Oosterdam All Sold Out?

[Roberrrrrt]

I’ve noticed that all of a sudden, out of the blue, the entirety of Oosterdam’s South America and Antarctica cruises went from having tons of availability to being sold out overnight this week. Feels unlikely that this would naturally happen so quickly.  To be honest it has me a little worried (maybe paranoid is the right word) as I’m booked on the Dec. 15 sailing out of Buenos Aires. Anyone been hearing anything about potential cancelations or restrictions on number of passengers for these sailings?

 

[0106]

I doubt it’s actually sold out.  Perhaps this thread will provide some insight for you. 

 

[Roberrrrrt]

7 minutes ago, 0106 said:

I doubt it’s actually sold out.  Perhaps this thread will provide some insight for you. 

 

I suspect you are correct. Thanks for the link to this thread. It’s helpful and this is why I posted here. Much appreciated.

[0106]

@Roberrrrrt I hope you enjoy SA & Antarctica on the Oosterdam as much is I did.  Here is my LIVE thread 

Several others did live threads last season too.

[BermudaBound2014]

28 minutes ago, Roberrrrrt said:

I’ve noticed that all of a sudden, out of the blue, the entirety of Oosterdam’s South America and Antarctica cruises went from having tons of availability to being sold out overnight this week. Feels unlikely that this would naturally happen so quickly.  To be honest it has me a little worried (maybe paranoid is the right word) as I’m booked on the Dec. 15 sailing out of Buenos Aires. Anyone been hearing anything about potential cancelations or restrictions on number of passengers for these sailings?

 

 

Hi There, I am also on the Oosteram Antarctica (departing Jan 6th). I agree that HAL is doing something very odd with inventory. Normally I can find availability using Travel agent consortium sites, but, as you mentioned, HAL has pulled every single Antarctica sailing for the entire season. Some have just vanished and some are showing as 'unavailable'.

 

There is availability to book the Nov 14th sailing which gets the ship from Florida to Chili. Then there are no sailings showing  until January 6th. It's a ghost ship. The Jan 6 and Jan 28 sailings are showing but all cabins are 'unavailable'. Then the ship has zero sailings until March 19th where it's headed from Chili back to Florida. 

 

HAL is the absolute worst site to deal with when it comes to inventory. They also seem to do most of the website work on the weekends. I suspect they are filling guarantees and offering upgrades right now but it's weird that some of the sailings are just gone; as in vanished. You mentioned they went sold out "this week' above. Do you recall what day the itineraries vanished? Are you seeing the cruises still (and they are just showing sold our) or have they vanished entirely?

 

FWIW I wouldn't start worrying yet. The HAL site is notorious for errors, but typically I can circumvent and get a reasonable idea of inventory. Not today.

 

Thanks for the heads up, I'll keep an eye on it since I'm on a sailing too 🙂

 

 

[*Miss G*]

I can see them. The Dec 15th sailing is sold out but there is availability on all the others.

 

Editing to add… the November sailing is not showing up, though.

 

Edited Saturday at 03:58 PM by *Miss G*

[BermudaBound2014]

Thanks Miss G.

 

I use that site also but I have never been able to get to specific cabin inventory there. Am I missing something? 

 

Edited to add, I can see all the sailings on this site (but neither of the other two I use for inventory tracing).

 

These are the parameters I used:

 

 

Edited Saturday at 04:10 PM by BermudaBound2014

[*Miss G*]

1 minute ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

Thanks Miss G.

 

I use that site also but I have never been able to get to specific cabin inventory there. Am I missing something? 

 

 

 

 

No, you’re not missing something.  You can see categories but you have to call or email to speak with an agent.  It’s fairly painless.

[BermudaBound2014]

Just now, *Miss G* said:

 

No, you’re not missing something.  You can see categories but you have to call or email to speak with an agent.  It’s fairly painless.

 

Thanks for confirmation. I have used that site in the past to actually book a cruise since they had the best group pricing. It's just weird that I can't see all the sailings on the other sites I use for inventory.

[*Miss G*]

6 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

Thanks for confirmation. I have used that site in the past to actually book a cruise since they had the best group pricing. It's just weird that I can't see all the sailings on the other sites I use for inventory.

 

I use that site to get a high level view, but I took a quick look, just now, at the HAL site and I can see all the sailings.

 

Editing to add:  Nov 14th, Dec 1st, Dec 15th are showing as sold out.  The rest have availability.

 

Edited Saturday at 04:18 PM by *Miss G*
Fussiness

[BermudaBound2014]

4 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

 

I use that site to get a high level view, but I took a quick look, just now, at the HAL site and I can see all the sailings.

 

Editing to add:  Nov 14th, Dec 1st, Dec 15th are showing as sold out.  The rest have availability.

 

So weird, I can see them all now too. Thanks :). 

