2026 Grand World Voyage

[akeka]

19 hours ago, REOVA said:

No. Fortunately 2020 went there. One of the reasons Captain Jonathan stayed until 2020 as they enticed him with possible Zodiacs. (Which HAL didn't have and its ships are not Polar class so they cannot do excursions closer to the Continent). 2026 is similar to the planned 2020 up until after the Maldives. (Of course it ended short after Cairns and sailing around to Freemantle to fly home). 

Didn't the Maasdam have Zodiacs?

[teeeej]

10 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

At what point do they start to sell segments?

is it any cheaper to buy them as segments?

[REOVA]

17 minutes ago, akeka said:

Didn't the Maasdam have Zodiacs?

Yes but not on Amsterdam and due to restrictions in Antarctica, they didn't have them on the GWC. Maasdam used them for its EXC itineraries. 

[REOVA]

1 minute ago, teeeej said:

is it any cheaper to buy them as segments?

Segments are priced more than the whole, especially if you count the incentives of booking the complete cruise. Plus having to fly mid cruise internally. 

[cruisemom42]

29 minutes ago, REOVA said:

Segments are priced more than the whole, especially if you count the incentives of booking the complete cruise. Plus having to fly mid cruise internally. 

 

Yes, definitely true. But sometimes one is only interested in a certain part of the itinerary... so it is cheaper than buying the whole package all in, though not necessarily cheaper per diem.

[REOVA]

7 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Yes, definitely true. But sometimes one is only interested in a certain part of the itinerary... so it is cheaper than buying the whole package all in, though not necessarily cheaper per diem.

Yes it's cheaper to by 47 day segment than 128 day whole. 🤔

[RuthC]

15 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

At what point do they start to sell segments?

IIRC, when I bought a couple of segments back in '18 for '19, it was late June or early July. I was on a cruise then, and I remember the dates of the cruise, but don't remember when in the cruise it was. 
I had already contacted my TA about it, so she emailed me while I was aboard. 

[Wehwalt]

I would suspect that HAL's hope is, with only one Grand Voyage running, and with a smaller ship, to sell out the GWV without the need to sell segments, and they will not sell segments until, and unless, it is clear that it will not happen. Among other reasons, if you are not selling segments, you do not need to worry about what happens to people who are segmenting if you make a major change to the itinerary like going around Africa instead of through Suez, something important this year, and also next. It sounded to me in his talk like one of Gus's priorities for 2025 if that itinerary must be changed, was getting the Zuiderdam to Barcelona for the rendezvous with the Volendam, and not getting the ship to Piraeus to accommodate the final segment. They would undoubtedly consider it nice not to have to worry about segments.

Edited February 27 by Wehwalt

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

6 hours ago, teeeej said:

is it any cheaper to buy them as segments?

No it's not cheaper.

[REOVA]

2 hours ago, Wehwalt said:

I would suspect that HAL's hope is, with only one Grand Voyage running, and with a smaller ship, to sell out the GWV without the need to sell segments, and they will not sell segments until, and unless, it is clear that it will not happen. Among other reasons, if you are not selling segments, you do not need to worry about what happens to people who are segmenting if you make a major change to the itinerary like going around Africa instead of through Suez, something important this year, and also next. It sounded to me in his talk like one of Gus's priorities for 2025 if that itinerary must be changed, was getting the Zuiderdam to Barcelona for the rendezvous with the Volendam, and not getting the ship to Piraeus to accommodate the final segment. They would undoubtedly consider it nice not to have to worry about segments.

 HAL used to only do 1 GWV and did it on smaller ships and did segments then as well. I'm sure they feel that two pulls passengers away but there's always a market for segments and its more profitable for HAL. 

[Wehwalt]

19 hours ago, REOVA said:

 HAL used to only do 1 GWV and did it on smaller ships and did segments then as well. I'm sure they feel that two pulls passengers away but there's always a market for segments and its more profitable for HAL. 

Per the bloggers, there were about 1,200 people taking the full GWV this year, with the competition of the Grand Australia. There could be enough to fill the Volendam or come close without the need for segments. Or not. Time will tell.

[cruisemom42]

20 minutes ago, Wehwalt said:

There could be enough to fill the Volendam or come close without the need for segments. Or not. Time will tell.

 

If it fills, then it fills (and good for HAL). If not, the first half of 2026 looks very interesting to me. If I don't do Antarctica before that.

[REOVA]

6 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

If it fills, then it fills (and good for HAL). If not, the first half of 2026 looks very interesting to me. If I don't do Antarctica before that.

It was a good cruise in 2020 but we couldn't get to the Falklands due to weather. Drake passage was calm and we also were able to tender to Easter Island, which is hit or miss as well. Depending on what you want to do in Antarctica, maybe another cruiseline/Polar class ship would be better. Much more expensive but probably worth the experience (and to claim you walked on the driest, coldest, windiest, highest Continent, even if you were only able to set foot on the frozen edge 😁). 

 

There are always cancellations on the GWC and always segments to book. Many people sail every year or a few different years so you should be able to get onboard. 

[cruisemom42]

7 hours ago, REOVA said:

Depending on what you want to do in Antarctica, maybe another cruiseline/Polar class ship would be better. Much more expensive but probably worth the experience (and to claim you walked on the driest, coldest, windiest, highest Continent, even if you were only able to set foot on the frozen edge 😁). 

