Zuiderdam change in Itinerary next October 2024

[JCMass.]

Just got an e-mail stating a change in our cruise round trip from Boston that included, Bermuda, the Caribbean the Panama Canal, South America, Key West, the Bahama's and Port Canaveral Florida.  The change eliminates, the best parts, the Panama Canal, Key West, Cartegena Columbia and includes lots more Caribbean islands.  I understand they can make changes but this is a different cruise altogether, and much less interesting.  We booked this cruise almost a year ago, and got some great benefits and an aft cabin.  We have to make a decision, has anyone else received this ?  

[cruiseaholic78]

I have not yet received this from HAL but someone posted the changes on our roll call.

If I go to manage my booking the map has not changed but the itinerary has.

I booked my flights on Friday and in The Netherlands our rules regarding changes/cancellations are not as easy, I could change to another cruise but the shorter/cheaper flights were also an incentive to book this one.

That said when I saw the prices had changed I had a suspicion that we might lose the Panama partial but as I was able to reprice I was not too sad. You might want to check your price as well I lost the premium part of the HIA but the $200 OBC each is more than enough to compensate.

Rosalyn

[Destiny0315]

2 hours ago, JCMass. said:

We have to make a decision, has anyone else received this ?  

I posted in the roll call for this cruise a copy of the e-mail shortly after I received it from HAL last evening. I expect that the responses to this change will be mixed. Here is what I posted about the change early this morning...

[albingirl]

We have been very disappointed with the elimination of Key West from many cruises, but this is nothing new.  Why the cruise line continues to sell cruises with Key West included in the itinerary is beyond me.  We loved that port, since one of our favorite bands of all time played in a local bar.  Well, they aren't there anymore and neither are we.  It's a shame.

[CNSJ]

HAL's site still shows the itinerary with Panama Canal, sometimes it takes a few days after a change to update.  The 21 and 35 day offerings from Boston seem to be with HAL trend toward longer trips and from more ports.  That said, removing the best part of these voyages is sad to see.  I am not sure if HAL is starting to make moves to eliminate these "partial transits" early on.  Cutting PC trips for cruise ships may be needed to allow for more commercial traffic to use canal.  

 

Be glad HAL did this 10 months out....you have time to cancel or rebook something.  They have been cancelling PC partials with little notice.

 

Hope OP finds a good replacement or just enjoys the trip. 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for sharing. 

[JCMass.]

5 hours ago, Destiny0315 said:

I posted in the roll call for this cruise a copy of the e-mail shortly after I received it from HAL last evening. I expect that the responses to this change will be mixed. Here is what I posted about the change early this morning...

I tried I could not find the Roll Call for this cruise.  Thanks for letting me know there is one.  We are going to think about this over the holiday, like you we have been on Caribbean cruises and were most interested in the Panama Canal and South America. 

 

Have a good holiday everyone. 

[Destiny0315]

The roll call that was started for this cruise back in May was titled quite simply: Zuiderdam, Oct 19, 2024. Maybe with the re-invented itinerary which now more accurately fits HAL's name for this cruise as a "21-day Perfect Caribbean Escape" it should be re-titled or even a new roll call should be established.

[LRH79]

We had also scored an aft balcony and full drinks packages (coffee, soda and booze) along with gratuities and a bunch of shipboard credit.  BUT the big draw was Panama and Key West. I am not a beach person so the changes only make thinks worse, especially with a 21-day itinerary. 

Our travel agent has already run the new prices for us, but it’s still a lot of money to cruise to somewhere we don’t enjoy visiting. We’ll have to consider our options  after the long weekend.

There aren’t many Boston-based choices (we live less than an hour from port) so I’ll be interested in seeing what other folks decide.

[JCMass.]

On 12/23/2023 at 6:04 PM, LRH79 said:

We had also scored an aft balcony and full drinks packages (coffee, soda and booze) along with gratuities and a bunch of shipboard credit.  BUT the big draw was Panama and Key West. I am not a beach person so the changes only make thinks worse, especially with a 21-day itinerary. 

Our travel agent has already run the new prices for us, but it’s still a lot of money to cruise to somewhere we don’t enjoy visiting. We’ll have to consider our options  after the long weekend.

There aren’t many Boston-based choices (we live less than an hour from port) so I’ll be interested in seeing what other folks decide.

We are in the exact same situation that you are.   We also are not beach people and not interested in that may Caribbean islands, we were very interested in the Panama Canal, Costa Rica, Key West and even Bimini.  A few changes would have been OK, but this is a completely different cruise. 

 

I talked to our travel agent today, she encouraged us to wait until at least January, and see if they make some other changes.  We got the same benefits you did, when we booked almost a year ago.  It is hard to give this all up, but the Itinerary does not sound very interesting.  We also live about 45 minutes from the port and have enjoyed many cruises out of Boston on a number of cruise lines. 

 

I have looked at every other cruise out of Boston in October and it is just Canada which we did last year, and the year before.  We were really looking for something different.  We will wait till the new year at least.  Let's hope they rethink some of this. 

