Oceanwide Expeditions Plancius Access Starts Oct. 24

Cruise Industry News reports that Oceanwide Expeditions’ m/v Plancius is the first ship in the fleet to start the repositioning run to Antarctica. After finishing its Arctic summer schedule, the vessel left its home port of Vlissingen in the Netherlands in late September following a short resupply and maintenance period. Oceanwide called the departure a “bon voyage” and said Plancius is bound for Puerto Madryn, Argentina, with arrival set for Oct. 24, 2026.

That date is when guests can board. The operator’s current PLA21-26 voyage page lists a 20-night photography special from Puerto Madryn to Ushuaia, covering the Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and the Antarctic Peninsula. If you hold a cabin, the ship is already at sea. If you still want a berth, the same page shows waitlists across cabin types. Read Deep Arrival’s Oceanwide Expeditions line guide before you treat a waitlist as a backup plan, because this sailing is a named product, not a generic Peninsula loop.

Plancius Left Vlissingen After the Arctic Season

Cruise Industry News, citing Oceanwide’s own send-off, says Plancius completed its Northern Hemisphere summer and then left Vlissingen after resupply. The company described the ship as restocked and ready. That is a fleet movement, not a guest cruise. No passengers board in the Netherlands for this crossing. The useful fact for booked guests is simpler: the ship that is supposed to meet them in Argentina has already left Europe.

Oceanwide’s fleet page still lists Plancius as a 108-passenger ship with private toilet and shower, rebuilt in 2009 from the 1976 oceanographic vessel Hr. Ms. Tydeman. Ice class is 1D. Average cruising speed is 10.5 knots. Those specs matter on a 20-night itinerary that includes Drake Passage time at the end. They also explain why a late-September departure from the Netherlands is the normal way to make an Oct. 24 Puerto Madryn start.

Do not mix this sailing with Oceanwide’s other polar ships. Hondius and Ortelius are scheduled for the same 2026-27 Antarctic season, Cruise Industry News says, with sailings from Ushuaia through early April before the fleet returns north. Plancius is simply first out of Europe.

Oct. 24 Embarkation in Puerto Madryn

The operator itinerary starts in the afternoon at Puerto Madryn, on Argentina’s Golfo Nuevo. The page flags southern right whales as a possible send-off sighting as the ship heads for the Falklands. Disembarkation is in Ushuaia on day 21. That Puerto Madryn start is why this voyage is longer than a classic Ushuaia-to-Ushuaia Peninsula trip. Guests fly into Patagonia, not into Tierra del Fuego, and they need the extra days at sea to reach the Falklands.

Air is not in the fare. The inclusions list meals, Zodiac landings, lectures, muck boots, snowshoes, a pre-scheduled group transfer from the ship to the Ushuaia airport after disembarkation, Wi-Fi with 1.5 GB per guest per day, and South Georgia electronic travel authorizations handled by the company. Airfare, visas, insurance, and pre- and post-land arrangements are excluded. Anyone holding PLA21-26 should lock Patagonia flights and a buffer night around Oct. 24 now, not after the ship docks.

Deep Arrival’s Antarctica expedition cruise guide is the place to compare this Puerto Madryn start with the more common Ushuaia embarkations used later in the season on Hondius and Ortelius.

Photography Special Route Through Three Regions

PLA21-26 is sold as a photography special, timed early in the season for snow, long days, and nesting wildlife. The operator says a photo workshop is included at no extra charge, with no pre-booking, a maximum of 20 participants per outing per guide, and no experience required. Guests bring their own cameras. Lectures on composition sit alongside the usual wildlife and history talks on sea days.

Possible Falklands calls include Steeple Jason, Carcass Island, Saunders Island, and Stanley, where museum admission is included. South Georgia options include Salisbury Plain, St. Andrews Bay, Gold Harbour, Fortuna Bay, and Grytviken. The Antarctic section may try the Weddell Sea, or fall back to Elephant Island, the South Shetlands, Half Moon Island, and Deception Island if ice blocks the east side. The page names Half Moon Island and Deception Island among the later landings, matching Cruise Industry News’ summary of the planned exploration cruise.

A separate ski-trekking group will travel part of Shackleton’s South Georgia route from King Haakon Bay to Stromness Bay. That activity is not offered to regular guests. Landings may be adapted so the ship can pick the ski group up safely. Treat the published day-by-day as guidance. The operator’s own note says ice, weather, wildlife, IAATO slots, and the expedition leader set the final plan.

Waitlist Prices and What Is Already Gone

On the live cabin table, quadruple porthole, triple porthole, and twin porthole are marked sold out or waitlist. A sharing berth in a quadruple is listed at 14,850 USD. A complete quadruple cabin is listed at 59,400 USD. A triple sharing berth is 18,250 USD. Those figures are the operator’s posted USD amounts, not a guarantee that a waitlist will clear. If you are not already on the list, this sailing is a planning story about a ship already moving, not an open booking window.

The photography framing does not change the packing list. Waterproof camera bags, spare cards, and cold-weather layers still sit with the guest. The workshop is free. Equipment is not. Anyone joining from a waitlist in the next three weeks has a short fuse: the ship is due in Puerto Madryn on Oct. 24, and late international tickets into Patagonia in late October are the binding constraint, not the Zodiac briefing.

Hondius and Ortelius Fill Out the Rest of the Season

Cruise Industry News says Oceanwide’s 2026-27 Antarctic season also uses Hondius and Ortelius from Ushuaia, covering the Peninsula, South Shetland Islands, Weddell Sea, South Georgia, and the Falklands, running through early April. Plancius is first across the Atlantic, not the only hull in the program. Travelers who missed PLA21-26 should look at later Ushuaia starts rather than assuming a second Puerto Madryn photography clone is sitting unsold.

Hondius is a different class of ship, Polar Class 6, with a higher guest count than Plancius. Do not transfer Plancius cabin math onto Hondius pages. Use each voyage’s own cabin table. For this week, the only confirmed hull already at sea toward the first guest embarkation is Plancius.