Book a cruise to Greenland and end up in.....Norway?

[Bramcruiser]

The Norwegian Star left Reykjavik today on its next 11 day cruise. However, instead of heading to Greenland as planned the ship has been re-routed to Norway. It seems that the weather gods have been playing games with us. Huuricane force winds are predicted in Greenland along with a strong ice flow so the Captain made the decision not to try. NCL head office approved the re-routing.

 

Biggest issue is that no passengers were informed early enough about this and most of us only found out seconds before stepping onto the ship when the key cards were handed to us. No one said a word as we all entered the terminal, got checked for Covid and went through all the check in formalties. Too late now to do anything about it. 

 

Most of us have learned to accept the fate befallen on us but it is a disappointment. The majority of passengers said the same thing - that they booked this voyage because of Greenland. A lost opportunity for some.

 

As for compensation. 30% FCC towards another cruise booked before December 31, 2023. For some this is not going to be much of an incentive or will end up being a lost cause. The biggest scramble has been the shore excursions - private operators in Greemland are without passengers and the ship's shore excursion desk if handling about 2,000 passengers who are flooding them with bookings for Norwegian ports that are likely to sell out fast and leave some passengeres without. There were only 3 tickets left on one excurision of which I decided to go for so its was only one left after that . I am sure its gone now.

 

Topsy turvey day!

 

 

[complawyer]

while i feel your pain, that's one of the risks you take when you book a cruise. no cruise line has control of the weather or any conditions that might effect a particular port.

a few years ago we took the 1st ncl cruise for southeast asia. hong kong to singapore. one of the ports was hanoi. the ship had mechanical problems and couldnt dock in hanoi, taipai or cambodia.

 

im a vietnam veteran, and i probably wanted to see hanoi much more than anyone on your ship wanted to see greenland (an ice covered wasteland) nice to visit but i wouldnt want to live there.

not only was i massively disappointed, i was majorly p***ed off. 

 

just like you, we were not advised until we got on the ship.

 

as the say in the funny papers, "S**T Happens!

[LNielsen]

It may not be Greenland, but Norway is fantastically  breathtaking.    If they had to go somewhere else, you got lucky with their choice.   
 

None of this helps your disappointment, I’m sure.  Just trying to give you a bit of good news.  
 

Which ports are you visiting?  So many are easily done without a tour.    

Edited July 15, 2022 by LNielsen

[casofilia]

@Bramcruiser

 

Sorry for your lost visit to Greenland, I hope we don't miss it next year.

 

What Itinerary did you get instead?

 

I have just checked our cancelled cruise list and we actually cancelled that cruise during the height of the Covid outbreak as it was in the middle of others and we were uncertain of the travelling conditions.   Lucky or what!!

Edited July 15, 2022 by casofilia

[bluesea777]

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, Bramcruiser said:

The Norwegian Star left Reykjavik today on its next 11 day cruise. However, instead of heading to Greenland as planned the ship has been re-routed to Norway. It seems that the weather gods have been playing games with us. Hurricane force winds are predicted in Greenland along with a strong ice flow so the Captain made the decision not to try. NCL head office approved the re-routing.

 

Biggest issue is that no passengers were informed early enough about this and most of us only found out seconds before stepping onto the ship when the key cards were handed to us. No one said a word as we all entered the terminal, got checked for Covid and went through all the check in formalities. Too late now to do anything about it. 

 

Most of us have learned to accept the fate befallen on us but it is a disappointment. The majority of passengers said the same thing - that they booked this voyage because of Greenland. A lost opportunity for some.

 

As for compensation. 30% FCC towards another cruise booked before December 31, 2023. For some this is not going to be much of an incentive or will end up being a lost cause. The biggest scramble has been the shore excursions - private operators in Greenland are without passengers and the ship's shore excursion desk if handling about 2,000 passengers who are flooding them with bookings for Norwegian ports that are likely to sell out fast and leave some passengers without. There were only 3 tickets left on one excursion of which I decided to go for so its was only one left after that . I am sure its gone now.

 

Topsy turvey day!

The safety of the passengers and crew are top priority. 

