Changes to Baltic Cruise Itinerary

[judithzuz]

Since I haven't been able to find any information, I thought I would post here. I have an 11 day Northern Europe cruise on the Enchanted in April. There is currently from the State Department a No Travel order. Do cruise lines adhere to those orders and change the itinerary? When do they contact booked passengers with updates? I understand that things could change in the next two months, but what usually happens in these circumstances? Sorry for the long list of questions. Pick one and just answer that one.😛

Edited January 26, 2022 by judithzuz

[dog]

1 hour ago, judithzuz said:

Since I haven't been able to find any information, I thought I would post here. I have an 11 day Northern Europe cruise on the Enchanted in April. There is currently from the State Department a No Travel order. Do cruise lines adhere to those orders and change the itinerary? When do they contact booked passengers with updates? I understand that things could change in the next two months, but what usually happens in these circumstances? Sorry for the long list of questions. Pick one and just answer that one.😛

Can’t predict. 
in 2011 we had cruise Rome to Egypt to Med ports. Egypt had protests in spring. Princess changed it -& replaced Egypt with Malta. By May they brought back Egypt. All went as originally planned. They have right to make changes right up to sailing/ during sailing 

 

[judithzuz]

Thank you for the response, 

28 minutes ago, dog said:

Can’t predict. 
in 2011 we had cruise Rome to Egypt to Med ports. Egypt had protests in spring. Princess changed it -& replaced Egypt with Malta. By May they brought back Egypt. All went as originally planned. They have right to make changes right up to sailing/ during sailing 

 

Thank you for the response. Yes, maybe things will be calmer then. I just have a feeling this one won't clear up so quickly.

[nini]

4 hours ago, judithzuz said:

Since I haven't been able to find any information, I thought I would post here. I have an 11 day Northern Europe cruise on the Enchanted in April. There is currently from the State Department a No Travel order. Do cruise lines adhere to those orders and change the itinerary? When do they contact booked passengers with updates? I understand that things could change in the next two months, but what usually happens in these circumstances? Sorry for the long list of questions. Pick one and just answer that one.😛

 

Is this a Baltic cruise to include St. Petersburg? I imagine you have made final payment? On the Princess website, if the itinerary begins or ends in St. Petersburg, than it says in red letters. "currently not available".

We may be cancelling ours that is in June, because St. Petersburg was the main reason for this cruise.

[judithzuz]

58 minutes ago, nini said:

 

Is this a Baltic cruise to include St. Petersburg? I imagine you have made final payment? On the Princess website, if the itinerary begins or ends in St. Petersburg, than it says in red letters. "currently not available".

 

My cruise is the 25 day out of Ft. Lauderdale on the 9th, a TA, but St. Petersburg was definitely one of the highlights. Yes, final payment has been made. 

[CruisinFinsUp]

1 hour ago, judithzuz said:

My cruise is the 25 day out of Ft. Lauderdale on the 9th, a TA, but St. Petersburg was definitely one of the highlights. Yes, final payment has been made. 

 

2 hours ago, nini said:

 

Is this a Baltic cruise to include St. Petersburg? I imagine you have made final payment? On the Princess website, if the itinerary begins or ends in St. Petersburg, than it says in red letters. "currently not available".

We may be cancelling ours that is in June, because St. Petersburg was the main reason for this cruise.

 

Odd.  I'm in Canada and can book both the 25 day April 9 and the 11 day April 23 to Baltics only.   

There are no "not availables" for me.  

 

OP:   I think you should look at the Cruise with confidence policy,

https://www.princess.com/plan/cruise-with-confidence/cancellation-final-payment-policy/

and consider adding cruise insurance (Princess Platinum or otherwise) if you want more protection of your investment within the 30 days prior to your cruise.  

 

Should the situation in the world change for the worse, you'd want your money protected in the event the cruise does not go the way you want it to go and you want to cancel.   

 

As to what they "usually" do, that is hard to say.   With the world focused on Covid, and the amount of cancellations that the cruiselines have endured, they may try to rearrange the ports and run the cruise without St. Petersburg, and tell you they are not cancelling it.     

That way the cancellation for missing a major destination is on you, and on the insurance rather than another loss to Princess.   If you decide you don't want to go, its up to whatever insurance you have to protect your money, within the 30 days.   

 

.

 

 

[flahagan]

2 hours ago, judithzuz said:

My cruise is the 25 day out of Ft. Lauderdale on the 9th, a TA, but St. Petersburg was definitely one of the highlights. Yes, final payment has been made. 

