Now is the time to be concerned...

[wallycat16]

Any ideas what ports the cruise companies might use as a substitute for the two days in spb if it comes to that??

 

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[I-Cruiser]

Any ideas what ports the cruise companies might use as a substitute for the two days in spb if it comes to that??

 

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They could use number of ports instead of SPB. Maybe a few overnights?

 

In the Black Sea they could use:

 

Batumi, Georgia

Constanta, Romania

Nesebur, Bulgaria

Samsun, Turkey

Sinop, Turkey

Trabzon, Turkey

Varna, Bulgaria

Edited March 18, 2014 by I-Cruiser

[seaofwonder]

Well, there are a few other "interesting" ports in the Black Sea area.

 

 

I agree, but don't many of them have 2-3 Ukrainian ports? And there is also Sochi.

 

 

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[wallycat16]

What about on a Baltic cruise?

 

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[I-Cruiser]

What about on a Baltic cruise?

 

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It would depend of which ports your original itinerary are visiting.

But for our Constellation cruise Celebrity could use Visby, Sweden....Klaipeda, Lithuania....Riga, Latvia....Gdansk, Polen.

There are a few...

[NorbertsNiece]

I have final payment Thursday for my Baltics Cruise in June with RCCL. I booked this cruise specifically for the 3 days in St Petersburg..... ho hum....

 

We start in Copenhagen and head to Warnemunde, Riga, Visby, Helsinki,Talinn and we already overnight in Stockholm. I wonder where we'll end up....

[Norwegianlatvian]

Agree,

I wonder when Russia will stop, there are millions of Russian nationality in all the former Soviet Republics.

 

I just hope people realize this. I wonder if the same people would do a cruise to Germany in 1939...

 

Regarding potential sanctions, this is a quite interesting article.

Edited March 18, 2014 by Norwegianlatvian
Article

[Travelanni]

It would depend of which ports your original itinerary are visiting.

But for our Constellation cruise Celebrity could use Visby, Sweden....Klaipeda, Lithuania....Riga, Latvia....Gdansk, Polen.

There are a few...

 

Agreed, there are plenty of ports around the Baltic but as I said earlier with around 250 berths booked in St Petersburg for 2014 the cruise ship companies would be flat out finding alternative berths in an area where berths are booked months, or even years, in advance and demand is rapidly outstripping supply.

The other problem is that there are only a few ports, SPB is one of them, which can handle more than one or two ships at a time or have the capacity to handle the bigger ships at all. Many of those booked into SPB are the larger ships whose alternatives are limited because of their size and most of them are already scheduled to call at the ports which can handle ships of their size.

In the event of having to cancel SPB the chances are extra sea days or extending the time in existing ports of call by tendering on the second day may be the alternative.

Happy cruising :)

Anni

[buggins0402]

Agreed, there are plenty of ports around the Baltic but as I said earlier with around 250 berths booked in St Petersburg for 2014 the cruise ship companies would be flat out finding alternative berths in an area where berths are booked months, or even years, in advance and demand is rapidly outstripping supply.

The other problem is that there are only a few ports, SPB is one of them, which can handle more than one or two ships at a time or have the capacity to handle the bigger ships at all. Many of those booked into SPB are the larger ships whose alternatives are limited because of their size and most of them are already scheduled to call at the ports which can handle ships of their size.

In the event of having to cancel SPB the chances are extra sea days or extending the time in existing ports of call by tendering on the second day may be the alternative.

Happy cruising :)

Anni

 

Personally, I don't think things will get to the point of SPB calls being cancelled. That said, one must remember they aren't trying to find 250 berths for the same day - it's over a whole season. The cruise lines were quite nimble in finding alternate ports during the Arab Spring issues and for Athens during it's strikes. And, do it on the fly all the time in the Caribbean with weather issues.

[Travelanni]

Personally, I don't think things will get to the point of SPB calls being cancelled. That said, one must remember they aren't trying to find 250 berths for the same day - it's over a whole season. The cruise lines were quite nimble in finding alternate ports during the Arab Spring issues and for Athens during it's strikes. And, do it on the fly all the time in the Caribbean with weather issues.

 

I do realise that the 250 berths are not all required on the same day! I thought that was clear in the first sentence.

I don't think that it will come to cancelling either. I sincerely hope not, mostly for the sake of all we passengers but also for the sake of the cruise companies, the logistics would be horrendous.

As well as the problems already mentioned SPB is the worst possible port to cancel from the point of view of its position. It would be impossible to add in a different port without either back-tracking (extra fuel cost) or re-arranging the whole schedule, a glance at a map shows that there are no possible ports of call between Tallin and Helsinki except SPB.

I don't know how the companies manage in other parts of the world, I can only speak for the area of which I have some knowledge.

Happy cruising, :)

Anni

[Desdichado62]

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.

[Alex71]

We just came across a fantastic special on Costa (1125 EUR per adult for a guarantee cabin, kids free) for a 12 day Baltic cruise in August. I would think that Costa as an Italian company would not be subject to potential US sanctions towards Russia, but since they are part of Carnival, maybe I'm wrong and American rules would still apply?

[buggins0402]

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.

 

Yes, and many itineraries would benefit from an extra day in Stockholm.

 

Then the Baltic ports - if things get to very very very extreme sanctions - who are they going to welcome into their ports - a Russian freighter or a cruise ship? Instant space.

[The_Big_M]

The annexation of Crimea seems imminent.

 

 

And now they have annexed Crimea.

