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

[RichYak]

1 minute ago, jwlane said:

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

That's entirely up to the person who asked.

[FreestyleNovice]

Local here. Regarding the Amsterdam - Rotterdam issue, you can be from one cruise terminal to the other in under one hour by (taxi/private) car or just under two hours by excellent public transport. 

 

Whilst Rotterdam and Amsterdam are two very different cities the compactness of our small but lovely country should not be problem for any bucket list items one may have for an Amsterdam port call.

 

PS the necessary change has probably to do with the seawater and restricted opening times of the locks at IJmuiden, an Amsterdam arrival or departure would be at very unfavorable times and probably extremely limiting your time on shore or the total itinerary.

 

Hope this makes it more clear or at least easier to understand/coop with.  

[rmalbers]

16 minutes ago, jwlane said:

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

I would say, that's a yes. 

[jwlane]

8 minutes ago, rmalbers said:

I would say, that's a yes. 

I would say see post #27 before yours.

[NMTraveller]

Alex I'll take Celebrity revenue enhancement for $100.

[rmalbers]

30 minutes ago, jwlane said:

I would say see post #27 before yours.

Yes, it's always  nice to get info from a local or someone that's been to the ports recently. 

[NMTraveller]

If it were my cruise I would rebook on another cruise line for the same dates with a better itinerary.

Edited February 12, 2023 by NMTraveller

[Homosassa]

I have been to both Rotterdam and Amsterdam and enjoyed both.

 

Quibbling over which city is better to visit is like arguing over Washington, DC vs Baltimore, MD. Both are great cities to explore and enjoy and easy to travel from one to the other.

[Covepointcruiser]

We had a great visit docking in Zebrugg.   Be sure to visit Burgess, it’s a wonderful city and so picturesque.    Of course there is also the best chocolate and wonderful cafes.   Don’t miss it.

[Homosassa]

1 hour ago, Covepointcruiser said:

We had a great visit docking in Zebrugg.   Be sure to visit Burgess, it’s a wonderful city and so picturesque.    Of course there is also the best chocolate and wonderful cafes.   Don’t miss it.

There is also the wonderful Belgian dish, eels in green sauce, that is available on the coast.

 

In Rotterdam, you may be able to find the best Dutch beer from the country's oldest brewery, Brand Bier.

Edited February 12, 2023 by Homosassa

[Saab4444]

23 hours ago, FreestyleNovice said:

Local here. Regarding the Amsterdam - Rotterdam issue, you can be from one cruise terminal to the other in under one hour by (taxi/private) car or just under two hours by excellent public transport. 

 

Whilst Rotterdam and Amsterdam are two very different cities the compactness of our small but lovely country should not be problem for any bucket list items one may have for an Amsterdam port call.

 

PS the necessary change has probably to do with the seawater and restricted opening times of the locks at IJmuiden, an Amsterdam arrival or departure would be at very unfavorable times and probably extremely limiting your time on shore or the total itinerary.

 

Hope this makes it more clear or at least easier to understand/coop with.  

Ijmuiden locks operate 24/7 without restrictions and the new big locks just opened in 2022. Reason for Celebrity to change the embarkation port are purely cost related, costs for using the locks and the high cruise pax tax in Amsterdam. Rotterdam is much cheaper.

[Saab4444]

23 hours ago, FreestyleNovice said:

 

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. 

Maloy port is free that day, no berth restrictions. However, to reach this stop from Southampton in the early afternoon of day 3 Silhouette would have to go full speed. It is much more cost efficient to skip this Norwegian Fjord stop and replace it with a stop in Zeebruegge on the way on day two. 

[BigAl94]

I totally agree with the OP, a 7 night cruise from UK to Norwegian Fjords should not be stopping in Zeebrugge, a terrible itinerary!

[Charles4515]

19 hours ago, Homosassa said:

I have been to both Rotterdam and Amsterdam and enjoyed both.

 

Quibbling over which city is better to visit is like arguing over Washington, DC vs Baltimore, MD. Both are great cities to explore and enjoy and easy to travel from one to the other.

Having been a resident of Maryland for 35 years that is a very bad analogy. Washington DC is a great city to explore.  While Baltimore has some things to explore and enjoy  Washington DC is many times better.  We usually did not venture to Baltimore.  It is easy to travel between them but I would not want to bother. 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Charles4515

[mat5664]

1 hour ago, BigAl94 said:

I totally agree with the OP, a 7 night cruise from UK to Norwegian Fjords should not be stopping in Zeebrugge, a terrible itinerary!

thank you and this is my point.