I'm on that sailing with you and have been wondering the same thing!  With the threat of war looming, I can't imagine stopping overnight in Russia or even sail the Baltic for that matter.  I'm keeping fingers crossed that Princess doesn't cancel the TA but alters the itinerary as necessary.  If it's sailing I want to be on it, no matter where it goes, lol!

[Astro Flyer]

3 hours ago, nini said:

We may be cancelling ours that is in June, because St. Petersburg was the main reason for this cruise.

Our 2 days in St. Petersburg was the highlight of our Baltic cruise which in my opinion was one of the best places we’ve visited & I’d likely cancel if it was unavailable.

[wowzz]

56 minutes ago, flahagan said:

or even sail the Baltic for that matter

Have you seen where the Ukraine is with regards to the Baltic ?

 

[bondgirl007]

15 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Have you seen where the Ukraine is with regards to the Baltic ?

 

That is not the issue.  The issue is there are Russian warships in the Baltic and near Ireland that are known.  I am sure they are in places we don't even know.  With that said, the State Department has issued warnings that Americans may be targeted in all of Russia, not just near the Ukranian/Russian border.   While I do not think anyone needs to panic, we do need to keep this information in mind so that we can make informed decisions based on the facts.  

[wowzz]

33 minutes ago, bondgirl007 said:

That is not the issue.  The issue is there are Russian warships in the Baltic and near Ireland that are known.  I am sure they are in places we don't even know.  With that said, the State Department has issued warnings that Americans may be targeted in all of Russia, not just near the Ukranian/Russian border.   While I do not think anyone needs to panic, we do need to keep this information in mind so that we can make informed decisions based on the facts.  

But cruise ships can't go to St Petersburg,  so no issue.  Cruising around the Baltic is perfectly safe.  

If things kick off in the Ukraine, cruising will be the least of our worries!

[PrincessLuver]

1 hour ago, bondgirl007 said:

That is not the issue.  The issue is there are Russian warships in the Baltic and near Ireland that are known.  I am sure they are in places we don't even know.  With that said, the State Department has issued warnings that Americans may be targeted in all of Russia, not just near the Ukranian/Russian border.   While I do not think anyone needs to panic, we do need to keep this information in mind so that we can make informed decisions based on the facts.  

There are always Russian warships in the Baltic....

[nini]

5 hours ago, CruisinFinsUp said:

 

 

Odd.  I'm in Canada and can book both the 25 day April 9 and the 11 day April 23 to Baltics only.   

There are no "not availables" for me.  

 

OP:   I think you should look at the Cruise with confidence policy,

https://www.princess.com/plan/cruise-with-confidence/cancellation-final-payment-policy/

and consider adding cruise insurance (Princess Platinum or otherwise) if you want more protection of your investment within the 30 days prior to your cruise.  

 

Should the situation in the world change for the worse, you'd want your money protected in the event the cruise does not go the way you want it to go and you want to cancel.   

 

As to what they "usually" do, that is hard to say.   With the world focused on Covid, and the amount of cancellations that the cruiselines have endured, they may try to rearrange the ports and run the cruise without St. Petersburg, and tell you they are not cancelling it.     

That way the cancellation for missing a major destination is on you, and on the insurance rather than another loss to Princess.   If you decide you don't want to go, its up to whatever insurance you have to protect your money, within the 30 days.   

 

.

 

 

 

You missed my earlier point. ONLY IF the cruise BEGINS OR ENDS in St. Petersburg does it say "currently not available". Otherwise, the cruises are available and we are booked.

And yes, I am aware of "Cruise with Confidence" and travel insurance. Yesterday I mad final payment for a cruise in July that has nothing to do with beginning or ending in St. Petersburg.

[Milaandra]

You should check your insurance, too.  My policy won't cover me if I travel when and where the UK government says not to travel.  At this point, the UK government isn't saying anything, really.

[2BACRUISER]

We were originally going to the Baltic in 2020 but obvs didn't happen, as we can't go this year due to prior commitments we've booked for May 2023. For me the reason for going IS St Petersburg, irs the jewel in the Crown of the trip  and if they removed it from the itinerary this would be a deal breaker and we'd cancel. I hope by 2023 tensions will have calmed down. Fingers crossed. 

