The last sign American Classic Voyages' now bankrupt round-the-islands Hawaiian cruise business sailed from Honolulu's pier 24 today. MS PATRIOT now re-renamed NIEUW AMSTERDAM sailed for Freeport, Bahamas for a refit.

Her Honolulu registry has been transferred to The Bahamas. Holland America Line bid the ship back in a bankruptcy auction on January 27, for $79.8 million, an amount equal to that owed by American Classic Voyages.

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Originally posted by M.S.Grumple:
You're really working on that 5000, eh Malcolm!

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Yes! I'm not sure is I should feel that I've achieved something or that I need to get out more?

Anyway, I may ask Joe for a recount? If you post twice or more in the same thread, it only counts as one. I do this a lot, so my total is probably nearer to 10,000!

They then got the ship back because they held the mortage on it, and no-one else made a serious bid for it.

Im surprised its going to HAL - I would have thought Costa was the logical choice.

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Originally posted by cruisemole:
Carnival sold the ship because AMCV offered them more than it was really worth.

Im surprised its going to HAL - I would have thought Costa was the logical choice.

Its too big for a niche operator.

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I has not been decided where the ship will go. I am highly doubtful it will go back to HAL, but you never know.

HAL is trying to get rid of the old, to make way for the new Vista Class ships. They thought they got rid of NIEUW AMSTERDAM, NOORDAM is for sale, and WESTERDAM went to Costa. It would not make sense to bring NIEUW AMSTERDAM back to HAL, unless it was a temporary measure. I agree that the logical choice would be Costa, maybe to join the MARINA under the new German division.

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Originally posted by Draikar:
Well, that makes senesce in why they are sailing her. But I think of HAL as an older line so why not use older ships like QE2 or Caronia ? I know "new ships" are better they say but still ....

Ðraikar

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Hi Draikar,
It might be time to change that notion about HAL being an "older line". Sure their roots go way back, but the HAL of today is throughly modern, and they have no intention of going back.

Once HAL discards the NOORDAM, the oldest ship in the fleet will be the STATENDAM, built in 1993 (PRINSENDAM will be 1988 when she enters the fleet). Not very old to be sure. HAL does not want old and traditional money losing ships, they want to be a lean, mean, cash machine like sister company Carnival. Basically, they have already achieved this being the largest money source in the Carnival Corp. directly after Carnival Cruise Lines itself.

Unfortunately, the N-Class ships are not money makers. While beautiful ships in their own right, they lack some of the basic features passengers demand today. Balconies and alternative dining. HAL is unable to generate the yields they would like on the N-Class ships, basically due to the lack of modern features. It was the same way with the WESTERDAM, but to a smaller degree. These ships just no longer fit in with the new generation that HAL is bringing out every year.

The PRINSENDAM will fill a niche market within the HAL brand, and will offer balconies, large cabins and alternative dining. Does the ship typically fit in with the HAL fleet? Well, no. In reality, Carnival Corp. was not sure what to do the the ship. She no longer fit in with the Seabourn brand. She had already been tried out with Cunard with little success. She is too spacious for Costa. What is left, HAL. We will see how well she does. This poor ship has been plagued with more identities than I can to remember in her rather short career.

Someone mentioned that Costa may not be a good fit for NIEUW AMSTERDAM. Well, in actuality, the European market is made up of mostly discarded, older, North American ships. This is beginning to change with Costa, ROC, Festival and even MSC building their own new ships, but for the most part the ships are vintage ex-North American liners. NIEUW AMSTERDAM will fit in just fine. For now anyway.

They wouldn't try and use QE2 in HAL because Queen Elizabeth Twodam doesnt sound good

Caroniadam doesnt quite sound right either

Carnival: 'Patriot' is on the selling block(3/25/2002)

I think one of HAL's major reasons for putting Nieuw Amsterdam up for sale is that USL did indeed put a lot of money into the ship, and not necessarily in the place HAL would want it to go. They removed the entire HAL art collection (which I think went back into HAL's possesion), changed some of the rooms' decor, removed the casino, replaced some "behind the scenes" equipment which is not necessarily of the type HAL would want, etc. Essentially, HAL would have to refit the ship back to what it was before they sold it. And I do think they are trying to sell Noordam as well. I do not know who would really be a good prospective buyer for either ship, but they just don't work anymore in the U.S. market whether we (enthusiasts) like them or not.