 

Yes Brugge is nice but I am going with my 86 year old mother who enjoys pottering round the port where we stop - which is why we chose the Fjords as it works well there.  Going to Brugge is not an option for us.

 

I have never seen an 7 night Fjords cruise which spends the first night going virtually nowhere, then docks the other side of the channel for a day in an industrial port.  Yes sometimes Fjord ports are changed  - for another Fjord !!

 

It's ridiculous - and made worse by the comms which insisted the cruise has been 'enhanced'.    We asked about changing  - they want £75 per cabin admin fee plus paying the difference in fares (and they are more expensive now) so we are stuck.  I am sure this will be my first and last Celebrity cruise and we will go back to P&O/Cunard/Princess.

[Charles4515]

53 minutes ago, mat5664 said:

now) so we are stuck.  I am sure this will be my first and last Celebrity cruise and we will go back to P&O/Cunard/Princess.

I have had plenty of itinerary changes on Princess. (never on been on P&O and don’t intend to ever be) I would not count on ports on any cruise. 

 

Actually did Zebrugge on Princess. Great port. Went to Bruges. Bought chocolates, Belgian French fries, had great Belgian beer took a canal boat ride, saw a Michelangelo. I would go back for sure. 

Edited February 13, 2023 by Charles4515

[BigAl94]

On 2/13/2023 at 6:55 PM, Charles4515 said:

I have had plenty of itinerary changes on Princess. (never on been on P&O and don’t intend to ever be) I would not count on ports on any cruise. 

 

Actually did Zebrugge on Princess. Great port. Went to Bruges. Bought chocolates, Belgian French fries, had great Belgian beer took a canal boat ride, saw a Michelangelo. I would go back for sure. 

How nice Bruges is irrelevant in this case, a 7 night Norwegian Fjord cruise that doesn't get to Norway till day 4 is ridiculous imho.

[mat5664]

So I have now had a more detailed reply from Celebrity UK.  Apparently Maloy was not appropriate for their 'standards' so had to be removed from itineraries.

 

Which begs two questions - why include a port which 'doesn't meet standards' in several itineraries and why not substitute another port the Fjords rather than in Belgium. As noted above, we are on a 7 night Fjord cruise and our first stop in a Fjord is on day 4!

[Homosassa]

On 2/13/2023 at 11:55 AM, Charles4515 said:

Having been a resident of Maryland for 35 years that is a very bad analogy. Washington DC is a great city to explore.  While Baltimore has some things to explore and enjoy  Washington DC is many times better.  We usually did not venture to Baltimore.  It is easy to travel between them but I would not want to bother. 

Having been a resident of Howard County, MD (a county between the two cities  for those who don't know) for over thirty years before we retired to Florida, I disagree strongly.

 

When we first moved to Laurel in Anne Arundel, my husband worked in Baltimore, I went south to Silver Spring.

 

We would explore both cities.  W quickly became more oriented to Baltimore because of the different ethnic neighborhoods (with their restaurants), the varied historical sites, the different museums (yes, the Smithsonian is good), the Inner Harbor , the list could go on.

 

When my daughter decided on a college and later a wedding venue, Baltimore won out over DC for both.

 

When we go to visit her and her husband (still in Howard), we end up in Baltimore  99.9% of the time vs DC.

[Charles4515]

24 minutes ago, mat5664 said:

So I have now had a more detailed reply from Celebrity UK.  Apparently Maloy was not appropriate for their 'standards' so had to be removed from itineraries.

 

Which begs two questions - why include a port which 'doesn't meet standards' in several itineraries and why not substitute another port the Fjords rather than in Belgium. As noted above, we are on a 7 night Fjord cruise and our first stop in a Fjord is on day 4!

Maybe nothing else was available. I have not done a 7 day fjords cruise only a 12 day fjords out of Southampton that went all the way to North Cape on Princess in July when the sun never set. Really cool. Maybe you have done one of those? If not you should put that on your list. We went into all the fjords. One of my favorite cruises. There were Celebrity and HAL ships doing a similar itinerary then. You probably would prefer on Princess as they had all Brit comedians who I didn’t understand their jokes😀

[mat5664]

I would add, that they have offered to waive change fees to move the cruise, but we would need to pay additional fees for the prevailing rates for the new date, so to move to the next Fjord cruise which actually spends most of its time in the Fjords, would cost us an extra £1500 over the 2 cabins.  So we either suck it or cancel.