Seeing a Void of HAL Cruises From San Diego in 2023

[lais]

18 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

After Feb 2023  there seems to be a void of HAL ships  leaving from San  Diego . Does any one have any knowledge why this is happening ? TIA

The season runs from Sept to May then they reposition to Alaska.   It’s hurricane season in the summer.  
they do their longer cruises in February 

Edited September 18, 2022 by lais

[mcrcruiser]

FWIW  ,we booked 2 cruises on Celebrity Soltice  for March 11 & 18 ,2023  from San Pedro ,world Cruise Center  ,Los Angeles county  , Celebrity  is doing a series of cruises using this ship  even including  San Francisco coastal Calif

[mcrcruiser]

2 minutes ago, lais said:

The season runs from Sept to May then they reposition to Alaska.   It’s hurricane season in the summer.  

Hurricanes  don't usually happen   ;but occasionally  they will form off the coast of Mexico  . We never get them here in San  Diego county .what we do get is heavy rains if there  is a hurricane  off the Mexico coast . The water temperatures in  the Mexican riviera are a lot warmer than the Pacific is here in SD county .That is the reason we don't get hurricanes as the water is too cold to support a hurricane 

[lais]

5 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

Hurricanes  don't usually happen   ;but occasionally  they will form off the coast of Mexico  . We never get them here in San  Diego county .what we do get is heavy rains if there  is a hurricane  off the Mexico coast . The water temperatures in  the Mexican riviera are a lot warmer than the Pacific is here in SD county .That is the reason we don't get hurricanes as the water is too cold to support a hurricane 

Most of hollands cruises go to Mexico or Panama Canal.  That’s why they don’t cruise during the summer from San Diego.  They reposition you Alaska 

Edited September 18, 2022 by lais

[Florida_gal_50]

14 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

That wasn't quite clear  in your original post 

No it most certainly was not.  To me next fall doesn’t mean 2022.  I doubt it would to most others either.  

[Florida_gal_50]

6 minutes ago, lais said:

Most of hollands cruises go to Mexico or Panama Canal.  That’s why they don’t cruise during the summer from San Diego.  They reposition you Alaska 

Was the op looking for summer cruises?  It was my impression they were looking for spring and fall 2023.  You’d think hal would have something for fall 2023 by now.  It’s only a year away.  It appears that the koningsdam is staying on the west coast as there is a longer cruise planned for Feb 2024. I just hope it won’t be doing all long cruises when the zaandam could easily be used for that.  I’d rather sail hal but if the choice isn’t there it will be Princess or celebrity for me.

[mcrcruiser]

19 minutes ago, lais said:

Most of hollands cruises go to Mexico or Panama Canal.  That’s why they don’t cruise during the summer from San Diego.  They reposition you Alaska 

[mcrcruiser]

Just now, mcrcruiser said:

20 minutes ago, lais said:

Most of hollands cruises go to Mexico or Panama Canal.  That’s why they don’t cruise during the summer from San Diego.  They reposition you Alaska 

Yes we are aware  of the change in itineraries by the seasons . what is interesting is  even the Panama Canal cruise ;which we have done full transits twice   is not readily available say like  late October .Early November  .If we did that cruise once again we would fly one way back to San Diego from Florida 

 

 We are starting to look at Norwegian with their big sale now . Perhaps Alaska for the 6th time .Norwegian includes  buy one get one airfare free & many other perks .got to check it out 

[disneyochem]

23 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

Was the op looking for summer cruises?  It was my impression they were looking for spring and fall 2023.  You’d think hal would have something for fall 2023 by now.  It’s only a year away.  It appears that the koningsdam is staying on the west coast as there is a longer cruise planned for Feb 2024. I just hope it won’t be doing all long cruises when the zaandam could easily be used for that.  I’d rather sail hal but if the choice isn’t there it will be Princess or celebrity for me.

I am also wondering about Fall 2023 cruises out of San Diego.  We are on the Koningsdam this November (Thanksgiving week) and would like to book something similar for next fall.  Nothing is out yet from HAL.  We have a cruise booked with Princess for next fall but would prefer HAL!

[disneyochem]

13 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

 

 We are starting to look at Norwegian with their big sale now . Perhaps Alaska for the 6th time .Norwegian includes  buy one get one airfare free & many other perks .got to check it out 

NCL’s deals aren’t always the best/least expensive options!  We’re Platinum on NCL and used their airfare program once—never again.  Also, when comparing cruises on other lines, we’ve actually found NCL to be more expensive. 
 

(But, a moot point—we will never cruise on NCL again regardless of cost!)
 

 

 

 

[Tampa Girl]

13 hours ago, oakridger said:

I agree about the lack of a balcony cabin on Zaandam.  Veranda and Signature Suites are my go to cabins on HAL and Zaandam has neither.  To me the Vista cabins are too expensive compared to a regular Verandah cabin.  The cabins are the main reason I haven't booked on her.  I would like to do the extended Mexican Riviera cruise that includes La Paz, etc. if it was offered on other ships.  I would like the Vista Class ships for that itinerary. (Oosterdam, Zuiderdam, Noordam or Westerdam)

 

~Nancy

Doesn't the Zaandam have only one category of balcony cabins, called the Vista Suite?  I think that these cabins are somewhat larger than the regular balcony cabins on the Vista and later class ships.  

[crystalspin]

2 hours ago, Tampa Girl said:

Doesn't the Zaandam have only one category of balcony cabins, called the Vista Suite?  I think that these cabins are somewhat larger than the regular balcony cabins on the Vista and later class ships.  

This is correct. The Vista Suite (bought as an upsell) was a good size for three adults. Three banks of dresser-drawers, three closets plus one with shelves, the sofa bed flipped lengthwise and so was comfortable without the ribs of a shore-side fold-out sofabed. The stewards made up the sofa every day, so there was plenty of room to socialize and have a glass of wine (open area was toward the balcony).

 

There are of course also Neptune and Pinnacle Suites (!).

 

The Volendam is the same excepting she was re-fit with 21 Lanai cabins on the [Lower] Promenade... which are sort of like balconies, onto the biggest balcony on the ship!

Edited September 18, 2022 by crystalspin

[Boatdrill]

On 9/17/2022 at 12:39 PM, mcrcruiser said:

After Feb 2023  there seems to be a void of HAL ships  leaving from San  Diego . Does any one have any knowledge why this is happening ? TIA

Meanwhile, San Diego had this good news... 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/28249-port-of-san-diego-to-begin-its-busiest-cruise-season-since-2010.html

[Florida_gal_50]

14 minutes ago, Boatdrill said:

Meanwhile, San Diego had this good news... 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/28249-port-of-san-diego-to-begin-its-busiest-cruise-season-since-2010.html

Love this for San Diego.  Thanks for posting.

[mcrcruiser]

11 hours ago, lais said:

Most of hollands cruises go to Mexico or Panama Canal.  That’s why they don’t cruise during the summer from San Diego.  They reposition you Alaska 

Still after Feb 2023 there is a huge void  of HAL ships except those smaller ships doing the Panama canal transit . BTW  over $800 port taxes now on these canal cruises

[Florida_gal_50]

10 hours ago, mcrcruiser said:

Still after Feb 2023 there is a huge void  of HAL ships except those smaller ships doing the Panama canal transit . BTW  over $800 port taxes now on these canal cruises

I’ve done multiple canal cruises.  The port tax is always very high.  I assume you are talking for 2 people.