My Fjord cruise has a been 'enhanced for my enjoyment' by stopping in Zebrugge

[mat5664]

Have 2 cabins booked on Silhouette May 29 for what was supposed to be a 7 night Norwegian Fjord Cruise - except it's now spending the first night going very slowly across the channel and then the second day stopping in the industrial Belgian port of Zebrugge rather than a sea day going up to Norway.

 

If losing one Norwegian port and a day in the Fjords is bad enough - the email was ridiculous. - saying the cruise itinerary had been 'enhanced for our enjoyment'.

 

Not amused.   We've already booked leave and made arrangements for dog sitters etc so moving to another date would not really work.

 

Grrrr.

[wineoclock]

We plan to go to Bruges for the day. Itinerary changes are just part of risks of cruising. Annoying but just make the best of it is all we can do really. Not the first itinerary change we’ve had & I doubt it will be the last. 

[mat5664]

Have been to Bruges loads of time and have no interest in going again.  As I said, we booked a cruise to the Fjords - by all means substitute one Norway port for another if needed not some grim port in Belgium.

 

I called up Celebrity- got some offshore call centre  - was told the change had been made for 'safety reasons'.

[Fly and Sail]

So with this change, how many days are you actually spending in the Norwegian Fjords, 2-3?

[C-Dragons]

3 hours ago, wineoclock said:

We plan to go to Bruges for the day. Itinerary changes are just part of risks of cruising. Annoying but just make the best of it is all we can do really. Not the first itinerary change we’ve had & I doubt it will be the last. 

Fantastic plan, we would go to Bruges too.  👍

[1025cruise]

As a reminder, per your cruise contract, ports are not guaranteed. While a change might be sad, nothing you can really do about it.

[Saab4444]

All Silhouette 7 night Norwegian Fjord cruises in 2023 and 2024 have very poor itineraries. No Geiranger, no Flam. Only one real Fjord stop in all of them and that is Olden. All not worth the significantly increased rates. And to make it worse they switch from Amsterdam to Rotterdam departures in 2024.

Edited February 11, 2023 by Saab4444

[Ray4Fun]

3 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

As a reminder, per your cruise contract, ports are not guaranteed. While a change might be sad, nothing you can really do about it.

Totally the truth.

If you cannot receive a refund then again Totally Unacceptable. 

That is a major change to expectations

Yes the cruise line can do, Is it smart? No. People do not forget. 

[C4HCG]

9 minutes ago, Ray4Fun said:

Totally the truth.

If you cannot receive a refund then again Totally Unacceptable. 

That is a major change to expectations

Yes the cruise line can do, Is it smart? No. People do not forget. 

Don’t all cruise lines have the same terms, be hugely surprised if they didn’t. 

[jwlane]

1 hour ago, Saab4444 said:

And to make it worse they switch from Amsterdam to Rotterdam

HORRID!!!  I mean they're SO FAR APART!  (Huh?  Closer than London & Southampton?  The same as Rome & Civitavecchia?  Train goes directly to Schiphol?  Oh.)

 

(in my best Roseanna Roseannadanna voice)  "Never mind."

[WonderMan3]

1 hour ago, Saab4444 said:

All Silhouette 7 night Norwegian Fjord cruises in 2023 and 2024 have very poor itineraries. No Geiranger, no Flam. Only one real Fjord stop in all of them and that is Olden. All not worth the significantly increased rates. And to make it worse they switch from Amsterdam to Rotterdam departures in 2024.

I wonder if this is gearing up for the changes that start in 2026 where only cruise ships with zero emissions will be allowed to sail in the fjords area? I think that will eliminate all the big cruise lines including Celebrity.

[Saab4444]

3 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

I wonder if this is gearing up for the changes that start in 2026 where only cruise ships with zero emissions will be allowed to sail in the fjords area? I think that will eliminate all the big cruise lines including Celebrity.

Not all, big ships like e.g. MSC Euribia, AidaNova, Norwegian Prima, Mein Schiff 7 and Iona will still be allowed to sail. However, current changes for Silhouette are just cost savings. Apex still has better real 7 night Fjord itineraries in 23 and 24.