[LRH79]

I feel like, as New Englanders, we can drive to much of eastern Canada so those cruises aren’t a big draw. Such a bummer to lose the Canal and Costa Rica!

[Destiny0315]

34 minutes ago, JCMass. said:

We also are not beach people and not interested in that may Caribbean islands,

If you only think of the many Caribbean islands as being nothing but beach hangouts then you will never enjoy the true beauty and wonderful food, culture, history, and people of those islands. Yes islands like Aruba and St. Maarten are heavily geared towards the beach culture and can get crowded, but others like Grenada and Guadeloupe have wonderful lush botanical gardens, waterfalls and rain forests. Martinique even has it's active volcano named Mt. Pele which is a World Heritage Site that you can visit. It last erupted in 1932 and it's most infamous eruption was in 1902 when over 30,000 people were killed(more than twice those killed at Pompeii)leaving the city of Saint-Pierre as a sort of modern Pompeii. If St. Kitts is too touristy for you take the ferry to the nearby island of Nevis, famous for its large Plantations and the place where Princess Diana took William and Harry when they were young for some quiet time away from the press. And finally after the disruptive hurricane of a few years back San Juan, Puerto Rico has come back nicely and it's old city and new city areas are well worth a re-visit now.

The Carenage, Grenada...

 

 

[cruiseaholic78]

If you decide to stay on this amazing cruise please join ua on the rollcall.

Rosalyn

[fox02554]

I have been calling ship's inventory almost everyday looking for a handicap cabin 🤞if anyone is canceling one , any category would appreciate a heads up

[shadow 123]

On 12/23/2023 at 6:04 PM, LRH79 said:

We had also scored an aft balcony and full drinks packages (coffee, soda and booze) along with gratuities and a bunch of shipboard credit.  BUT the big draw was Panama and Key West. I am not a beach person so the changes only make thinks worse, especially with a 21-day itinerary. 

Our travel agent has already run the new prices for us, but it’s still a lot of money to cruise to somewhere we don’t enjoy visiting. We’ll have to consider our options  after the long weekend.

There aren’t many Boston-based choices (we live less than an hour from port) so I’ll be interested in seeing what other folks decide.

I feel exactly the same way. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do.

[shadow 123]

17 hours ago, LRH79 said:

I feel like, as New Englanders, we can drive to much of eastern Canada so those cruises aren’t a big draw. Such a bummer to lose the Canal and Costa Rica!

Those are the 2 places I wanted to see.

[cbr663]

Unfortunately this is very common right now across the entire industry.  This year we've cancelled 2 booked cruises on HAL because of multiple itinerary changes and our last cruise in November also experienced many itinerary changes.  It's one of the reasons why we have paused cruise travel right now and in the near future.  We simply feel that cruising offers poor value with increasing fares, changing itineraries and a diminished onboard experience versus other travel options.

[LadyBerard]

23 hours ago, JCMass. said:

We are in the exact same situation that you are.   We also are not beach people and not interested in that may Caribbean islands, we were very interested in the Panama Canal, Costa Rica, Key West and even Bimini.  A few changes would have been OK, but this is a completely different cruise. 

 

I talked to our travel agent today, she encouraged us to wait until at least January, and see if they make some other changes.  We got the same benefits you did, when we booked almost a year ago.  It is hard to give this all up, but the Itinerary does not sound very interesting.  We also live about 45 minutes from the port and have enjoyed many cruises out of Boston on a number of cruise lines. 

 

I have looked at every other cruise out of Boston in October and it is just Canada which we did last year, and the year before.  We were really looking for something different.  We will wait till the new year at least.  Let's hope they rethink some of this. 

Celebrity has their repo cruise which goes from Boston to FLL with stops in Bermuda and the ABC  islands in October on the Eclipse.  It is a 10 nighter.

[JCMass.]

2 hours ago, LadyBerard said:

Celebrity has their repo cruise which goes from Boston to FLL with stops in Bermuda and the ABC  islands in October on the Eclipse.  It is a 10 nighter.

We do not like to fly, so another appeal of this cruise was no flying with the chance to go to some very interesting ports.  I think we have traveled together before out of Boston.  We do the Boston to Bermuda cruise each year and see lots of the same people.  

[JCMass.]

We made our decision and we canceled this cruise, and our deposit is being refunded.  We were really looking forward to it, but they canceled why we signed up for it in the first place.  This has never happened to us, where a cruise so dramatically.   We are just not that interested in the Caribbean, and not for so many days.  We are very disappointed.  I also wonder how many people made the same decision. 

[Wasasalad]

On 12/27/2023 at 11:44 AM, shadow 123 said:

I feel exactly the same way. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do.

I recently signed up for this cruise and would like to sign up for the roll call

On 12/27/2023 at 2:10 AM, cruiseaholic78 said:

If you decide to stay on this amazing cruise please join ua on the rollcall.

Rosalyn

[cruiseaholic78]

9 hours ago, Wasasalad said:

I recently signed up for this cruise and would like to sign up for the roll call

Welcome, here is the roll call, please join us.

Rosalyn