summer 2019 British Isles or Iceland cruises?

[bmwman]

Nice, which itinerary did you book? I think we are just going to stick with RCCL even though it's not quite what we wanted (no Edinburgh and doesn't start in Southampton so no London). My DS said he actually wanted to visit Amsterdam more than London so that is a plus.

 

I noticed that for 2019 it seems there are less BI cruise options with less than stellar itineraries. When we first started researching (2017 season) and then for 2018 there were much better choices.

 

Where does it start from?

[trvlgirlmq]

Where does it start from?

 

The cruise we booked on RCCL starts/ends in Amsterdam. It visits Invergordon/Inverness, Greenock, Belfast, Holyhead, Dublin (overnight), Cobh (Cork) and Dover with 3 sea days for a 12 night sailing.

[Heartfelttraveler]

I am thinking that NCL is dumping the Spirit (and Sun). No itineraries after March 2019. They have port reservations for the Oceania and Regent itineraries for Scotland and Ireland in Spring/Summer 2019. I have only been cruising for a few years and have always booked our cruises 18-24 months (When itineraries are published) out to get the cabin that we want. In my limited history of cruising I find it VERY unusual that the itineraries are not out for April (thru December) 2019 on these two ships. Although I would love to do this on NCL, I am starting to look elsewhere.

[rocklinmom]

Trvlgirlmq, I booked the Princess 12 day British Isles cruise out of Southampton. We have sailed from Southampton before with them (to Norway) but this itinerary is to see Scotland and Ireland. It also has a day in Paris from Le Havre port. There were three pairs of the "cheapest" interior cabins I was watching (we need a double next to a quad) and two are now booked, so I needed to snag the last pair.

Your RCCL cruise looks like a great itinerary as well. You will like Amsterdam :-)

[cmh]

Trvlgirlmq, I booked the Princess 12 day British Isles cruise out of Southampton. We have sailed from Southampton before with them (to Norway) but this itinerary is to see Scotland and Ireland. It also has a day in Paris from Le Havre port. There were three pairs of the "cheapest" interior cabins I was watching (we need a double next to a quad) and two are now booked, so I needed to snag the last pair.

Your RCCL cruise looks like a great itinerary as well. You will like Amsterdam :-)

I will most likely do the same and cancel if NCL posts their itineraries for British Isles. I too am tired of waiting .

[bmwman]

The cruise we booked on RCCL starts/ends in Amsterdam. It visits Invergordon/Inverness, Greenock, Belfast, Holyhead, Dublin (overnight), Cobh (Cork) and Dover with 3 sea days for a 12 night sailing.

 

Dover to London by High Speed South Eastern rail 2 hours Max followed by a 3 hours open top round London and back

 

Sorted

[bmwman]

I am thinking that NCL is dumping the Spirit (and Sun). No itineraries after March 2019. They have port reservations for the Oceania and Regent itineraries for Scotland and Ireland in Spring/Summer 2019. I have only been cruising for a few years and have always booked our cruises 18-24 months (When itineraries are published) out to get the cabin that we want. In my limited history of cruising I find it VERY unusual that the itineraries are not out for April (thru December) 2019 on these two ships. Although I would love to do this on NCL, I am starting to look elsewhere.

 

I think this is VERY possible :lips-sealed:

 

The two most expensive ships to operate with lowest yield - Cash in will they can!!

[WanderlustJourney]

Just spoke with my contact at NCL, they are releasing 2019 Spirit dates soon, apparently there have been some delays with organizing port docking space... My NCL business development manager I spoke with was actually surprised himself the dates had not been released and contacted head office.

[Pav]

Another week gone by and nothing ... sigh. Seems like they are missing some TA’s for next year as well? This Fall has 5, and Fall 2019 is only showing 2 so far.

 

 

There is a 3rd Transatlantic in November 2019. It is the Star 14 Day, from Barcelona to Miami, Nov.22 to Dec.6 2019. I found it listed under "Europe Cruises".

[jenng1976]

Disney Cruises just announced their 2019 Summer itins (on sale next week) - there is an Iceland / Norway cruise that I’m intrigued with, but it will probably be pretty pricy since it’s Disney!

 

I just wish NCL would release theirs if they are going to.