 

The cruise line tries to maintain the planned itinerary, but as you stated, the odds were not in your favor today. 

 

Unlike going on a road trip and deciding to pull over at a different Motel 6, the rescheduling of a cruise ship takes monumental effort. You have to book a terminal to dock at (x 3). Arrange for local shore personnel to support the ship (x3). And  contract with tour providers to provide excursions at the new ports (x3). 

 

It should be noted that the contract you signed allows to the cruise lined to make any changes for any reason and not provide you with any compensation. The fact that you got compensation was a bonus. Pre-pandemic, we have never been compensated for a re-route due to weather. 

 

 

Edited July 15, 2022 by BirdTravels

[casofilia]

@bluesea777

 

Thank you; that makes it even better that we had cancelled.

 

Mike

[gknep]

My parents are on this cruise. They texted this morning to let us know what was happening. I looked at the weather reports for the North Atlantic. I'm happy the ship is headed towards Norway instead. 

[Steff79]

The fast change from ncl is better then 10 days at storm at the Atlantik with maybe no port. Weather alway a risk. 
saw yesterday pics from a ship at Iceland T the Atlantic in very bad weather with rough sea. 

[Bramcruiser]

Since when did I ever said I was complaining and majorly pissed off?

 

I am just stating the general feeling of people on the ship but I too agree that safely comes first and we are all subject to forces that are outside of our control.

 

The irony for me is that we had originally planned this retirement gift for my partner two years ago - on another line - to take in a Norwegian Fjord cruise along with weeks of European land travel. That was the infamous 2020 so you can guess everythng was cancelled then. When we booked this Iceland/Greenland trip it was the replacement because I really had no interest in trying to replace what we originally lost. Now all of a sudden we going to Norway after all even if that was not the revised intent. LOL! 

 

No doubt Norway is extremely beautiful and I will make the most of it. However, from what I have been hearing from those who have done Norway several times before it is a disappointment for them as Greenland was something that was on their bucket list and they already have grown tired of visiting Norway again for the upteenth time. I am more willing to go with the flow as we have never been to Norway.

 

This is not a complaint thread. Consider it more of an observation from one innocent caught up in all this.

Edited July 15, 2022 by Bramcruiser

[Globaliser]

8 hours ago, Bramcruiser said:

Biggest issue is that no passengers were informed early enough about this and most of us only found out seconds before stepping onto the ship when the key cards were handed to us. No one said a word as we all entered the terminal, got checked for Covid and went through all the check in formalties. Too late now to do anything about it.

 

Although I suspect that you (and your fellow passengers) couldn't and wouldn't have done anything differently even if there'd been a big sign outside the terminal saying "You're not going to Greenland this week". You surely wouldn't have cancelled the cruise at that stage, and tried to rebook on an alternative flight cruise going to Greenland (of which there wouldn't have been any)?

 

Most of those Norwegian ports are all pretty easy to see on your own unless you depend on ship's shorex for mobility reasons. I think the only one that might be more limiting is Olden.

 

And the silver lining is that you do have the perfect excuse for booking another cruise in the future.

[BklynBorn47]

1 hour ago, Globaliser said:

Although I suspect that you (and your fellow passengers) couldn't and wouldn't have done anything differently even if there'd been a big sign outside the terminal saying "You're not going to Greenland this week". You surely wouldn't have cancelled the cruise at that stage, and tried to rebook on an alternative flight cruise going to Greenland (of which there wouldn't have been any)?

 

That was my feeling exactly.  We were on the Star (Southampton, Scotland, Norway, Iceland) May 22-June1. We decided to stay an extra day (one of those airline flight rescheduled things) and even few weeks out, there were few rooms available.  2000 people were unlikely to find alternatives in Reykjavik or elsewhere on such short notice.  Might as well get onboard.  30% FCC?  Yeah, that would make me happy.  

[chengkp75]

11 hours ago, Bramcruiser said:

Huuricane force winds are predicted in Greenland along with a strong ice flow so the Captain made the decision not to try.

As soon as you mentioned ice, the decision was taken out of the Captain's hands.  Based on the new Polar Code, operating a passenger ship in waters off Greenland with any ice possible, voids the ship's "certificate of class", meaning it loses all insurance, and the ability to sail at all.

