Baltic cruise in May with St Petersburg. What happens if port cancelled?

[margeecruiser]

I have posted this question on the port of call board, but got only one reply. If our ship does not make the St Petersburg port because of geopolitics, where else might our ship go? We are on Vision of the Sea in May.

 

Margee

 

 

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[Ashland]

So glad we visited long before all this XXXX . :eek:

[alcpa1]

Margee,

It is highly unlikely that you will miss St. Petersburg. Nothing but posturing at this point anyway.

Enjoy your cruise and don't worry about geopolitics.

[Goodtime Cruizin]

May 2017 I think you'll be fine. May 2018 (our cruise date) maybe not so much. We'll see!

[Saab4444]

If someone starts a war with Russia we all have other issues than our cruises....

 

 

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[Paulxyz2004]

I have posted this question on the port of call board, but got only one reply. If our ship does not make the St Petersburg port because of geopolitics, where else might our ship go? We are on Vision of the Sea in May.

 

Margee

 

 

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The lack of Responses is due to there not being an answer. Nobody knows what the cruiseline might decide or what might be possible. You could simply sit out in the ocean for the time, or if available and possible go to another port, but that would be subject to availability. I doubt anybody even at RCI could tell you.

 

However as others have said I wouldn´t be worried at all, as you will most likely simply end up in St. Petersburg.

 

Agree with Saab4444.

[Havingfun2010]

May 2017 I think you'll be fine. May 2018 (our cruise date) maybe not so much. We'll see!

 

I'm going in May 2018. Plenty of time to wait and see. If something major happens, I can just cancel and pick another trip. Hopefully, this won't happen. Honestly, I think it will need to get really bad before it's stopped. It's not like we ever had "good feelings" with each other.

[SpainAlien]

I sailed the Baltic on Brilliance of the Seas in June 2015, we were due to go to Visby but RCCL decided to miss it out and instead stop at Skagen. Now whilst Skagen is quite pretty it's no Visby. There was no recompense, no option to cancel free of charge, nothing. In November I sailed the South Pacific on Explorer of the Seas, due to a problem with the pier we had to miss Lifou, it was replaced with an extra sea day, we all got 100$ per cabin compensation. For our upcoming cruise on Jewel of the Seas we were due to go to Kusadasi (Ephesus) in Turkey however this stop has been cancelled and been replaced with Rhodes, again no option to cancel for free or OBC compensation.

 

Basically in the terms and conditions the cruise line have the option to change the itinerary at their discretion,

 

If the port is unsafe wouldn't you rather they missed it?

[jonj]

I think the OP is asking which port they could change to if St Petersburg is removed not whether they would have compensation or wanting to go even if unsafe. My husband and I were just discussing this same question for our upcoming Baltic cruise.

 

 

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[Alter Ego]

I think the OP is asking which port they could change to if St Petersburg is removed not whether they would have compensation or wanting to go even if unsafe. My husband and I were just discussing this same question for our upcoming Baltic cruise.

 

 

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True. The unfortunate answer is that you shouldn't book a cruise to go to a particular port. Did that for a cruise that stopped in Morocco...or was supposed to stop. Cancelled less than a week before. Pretty sure there was a premium price to the cruise because of it. Additional stops in Spain took its place. Nice, but not the same. It's possible that St. Petersburg would be the most anticipated stop of the cruise. I completely understand the question/concern.

[margeecruiser]

Jonj, that was exactly my question. If the State Department issued a travel warning, would that change anything? I'm wondering about insurance/liability issues. I know Royal changed Mexico ports due to criminal activities and dropped Turkey. I'm fine with missing St Petersburg if necessary, but I have private tours arranged. Royal is not good with keeping passengers informed about itinerary changes.

 

Margee

 

 

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[Cauzneffct]

I think the OP is asking which port they could change to if St Petersburg is removed not whether they would have compensation or wanting to go even if unsafe. My husband and I were just discussing this same question for our upcoming Baltic cruise.