 

 

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[bmwman]

Just spoke with my contact at NCL, they are releasing 2019 Spirit dates soon, apparently there have been some delays with organizing port docking space... My NCL business development manager I spoke with was actually surprised himself the dates had not been released and contacted head office.

 

Not likely at all - the docking space is organised years in advance by the cruise lines. I have also spoken to NCL and that is certainly not the reason for the delay. If it was the TA would not be missing too. You do not announce a program without first having a ship and port space!

 

The ports know their capacity and lines book and release berths at least 3 years in advance.

 

In the UK the brochure production is now stalled for 2019 and early 2020.

[bmwman]

Disney Cruises just announced their 2019 Summer itins (on sale next week) - there is an Iceland / Norway cruise that I’m intrigued with, but it will probably be pretty pricy since it’s Disney!

 

I just wish NCL would release theirs if they are going to.

 

 

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Guess what it is not pricey at all and thanks for the heads up

[jenng1976]

Guess what it is not pricey at all and thanks for the heads up

 

 

 

You’re welcome! We travelled Disney a few years ago in Hawaii and really enjoyed it. The Norway/Iceland cruise seems like a good itin.

 

I think I’m eligible on Wed to book, I’ll have to take a look at the prices!

 

 

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[jenf22]

You’re welcome! We travelled Disney a few years ago in Hawaii and really enjoyed it. The Norway/Iceland cruise seems like a good itin.

 

I think I’m eligible on Wed to book, I’ll have to take a look at the prices!

 

I'll check DCL as well, but just for reference we paid $3100 for 2A, 1C for a mini-suite on the NCL Star to Norway in 2015 and the Magic was doing a similar itinerary at the same time and it was ~$7000 for a balcony room. I don't know if I priced opening day or not, but it had to have been close since I remember wandering through my house singing "For the First Time in Forever" once I decided my 40th birthday would be in Norway :)

 

I really want to see NCL's British Isles prices!!! I can't afford Princess :(

[trvlgirlmq]

I'll check DCL as well, but just for reference we paid $3100 for 2A, 1C for a mini-suite on the NCL Star to Norway in 2015 and the Magic was doing a similar itinerary at the same time and it was ~$7000 for a balcony room. I don't know if I priced opening day or not, but it had to have been close since I remember wandering through my house singing "For the First Time in Forever" once I decided my 40th birthday would be in Norway :)

 

I really want to see NCL's British Isles prices!!! I can't afford Princess :(

 

I can't afford Princess or Disney :) Plus we can only travel from last weekend in May and must be home by mid July for marching band camp. This really puts a damper on the itineraries we can do with any cruise line. Still kind of holding out hope that NCL will release, have the itinerary we want and be less money than what we are currently paying for RCCL.

[rocklinmom]

For us (five people in two cabins) the Royal one is actually cheaper than the Princess one. And on Royal we would get OV cabins vs. interiors on Princess. It came down to my daughters wanting to see Paris, and our loyalty perks on Princess vs. being newbies on Royal.

[trvlgirlmq]

We are booked in one of the family OV for $900 less than an Inside on Princess. So for us it came down to room type as putting 4 in that amount of sq ft is just not what we want to do. Even though we like the itinerary better on Princess we went with Royal (for now).

[rocklinmom]

Yes that makes sense. And who knows, maybe NCL will still release for the Spirit and the prices will be good :-)

[WanderlustJourney]

Not likely at all - the docking space is organised years in advance by the cruise lines. I have also spoken to NCL and that is certainly not the reason for the delay. If it was the TA would not be missing too. You do not announce a program without first having a ship and port space!

 

The ports know their capacity and lines book and release berths at least 3 years in advance.

 

In the UK the brochure production is now stalled for 2019 and early 2020.

 

Yes and no, there can be circumstances like airlines that have to do changes, which can delay releasing a schedule. Also, she wouldn't be doing a TA as she has been doing the Barcelona/Canary Islands run during the Winter?

Whatever the reason for the delay, I can't see NCL not sailing the Fjords or Iceland in 2019. It's a very profitable sailing for them.

[bmwman]

Yes and no, there can be circumstances like airlines that have to do changes, which can delay releasing a schedule. Also, she wouldn't be doing a TA as she has been doing the Barcelona/Canary Islands run during the Winter?