[caribill]

18 hours ago, dog said:

Can’t predict. 
in 2011 we had cruise Rome to Egypt to Med ports. Egypt had protests in spring. Princess changed it -& replaced Egypt with Malta. By May they brought back Egypt. All went as originally planned. They have right to make changes right up to sailing/ during sailing 

 

 

We were on that same cruise.

 

When the change to Malta (and a second day in Istanbul) was made, many people cancelled as Egypt had been their main reason for selecting that cruise.

 

Then a number of people booked the revised itinerary. But when the itinerary was changed back to the original one (after final payment date), those who had booked the cruise initially were very happy and those who had booked the revised itinerary were very, very unhappy.

 

The ship sailed about 25% below capacity. It was a fantastic cruise with a great experience the two days in Egypt.

 

 

[kitkat343]

12 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

Our 2 days in St. Petersburg was the highlight of our Baltic cruise which in my opinion was one of the best places we’ve visited & I’d likely cancel if it was unavailable.

I'd honestly agree with this.  Stockholm and Tallinn were lovely but if you are traveling all the way from the US, I'd recommend waiting until St. Petersburg is available.  This isn't helpful for the OP, but other cruisers should consider a cancel for any reason insurance policy for a Baltic cruise now given the uncertainty for St Petersburg both with Covid and the situation with Ukraine.    It usually needs to be purchased within 24 hours of booking your trip, so it won't help the OP but if this is still available might help others.  I hope you make it.  

Edited January 27, 2022 by kitkat343

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, kitkat343 said:

I'd honestly agree with this.  Stockholm and Tallinn were lovely but if you are traveling all the way from the US, I'd recommend waiting until St. Petersburg is available.  This isn't helpful for the OP, but other cruisers should consider a cancel for any reason insurance policy for a Baltic cruise now given the uncertainty for St Petersburg both with Covid and the situation with Ukraine.    It usually needs to be purchased within 24 hours of booking your trip, so it won't help the OP but if this is still available might help others.  I hope you make it.  

Agree 100%. I would add we also really enjoyed Oslo, though it is not a port that is on most Baltic cruises.

[ontheweb]

5 hours ago, 2BACRUISER said:

We were originally going to the Baltic in 2020 but obvs didn't happen, as we can't go this year due to prior commitments we've booked for May 2023. For me the reason for going IS St Petersburg, irs the jewel in the Crown of the trip  and if they removed it from the itinerary this would be a deal breaker and we'd cancel. I hope by 2023 tensions will have calmed down. Fingers crossed. 

We all hope tensions in that area calm down, and well before 2023.

 

I hope you can make that cruise. It is well worth it.

[judithzuz]

16 hours ago, CruisinFinsUp said:

OP:   I think you should look at the Cruise with confidence policy,

https://www.princess.com/plan/cruise-with-confidence/cancellation-final-payment-policy/

and consider adding cruise insurance (Princess Platinum or otherwise) if you want more protection of your investment within the 30 days prior to your cruise.  

I just have the standard Princess insurance. I am hoping that the cruise is not cancelled as I have been looking forward to this cruise for a year now. I booked this a year out, hoping that by this April things would have settled. I dreamed a dream!!

[judithzuz]

5 hours ago, 2BACRUISER said:

We were originally going to the Baltic in 2020 but obvs didn't happen, as we can't go this year due to prior commitments we've booked for May 2023. For me the reason for going IS St Petersburg, irs the jewel in the Crown of the trip  and if they removed it from the itinerary this would be a deal breaker and we'd cancel. I hope by 2023 tensions will have calmed down. Fingers crossed. 

I had to laugh. I think we've all been saying, "Surely by such and such a date, things will have calmed down" for so long now that it has become farce. Surely, eventually, probably. We are eternal optimists.

[fluffybunny22]

I think Russia's borders are still closed so it's unlikely the cruise will stop in St Petersburg. We canceled a month ago for that reason because we all think it would be the highlight of the cruise and don't want to spend all of that money if it is skipped. We didn't want to wait until final payment and decide and be left scrambling for a last minute vacation as a replacement. And if Russia invades the Ukraine and their borders do reopen and the US sanctions them will we be able to get visas to get off of the ship? We've been trying to do this cruise for years and it might just not be meant to me.

[Steelers36]

49 minutes ago, fluffybunny22 said:

......... And if Russia invades the Ukraine and their borders do reopen and the US sanctions them will we be able to get visas to get off of the ship? We've been trying to do this cruise for years and it might just not be meant to me.

Perhaps and yet through all the various tensions with Russia in recent years, Russia and USA cooperate with the space station.