Cancellation of Baltic cruise - rumor or fact

[julig22]

7 hours ago, ChC said:

 

It is expected. As I have explained last month in one of the NCL post, now Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO, and Russia owns a chunk of land between Poland and Lithuania (the size of a small European country), while NATO had positioned heavy military presence in Lithuania, all point to possible future instability in Baltic region. All is guaranteed some form of military exercise especially navy exercise by either Russia or NATO will be taking place more than usual should Russia continues its path.

 

Here the term that the situation in Ukraine escalated could simply mean now Finland and Sweden had been forced to apply NATO membership. The escalation can be outside Russia and Ukraine. 

 

My point of view is that Baltic cruise is finished for 2022 and 2023 since beginning of April (in terms of revenue expectations). I would say if Russia can not retreat and join a meaningful peace talk, it could be another 5-10 years before any westerners are allowed to visit St. Petersburg again. 

 

The only reason some of the 2022 Baltic cruise is still running, is that NCL has no place to positioning the ship. After all, they already pulled Getaway in last minute. They did all they can to move a big ship out from this market. Plus, there are still a lot of local demand for revenge travel this summer from Northern Europe. What is more, not every passenger on these cruises care about St. Petersburg. There are still interesting places to see around Baltic sea. 

 

I will say that should any missile is fired in Baltic sea, the whole cruise industry will come to an instant halt in that region. It is unfortunate that Baltic sea will be the next battle ground if Russia do not stop its aggression in Ukraine. Personally if I am heading to that region, I would be careful to evaluate the situation and I would not book any cruise beyond 2-3 months time frame. Just my 2 cents. 

I agree.  But that doesn't explain why they only cancelled cruises in July 2023.  Putting 2022 aside, why not June & August 2023 for example?

[Mike A]

2 minutes ago, julig22 said:

I agree.  But that doesn't explain why they only cancelled cruises in July 2023.  Putting 2022 aside, why not June & August 2023 for example?

Could be as simple as Maintenance/Dry Dock

[milolii]

@ChC I guess I wasn’t clear.  My post was meant to be sarcastic.  But I really like your comments.  We feel the same way, which led to our decision to cancel for 2022.  Was hoping something might be offered for 2023, but maybe not.  It looks like was is offered may eventually be canceled as well.  I agree it could be many years before some of these itineraries return, and who knows when St.Petersburg will return. 

 

 

 

 

[casofilia]

@Mike A

 

Could be as simple as Maintenance/Dry Dock

 

I will again quote from my emailed cancellation notice from NCL

 

As part of our commitment to delivering extraordinary vacation experiences around the world, and due to the escalated situation between Russia and Ukraine, we've made the difficult decision to cancel Norwegian Dawn sailings from July 2 through and including July 28, 2023. 

 

The reason there is quite clear.   SO why not the cruises each side of July.

 

I don't like assuming that NCL is telling "terminological inexactitudes" but who knows!!!

[casofilia]

With Putin's latest threat, to "deploy nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles" to Kaliningrad, I wonder how long it will be before ALL cruising in the Baltic will be cancelled.

 

I don't know that I would be happy going anywhere near there this Northern summer!!

[HHI Cruiser1]

If it only for dry dock or maintenance from July 2, 2023 to July 28, 2023, is NCL Dawn broken now and not 100%?  Seem really strange to blame potential Baltic conflicts for required maintenance. 

 

Something isn't right, routine maintenance or dry docks are expected and don't need some fake excuse to pull a ship out of service.  Is this some method to avoid refunding fares or avoiding insurance claims?

 

https://www.ttgmedia.com/news/ncl-and-hal-cancel-sailings-due-to-ukraine-crisis-34257 stated:

'Meanwhile, NCL said Dawn’s and Getaway’s voyages have been cancelled due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. A spokesperson for the line said: "The safety and security of our guests, crew and the communities we visit is always our top priority.'

[milolii]

@prunderwsomething Isn’t right.    2023:  Still looking at options, but nothing booked.  Took a look at Princes and RCL as well for 2023, and their website still shows Baltic cruises including St.Petersburg.  
 

 

Edited May 14, 2022 by milolii

[ColeThornton]

7 minutes ago, milolii said:

@prunderwsomething Isn’t right.    2023:  Still looking at options, but nothing booked.  Took a look at Princes and RCL as well for 2023, and their website still shows Baltic cruises including St.Petersburg.  
 

 

 

 

It's just a matter of time before they get cancelled.

[milolii]

Yep, wait to see what the alternatives will be. Maybe more of Greenland/Iceland.  As someone said it may get crowed around that area.

Edited May 14, 2022 by milolii

[susiesan]

16 hours ago, casofilia said:

@Mike A

 

As part of our commitment to delivering extraordinary vacation experiences around the world, and due to the escalated situation between Russia and Ukraine, we've made the difficult decision to cancel Norwegian Dawn sailings from July 2 through and including July 28, 2023. 