 

 

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its an interesting question. My guess is that it would depend on when they find out that St. Petersburg is a no-go. If they have some forewarning they might add time to the ports on either end of the St. Petersburg stay (Helsinki and Talinn? The RCI website is currently a pile of garbage and I cant check the itinerary) I'm not sure what other ports are in the vicinity that can handle a ship were they to add a port (Gdansk?, Riga?).

 

If they don't have much forewarning, they'll probably just add sea days.

 

I know that Princess (and im assuming most lines) cancelled the stop in Istanbul, but I don't recall what replaced it if anything.

[grapau27]

I have posted this question on the port of call board, but got only one reply. If our ship does not make the St Petersburg port because of geopolitics, where else might our ship go? We are on Vision of the Sea in May.

 

Margee

 

 

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St Petersburg is the main port of the Baltic cruises often staying overnight.

You have to book a tour to get off the ship so it is lucrative business for the Russians.

 

43 cruises and counting.

[gadaboutgal]

We are also booked with Royal for a Baltic cruise this May. I'm really not worried about missing any ports at this time. However, as someone said earlier, never book a cruise if the ports are extremely critical to you. We have cruised the Med many times. Once we expected to go to Egypt but did not make it; another time we were to port in Israel but could not. Both times, the ship just spent another day cruising. Compensation is not offered, just as when the ships must skip Grand Cayman or Coco Cay. The ship just spends another day at sea. Highly unlikely a substitute port would be provided this soon to sailing as docking at another port would be difficult to book at the last minute.

But, again, it is not likely we will miss St. Pete in May.

[2ferfun]

We are booked on this same cruise in June. Is there a specific reason that you think we might not make the port or is it just because of the increased tension that seems to be emerging between the United States and Russia?

[ChinaShrek]

We are booked on this same cruise in June. Is there a specific reason that you think we might not make the port or is it just because of the increased tension that seems to be emerging between the United States and Russia?

 

It is entirely conceivable that Putin could cancel visa free access to St. Petersburg as retaliation for the US doing any number of things (bombing North Korea, bombing Syria again, killing Russians by accident, etc). The OP's concern is a valid one. As a precaution, I will not be paying for any Russian tours until we actually get off the ship. A refund could be quite difficult to get if Putin doesn't want Americans to get a refund.

[Ashland]

It is entirely conceivable that Putin could cancel visa free access to St. Petersburg as retaliation for the US doing any number of things (bombing North Korea, bombing Syria again, killing Russians by accident, etc). The OP's concern is a valid one. As a precaution, I will not be paying for any Russian tours until we actually get off the ship. A refund could be quite difficult to get if Putin doesn't want Americans to get a refund.

I believe most all the private tour provider's (we used TJ Travel for our 2 day port stop) require payment the 2nd day of tour...not pre-paid.

[ChinaShrek]

I believe most all the private tour provider's (we used TJ Travel for our 2 day port stop) require payment the 2nd day of tour...not pre-paid.

 

Many have posted that they are prepaying to receive a discount.

[grapau27]

It is entirely conceivable that Putin could cancel visa free access to St. Petersburg as retaliation for the US doing any number of things (bombing North Korea, bombing Syria again, killing Russians by accident, etc). The OP's concern is a valid one. As a precaution, I will not be paying for any Russian tours until we actually get off the ship. A refund could be quite difficult to get if Putin doesn't want Americans to get a refund.

Good idea but if booked with cruise line rather than outside agency you will get your money back.

 

43 cruises and counting.

[steamboats]

Margee, Tallin and Helsinki are pretty close. So both ports could be added or if already on the itinery made to an overnight stop (unless there´s no berth). Nobody can tell you right now what the cruise line will do. It also depends on how far in advance the port is cancelled.

 

We had to cancel the first day in St. Petersburg due to bad weather. All private tour operators of course did not charge the full amount for a 2 day tour but adjusted the price. They also adjusted the tour on day 2 to make the most out of it. I had tours booked through the ship which were also adjusted.

