Oosterdam October 2018 Eastward Trans Atlantic - No Suites!

We are looking at doing a couple of Trans Atlantics (just to add them to our C'V's! :D).

For this Autumn/Fall the options are Koningsdam or Oosterdam and the O'dam itinerary appeals more as it has Lisbon and Madeira included and we can get a direct and cheap flight to Barcelona.

Sailing date is 6 months away, but there are no Signature or Neptune suites available. There is a group onboard, and they are still listing suites as available.

In the opinion of 'the expert panel' do you think they are really all sold out, or are they 'held' by a couple of TA's and will be available again closer to Final Payment Date?

Thanks for any insight!

Group has a block of suites. At some point they will release unsold inventory (if there is any)

I agree. The group probably has them. If you look at the group's website, is there a deadline on making reservations? If so, that would be when you might find any that are left released for general bookings.

Does anyone know how big a group it is? We are on the Oosterdam from 10/15 to 11/10 this fall

so would be interested in finding ot.

Nan

We too are on the Oosterdam in October and curious as to the size of this group. Is it likely they will detract from our experience?

Kathy

Does anyone know how big a group it is? We are on the Oosterdam from 10/15 to 11/10 this fall

so would be interested in finding ot.

 

Nan

Not sure of the size but I did find this: Oosterdam : 27 October 2018 – 10 November 2018 : T.A. repo : Bridge group. From this post: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2617628&highlight=groups+charter+dry+dock

We too are on the Oosterdam in October and curious as to the size of this group. Is it likely they will detract from our experience?

 

Kathy

And found this but still no indication of the number of participants.

http://goawaytrav.com/cruise/2018-transatlantic-sectional/

And found this but still no indication of the number of participants.

 

http://goawaytrav.com/cruise/2018-transatlantic-sectional/

They are offering a special price to the first 25, but the webpage does not seem to have been updated since 2017. So not much to be deduced from that! :(

We too are on the Oosterdam in October and curious as to the size of this group. Is it likely they will detract from our experience?

 

Kathy

Probably not. There are approx 2000 passengers on the Vista ships so the few hundred (?) or so in the Neptune and Vista suites will probably not be noticeable. All the other cabin classes will be regular passengers. Could be an interesting group if they intend to book only the higher level cabins. I suspect this means they want to stay pretty much to themselves.

We are on the TA from Venice to Ft. Lauderdale. As the sailing date gets closer some rooms may become available as people cancel for various reasons.

One of my concerns about a large group of card players or some other table game players is the venue they choose to setup shop. I hate going to the Lido only to find groups of people camped out at the tables playing games. Other venues too.

We've been on several Blues Cruises where the entire ship is chartered specifically for blues musicians and their fans. Those were great cruises and no one was adversely affected in any way as we we're all on board for the same reason.

We did a Panama Canal cruise that was nice except for people camping out in the Lido. The canal cruise is on everyone's bucket list and this was a small ship that must have been full. I think many of the people with interior cabins or non-balcony cabins would park at a table and never leave.

We are on the Oosterdam TA cruise from Barcelona to Ft Lauderdale. Originally booked on the K-Dam, but we too found the itinerary not very interesting. We switched to the Oosterdam in early January of this year, and to a Signature Suite. There was still considerable choice of suites at that time. We are not part of any group.