Sky Princess- Iceland Missed Ports

[Teechur]

9 minutes ago, EDVM96 said:

No. The Sky took the opposite direction and is on eastern course now. The bridgecam shows Southampton as the next destination.

 

So the captains avoids the14 feet swell west and south of Iceland by returning north of the island.

What a disappointment for the passengers onboard. I will be headed there in September. I hope the same thing doesn't happen to us! 😧

[Honolulu Blue]

1 hour ago, CruiserN1 said:

I wish there was a way to know how often ports are missed on a cruise itinerary (kind of like airline cancelation/delay rates) so we have that information before booking.

Me too. I imagine it's kept internally and parsed every which way, but some numbers are just small and would be deceptive if publicized.

[david63]

1 hour ago, CruiserN1 said:

I would be devastated if I were on this cruise.

It's the risk that you take on any cruise and we are all well aware of that when booking.

[LibertyBella]

So sorry on all these missed ports in beautiful and wild Iceland.

 

There is a reason that cruise lines have low and high seasons.

 

Ideal weather conditions are sometimes life and death critical in places like Iceland, the Baltic, Iceland, Alaska, the Antarctic, and so forth.  Yet the demand and the cost savings have been pushing cruise lines to offer trips during the more risky times of year.

 

Nowadays even European River cruises are more or less year round--the travelers who miss their stops due to low water levels complain just as much.

 

For myself, I am willing to budget to try to travel as much as possible during ideal weather conditions--which is not foolproof, but has more or less served me well.

 

Poor captain.  He has to put safety first, but disgruntled passengers will make for a miserable experience. 

 

I hope the cruise food and entertainment were enjoyable--there are some people who cruise without ever getting off at any port!

[icat2000]

Sorry that you missed you ports. I got really lucky on a Transatlantic cruise I did in 2015 where we managed to get into all three Iceland ports. Only port we missed was one in Canada (I forget the port now).  I think these types of cruises its really hit and miss with weather. Though I love to do the cruise again especially Greenland ports.

Edited May 22, 2023 by icat2000

[Steelers36]

On 5/21/2023 at 7:24 AM, Rick&Jeannie said:

Yes, Marco is the captain. 

Supposedly the jury is still out as far as Reykjavik goes.

Is it anything to do with being so early in the summer (not really summer yet)? 

 

[EDVM96]

30 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Is it anything to do with being so early in the summer (not really summer yet)? 

Hard to say. It's hit or miss any time of the year, isn't it?
Just finished an Alaska cruise on the Saphhire. Embarkation was April 29. First of the season. 
It was a bargain deal, and I didnt't expect anything... But we had the best weather one could imagine (except Hubbard Glacier, but we still made it upfront).

 

[Yaya_in_Oz]

1 hour ago, EDVM96 said:

Hard to say. It's hit or miss any time of the year, isn't it?
 

I wouldn't have thought so. While bad weather can be encountered anytime, from what I have read, its far less likely in summer July/August. At least I hope thats right. I'm going in August. For me its a long way and costs money so I like to maximise my chance of stopping in the advertised ports.

[capriccio]

13 hours ago, Coral said:

They had several more. There was a time when a covered pool was standard on Princess ships.

Coral Princess, currently sailing in Australia, has one as did her sister ship, the Island.  Whether the covered pool survived the Island's aft 'renovations' I don't know.  The covered deck above the pool is my favorite place to hang out especially in cold or inclement weather.

[sengsational]

According to www.cruisingearth.com, the Sky is heading to Southampton right now, so not going to Reykjavik.

 

This was the original schedule, I think:

Akureyri, Iceland (20 May 0800-2000);
Isafjord, Iceland (21 May 0900-1900);
Grundarfjordur, Iceland (22 May 0800-1800);
Reykjavik, Iceland (23 May 0700-2000);

 

There's a company that sells home weather stations that, by default, weather data, including historical weather data, gets shared.  It's called ambientweather.net.

 

Here's what one weather station recorded as the wind speed and direction in Akureyri on 5/20:

 

So in the morning, there was 7 to 14 mph with gusts as high as 26mph.  Afternoon and evening was less windy.

[Coral]

11 minutes ago, capriccio said:

Coral Princess, currently sailing in Australia, has one as did her sister ship, the Island.  Whether the covered pool survived the Island's aft 'renovations' I don't know.  The covered deck above the pool is my favorite place to hang out especially in cold or inclement weather.

I believe it is still on the Island Princess. I still can't believe they butchered that ship. Such a beautiful ship at one time!

 

Likewise (as far as place to hang out). 

[Steelers36]

The Island still has a covered pool.  Lots of chlorine smell though.

[Buckeye10640]

6 hours ago, LibertyBella said:

So sorry on all these missed ports in beautiful and wild Iceland.

 

There is a reason that cruise lines have low and high seasons.

 

Ideal weather conditions are sometimes life and death critical in places like Iceland, the Baltic, Iceland, Alaska, the Antarctic, and so forth.  Yet the demand and the cost savings have been pushing cruise lines to offer trips during the more risky times of year.

 

Nowadays even European River cruises are more or less year round--the travelers who miss their stops due to low water levels complain just as much.

 

For myself, I am willing to budget to try to travel as much as possible during ideal weather conditions--which is not foolproof, but has more or less served me well.

 

Poor captain.  He has to put safety first, but disgruntled passengers will make for a miserable experience. 

 

I hope the cruise food and entertainment were enjoyable--there are some people who cruise without ever getting off at any port!

So when is the ideal time to avoid such weather conditions for this itinerary? Serious question as this is one of my 'bucket list' cruises 

[Ken the cruiser]

I discovered this website while we were on our transpacific cruise on the Celebrity Eclipse the past 33-days.