[BermudaBound2014]

1 hour ago, Roberrrrrt said:

I’ve noticed that all of a sudden, out of the blue, the entirety of Oosterdam’s South America and Antarctica cruises went from having tons of availability to being sold out overnight this week. Feels unlikely that this would naturally happen so quickly.  To be honest it has me a little worried (maybe paranoid is the right word) as I’m booked on the Dec. 15 sailing out of Buenos Aires. Anyone been hearing anything about potential cancelations or restrictions on number of passengers for these sailings?

 

 

As mentioned above, your sailing has just popped back up on the HAL site and there are LOTS of cabins available to book. This sailing is no where near sold out :). 

Edited Saturday at 04:23 PM by BermudaBound2014

[*Miss G*]

3 minutes ago, BermudaBound2014 said:

 

So weird, I can see them all now too. Thanks :). 

 

Normally I would attribute this to HAL’s crack IT weekend activity but, since it affected your usual sites, also… 🤷‍♀️

[BermudaBound2014]

27 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

 

Normally I would attribute this to HAL’s crack IT weekend activity but, since it affected your usual sites, also… 🤷‍♀️

 

IKR! I don't believe that has ever happened. The sailings are still ghosted on one of my regular sites. I keep refreshing to see when they pop back up.

[JeannineWW]

I've been checking the Oosterdam South America itineraries for the past week.  I've also noticed that they come and go.  When they do show up, you can only click on the cabin choices some of the time.

 

Our PCC confirmed that the March 5, 2025 sailing from Buenos Aires to Fort Lauderdale is sold out.  We are now wait listed.

[NCTribeFan]

I'm on 11/17/2025 and it was showing as sold out when I looked at it last week.  I thought, "no, that can't be right.  I'll just check back later." 

 

Just checked and there are lots of cabins available.  In fact, the price has decreased since I booked.  I booked under the $25 deposit.  The price has decreased over $600.  On other lines, I'm used to being able to call and just getting the price drop.  I'm not moving or upgrading.  From what I've read on these boards, it seems as though HAL does a re-pricing for ANY change, which would mean I'd get the price drop but the deposit is now $600.  I'd rather not incur that extra charge right now.  But the early booking bonus disappears after 10/31, so if I'm going to make a change, I need to make it now, right?

[BermudaBound2014]

52 minutes ago, NCTribeFan said:

I'm on 11/17/2025 and it was showing as sold out when I looked at it last week.  I thought, "no, that can't be right.  I'll just check back later." 

 

Just checked and there are lots of cabins available.  In fact, the price has decreased since I booked.  I booked under the $25 deposit.  The price has decreased over $600.  On other lines, I'm used to being able to call and just getting the price drop.  I'm not moving or upgrading.  From what I've read on these boards, it seems as though HAL does a re-pricing for ANY change, which would mean I'd get the price drop but the deposit is now $600.  I'd rather not incur that extra charge right now.  But the early booking bonus disappears after 10/31, so if I'm going to make a change, I need to make it now, right?

 

You are correct, HAL is a bit more strict than other lines in how they handle repricing (and it depends on the initial booking promo).  I rebook several times along the way and am always fine with a fully refundable deposit as long as the numbers work out. 

 

If booking HIA, when repricing outside of early booking promo that means I get downgraded in the beverage package (elite to specialty) and internet portion (premium to surf) of HIA. Just do the math and see if it works for you. Neither of those matter to me.

 

The only thing that really matters to me in the early booking promo is crew appreciation and based on the last two years they have offered a promo with crew appreciation included around June. 

 

BTW; you probably know how to do this on cruiseplum but here is how this years Oosterdam cruise from Florida to San Antonio has priced out (Novembers 14, 2024 departure). The sweet spot in pricing was May to July of this year. It's not a perfect science, but patterns are pretty similar year to year. I'd put my money that that will be next years sweet spot too.

 

 

If I were you I'd reprice now for a $600 savings as long as the deposit was fully refundable and see what happens. It's likely I would reprice this cruise 2 or 3 times between now and next November. That's too much work for a lot of people, but it's a game for me :). 

 

Hope that helps.

 

 

[NCTribeFan]

It does.  Thanks.  The only Early HIA perk that matters to me is the tips.  I don't need premium wi-fi or drinks.  I'm happy with the drinks covered under the basic.  But if I can get a price drop and keep the tips, that's worth paying the increased deposit now, if I must.  I have 3 cruises starting next Monday (side-to-side on X, then 7 nights on Nieuw Am).  I have to pay off my Virgin TA for next April in December.  And I'm currently not working (and won't until I'm back from Hawaii), so funds are going to be a little tight for a few months.  But, hey!  It's only money!  It's why I'm still working at all - to pay for my travels.

 

I'll reach out to my PCC and see what happens.