[rmalbers]

9 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

I wonder if this is gearing up for the changes that start in 2026 where only cruise ships with zero emissions will be allowed to sail in the fjords area? I think that will eliminate all the big cruise lines including Celebrity.

I thought that was just that one fjords area, is it in the sort of southern part of Norway.  It is a large area but I thought it was an area that contained a lot of national parks or something? 

[WonderMan3]

1 minute ago, rmalbers said:

I thought that was just that one fjords area, is it in the sort of southern part of Norway.  It is a large area but I thought it was an area that contained a lot of national parks or something? 

It would impact the Geirangerfjord and the Nærøyfjord as they are part of the UNESCO World Heritage sites. 

[WonderMan3]

5 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

Not all, big ships like e.g. MSC Euribia, AidaNova, Norwegian Prima, Mein Schiff 7 and Iona will still be allowed to sail. However, current changes for Silhouette are just cost savings. Apex still has better real 7 night Fjord itineraries in 23 and 24.

Is Prima really zero emissions? (Or any of those ships?) I know they made significant changes to Prima vs. the rest of the fleet to make it much greener but I can’t find any article saying it is zero emissions. I know NCL has a goal to be all zero emissions with their fleet but that is by 2050.

[Saab4444]

21 minutes ago, jwlane said:

HORRID!!!  I mean they're SO FAR APART!  (Huh?  Closer than London & Southampton?  The same as Rome & Civitavecchia?  Train goes directly to Schiphol?  Oh.)

 

(in my best Roseanna Roseannadanna voice)  "Never mind."

Not sure what you want to say with this. It is not about the distance and has nothing to do with London or Rome and their distance to the nearest suitable port. Celebrity simply deletes the nice location of Amsterdam which is a key part of the journey for many travellers and add the industrial port of Rotterdam. Have you been to both Amsterdam and Rotterdam?

[Saab4444]

34 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

Is Prima really zero emissions? (Or any of those ships?) I know they made significant changes to Prima vs. the rest of the fleet to make it much greener but I can’t find any article saying it is zero emissions. I know NCL has a goal to be all zero emissions with their fleet but that is by 2050.

Those are not zero emission but LNG ships which will be ok for a while. Ships with diesel engines and no scrubbers are out already. Silhouette and Apex have diesel engines with scrubbers so they may enter for two more years.

[Iamthesea]

10 hours ago, mat5664 said:

 

If losing one Norwegian port and a day in the Fjords is bad enough - the email was ridiculous. - saying the cruise itinerary had been 'enhanced for our enjoyment'.

What port are you going to miss?

[Saab4444]

8 hours ago, Iamthesea said:

What port are you going to miss?

Maloy is gone.

[rmalbers]

18 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

It would impact the Geirangerfjord and the Nærøyfjord as they are part of the UNESCO World Heritage sites. 

Thanks, that's what I thought. 

[jwlane]

18 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

 key part of the journey for many travellers 

Save slightly longer journeys to embark/debark, changing to Rotterdam should not affect that "key part" in the slightest.

[Saab4444]

1 hour ago, jwlane said:

Save slightly longer journeys to embark/debark, changing to Rotterdam should not affect that "key part" in the slightest.

You are right, all those changes are great

[RichYak]

20 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

Have you been to both Amsterdam and Rotterdam?

 

1 hour ago, jwlane said:

Save slightly longer journeys to embark/debark, changing to Rotterdam should not affect that "key part" in the slightest.

 

Just noting that you didn't answer the question.

[jwlane]

1 minute ago, RichYak said:

Just noting that you didn't answer the question.

Thanks for allowing me to clarify---No, I haven't.  Does that negate my observations concerning the topic?

[FreestyleNovice]

21 hours ago, Ray4Fun said:

Totally the truth.

If you cannot receive a refund then again Totally Unacceptable. 

That is a major change to expectations

Yes the cruise line can do, Is it smart? No. People do not forget. 

 

Don't forget sometimes a port can't accommodate a ship and surrounding ports neither, so the cruise line has limited options to berth a fairly large ship at a port that also can accommodate disembarking and transporting thousands of pax to their shore excursions without any of the hassle we sometimes read here on CC. I understand the disappointment but there's much more at play than just wondering if it's smart.