May 2017 UPDATE : HAL groups, charters and dry docks schedule

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thank you for managing this board.

[erewhon]

Thank you for this important information.

[wavesoffun]

The Eurodam is chartered by the Gaither Gospel Group for Mar 11th. I know of two groups on the Mar 4th sailing. A "seminar at sea" bible/archeology group and Audrey Grants better bridge group.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[shipfriend_max]

There's a huge gap between Mar 19 and Apr 03, 2018 for OOSTERDAM - can anyone explain why?

Is she going to be chartered or drydocked? Latter one I'd find to be strange since she has already been in dry dock in April 2016...

[Boatdrill]

Here's the current list of cruises booked by the infamous Inspiration Cruises & Tours.

I had a suspicion they may be on a 2018 cruise I was considering, but so far so good.

 

https://www.inspirationcruises.com/alaska

Edited June 7, 2017 by Boatdrill

[DSLibrarian]

OMG. I just saw that our Dec 1 - 8 Westerdam Mexican Riviera cruise now shows a political group (The Nation) on board. We cancelled this cruise last year due to a large group. Does anyone know how large this group might be?

[Happily@Sea]

They were pretty big on the Dec cruise in 2016. I didn't see any interference in activities - but I also don't usually dine in the MDR.

[dobiemom]

A roll call member found the "Card Player Cruises" group on our cruise (Thanks, Roz!): Oosterdam 2/4/18 Mexican Riviera

 

And they're also on this one: Zuiderdam 4/11/18 Panama Canal

[Scrapnana]

Are there NO groups, charters, or dry docks for the Amsterdam?

 

Craft Cruises Inc. has a group of knitters onboard Amsterdam for the 2018 World Cruise.

[VMax1700]

I believe that Oosterdam is going into dry dock from March 20th 2018 to April 3rd.

The FCC onboard Rotterdam told me this last week.

[trident]

Hi Carol,

 

Have you seen that HAL has changed the Eurodam February 2018 itineraries? Instead of a 7 day cruise on February 18, it is now an 11 day sailing on February 14. Any idea if the group Spiritual Spa is still on?

Thanks for all your research, we all really appreciate your hard work.

 

Fran

[oduphd]

Thank you Carol for doing this. The time and energy you put into this is so appreciated. I called to check on a 7 day cruise on the Eurodam for Jan 7th that my DH and I were considering. I normally always check this thread first but forgot to do so. Our PCC then told me that dining for the late seating was unavailable (which has never happened to us) and that As You Wish dining would not be available from 6:30 on. That was the red flag that there must be a group booked so I checked your thread and saw "aviation group" listed for the cruise. I did a bit more searching and found the website for this group's cruise. Reviewing the site, I suspect there will be multiple venues blocked out and this must be a large group to have that much dining space. Our PCC said only 30 cabins had been booked thus far but they also have until October 2nd to make a reservation. For us, that is enough to pass on this cruise. For my experienced friends here, I do have a question -- do these group cruises ever not happen? I guess I was wondering if the response to the group cruise is low if the group backs out or if these are almost always a done deal. I understand why HAL wants these groups because the prices being paid for the group is significantly higher than prices posted for this cruise and do not include any of the current promotional offers but I don't want parts of the ship off limits to me or be forced to dine early or in the Lido if that is not what I want to do. Without this thread, many of us would be blindly walking into cruises we would likely not otherwise choose so again, thank you.

[slidergirl]

Not sure if this needs to be listed as a group, but:

 

Today's NYT Travel section has an ad for the NYT Journeys. "45+ Itineraries, 70+ departure dates, 6 continents"

They have listed specifically the Rotterdam 11/27 8 days. Lists 3 "featured experts"

 

There is a website for all of the departure dates: nytimes.com/timesjourneys

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for the info.

[bennybear]

Thank you for the work you do on this!

Any idea about the Volendam April 2018. It is showing sold out already. Thanks.

[CJcruzer]

This thread is closed, please refer to the most recent thread for August 2017:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=53777819#post53777819