 

steamboats

[grapau27]

Margee, Tallin and Helsinki are pretty close. So both ports could be added or if already on the itinery made to an overnight stop (unless there´s no berth). Nobody can tell you right now what the cruise line will do. It also depends on how far in advance the port is cancelled.

 

We had to cancel the first day in St. Petersburg due to bad weather. All private tour operators of course did not charge the full amount for a 2 day tour but adjusted the price. They also adjusted the tour on day 2 to make the most out of it. I had tours booked through the ship which were also adjusted.

 

steamboats

Riga is good too but St Petersburg is the highlight so hope everything settles down.

 

43 cruises and counting.

[steamboats]

Riga is good too but St Petersburg is the highlight so hope everything settles down.

 

Definitely St. Petersburg is the highlight of the itinerary. But as I said... noone knows yet what the cruise lines will come up with in case they can´t go to St. Petersburg. It depends on how far in advance the port is not available any more. If they do have time for planning (like when they skipped all Turkish ports recently) they can come up with more ideas as an replacement. If the port is cancelled within a short term they have to take what´s available and that´s usually a closer port. Or just add a sea day (o.k., St. Petersburg is overnight so they can do an overnight in another port which is on the itinerary plus a sea day).

 

Riga is farther away from St. Petersburg than Tallin or Helsinki. There are other ports which are interesting like Gdynia or Klaipeda (depending also on the size of the ship). You also have Stockholm, Copenhagen, Warnemünde and maybe Göteborg - depending on where the cruise starts. I´m sure the cruise lines come up with an alternative in case it´s needed.

 

 

steamboats

[grapau27]

Definitely St. Petersburg is the highlight of the itinerary. But as I said... noone knows yet what the cruise lines will come up with in case they can´t go to St. Petersburg. It depends on how far in advance the port is not available any more. If they do have time for planning (like when they skipped all Turkish ports recently) they can come up with more ideas as an replacement. If the port is cancelled within a short term they have to take what´s available and that´s usually a closer port. Or just add a sea day (o.k., St. Petersburg is overnight so they can do an overnight in another port which is on the itinerary plus a sea day).

 

Riga is farther away from St. Petersburg than Tallin or Helsinki. There are other ports which are interesting like Gdynia or Klaipeda (depending also on the size of the ship). You also have Stockholm, Copenhagen, Warnemünde and maybe Göteborg - depending on where the cruise starts. I´m sure the cruise lines come up with an alternative in case it´s needed.

 

 

steamboats

Some of the ports you mention are included in the longer Baltic cruises so no stranger to the cruise lines if they have to change itineraries.

 

43 cruises and counting.

[steamboats]

Some of the ports you mention are included in the longer Baltic cruises so no stranger to the cruise lines if they have to change itineraries.

 

Yes, I know. But not all of the mentioned ports might be accessible by every ship. As I said twice it depends on when they cancel and on the availability of docking space.

 

steamboats

[2ferfun]

It is entirely conceivable that Putin could cancel visa free access to St. Petersburg as retaliation for the US doing any number of things (bombing North Korea, bombing Syria again, killing Russians by accident, etc). The OP's concern is a valid one. As a precaution, I will not be paying for any Russian tours until we actually get off the ship. A refund could be quite difficult to get if Putin doesn't want Americans to get a refund.

 

The list of things that are entirely conceivable is long and depressing. The economy in St. Petersburg would be extremely hard hit if cruise ships were unable to go there. It is unlikely that the Russian government would retaliate in such a way that would have no effect on the US government whatsoever but would hurt Russian citizens. I doubt that he is plotting how to keep Americans from getting a refund on their cruise excursions.

 

The Turkish ports were canceled because of instability within the country itself, not due to relations between Turkey and other nations. There does not seem to be increased instability within Russia itself. Unfortunately, the recent subway attack is just one of many terrorist events that have occurred all across Europe (London, Paris, Helsinki, etc.) It is becoming increasingly clear that events like this can happen anywhere.