[SimplyAlbert]

We had a great Western Caribbean cruise planned with family in 2017.  I spent months researching and booking private excursions.  When we arrived at the port we found our Western cruise changed to Eastern because of a hurricane.  We made the best of it and still had a great time.  We weren't offered any cruise credit.  Unfortunately, changed itineraries can happen when you cruise.  I remember one passenger was extremely upset because she was supposed to get married at one of the stops.

[cruiseny4life]

Sorry you're not going to Greenland! That does stink...but you're losing a sea day! Now that's what I'd be majorly p****d about. If I can ever convince my lovely husband to take a trans Atlantic, we're going!

 

Anyway - I hope Norway is amazing beyond belief, that you have stunning views, and enjoy yourself! Here's to smooth sailing ahead!

[LNielsen]

Both Alesund and Bergen are very easily done on your own.  
 

Our cruise focused mainly on fjords your ship can’t get into, but I’m sure your other ports will be wonderful as well. 
 

We were supposed to get to your Iceland ports next month, we canceled that cruise in January.  Hope you enjoy those stops as well.   

Edited July 15, 2022 by LNielsen

[The Traveling Man]

21 hours ago, complawyer said:

while i feel your pain, that's one of the risks you take when you book a cruise. no cruise line has control of the weather or any conditions that might effect a particular port.

a few years ago we took the 1st ncl cruise for southeast asia. hong kong to singapore. one of the ports was hanoi. the ship had mechanical problems and couldnt dock in hanoi, taipai or cambodia.

 

im a vietnam veteran, and i probably wanted to see hanoi much more than anyone on your ship wanted to see greenland (an ice covered wasteland) nice to visit but i wouldnt want to live there.

not only was i massively disappointed, i was majorly p***ed off. 

 

just like you, we were not advised until we got on the ship.

 

as the say in the funny papers, "S**T Happens!

That "around the world cruise" on the Star was a doozy.  Five or six cruises in a row, covering almost three months, were impacted by the propulsion problems the ship was having.  The problems arose as the Star departed Singapore on 11 December 2016 for Hong Kong.  One Azipod failed and the ship limped along at about half-speed on one propeller, missing several ports and arriving late at others.  NCL did not immediately notify passengers on the upcoming cruises, but there was a lively discussion of the propulsion problems on the CC roll call for that cruise as well as for the upcoming cruises, including the Hong Kong to Singapore leg on which @complawyer sailed. 

 

The Star laid up at Singapore for a few days for repairs, then departed Singapore on 22 January for Sydney with both screws turning.  That lasted all of two days before the other Azipod failed and the Star was back to half-speed.  We joined the ship in Sydney for Auckland with a B2B booked for Auckland to Singapore.  We had been following the CC roll calls and were well aware of the problems, but most of those boarding with us on 6 February were caught totally by surprise by the amended itinerary.  NCL finally did send emails to passengers on our cruise or to their travel agents, but they were sent so late that most passengers already had left home for the cruise when they were sent. 

 

In the early morning hours of 10 February, as we sailed in the Tasman Sea, the ship stopped dead in the water.  We had to be towed back to Melbourne, where after several days they finally managed to get both Azipods working.  By that time, NCL had finally sent out advance notice to passengers on upcoming cruises to alert them of the delays and advise them of proposed changes to their itinerary.  Each time they cancelled port stops, they offered passengers some combination of refund and/or FCC, although it seemed like the amounts were different for each of the affected cruises.  Once propulsion was restored to normal, NCL then sent passengers on the Auckland to Singapore cruise a new notice, essentially restoring the original itinerary.  Kudos to NCL, however, for not withdrawing the refund and FCC promised for the Auckland to Singapore cruise.  We made it to almost all of the originally planned ports plus we received a partial refund and some FCC.  It essentially made that leg of our journey a free cruise for us.

[complawyer]

while i was disappointed in missing some ports (as indicated previously) we flew in to hong kong 3 days early, it was a 14 day cruise, and we had flights going home after 3 days in singapore. when we got on the ship, we were offered (1) a full refund. this didnt do us any good as what were we supposed to do for the next 17 days.  

