johnnyswitzerland Posted July 29 #1 Share Posted July 29 (edited) Came across these announcements about Holland America itineraries for the solar eclipse in 2026: https://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/holland-america-to-offer-new-solar-eclipse-cruises-to-greenland-norway-and-more-in-2026/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2024/07/28/holland-america-2026-solar-eclipse-cruises/74560986007/ Looks like these will be bookable this Wednesday, 31 July. I'm pretty excited about this after having read about others' experiences on HAL during this year's total solar eclipse. Edited July 29 by johnnyswitzerland Edited to fix links 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyswitzerland Posted July 29 Author #2 Share Posted July 29 I’ve been waiting for this info to come out. FYI, I can’t find the release on the HAL or CCL corp sites and there’s no citation or link, but presumably this is accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyswitzerland Posted July 29 Author #3 Share Posted July 29 Zuiderdam: 35-Day Voyage of the Vikings Sailing July 18, 2026 from Boston. Nieuw Statendam: 28-Day Scandinavian Solar Eclipse Roundtrip from Dover or Rotterdam sailing July 25, 2026. Oosterdam: 13-Day Mediterranean Solar Eclipse From Lisbon to Athens sailing August 9, 2026. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted July 29 #4 Share Posted July 29 Was on the Zaandam for the Solar Eclipse cruise in April. Be prepared for a great time. Also, given the Oosterdam is the shortest cruise, expect there will probably be a group of 500 or so on board. If Tom Vassos is the on board speaker, he is awesome. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyswitzerland Posted July 29 Author #5 Share Posted July 29 Thanks for the intel, @CruiserBruce! It sounds like the ones this year were awesome. I know the weather presents a risk but being on a ship and able to go where the best forecast is seems brilliant! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare VMax1700 Posted July 29 #6 Share Posted July 29 Hopefully that means that all European 2026 cruises will be bookable from Wednesday! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Gail & Marty sailing away Posted July 29 #7 Share Posted July 29 1 hour ago, johnnyswitzerland said: Zuiderdam: 35-Day Voyage of the Vikings Sailing July 18, 2026 from Boston. Nieuw Statendam: 28-Day Scandinavian Solar Eclipse Roundtrip from Dover or Rotterdam sailing July 25, 2026. Oosterdam: 13-Day Mediterranean Solar Eclipse From Lisbon to Athens sailing August 9, 2026. Thanks for sharing. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted July 29 #8 Share Posted July 29 3 hours ago, johnnyswitzerland said: Thanks for the intel, @CruiserBruce! It sounds like the ones this year were awesome. I know the weather presents a risk but being on a ship and able to go where the best forecast is seems brilliant! Yes, I think the weather in the North Atlantic poses great risk to seeing the eclipse. Off Mazatlan, the Captain had some great weather intel, and we deviated to the southwest about 30 miles or so to get clear skies. Totally worth it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ski ww Posted July 29 #9 Share Posted July 29 Thanks for posting. We were looking for a cruise for 2026, this might just be it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare VMax1700 Posted July 29 #10 Share Posted July 29 HAL press release....... https://www.carnivalcorp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/three-solar-eclipse-sailings-highlight-holland-america-lines-new 2 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyswitzerland Posted July 29 Author #11 Share Posted July 29 Thank you, @VMax1700! Couldn't find it this morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MustBCruzn Posted July 29 #12 Share Posted July 29 2 hours ago, VMax1700 said: HAL press release....... https://www.carnivalcorp.com/news-releases/news-release-details/three-solar-eclipse-sailings-highlight-holland-america-lines-new Thank you! I just e-mailed my TA to book the Summer Solstice cruie on the Niew Statendam when it's released. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare puppycanducruise Posted July 30 #13 Share Posted July 30 Thanks for the info, we'll look into it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECCruise Posted July 30 #14 Share Posted July 30 On 7/29/2024 at 9:00 AM, VMax1700 said: Hopefully that means that all European 2026 cruises will be bookable from Wednesday! The TA interface is live, which means that all of the 2026 European itineraries are available to peruse and price on at least a couple online TA sites that I use. Not a surprise, but the $$$ in some cases in nuts. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlorenceItaly Posted July 30 #15 Share Posted July 30 19 minutes ago, ECCruise said: The TA interface is live, which means that all of the 2026 European itineraries are available to peruse and price on at least a couple online TA sites that I use. Not a surprise, but the $$$ in some cases in nuts. I agree. WHOLLY GUACAMOLE, the VOV sailing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare VMax1700 Posted July 30 #16 Share Posted July 30 looks like the Europe 2026 is now live on the HAL website. No itinerary info maps yet. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MustBCruzn Posted July 30 #17 Share Posted July 30 (edited) 1 hour ago, VMax1700 said: looks like the Europe 2026 is now live on the HAL website. No itinerary info maps yet. Thank you and thank you to @johnnyswitzerland for the heads-up. Just booked my August sailing. Edited July 30 by MustBCruzn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyswitzerland Posted July 30 Author #18 Share Posted July 30 Can't say how disappointed I am. According to the HAL site, for the 13-day aboard Oosterdam, there are only five oceanview staterooms available on the entire ship, and they're all connecting quads. I don't understand. Could this be because of group bookings? Or holding back most staterooms for those who book longer itineraries that include this segment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyswitzerland Posted July 30 Author #19 Share Posted July 30 Looks like I can get the stateroom I want if I book the 20-day itinerary. I may just go ahead and do it. But I have no idea how I'll get that much time off… At least I have two years to figure it out! LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sea Hag Posted July 30 #20 Share Posted July 30 3 hours ago, FlorenceItaly said: I agree. WHOLLY GUACAMOLE, the VOV sailing! You got that right! I really like that one, but we can't do it because Her Majesty the Cat doesn't do well if she's not being taken care of by the normal staff. After seeing the price on the cabin I'd want, I feel a lot better about things. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted July 30 #21 Share Posted July 30 42 minutes ago, johnnyswitzerland said: Can't say how disappointed I am. According to the HAL site, for the 13-day aboard Oosterdam, there are only five oceanview staterooms available on the entire ship, and they're all connecting quads. I don't understand. Could this be because of group bookings? Or holding back most staterooms for those who book longer itineraries that include this segment? I think you have two problems. I assume you are using the HAL web site (we never find this a good way to go). When I look I a couple of my favored cruise agency web sites there is plenty of availability in many categories (including suites and balconies). The other issue is that it is a segment of longer bookings (they are also taking bookings for a 27 night cruise that includes that segment) so some cabins are usually allocated for longer bookings. I just looked at a Signature Sutie (on the 13 night sailing you mentioned) and one of my favored cruise agencies it kicking-in an extra $650 OBC (this is pretty normal when using decent cruise agencies). Hank 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyswitzerland Posted July 30 Author #22 Share Posted July 30 Thanks, @Hlitner. Appreciate the help. As a solo I typically try to keep costs down by booking oceanview. And all the recent chatter about folks being bumped from higher-capacity staterooms made me nervous… Plus, I'm particular about location! 😀🤓 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Hlitner Posted July 30 #23 Share Posted July 30 1 minute ago, johnnyswitzerland said: Thanks, @Hlitner. Appreciate the help. As a solo I typically try to keep costs down by booking oceanview. And all the recent chatter about folks being bumped from higher-capacity staterooms made me nervous… Plus, I'm particular about location! 😀🤓 The issue with being bumped from higher capacity cabins also gives me a lot of pause. Even booking as a couple, it can be an issue if one books a cabin that can hold a 3rd and/or 4th. We have also booked our share of outside cabins when we do not think a balcony or suite offers good value. Consider on the upcominng VOV cruises, moving up from an outside to a balcony will add more than $100 per person/day to the cruise price. Given that the outsides are about the same size as the balcony cabins, paying $200+ a day (per couple) seems a bit excessive to have a balcony that remains unused for much the cruise. Hank 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knickearth Posted July 30 #24 Share Posted July 30 Any idea as how much the 35 day cruise in July 2026 round trip Boston will cost? love the idea of no flights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlorenceItaly Posted July 30 #25 Share Posted July 30 44 minutes ago, Knickearth said: Any idea as how much the 35 day cruise in July 2026 round trip Boston will cost? love the idea of no flights. It is listed on some on-line travel agency sites. We are not allowed to mention names. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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