Volendam out of drydock.

[Btimmer]

44 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I think many of us who participate on this Message Board would be interested in how this situation develops for you.  Good wishes from me for a satisfactory result for you.  

Thanks for the good wishes.  Per HAL FlightEase yesterday, the flight will be cancelled.  It's not been done yet per my visit to the airline website.

 

I'll post the results.

[Mandalay1903]

We also were cancelled yesterday from our fully-paid 35-day Spitzbergen, Iceland and North Cape cruise. We were given three options.

 

Door #1 transfers us automatically to a 21-day ms Rotterdam cruise touring Iceland in August 2022. Pricing and promotions protected versus our cancelled cruise, plus a $500 pp stateroom credit to boot. 

 

Door #2 allowed us to select a new booking of a HAL cruise in Europe in Summer 2022 with pricing and promotions protected versus our cancelled cruise, plus the $500 pp stateroom credit.  The available cruise selections were from a drop down list, and none included Spitsbergen. This list EXCLUDED all cruises on the Volendam. Unless HAL has other plans for the Volendam later this summer, like extending its use as a refugee ship, why would they exclude her from a rebooking option?  The ship is far from being fully-booked. (We are also booked on a different Volendam cruise in Europe in September.)

 

We chose Door #3 and took the full refund, despite there being no compensation to us for the inconvenience.

 

IMO, these options aren't a good deal for the cancelled passengers given that our trip was fully paid and just over 2 months away. This HAL decision was not pandemic-related.

[Btimmer]

5 minutes ago, Mandalay1903 said:

We also were cancelled yesterday from our fully-paid 35-day Spitzbergen, Iceland and North Cape cruise. We were given three options.

 

Door #1 transfers us automatically to a 21-day ms Rotterdam cruise touring Iceland in August 2022. Pricing and promotions protected versus our cancelled cruise, plus a $500 pp stateroom credit to boot. 

 

Door #2 allowed us to select a new booking of a HAL cruise in Europe in Summer 2022 with pricing and promotions protected versus our cancelled cruise, plus the $500 pp stateroom credit.  The available cruise selections were from a drop down list, and none included Spitsbergen. This list EXCLUDED all cruises on the Volendam. Unless HAL has other plans for the Volendam later this summer, like extending its use as a refugee ship, why would they exclude her from a rebooking option?  The ship is far from being fully-booked. (We are also booked on a different Volendam cruise in Europe in September.)

 

We chose Door #3 and took the full refund, despite there being no compensation to us for the inconvenience.

 

IMO, these options aren't a good deal for the cancelled passengers given that our trip was fully paid and just over 2 months away. This HAL decision was not pandemic-related.

Thank you for posting.  We weren't even notified or really given options.  But we also took door #3 of your options.

[philbob84]

what was the scope of the dry dock?

[MAVIP]

13 hours ago, Mandalay1903 said:

 

 

Door #2 allowed us to select a new booking of a HAL cruise in Europe in Summer 2022.........i....... The available cruise selections were from a drop down list, and none included Spitsbergen. This list EXCLUDED all cruises on the Volendam.

My apology for not understanding, but did the list mention that all cruises of the Volendam were excluded? Thanks for your answer.

[Mandalay1903]

5 hours ago, MAVIP said:

My apology for not understanding, but did the list mention that all cruises of the Volendam were excluded? Thanks for your answer.

No problem...

There were no Volendam cruises offered as alternatives on the drop down list in Door #2--only cruises on Rotterdam, Nieuw Statendam and Oosterdam.  It felt as if they didn't want us to transfer from the cancelled Volendam cruise to a different Volendam cruise later in the year.

[BermudaBound2014]

1 hour ago, Mandalay1903 said:

It felt as if they didn't want us to transfer from the cancelled Volendam cruise to a different Volendam cruise later in the year.

 

I think this is spot on. I waslooking at the Volendam South America cruise this winter but will not be making any deposit on that cruise until Volendam has returned to revenue generating itineraries OR HAL announces a substitute ship.

I believe it is unlikely Volendam will be leaving the Netherlands in July. 

[MAVIP]

1 hour ago, Mandalay1903 said:

No problem...

There were no Volendam cruises offered as alternatives on the drop down list in Door #2--only cruises on Rotterdam, Nieuw Statendam and Oosterdam.  It felt as if they didn't want us to transfer from the cancelled Volendam cruise to a different Volendam cruise later in the year.

Thank you for your answer. The reason could be there are not enough staterooms left on those summerseason voyages. However, I myself would not hesitate to try and would just call them if any of those later voyages would suit me.  I wish you a good outcome.

[rkacruiser]

52 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

I think this is spot on. I waslooking at the Volendam South America cruise this winter but will not be making any deposit on that cruise until Volendam has returned to revenue generating itineraries OR HAL announces a substitute ship.