[spiritdfilly]

'happened to take an invitational tour of an oceania ship today>we asked and were told oceania execs. will release info on their website possibly as early as this Thursday, on it's decision to seek alternative ports to SPB this summer; that this decision (about which alternative ports) was already made after Sunday's vote and they'd suspect other cruise lines will be making similar choices to cancel SPB. they said they would be cancelling about 1/2 the SPB port stops on it's itineraries and allowing the other half to push fwd to SPB. It wasn't clear what the rhyme or reason was for allowing some to proceed and others not to... they added that this decision was not based on US travel restrictions, which to their knowledge hadn't been imposed as yet.

[spiritdfilly]

spoke in person today with an oceania exec and was told the decision to cancel spb as a port stop on their upcoming itineraries had been made on sunday (after the vote) and that they would likely be releasing info on their website on what the alternative port stops would be as of this Thursday. she also said that some of their ships would be allowed to port in spb, while others wouldn't (about 50-50). it is expected that other cruise lines are will follow suit.

[RJ2002]

spoke in person today with an oceania exec and was told the decision to cancel spb as a port stop on their upcoming itineraries had been made on sunday (after the vote) and that they would likely be releasing info on their website on what the alternative port stops would be as of this Thursday. she also said that some of their ships would be allowed to port in spb, while others wouldn't (about 50-50). it is expected that other cruise lines are will follow suit.

 

Seems puzzling that they would cancel some port calls at SPB, but not others.

[The_Big_M]

Seems puzzling that they would cancel some port calls at SPB, but not others.

 

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.

[seaofwonder]

'happened to take an invitational tour of an oceania ship today>we asked and were told oceania execs. will release info on their website possibly as early as this Thursday, on it's decision to seek alternative ports to SPB this summer; that this decision (about which alternative ports) was already made after Sunday's vote and they'd suspect other cruise lines will be making similar choices to cancel SPB. they said they would be cancelling about 1/2 the SPB port stops on it's itineraries and allowing the other half to push fwd to SPB. It wasn't clear what the rhyme or reason was for allowing some to proceed and others not to... they added that this decision was not based on US travel restrictions, which to their knowledge hadn't been imposed as yet.

 

 

Interesting...I wonder what their rationale will be for canceling. And why only half?

 

 

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[seaofwonder]

Read this article from a few days ago: http://www.usatoday.com/story/cruiselog/2014/03/14/black-sea-cruise-ukraine/6410151/

 

It seems that their primary concern is the Black Sea and that the Baltics would only be affected if Russia imposed travel restrictions.

 

After all this talk....I would be extremely disappointed if they switched to 2 sea days. I choose cruises for intensive port itineraries.

 

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Edited March 19, 2014 by seaofwonder

[buggins0402]

Interesting...I wonder what their rationale will be for canceling. And why only half?

 

 

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Easy - bookings could have dropped on later cruises and together with cancellations for those still within cancellation period they'd have to change to make it profitable - unless they think that would increase cancellations even more with an announcement of SPB being dropped. Same thing happened on NCL with Egypt a few years back Later cruises changed - but those that were past final payment kept Egypt. We were on it's last Egypt cruise in November 2012 - later winter sailings had an itinerary change and did a Greek Isle. For those on the later cruises some were very upset that Egypt was cancelled - but I guess they were able to discount enough to fill the ship for Greek Isles.

 

Kind of surprises me - didn't think it would come to St. Pete being changed - prices have held, but did think the Black Seas would have enough trouble filling that they would get changed (at least those not past final pmt).

 

I'm on an Oceania - so find this particularly interesting. We've just had final payment. Frankly don't care where it goes as long as we keep Scandinavian embarkation and disembarkation. In fact, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland would probably roll out the red carpet for cruisers that were missing SPB, And, if my cruise kept SPB and later ones didn't and the cruise line offered a nice switch incentive - I miight just grab it.

Edited March 19, 2014 by buggins0402

[seaofwonder]

I think that makes sense. Thanks.

 

I'll be watching Oceania's announcement as it could be an indicator of what other cruise lines might do.

 

Oceania's ships are smaller though, correct? So they would have more flexibility finding other berths.

 

 

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[Reggiefan]

If Oceania does make some type of announcement, then I will applaud Oceania. Even if a cruise line is not willing at this time to remove SPB as a port of call for a future cruise--and I can understand that--I do think the cruise line should give some indication, if SPB is removed, as to what options it might offer guests, and what ports it may visit and how many sea days it might add.

[seaofwonder]

If Oceania does make some type of announcement, then I will applaud Oceania. Even if a cruise line is not willing at this time to remove SPB as a port of call for a future cruise--and I can understand that--I do think the cruise line should give some indication, if SPB is removed, as to what options it might offer guests, and what ports it may visit and how many sea days it might add.

 

 

Yes!!! I wholeheartedly agree. I see it as a catch22 for them though. They risk losing a lot of bookings/more cancellations or the possibility of very angry guests when they cancel later.

 

It's a tough thing for companies and guests alike.

 

 

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[buggins0402]

If Oceania does make some type of announcement, then I will applaud Oceania. Even if a cruise line is not willing at this time to remove SPB as a port of call for a future cruise--and I can understand that--I do think the cruise line should give some indication, if SPB is removed, as to what options it might offer guests, and what ports it may visit and how many sea days it might add.

 

Just checked my cruise - still the same wait lists on lower cabins. No pricing change. We just went past final payment - so it doesn't appear there were mass cancellations at final. Didn't think there would be.

 

Cruise lines will do what they have to do to keep a sailing profitable. But, in doing that, it means they've made the greatest number of people happy with what constraints they have. They are not in business to anger their clients.