ontheweb

At least you got to tender without incident in Isafjordur. NCL refuses to do this with the Prima.

That is truly an idiotic way to conduct business. If the request is as easy to answer as you say, it costs them nothing to actually give an answer while they lose your potential business when they will not answer. Just mind boggling. 🤦‍♂️

We were on the NCL Epic in 2012 and sailed round trip from Barcelona. There were 2 other ports that the ship embarked and disembarked passengers, Rome and Marseilles. On our second night aboard the ship, we dined at the Cirq d' Soleil dinner theater. We shared a table with a couple who were on their last night.

I have been e-mailing our tour operator the last few days to let her know the Prima is skipping the port. I included the e-mail from NCL showing the new schedule. Her terms included a refund if the ship did not dock, less 5% to cover her expenses. That was ok with me as we would lose only a little over $10, not a big deal. Her e-mail started with there were acceptable reasons for the ship not showing up and the port is not finished and the ship refuses to tender is not one of them. So, she was only going to refund 40%. I think that would have led to me calling the credit card company to challenge the charge in its entirety. She then went on to say that it was neither her fault or mine that the ship was not going to be there, and she would hold back 10% and return the rest. She had just processed this though it could take some time. It's not worth the hassle to fight this over approximately $20 instead of about $10. And I do feel sorry for her as a small businesswoman who gets hurt by this. NCL is hurting local business people as well as their passengers with port cancellations.

By now everyone who is still to be sailing with Isafjordur as one of the listed ports has paid in full a long time ago, so how would they now have to add port fees? I am sure they have already, and note they are NOT crediting them back to anyone.

On our last Western Mediterranean cruise, it was very hot. One of the ways we coped was in Florence we took a few gelato breaks. 😊

We got my photo on (though we had to retake it after we read the no glasses requirement), but then had trouble with getting DW's picture on. We called the NCL number and somehow they got it to work, not sure how as it was DW on the phone with them.

Baltic cruise in 2007 for our 30th anniversary. There were great ports and wonderful fellow cruisers. We especially got to know the ones who went on a private tour in St. Petersburg that I set up from our roll call. We also got to meet another couple from the cruise and our roll call since they lived only a few miles from DW's family, and we got to meet them on a visit to Long Island.

Yes, this goes back quite a while. We are cruising in Europe next month on a cruise we originally booked way back in 2001. We thought we would need this, but it was delayed, and not for the first time.

Just to clarify, there are no tides in Brugge. The port is Zeebrugge, and that is where the problem of the low tides is occurring.

And there were older threads because this keeps getting postponed.

Whatever. They still keep listing Isafjordur and selling excursions for there. So far they have cancelled it for every Prima cruise. There can't be that many more before the ship takes on a new itinerary. And sometimes you need tenders even at a normal docking port. We were once in Corfu. There were 3 ships and 2 spots to dock. Our cruise ended up the one tendering.

I obviously cannot blame them for ultra low tides. But I do blame them for Isafjordur. Their older ship, the NCL Star has used tenders there, but the Prima's lifeboats are not certified to be used as tender. Why do you go backwards in functionality when you build newer ships?

And if I were a betting man, I would bet that you could still call NCL and buy an excursion to the port of Isafjordur even though they cancelled it as it is as it is still on the website. When I called wanting our Brugge excursion refunded, they wanted to give me OBC instead, and when I asked, I was told non-refundable. They had to go through the resolution department to allow me a refund to my credit card having me cancel the excursion to the port they were no longer going to within the alllowed refund time.

But who's counting? 🤣 🤣

Actually, I was a little surprised as I did not expect to find out until we boarded the ship. That seems to be what others experienced.

I count that day as 1/2 a sea day since we are going to Amsterdam that day, but not arriving until 3 PM.

I understand exactly what you are stating. Our cruise is coming up next month and was originally booked in 2021. Our TA did say the time would come, but it did not seem to be coming fast enough. And then all of a sudden, it is basically here.

Call them, and they will say the cruise contract allows it, no compensation. I had called about the Brugge cancellation because I wanted the money refunded to my credit card for the excursion we had already paid for and they argued about that. Finally, the rep realized I was not asking for compensation for the missed port but a refund for an excursion. She went to the resolution department, and they sid cancel the excursion as you are within the cancellation window. And I do have the refund posted to my credit card.

They said because the tides are too low.

Thanks, but that ship has sailed (pun intended). We were really looking forward to Brugge as we have never been there. It is the second time cancelled for us as we had a river cruise that would have went there that was chartered out after we made final payment. Amsterdam is a great city, but we have been there twice previously on land trips.

I just got the e-mail that the port has been cancelled. And unlike other Prima cruises, it has become a sea day instead of time in Akuyeyri. I can't say I am surprised, but I am disappointed. 😢 I wonder if any of their cruises between England and Iceland this season will end up going there.

It is now cancelled for our cruise on the Prima leaving August 6th and we were supposed to be there August 15th. I believe those on previous cruises had said they had an extra day in Akureyri. We have it converted into a sea day.

Actually you may be 3/4 right. As I posted previously, they stayed overnight in the other Icelandic port, but I just got an e-mail from NCL that the what was the Isafjordur port stop is now a sea day.😒 And as I wrote previously, we do not get to Amsterdam on what was supposed to be the Belgium stop until 3 PM.

And if at least one country on your cruise needs an ETIAS, it does not really matter if other countries on the cruise do not have that requirement.