 

ncl actually came to the rescue for a change. the other option they offered was to reduce the price of this cruise by 50%. we had a penthouse suite and 3 people, and in addition a 50% reduction if the fare on any subsequent cruise we wanted to take, (talk about a no brainer) this hong kong to singapore ended up costing $ 3750 total for the 3 of us, and next year, i booked a 2 bedroom suite on the epic from barcelona.  me, my wife, grandson and his friend again for a little over $3500.

 

never saw any offer to match that again.

[CruizinSusan70]

On 7/15/2022 at 1:31 AM, Bramcruiser said:

 Greenland was something that was on their bucket list and they already have grown tired of visiting Norway again for the upteenth time.

First world problems.   Guess that Norway must be like Cozumel for Caribbean cruisers.

[Purple_Pig]

On 7/15/2022 at 12:31 AM, Bramcruiser said:

Since when did I ever said I was complaining and majorly pissed off?

 

I am just stating the general feeling of people on the ship but I too agree that safely comes first and we are all subject to forces that are outside of our control.

 

The irony for me is that we had originally planned this retirement gift for my partner two years ago - on another line - to take in a Norwegian Fjord cruise along with weeks of European land travel. That was the infamous 2020 so you can guess everythng was cancelled then. When we booked this Iceland/Greenland trip it was the replacement because I really had no interest in trying to replace what we originally lost. Now all of a sudden we going to Norway after all even if that was not the revised intent. LOL! 

 

No doubt Norway is extremely beautiful and I will make the most of it. However, from what I have been hearing from those who have done Norway several times before it is a disappointment for them as Greenland was something that was on their bucket list and they already have grown tired of visiting Norway again for the upteenth time. I am more willing to go with the flow as we have never been to Norway.

 

This is not a complaint thread. Consider it more of an observation from one innocent caught up in all this.

 

You have the right attitude!  

 

Thank you for the update.  I'm on this cruise next and hoping the weather clears up but have resigned myself that Norway is beautiful too and we will go with the flow.
 

My guess if you book while on board with the 30% you can get a sweet deal.  I may or may not have been looking for some options in case that happens to us.

[Purple_Pig]

2 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

First world problems.   Guess that Norway must be like Cozumel for Caribbean cruisers.

 

You're on a cruise message board.  First world kind of defines it, no?

[jamadeliz]

We did Norway on our own with our children.  The Norwegian people were so kind and loved Americans.  Bergen is beautiful as are the Fjords.  Looks like you have an excuse for another cruise.

[LNielsen]

Over the past 30 years we’ve  been to five continents, with Africa and Antarctica on our wish list,  twenty countries and too many cities to count around this world.   By the end of 2024 we will have visited sixteen additional countries.  
 

Norway rates near the top on the list of our favorites thus far.   The fjords rival the beauty of French Polynesia, just in a different way, the cities are spectacular and the people couldn’t be nicer or more welcoming.  For those of you that have the opportunity to visit, do it.

I can’t imagine someone comparing it to the “Cozumel of the Caribbean”, it’s a true jewel. 

[Named-Tawny]

I'm on the cruise leaving the 25th.  Hoping that weather clears up by then and we're able to see Greenland - it's one of those places that I never assumed would be possible without spending VAST amounts of money.

Still, if the deal is see Norwegian Fjords instead, and get a nearly free Caribbean cruise next year for the trouble?

Yeah, I'll be disappointed, but I'm okay with that eventuality.

Definitely would rather than then dealing with gale force winds in a North Atlantic crossing. (Although seeing waves hit my oceanview window would be an experience!)

[CruizinSusan70]

1 hour ago, LNielsen said:

I can’t imagine someone comparing it to the “Cozumel of the Caribbean”, it’s a true jewel. 

There was a post stating that someone was upset about visiting Norway for the umpteenth time.  That is where the comparison to Cozumel comes in because those that primarily cruise the Caribbean can make the same statement about  Cozumel since so many cruises go there.

 

I hope this further clarification clears up that I was not comparing Cozumel to Norway.