 

I'm probably an anomaly, but "stepping" on Antarctica really means little to me. I'm not a collector of places or keeper of lists of things I've done. I try to go places that interest me. And I go back and forth about Antarctica. It's not really my thing -- natural beauty doesn't do it for me. I'm far more interested in the great achievements of human civilization. (In the same way, I just can't get excited about safaris, for example. Or the Alps.)

 

That said, there's a part of me that thinks I should go do the passage, see what it's like down there at the bottom of the world. And if I can do it while also seeing more of South America and -- the biggest ask -- Easter Island, well that makes it a lot more compelling.

 

Who knows, maybe I'll fall in love with it -- and if that's the case I can always return and do a very much more hands-on thing. But I doubt it. 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

30 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I'm probably an anomaly, but "stepping" on Antarctica really means little to me. I'm not a collector of places or keeper of lists of things I've done. I try to go places that interest me. And I go back and forth about Antarctica. It's not really my thing -- natural beauty doesn't do it for me. I'm far more interested in the great achievements of human civilization. (In the same way, I just can't get excited about safaris, for example. Or the Alps.)

 

That said, there's a part of me that thinks I should go do the passage, see what it's like down there at the bottom of the world. And if I can do it while also seeing more of South America and -- the biggest ask -- Easter Island, well that makes it a lot more compelling.

 

Who knows, maybe I'll fall in love with it -- and if that's the case I can always return and do a very much more hands-on thing. But I doubt it. 

There's other's like your self.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

2 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I'm probably an anomaly, but "stepping" on Antarctica really means little to me. I'm not a collector of places or keeper of lists of things I've done. I try to go places that interest me. And I go back and forth about Antarctica. It's not really my thing -- natural beauty doesn't do it for me. I'm far more interested in the great achievements of human civilization. (In the same way, I just can't get excited about safaris, for example. Or the Alps.)

 

That said, there's a part of me that thinks I should go do the passage, see what it's like down there at the bottom of the world. And if I can do it while also seeing more of South America and -- the biggest ask -- Easter Island, well that makes it a lot more compelling.

 

Who knows, maybe I'll fall in love with it -- and if that's the case I can always return and do a very much more hands-on thing. But I doubt it. 

Never take a world cruise based on seeing any particular port.   There is probably a 10 pct chance the ship could miss Antarctica due to weather and a 50 percent change on Easter Island.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

22 minutes ago, The-Inside-Cabin said:

Never take a world cruise based on seeing any particular port.   There is probably a 10 pct chance the ship could miss Antarctica due to weather and a 50 percent change on Easter Island.

I agree we are on the 2024 World Cruise and the captain just announced we will probably miss our next port because of the weather.

[islandwoman]

10 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

I'm probably an anomaly, but "stepping" on Antarctica really means little to me.

 

I went to Antarctica in 2019 on a cruise that also didn't have permission to "step" on Antarctica.  To me, it was worth the entire cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to Santiago just to see the continent and the ice bergs from the deck.  IMHO, it was amazing.

[REOVA]

11 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

I'm probably an anomaly, but "stepping" on Antarctica really means little to me. I'm not a collector of places or keeper of lists of things I've done. I try to go places that interest me. And I go back and forth about Antarctica. It's not really my thing -- natural beauty doesn't do it for me. I'm far more interested in the great achievements of human civilization. (In the same way, I just can't get excited about safaris, for example. Or the Alps.)

 

That said, there's a part of me that thinks I should go do the passage, see what it's like down there at the bottom of the world. And if I can do it while also seeing more of South America and -- the biggest ask -- Easter Island, well that makes it a lot more compelling.

 

Who knows, maybe I'll fall in love with it -- and if that's the case I can always return and do a very much more hands-on thing. But I doubt it. 

Understood. Some people see icebergs all the same in Alaska, Greenland, Antarctica, etc, but each has its own beauty and mystery. You will love the SoAm cruise as there are many ports with history and its civilizations. Of course currently the World is a mess with politics and protests so hard to know which ports you'll actually get to to plan (and always depends on weather). We got lucky for the most part in 2020 (until mid way) as we've heard from crew and passengers over the years about the storms and damage crossing the Drake, so DW (who shares your view) is one and done (why chance it again 🤣) while I'm an explorer (and gambler) so ...why not. 😁 But as Pete said, Cruising for a particular port can be disappointing has many times you will miss one or two. 

[islandwoman]

40 minutes ago, REOVA said:

 Cruising for a particular port can be disappointing has many times you will miss one or two. 

If I were intent on a particular port, I would book a flight and hotel. 

[REOVA]

18 minutes ago, islandwoman said:

If I were intent on a particular port, I would book a flight and hotel. 

Yes but with cruising, some people like the ability to "sample" different ports to see if they want to go back. But then the cruise misses that port and they become disappointed. It is a fact and function of cruising.  A few fellow passengers have been to Falklands and missed Easter Island multiple times. We were able to tender to Easter Island but missed Falklands, neither of which we would book a flight and stay there, but experiencing them for a day would be nice. Fortunately on longer cruises you have more ports but we've recently seen 7 day  cruises that missed a few ports (or changed ports) which upset many. And of course last year a Caribbean cruise (all shorts and shirts packed) diverted to Canada which caused media eruption, but cruising is about being safe than sorry.