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Five ships changing itineraries: speed restrictions in the Gulf of St. Lawrence


maryann ns
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Endangered northern right whales are in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Several have been hit by ships so there are new speed restrictions. I am not sure what ports have been cancelled but Sydney, Nova Scotia has been added to these trips.

 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/cruise-business-port-schedule-economy-ships-itinerary-speed-regulations-1.4268416

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Passengers on the two NCL Dawn cruises have been notified that Sydney has been added, and one of their Quebec ports has been eliminated. No changes so far on any published itineraries, but cruise lines are notorious for not keeping those things up to date.

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And just a note, its three ships and 5 visits.

That's all we know about right now, and we only know that because of a story out of Sydney that those 3 ships added Sydney as a port. What we don't know yet is how many other itineraries that include Quebec or Montreal will be affected as well. For example, our cruise is scheduled to arrive in Quebec for an overnight at 1:00 PM. If we're delayed 5 or 6 hours (which is what I've read the reduced speed is doing), we'll basically miss a day in port.

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Yes, as I noted above, that's what's happening to us-- missing a day in port. While other itineraries are having Sydney ADDED to their port stops, our origina lSydney stop was scrapped as we crawl along to the next port. Disappointing, but for sure no catastrophe.

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Changes just announced for NCL Jade Oct 6th cruise...no overnight now in Quebec plus some minor times changes for PEI and Halifax.

 

Where did you get your information? We are on the Oct 6 and Oct. 13 Jade cruises and were notified by our TA from NCL that the only change in that week was the cancellation of Gaspe (which is now the sea day) and the addition of Sydney on the former sea day. Quebec is the disembarkation day for the October 6 cruise. The only overnight is for those sailing b2b or boarding in Quebec for the Oct. 13 cruise with an overnight. Actual sailing is a day later and the only change for that sailing is leaving one hour earlier at 5 p.m. instead of 6 p.m.

 

According to the message from NCL there were no time changes in Halifax or PEI. If you have further info please inform.

Thanks

Donna

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Where did you get your information? We are on the Oct 6 and Oct. 13 Jade cruises and were notified by our TA from NCL that the only change in that week was the cancellation of Gaspe (which is now the sea day) and the addition of Sydney on the former sea day. Quebec is the disembarkation day for the October 6 cruise. The only overnight is for those sailing b2b or boarding in Quebec for the Oct. 13 cruise with an overnight. Actual sailing is a day later and the only change for that sailing is leaving one hour earlier at 5 p.m. instead of 6 p.m.

 

According to the message from NCL there were no time changes in Halifax or PEI. If you have further info please inform.

Thanks

Donna

 

 

Got an email this AM...here it is in part--

 

ITINERARY MODIFICATION INFORMATION

Dear Valued Guests and Travel Partners,

Norwegian Cruise Line has important information for you regarding Norwegian Jade's 10-Day Canada & New England sailing on October 6, 2017 from

New York. All guests booked on this sailing need to be aware of this change and travel professionals are asked to forward this information to their clients.

Due to the Canadian Coast Guard implementing a speed restriction in the Gulf of St. Lawrence to protect Right Whales in the area there has been an

itinerary change.

Please review the revised itinerary information below:

Original Arrive Depart

Fri New York City, New York 4:00 pm

Sat At Sea

Sun Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada 11:00 am 6:00 pm

Mon Charlottetown, Prince Edward I, Canada 9:00 am 5:00 pm

Tue At Sea

Wed Quebec City, Canada 8:00 am Overnight

Thu Quebec City, Canada 2:00 pm

Fri At Sea

Sat Halifax, Canada 1:00 pm 8:00 pm

Sun At Sea

Mon New York City, New York 9:00 am

Revised Arrive Depart

Fri New York City, New York 4:00 pm

Sat At Sea

Sun Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada 11:00 am 6:00 pm

Mon Charlottetown, Prince Edward I, Canada 9:00 am 4:00 pm

Tue At Sea

Wed Quebec City, Canada 9:00 am midnight

Thu At Sea

Fri At Sea

Sat Halifax, Canada 8:00 am 8:00 pm

Sun At Sea

Mon New York City, New York 9:00 am

If you have pre-booked shore excursions through Norwegian Cruise Line, updated tour information will be provided onboard.

Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions, please contact us at 1-800-327-7030 (Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to midnight ET

and Saturday and Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 pm. ET). For any guests booked outside of the US/Canada please visit www.ncl.com for our local contact

information.

We thank you for choosing Norwegian Cruise Line and look forward to welcoming you onboard Norwegian Jade.

Sincerely,

Vivian Ewart

Vice President, Passenger Services

 

It does not "copy and paste" well..--as it was a side by side format...so please see that "new" intinerary is nearer bottom.

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Our Oct. 6 NCL Dawn leaves from Boston . It is a 7 day cruise to Quebec and Oct. 13 the Dawn goes from Quebec back to Boston on a 7 day cruise.

 

I had the wrong ship. So sorry!

Edited by hoopslover
Incorrect ship stated
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Where did you get your information? We are on the Oct 6 and Oct. 13 Jade cruises and were notified by our TA from NCL that the only change in that week was the cancellation of Gaspe (which is now the sea day) and the addition of Sydney on the former sea day. Quebec is the disembarkation day for the October 6 cruise. The only overnight is for those sailing b2b or boarding in Quebec for the Oct. 13 cruise with an overnight. Actual sailing is a day later and the only change for that sailing is leaving one hour earlier at 5 p.m. instead of 6 p.m.

 

According to the message from NCL there were no time changes in Halifax or PEI. If you have further info please inform.

Thanks

Donna

Oops! We were on the Jade last cruise. We are on the Dawn. My bad.

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Can't find anything about this on the HAL website or Google for HAL. We are going on a Sept. 30-Oct. 10 NYC to Quebec City cruise with them.

Looking at your itinerary, you may actually be okay. I compared transit times between ports with our cruise (which was impacted), and it looks like HAL has built in enough time to make it to every port as scheduled.

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I was just notified that Viking Sky will no longer visit PEI. We were scheduled to arrive in Charlottetown at 8:00am from Halifax but were told that due to slow speeds we would not be able to arrive in Charlottetown in time for morning shore excursions. We will be sailing from Halifax to Gaspe instead. Viking has done a great job arranging new excursions. My cabin mate is from Canada and wonders how we can arrive in Gaspe (at 8:00 am) but not make it to Charlottetown by 8:00 am. However, she has always wanted to visit Gaspe so looks like a great substitution. Thank you Viking.

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I was just notified that Viking Sky will no longer visit PEI. We were scheduled to arrive in Charlottetown at 8:00am from Halifax but were told that due to slow speeds we would not be able to arrive in Charlottetown in time for morning shore excursions. We will be sailing from Halifax to Gaspe instead. Viking has done a great job arranging new excursions. My cabin mate is from Canada and wonders how we can arrive in Gaspe (at 8:00 am) but not make it to Charlottetown by 8:00 am. However, she has always wanted to visit Gaspe so looks like a great substitution. Thank you Viking.

 

Not aware of what your itinerary is, but I assume you are going northbound to Montreal? Again, not sure of last port before PEI/Gaspe, but cruise ship speed is all about what speed is needed to make the next port at the time posted in the itinerary. So, the ship might have been going fairly slowly from Halifax? to PEI, but could make Gaspe at the same time going faster.

 

Looking at the speed restriction zone, when ships were calling at PEI and going to Montreal/Quebec, they have to traverse the diagonal of the rectangular speed restriction zone (the longest possible time at reduced speed). However, rounding Cape Breton and heading directly to Gaspe, means the ship is in the speed zone far less time (essentially the smaller side of the rectangle), so they can keep up normal speed for longer.

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We are on a 14-day Celebrity Summit leaving Sept 24th. Many months ago we were informed that we would change from PEI to Sydney, Nova Scotia but not related to whales. A couple of weeks ago we were notified that do to whale-mandated speed restrictions we would be skipping Saguenay, Quebec. So two port changes since we originally signed up.

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Thank you Chengkp - that was a great explanation. I hope that Saguenay will not be affected (that will be the port after Gaspe) - we are looking forward to it.

It is sometimes a challenge to see changes as adventures and not disappointments, but I know Viking will work hard to give us a great cruise.

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