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Now is the time to be concerned...

baggal

By baggal,
in Northern Europe & Baltic Sea

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NeoVega

NeoVega

Posted
Posted

Perhaps Riga could be substituted for SPB on many cruises except for the largest ships.

 

They do not offer as deep a berth and not as long (max 295 ft length 16m depth) as Tallinn or SPB, but it is a delightful city to visit. The old town is wonderful, there are miles and miles of beaches nearby and there are a number of castles in the countryside. And perhaps cruises could spend 2 nights in Tallinn so that tourists can better enjoy what that medieval (and modern!) city has to offer.

 

Statistics from:

http://www.kpmg.com/EE/et/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/Pressiteated/Documents/Competitive-Position-of-the-Baltic-States-Ports-2013.pdf

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I-Cruiser

I-Cruiser

Posted
Posted

Sorry, but I really don't she the sense in this.

Those past final payment has no choice as to what itinerary to book. Most has gotten their flights etc for Baltic cruises leaving in May, June etc..

The cruise lines might offer some sort of compensation or let you swap to a desired itinerary but the logistic involved would be enormous.

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Giantfan13

Giantfan13

Posted
Posted (edited)

there are just too many European nations that depend on Russia for oil and other things to think that they would apply severe sanctions on them.

 

Personally, I would like to see severe sanctions put on Russia, like we did with Iran, but that will never happen. Unless the cruise lines decide not to reward Russia by filling some of their cities with tourists, there will not be any changes made to the cruise industry. Russia isn't even communist any more, so this is just a power play to show they can do it if they want. This is not like the 1960's Cold War, but there certainly is a nice chill on the continent.

 

I also emailed several of the tour companies to see what they are doing, and best they could say is to book your tour as usual. Since there is no deposit, you have nothing to lose. Unless you are traveling soon, I would wait before submitting my passport info.

 

Cheers

 

Len

Edited by Giantfan13
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buggins0402

buggins0402

Posted
Posted

 

That would be a giant leap over a line in the sand.

 

Would take a lot of hubris on Putin's part. Particularly to do something so soon.

 

Back to cruise discussion....if people start cancelling cruises willy-nilly they will make a no-go a self fulfilling prophecy, because the lines will follow the profits.

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BillPizzaiolo

BillPizzaiolo

Posted
Posted

We are slated for a Uniworld River Cruise in September Moscow to SPB. I wonder if it will take place. We inquired about canceling. If we did then we would loose our deposit and the fee paid for trip insurance. TA advised that we wait until there is a travel advisory then the trip insurance would cover us. Has anyone else gotten that kind of information?

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TheMiz

TheMiz

Posted
Posted

I had CNN on at 4:40pm and I heard those magic words Baltic states and Estonia.

 

I was hoping it wouldn't get this bad but its not looking good now they are talking Estonia / Baltic States / NATO . Then it was brought up we have no tanks in Germany .

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buggins0402

buggins0402

Posted
Posted
Not really. Because they don’t have to cancel, they’re keeping them for the customers who want them. However, changing some itineraries helps in two ways:

1) For customers who want to protest, and/or have been there before so prefer peace of mind, they can book that itinerary safely, so it may boost demand for that market

2) If things did get worse, it’s simplified the number of itineraries and re-booking that are affected.

Best of both worlds – as long as they get enough bookings on the non-spb ones.

 

Exactly. Demand for SPB has fallen - just adjust the port demand to the cruises you have and let people move to the itinerary they want.

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TheMiz

TheMiz

Posted
Posted

Back to cruise discussion....if people start cancelling cruises willy-nilly they will make a no-go a self fulfilling prophecy, because the lines will follow the profits.

 

 

I am on a July 13th cruise to the Baltic with Royal

 

I booked the first day the cruise went on sale. My D2 was $3039 pp

there was never a price break on that room ( in my favor ) until last week

and it drop to $2100. for one day the JS were cheaper than the D2's

 

I should note these prices seem to be for US cruisers I checked the D2 price in the UK and it was still the same as when I booked.

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iluvbkk

iluvbkk

Posted
Posted

Well, we sail on brilliance on May 14 so we are watching and listening for developments. We are scheduled for 2 nights in SPB. My only hope will be that we are able to call at another port if need be... Perhaps Riga. But since it's out of my control, we will go with the flow.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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Jonza

Jonza

Posted
Posted
I think some ports like Copenhagen, Stockholm and Helsinki might be able to handle an extra ship or two.

 

In Stockholm there might be a spare berth or two where the ferries to Åbo berths.

For Viking Line it departs at 07.45 and the ferry coming back doesn't arrive until 18.45.

 

I think it is about the same for Tallink Silja's ferries to/from Åbo.

I think that Viking Line uses the same berth for the Turku (Åbo) ferries and Cinderella, which is at port 15:30-18:00 meaning that the berth is free only 7:45-15:30. For Tallink Silja the Turku ferries share a berth with the Tallinn ferries. The berth is free for less than three hours at a time during the day.