 

www.windy.com

 

Just put in the nearest city anywhere in the world, and it will provide information about the surrounding area. In this case I just put in Akureyri and then expanded the area to see the wind speeds all around Iceland. You can also click on one of the links on the right to find different weather information.
 

[Nicole&Pete]

Just now, EDVM96 said:

No. The Sky took the opposite direction and is on eastern course now. The bridgecam shows Southampton as the next destination.

 

So the captains avoids the14 feet swell west and south of Iceland by returning north of the island.

So my argument here is why have they not tried to get into Akureyri again if they are now going North? 
 

Also if they knew this why not overnight in Seydisfjordur or Isafjordur, there are some interesting places further afield that you can reach from the East coast or the West fjords if you had more time there.

[Torfamm]

54 minutes ago, Buckeye10640 said:

So when is the ideal time to avoid such weather conditions for this itinerary? Serious question as this is one of my 'bucket list' cruises 

I can’t say for sure but I researched weather in Norway and I eland and chose mid-July when we booked that itinerary.

[mmiicc]

Went with a large group on this cruise.

The group had arranged local (non-Princess) excursions in each original city. Because of the Iceland port changes, lost all the money we prepaid for those local tours (might be able to make trip out insurance claim). People in the tour group dedicated their annual vacation weeks to this cruise, planned and looked forward for months to see the sites of Iceland, and are now so disappointed and swear never to go on Princess against again.

 

Guest Services says sorry for your lost inconvenience but they are tone-deaf; it’s more than inconvenience: It’s lost time traveling half way round the world to get to the cruise shop, the money sunk, and the dreamed once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the unique Iceland sights. The group has now forsworn Princess, will not cruise on the line again. 

[kitkat343]

I am so sorry this happened to you.  Thank you so much for posting this - I have three children I pulled out of school for my last cruise because it was the opportunity to travel on an interesting itinerary without having to fly.  

 

NCL cancelled one port entirely and the morning of another because of environmental reasons.  NCL continued to market the original itinerary for a month after the changes, and didn't even warn passengers who booked directly with them that the cruise had changed.  No one was allowed to cancel and reschedule.

 

Iceland is a bucket trip for me also, and there are some trips there from my home port of NY/NJ that I would love to take, so it is so important for me to know ahead of time that this might happen with the weather since if we take our kids on another vacation and miss more ports my husband may swear off cruising altogether (I do understand cancelling ports due to weather is different and necessary, but I'll try for a lower risk cruise next).   We unfortunately don't have relatives we can leave the kids with to vacation by ourselves, so it's a little harder taking the risk of a vacation not working.  Thank you so much for posting this and I'm so sorry this happened to you.

[lucas34]

2 hours ago, Nicole&Pete said:

So my argument here is why have they not tried to get into Akureyri again if they are now going North? 
 

Also if they knew this why not overnight in Seydisfjordur or Isafjordur, there are some interesting places further afield that you can reach from the East coast or the West fjords if you had more time there.

Norwegian Prima is now in Akureyri, so it could be possible for Sky Princess too.

[mmiicc]

Agree that Sky Princess could easily have stopped today at Akureyri, but Princess just doesn’t’ care. They would rather have an extra day at sea so they can sell more drinks to sad passengers.

[EDVM96]

18 minutes ago, mmiicc said:

Agree that Sky Princess could easily have stopped today at Akureyri,

Too bad Akureyri port is blocked today by the NCL Prima (4600 pax + crew). 
And 2 other smaller cruise ships (Silver Endeavour and Hurtigruten Fram).
So no, the Sky couldn't have easily stopped today in Akureyri.

 

1 hour ago, mmiicc said:

The group had arranged local (non-Princess) excursions in each original city. Because of the Iceland port changes, lost all the money we prepaid for those local tours

Sorry, but I would never ever book a non-refundable private tour. 
 

[david63]

1 hour ago, mmiicc said:

The group has now forsworn Princess, will not cruise on the line again. 

Not sure about the logic of that argument as missing ports can happen on any cruise line anywhere in the world.

[david63]

30 minutes ago, mmiicc said:

Agree that Sky Princess could easily have stopped today at Akureyri,

I assume you are in posession of all the relevant facts, unlike the Captain who acording to you is not!

[Grego]

10 hours ago, LibertyBella said:

So sorry on all these missed ports in beautiful and wild Iceland.

 

There is a reason that cruise lines have low and high seasons.

 

Ideal weather conditions are sometimes life and death critical in places like Iceland, the Baltic, Iceland, Alaska, the Antarctic, and so forth.  Yet the demand and the cost savings have been pushing cruise lines to offer trips during the more risky times of year.

 

Nowadays even European River cruises are more or less year round--the travelers who miss their stops due to low water levels complain just as much.

 

For myself, I am willing to budget to try to travel as much as possible during ideal weather conditions--which is not foolproof, but has more or less served me well.

 

Poor captain.  He has to put safety first, but disgruntled passengers will make for a miserable experience. 

 

I hope the cruise food and entertainment were enjoyable--there are some people who cruise without ever getting off at any port!

Well said and correctly stated.

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

1 hour ago, lucas34 said:

Norwegian Prima is now in Akureyri, so it could be possible for Sky Princess too.

Could Iceland have made similar rules to some Norway ports though?- putting a max on the number of large cruise ships and/or number of cruisers getting off ships?

 

if so, princesses hands are tied

 

I feel awful for anyone missing this number of ports though. Especially those who have travelled across the world to get to S’hampton in the first place 😞