Whatever the reason for the delay, I can't see NCL not sailing the Fjords or Iceland in 2019. It's a very profitable sailing for them.

 

Ok - I take the point - but where is the Barcelona to UK cruise?

 

The ports would have been booked by now for other ships by NCL. Even if they did not which equipment ( ship) they would reserve the space. Yes they may still release the UK and the intro pricing may be good to get the business!!

 

Lets wait and see :)

[KeithJenner]

I don't have any behind the scenes info as to how this stuff works, but it would surprise me if port schedules are made years in advance.

 

Even if they are, they almost certainly get changed a lot later than that.

 

I know I keep banging on about Summer 2017, and the changes which happened then, but I think that it is worth looking at the timeline for what happened that year.

 

Around new year of 2015/16, people started reporting seeing the Norwegian Jade appearing on cruise port schedules in Britain/Norway and Iceland, so the conclusion was that the Jade would be taking over these routes from that year. This was confirmed in January 2016, with an announcement of cruise schedules for those places from Southampton and Hamburg. These itineraries were to be released for sale soon afterwards.

 

Then, in mid February, when they were released for sale, the actual itineraries were different from what had been indicated in the press release, and from what had been reported on some port schedules. It seems that some changes had been made to those original port bookings.

 

Then, in July 2016, these itineraries were pretty well binned and they started again. The new itineraries were substantially different from those which had been on sale for the previous six months. There was a considerable amount of rebooking ports taking place at that point.

 

In summary, we are currently only a couple of weeks behind the date when the original itineraries were released for sale two years ago. In addition, we are about 5-6 months ahead of when the correct ones finally went on sale.

 

Yes, they are late releasing them this year, but it is far from unprecedented.

[Ulsteinvik]

For example, in Scotland NCL started to book spaces for NCL Spirit in mid/end January 2018.

[bmwman]

I don't have any behind the scenes info as to how this stuff works, but it would surprise me if port schedules are made years in advance.

 

Even if they are, they almost certainly get changed a lot later than that.

 

I know I keep banging on about Summer 2017, and the changes which happened then, but I think that it is worth looking at the timeline for what happened that year.

 

Around new year of 2015/16, people started reporting seeing the Norwegian Jade appearing on cruise port schedules in Britain/Norway and Iceland, so the conclusion was that the Jade would be taking over these routes from that year. This was confirmed in January 2016, with an announcement of cruise schedules for those places from Southampton and Hamburg. These itineraries were to be released for sale soon afterwards.

 

Then, in mid February, when they were released for sale, the actual itineraries were different from what had been indicated in the press release, and from what had been reported on some port schedules. It seems that some changes had been made to those original port bookings.

 

Then, in July 2016, these itineraries were pretty well binned and they started again. The new itineraries were substantially different from those which had been on sale for the previous six months. There was a considerable amount of rebooking ports taking place at that point.

 

In summary, we are currently only a couple of weeks behind the date when the original itineraries were released for sale two years ago. In addition, we are about 5-6 months ahead of when the correct ones finally went on sale.

 

Yes, they are late releasing them this year, but it is far from unprecedented.

 

A good point well made. You seem to agree that booking ports at a late stage is not an issue so the delay in unlikely to be port space. But why leave it this late when you completion has its inventory for sale

[KeithJenner]

For example, in Scotland NCL started to book spaces for NCL Spirit in mid/end January 2018.

 

Do you know that as a fact?

 

If that is true then it would certainly indicate that they are just late with the itineraries, rather than there being anything more significant to the delay.

[KeithJenner]

A good point well made. You seem to agree that booking ports at a late stage is not an issue so the delay in unlikely to be port space. But why leave it this late when you completion has its inventory for sale

 

Why they have left it this late is indeed the question.

 

I suppose the best answer I can come up with is that it probably isn't as big a deal as we think it is. Most of my friends are still deciding what they are doing for a holiday this Summer, so the fact that 2019 itineraries aren't out is no big deal. I'm sure they will still sell them well whenever they release them.

 

Purely speculatively, perhaps they have to be a bit behind others, because most other lines have longer standing relationships with these ports than NCL do. Maybe they have to wait until later once the ports know what their better customers require. I did wonder whether fitting in the ports was a factor in all the changes in 2017.

 

That is probably totally wrong, but you never know.