cruising on ships the size of the Volendam and Zaandam?  Viking does rivers cruises - not my cup of tea.

 

Fred Olson Cruise Lines purchased both the Rotterdam and the Amsterdam - they are low-frills and offer some good itineraries. Agree, HAL had a special niche offering smaller ships, fewer frills, great itineraries and still a wonderful high value cruise experience for the price.  So glad we were able to enjoy so many of them when they were available. 

 

We started our cruising with Crystal and it was way more fuss than we wanted and a lot of it was not even all that good. It was such a welcome relief to  "drop down" to HAL.

 

My husband who had other prior cruise experiences on Princess immediately noted on our first HAL cruise that the crew was still friendly and courteous, even after end of  the cruise tips had been handed out.  I guess that was not the case with his other cruise experiences.  

 

That pretty much explains why HAL has held such a long advantage in the world of smaller cruise  ship travel.