 

Desdichado62 is definitely correct in that especially the large cruise ports will be able to add a few ships per day. This would not hold true as well for the largest ships as there are many berths, but only some of them long and deep enough for the largest vessels. And in fact I do not think that many "new ships" would be added as pretty much all the cruise ships in the region do call at St. Petersburg. Closure of St. Petersburg to cruise ships would result in quite a rescheduling challenge for the cruise lines and ports involved.

 

I suppose that rescheduling would be quite likely if St. Petersburg was skipped as there are no other potential cruise ports east of Helsinki and Tallinn. Therefore the options for the cruise lines would be either to backtrack to an alternate port, spend two sea days on a crossing that is made by ferries in two hours, or try to rearrange their schedules.

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Travelanni

Travelanni

Posted
Posted

 

Desdichado62 is definitely correct in that especially the large cruise ports will be able to add a few ships per day. This would not hold true as well for the largest ships as there are many berths, but only some of them long and deep enough for the largest vessels. And in fact I do not think that many "new ships" would be added as pretty much all the cruise ships in the region do call at St. Petersburg. Closure of St. Petersburg to cruise ships would result in quite a rescheduling challenge for the cruise lines and ports involved.

 

I suppose that rescheduling would be quite likely if St. Petersburg was skipped as there are no other potential cruise ports east of Helsinki and Tallinn. Therefore the options for the cruise lines would be either to backtrack to an alternate port, spend two sea days on a crossing that is made by ferries in two hours, or try to rearrange their schedules.

 

Exactly the points I made earlier in posts 205 and 207 and which were soundly de-bunked by those with superior knowledge of the Carribbean and Mediterranean.

Glad to find that someone from the Baltic region agrees with me. I was beginning to doubt what I had learned in nearly 50 years association, both working and leisure, with the shipping industry and northern ports. :rolleyes:

Anni

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Desdichado62

Desdichado62

Posted
Posted (edited)
I think that Viking Line uses the same berth for the Turku (Åbo) ferries and Cinderella, which is at port 15:30-18:00 meaning that the berth is free only 7:45-15:30. For Tallink Silja the Turku ferries share a berth with the Tallinn ferries. The berth is free for less than three hours at a time during the day.

 

Desdichado62 is definitely correct in that especially the large cruise ports will be able to add a few ships per day. This would not hold true as well for the largest ships as there are many berths, but only some of them long and deep enough for the largest vessels. And in fact I do not think that many "new ships" would be added as pretty much all the cruise ships in the region do call at St. Petersburg. Closure of St. Petersburg to cruise ships would result in quite a rescheduling challenge for the cruise lines and ports involved.

 

I suppose that rescheduling would be quite likely if St. Petersburg was skipped as there are no other potential cruise ports east of Helsinki and Tallinn. Therefore the options for the cruise lines would be either to backtrack to an alternate port, spend two sea days on a crossing that is made by ferries in two hours, or try to rearrange their schedules.

 

You are right, It is the same in Stockholm.

 

Viking Line's ships only use two berth S162 and S164 and Tallink Silja also uses the same berth for different ships.

Edited by Desdichado62
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Babr

Babr

Posted
Posted

Just checked Oceania website. Nothing I could see about port changes, but they are offering free unlimited shore excursions in St. Pete. Is that something new or was it part of the package all along? Looks like they are offering incentives to book rahter than change.

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buggins0402

buggins0402

Posted
Posted (edited)
Just checked Oceania website. Nothing I could see about port changes, but they are offering free unlimited shore excursions in St. Pete. Is that something new or was it part of the package all along? Looks like they are offering incentives to book rahter than change.

 

It's new - for cruises that have not hit final payment. No offer for the earlier cruises that I can see.

 

There were also some port changes on some Black Sea cruises.

Edited by buggins0402
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NeoVega

NeoVega

Posted
Posted

If you are able to stop in SPB, here is a painting that has been banned and you will not be able to view:

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2013/0828/Painting-of-Putin-in-drag-highlights-abuse-of-Russia-s-anti-gay-law

 

The tragic thing about all this is that it is because Putin is an aging man with a failed marriage and gay tendencies having a mid-life crisis.

 

Sure, he speaks anti-gay rhetoric, then he prances around the internet with shirtless pictures on horseback and bears which practically amount to Gay porn.

 

Sure he and Alina the gymnast "deny" an affair, they "deny" having a love child or two. Nice coverup, eh! Brilliant in fact. They deny it so much the Russian public believe it is true, and that their leader is not gay...

 

So he creates more of a diversion by seizing the Crimea.

 

The United States and the EU just don't realize that you can't reason with a man having a mid-life crisis! They should concentrate on discrediting him and letting the Russian public do the rest.

 

Then we can all get back to cruising and dealing with our mid-life crises in a healthier fashion.

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Essexlass2

Essexlass2

Posted
Posted
Boycott SPB. You dont want to support a country financially that annex other countries' territory do you?

 

We don't want to get involved in politics. We booked the cruise with the highlight being St P, so if that gets pulled off our itinerary then we shall cancel. We can easily visit alternative European ports ourselves on a land trip from UK.

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RJ2002

RJ2002

Posted
Posted

The US announced additional sanctions against Russian individuals, and now also, a Russian bank based in St. Petersburg. Russia has responded with sanctions of US Senators and presidential aides.

 

This situation is not heading in the right direction.

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