Everyone keeps quoting this line as Dawn cruises being cancelled for 2022. These dates are 2023, n0t 2022. The articles are very poorly written as to timeframes of cancellations, all quoting from an NCL email that is very vague and unclear. All 8 2022 Dawn Baltic cruises between. June 13 and Aug. 16 are available to be booked. The prices have come way down so there are some good deals on these itineraries for this year.

[horseboarder]

1 hour ago, susiesan said:

Everyone keeps quoting this line as Dawn cruises being cancelled for 2022. These dates are 2023, n0t 2022. The articles are very poorly written as to timeframes of cancellations, all quoting from an NCL email that is very vague and unclear. All 8 2022 Dawn Baltic cruises between. June 13 and Aug. 16 are available to be booked. The prices have come way down so there are some good deals on these itineraries for this year.

There are also three Getaway Baltic sailings still a go for May and June of 2022.  For better or worse we will be on June 5 sailing. 

[insidecabin]

2 hours ago, horseboarder said:

There are also three Getaway Baltic sailings still a go for May and June of 2022.  For better or worse we will be on June 5 sailing. 

Prices on those went up and in the UK the free at sea has doubled.

They have also closed deck 5.

 

Waiting for my upgrade offer to be accepted, a lot of cabins available last time I looked.

 

 

[susiesan]

4 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

 

They have also closed deck 5.

Waiting for my upgrade offer to be accepted, a lot of cabins available last time I looked.

 

 

 

How do you know NCL closed off deck 5 cabins? Are all of them closed?

 

My cabin is on deck 5, cabin 5585 inside. Maybe my upgrade bid will be accepted then.

[insidecabin]

12 minutes ago, susiesan said:

 

How do you know NCL closed off deck 5 cabins? Are all of them closed?

 

My cabin is on deck 5, cabin 5585 inside. Maybe my upgrade bid will be accepted then.

 

That's the report from the current getaway cruise and people have been moved on others.

I got moved from 5 to 13 with no notification had to check my booking to find out.

 

No cabins available on deck 5 on the getaway cruises through to the TA when I checked the other day.

[CruiseMH]

I assume that they are currently starting a big redeployment process of all of their ships in the baltic/north europe for 2023.

St. Petersburg won`t be a port of call for the next years and as this is the clear highlight for most of the US guests i guess that the bookings have decreased dramatically. Ships like the getaway will likely be too big for the demand.So they are now checking how many and which ships will be deployed in the baltic in 2023.

 

This is mainly a problem of the U.S based cruise lines.

European cruise lines have cancelled St. Petersburg an in a few cases also Tallin, but apart from that are still cruising the baltic.

 

 

[susiesan]

2 minutes ago, insidecabin said:

 

That's the report from the current getaway cruise and people have been moved on others.

I got moved from 5 to 13 with no notification had to check my booking to find out.

 

No cabins available on deck 5 on the getaway cruises through to the TA when I checked the other day.

My cruise is on Dawn. You didn't mention the ship in your original comment. hope NCL does the same with Dawn for the Aug. 16 sailing. There is plenty of availability in all categories.

[insidecabin]

5 minutes ago, susiesan said:

My cruise is on Dawn. You didn't mention the ship in your original comment. hope NCL does the same with Dawn for the Aug. 16 sailing. There is plenty of availability in all categories.

I replied to a post about the Getaway cruises.

There are also three Getaway Baltic sailings

 

[sverigecruiser]

On 5/13/2022 at 10:34 AM, ChC said:

 

It is expected. As I have explained last month in one of the NCL post, now Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO

 

 

 

Finland and Sweden have not applied to join NATO, yet. Hopefully they will soon.

[casofilia]

@sverigecruiser

 

Finland and Sweden have not applied to join NATO, yet. Hopefully they will soon.

 

According to the latest news I see here in New Zealand, there is no chance of joining as Turkey will issue the "black ball"

[cameronp12]

Do y’all think our cruise from Copenhagen to Southampton this fall is safe? Final payment is coming up… I know it doesn’t enter the Baltic but still instability in that region overall.

[casofilia]

@cameronp12

 

What ship?   Where is the ship cruising BEFORE you are due to board?

 

I would imagine it will be safe as long as the ship ISN"T cruising the Baltic before your cruise.

[cameronp12]

Star and it’s the same itinerary before ours, the opposite way.

[casofilia]

@cameronp12

 

I would guess that that will go ahead with no problem as the Star doesn't actually enter the Baltic proper.

[HMWCambridge]

4 hours ago, insidecabin said:

Prices on those went up and in the UK the free at sea has doubled.

They have also closed deck 5.

 

Waiting for my upgrade offer to be accepted, a lot of cabins available last time I looked.

 

 

Sorry  to sound naive but what do you mean by an 'upgrade offer?'

[HMWCambridge]

2 hours ago, casofilia said:

@sverigecruiser

 

Finland and Sweden have not applied to join NATO, yet. Hopefully they will soon.

 

According to the latest news I see here in New Zealand, there is no chance of joining as Turkey will issue the "black ball"

They may have no chance of joining, but from Putin's point of view it will be them declaring an intent to join that may cause a Russian reaction.