I believe it is unlikely Volendam will be leaving the Netherlands in July. 

 

I agree with your thinking.  There is too much uncertainty.  I think the Netherlands government's need to keep the Volendam in Rotterdam beyond July is more of a certainty than not.  

 

I would expect some shuffling of schedules so that the Grand South America Cruise can take place, if possible, just maybe not on the Volendam.  

[BermudaBound2014]

34 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

I would expect some shuffling of schedules so that the Grand South America Cruise can take place, if possible, just maybe not on the Volendam.  

 

That would be lovely, but I'm not so sure. The 74 day Grand South American is not an itinerary that typically sells well, hence HAL assigning it's smaller vessel. I haven't been keeping up on HAL's return to service schedule. Does HAL have another similar size vessel to replace the Volendam? 

 

The Oosterdam is scheduled for the 22 day South America/Antarctica (a cruise I had covid cancelled :(), but I don't know if a ship that size would work for the Grand South American journey. So much is still so covid fluid, and now we add on the Ukrainian tragedy and we just can't seem to catch a break.

Edited April 3, 2022 by BermudaBound2014

[rkacruiser]

42 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Does HAL have another similar size vessel to replace the Volendam? 

 

Yes, her sister the Zaandam.  Because I don't have a brochure with which to refer, I don't know her schedule.

 

43 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

The 74 day Grand South American is not an itinerary that typically sells well,

 

Yet, it is an itinerary that they have offered for many years.  My impression has been that whatever ship does sail that itinerary, it does sail close to capacity.  I cannot foresee abandoning that itinerary based on whatever size of ship that is in their fleet.  

[BermudaBound2014]

4 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Yes, her sister the Zaandam.  Because I don't have a brochure with which to refer, I don't know her schedule.

 

 

Yet, it is an itinerary that they have offered for many years.  My impression has been that whatever ship does sail that itinerary, it does sail close to capacity.  I cannot foresee abandoning that itinerary based on whatever size of ship that is in their fleet.  

 

Pre-covid I tracked some exceptional last minute offers for the South American Grand voyage which is why I suggest it doesn't have high demand. Typically if an itinerary is in high demand, last minute specials are not offered. In addition, cruise line will increase capacity (exchange for larger ship) on high demand itineraries. With that said, I have no idea the actual capacity that has sailed and you could very well be correct.

 

I just checked my  brokerage site and the Zaandam is doing full panama canal transits next January. 

[Mandalay1903]

3 hours ago, MAVIP said:

Thank you for your answer. The reason could be there are not enough staterooms left on those summerseason voyages. However, I myself would not hesitate to try and would just call them if any of those later voyages would suit me.  I wish you a good outcome.

Three weeks ago before our 35-day Volendam cruise was cancelled I checked with my HAL PCC who told me that the sailings were only booked to 50 or 60% capacity.  Spitsbergen is an exceptional itinerary and I would suspect that Volendam would not be sailing at a higher capacity than that later in the summer season.

[Mandalay1903]

2 hours ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

That would be lovely, but I'm not so sure. The 74 day Grand South American is not an itinerary that typically sells well, hence HAL assigning it's smaller vessel. I haven't been keeping up on HAL's return to service schedule. Does HAL have another similar size vessel to replace the Volendam? 

 

The Oosterdam is scheduled for the 22 day South America/Antarctica (a cruise I had covid cancelled :(), but I don't know if a ship that size would work for the Grand South American journey. So much is still so covid fluid, and now we add on the Ukrainian tragedy and we just can't seem to catch a break.

Earlier this spring we cancelled the 2023 40-day Grand South American Voyage (FLL to Buenos Aires) on the Volendam in favor of a 22-day SA/Antarctica sailing on the Oosterdam. I sure hope they don't take your suggestion and swap ships for the Grand Voyage. Talk about a triple whammy from the Volendam!! Yikes! 😁 

[BermudaBound2014]

19 hours ago, Mandalay1903 said:

Earlier this spring we cancelled the 2023 40-day Grand South American Voyage (FLL to Buenos Aires) on the Volendam in favor of a 22-day SA/Antarctica sailing on the Oosterdam. I sure hope they don't take your suggestion and swap ships for the Grand Voyage. Talk about a triple whammy from the Volendam!! Yikes! 😁 

 

Sorry for the confusion. I wasn't suggesting Oosterdam replace the itinerary. We were talking about the popularity of the Grand South America voyage, and I was wondering if it is popular enough to warrant a larger ship.

 

I also like the Oosteredam itinerary you booked and was scheduled to sail it on the Westerdam before covid. I do think you were wise to cancel future Volendam sailings and I wish you a wonderful voyage to Antarctica.