Baltic Cruises

[Trimone]

Well with events today, it looks very unlikely that Baltic Cruises will commence, that’s a great shame we did it back in 2018 it was a very active and rewarding trip.

[Hearthosesteeldrumsplayin]

Yep, also thinking our Baltics cruise in 2023 is now OBE.  Sad.

[mugtech]

Know what you mean, just got my deposit back on a Baltic cruise with Royal Caribbean.  My choice, don't want to get near Russia.

[njkate]

NCL may skip Russia and add another port, the Baltics are no where near the Ukraine. I agree it would be very disappointing as St Petersburg is the jewel of all the ports in that region, but the other ports were awesome as well.

[susiesan]

NCL has 2 ships in the Baltic this spring/summer. My Dawn cruise  August 16  has 2 days/nights in St. Petersburg. It is already port intensive so where else can the ship go? NCL has to work around the schedules of other cruise lines if they want to fill in somewhere for SPB. If NCL subs in sea days for the 2 missed Russia days, I will cancel before final payment.

 

At the very least NCL should be pushing back final payment date for ALL 2022 Baltic cruises. Their first one is scheduled for May 18, Getaway from Copenhagen.

[cybergremlin]

Just received an email from NCL for the prima cruise on the 3rd Sep saying Russia has been removed from their sailings for the remainder of the year and they are looking to replace with another port.

[nclcruiser2959]

I'm on the Getaway in May. I see that they've removed excursions for St. Petersburg but still have us stopping there on the itinerary. No email yet. 

[ontheweb]

6 minutes ago, cybergremlin said:

Just received an email from NCL for the prima cruise on the 3rd Sep saying Russia has been removed from their sailings for the remainder of the year and they are looking to replace with another port.

If and when you get a new e-mail with updated information, please post that information.

[Cruiseandgamble]

29 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

If and when you get a new e-mail with updated information, please post that information.

Here's the letter I received regarding my July Dawn cruise to the Baltic:

[richard_london]

Well done NCL.  We can't as cruise passengers be supporting the Russian economy whilst it invades Ukraine.

[cabincop]

Maybe you’ll go to Norway & Iceland Baltics is definitely out. The whole area

[Ulsteinvik]

29 minutes ago, cabincop said:

Maybe you’ll go to Norway & Iceland Baltics is definitely out. The whole area

Nope, on cruiseindustrynews they said they will stay in the Baltic, only Russia will be dropped. Why should they cancel all Baltic cruises? 

[pghflyer]

Nah I don't think the whole Baltic region is out.  Putin would love for the western world cut off all tourism in all those countries and see their economies penalized as well.

[cruisequeen4ever]

It’s good NCL is

communicating this now instead of making people wait and wonder. They’ll have fewer cancelations I think by announcing right away.

[mugtech]

Just noticed the stop in Russia on the 10/22 TransPacific on the Sun has been eliminated,  so 8 days at sea between Alaska and Japan.

[Oceansaway17]

6 hours ago, njkate said:

NCL may skip Russia and add another port, the Baltics are no where near the Ukraine. I agree it would be very disappointing as St Petersburg is the jewel of all the ports in that region, but the other ports were awesome as well.

oh but Finland is close to Russia and so Helsinki might get excluded as well.

 

Still, summer cruise can change a couple of times over this issue.

[CruiseMH]

It might be close to but its not IN russia. And the plan is to avoid russia.

There is no danger of any military action in the baltics, it is just to avoid Russia directly.

 

[Turtles06]

5 hours ago, richard_london said:

Well done NCL.  We can't as cruise passengers be supporting the Russian economy whilst it invades Ukraine.

 

Agreed.  I will add that Russia was already on our no-visit list, well before today.  Years ago, my wife and I cancelled a cruise to the Baltics, when Putin started driving up the anti-gay hate and violence in Russia, and haven't looked back.  And as Americans (which I realize you aren't), we are not about to visit a country that has actively interfered with our elections and is doing its best to undermine and destroy our democracy. 

[richard_london]

6 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

Years ago, my wife and I cancelled a cruise to the Baltics, when Putin started driving up the anti-gay hate and violence in Russia, and haven't looked back.

That's my own personal reason for never having booked a Baltic cruise, since most since to overnight in St Petersburg.  As a solo traveller I wouldn't feel safe ashore, as I like to explore ports of call on my own.  But then, why should I go ashore and spend my own hard earned money in a country that is so hostile to people like me?  

 

And for all the other evil stuff he and his regime has done to destabilise the west and your country it makes it quite an easy decision.

[emmtee]

3 hours ago, richard_london said:

That's my own personal reason for never having booked a Baltic cruise, since most since to overnight in St Petersburg.  As a solo traveller I wouldn't feel safe ashore, as I like to explore ports of call on my own.  But then, why should I go ashore and spend my own hard earned money in a country that is so hostile to people like me?  

 

And for all the other evil stuff he and his regime has done to destabilise the west and your country it makes it quite an easy decision.

In St. Petersburg, you wouldn't have been allowed to go exploring on your own unless you went to the trouble of getting your own Visa.  Tours have special visas that cover the group, but you have to stay together.

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, emmtee said:

In St. Petersburg, you wouldn't have been allowed to go exploring on your own unless you went to the trouble of getting your own Visa.  Tours have special visas that cover the group, but you have to stay together.

And the tour guide must stay with you and the group.

[richard_london]

The point I was making was the Russian regime is extremely homophobic and actively discriminates against LGBT people.  Cruising is a very gay-friendly experience and many LGBT cruisers would never step ashore in St Petersburg on principle, so any restrictions on what you can do ashore are irrelevant.