Breakaway Baltic Missing 50% of Ports

[Donna_In_India]

That's SO disappointing! Our Baltic cruise (RCI) was my favorite cruise. I would have been sad to miss any of the ports. Hopefully everyone arrives safely in Copenhagen.

[zitsky]

Strange that you would volunteer yourself for a situation that you think could easily occur, and that would make you unhappy if it happens.

 

Honestly, this is why we stick to cheap Caribbean cruises instead of expensive, often missed itineraries like Baltics, Bermuda, Alaska, etc.

 

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This trip was my husband's idea. We heard many good things about it. It is mostly the Falklands that could be skipped. Maybe one more port also. Weather in that part of South America is unpredictable, so I'm told. Missed ports will change to sea days, which is not the worst thing in the world.

 

Weather can affect any location. I never thought that would be an issue for the Baltic region, but now I understand why. Even the Caribbean gets bad weather from time to time.

[sarahm51]

Was supposed to be on this cruise but had to reschedule and instead cruised early Aug. Was disappointed as had wanted cold weather. I suppose the change was good as got to do all ports. For Stockholm, they "tie up" to a floating pier that could definitely be a problem with wind. I followed the ship through a ship tracker and thought that some ports had been skipped on this cruise and possibly last cruise. I also follow the weather/winds. Glad you got to see St Petersburg without the crowds that we endured. Helsinki really wan't much but Stockholm was an interesting city. Or perhaps out guide in Stockholm make it good. A shout out to TJ Tours who we used for all our excursions.

[RaginCajunCruisers337]

Not familiar with these itineraries to be honest. Is there a good time to cruise them and a more valnerable time for them because of bad weather. Just like the Caribbean with hurricane season. Would love to cruise this itinerary in the future but just want to know when is a great time and when to avoid. Thanks!

[KeithJenner]

Not familiar with these itineraries to be honest. Is there a good time to cruise them and a more valnerable time for them because of bad weather. Just like the Caribbean with hurricane season. Would love to cruise this itinerary in the future but just want to know when is a great time and when to avoid. Thanks!

 

 

There is a much bigger risk of weather causing problems early or late in the season. The period from late June late August is safest, although we missed Stockholm due to the weather in August, which just shows that nothing is guaranteed when it comes to the weather. Going early or late in the season is always riskier.

 

 

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[PelicanBill]

Let's see. 1100 miles, at 22mph would be about 50 hours cruise time but can't go that fast in some of the narrower areas. But if the data in Marine Traffic is correct, left St. Petersburg 29 Sep 19:21 UTC+3, arrives Copenhagen Oct. 2 9:15 UTC+2. That's 5+24+24+10=62 hrs. If you could find a port with the right timing, you'd have time for a port. But it would come down to timing and having a port with an agent and ability to make arrangements with short notice. If you don't have contracts, excursions are hard to arrange. Some port piers are a long way from downtown for people to just wander or do it themselves. Probably comes down to timing and ability to execute.

 

Nynashamn (Stockhold) is 660 miles, or 30 hours cruise time. Awkward timing. You could not get there for Sep 30, and Oct. 1 is too late to get to Copenhagen time.

[CarnieAddict]

Well she could have left St. Petersburg after one day and dock at Helsinki today. Then one day at sea to Warnemünde and on Tuesday back in Copenhagen.

There are regulations when you dock in St Petersburg you have to stay over night. Not sure why. Think it has something to do with customs.

[martinchem]

The safety of the crew and guests are of most importance.

[fabnfortysomething]

Although people say you shouldn’t book ship for itinerary as ports can be missed for safety reasons in the case if a Baltic’s cruise it IS all about the ports especially st Petersburg and refunds should reflect this

 

 

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[maryinFL]

Although people say you shouldn’t book ship for itinerary as ports can be missed for safety reasons in the case if a Baltic’s cruise it IS all about the ports especially st Petersburg and refunds should reflect this

 

 

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Unfortunately, all I'm aware of is a $44 credit per person as a refund of port fees and taxes. Disappointed is an understatement, we booked in January 2017 and were looking forward to all of our ports. But NCL has no control over the weather.

 

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[Nola26]

My Dad is on that cruise - it's his first, and I'm guessing it will be his last. What a bummer.

 

The 'Away ships have lots to do and NCL does a good job with food. There can be worst places to be "stuck". The NCL crews tend to be fun, courteous and customer focused so his experience may be a good after all. He will likely have some disappointment, but he will understand first hand the itinerary risks with cruising. On my first NCL cruise we missed GSC and to this day I've not been there. I had a great day onboard and logged 25,000 steps on my fitbit due to my activity. It was my first NCL cruise and I've been on an NCL cruise at least each year since.

 

Now your father invested considerable money on international flights, missing ports on a trip like that may truly be a once in a lifetime miss and I'm sorry for the disappointment that must bring. NCL will refund the port charges associated with those misses and they may provide a bounceback offer so he can book with NCL in the future.

[Mimimatz]

There are regulations when you dock in St Petersburg you have to stay over night. Not sure why. Think it has something to do with customs.

 

AIDA Cruises regularly stays in St. Petersburg for one day only (e. g. on their weekly tour from Warnemünde with AIDAmar)

[maryinFL]

 

Now your father invested considerable money on international flights, missing ports on a trip like that may truly be a once in a lifetime miss and I'm sorry for the disappointment that must bring. NCL will refund the port charges associated with those misses and they may provide a bounceback offer so he can book with NCL in the future.

 

So far, they have credited us $44/PP and no mention of a bounceback offer or additional credit.

 

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[jamepa2001mx]

Letter to NCL Cruise about the eñworst cruisein my whole life.... after 18th cruises I choosed NCL , first and last cruise with them!!

 

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[Mimimatz]

Sounds very true and understandable what you wrote there. Hopefully you will get a credit on future cruises

[Turtles06]

I feel very bad for the folks who were on this cruise, a port-intensive cruise chosen specifically for these special ports. I also believe strongly that safety must come first and thus understand that sometimes ports may get missed, and I further understand that cruise lines write their contracts so that they are not legally responsible for missed ports. But legal obligations or not, when a cruise like this one misses so many ports, I believe the cruise line should step up and provide some sort of compensation to the passengers, be it OBC or a future cruise credit, or a combination of both. It's the right thing to do, even if not legally required.

 

My wife and I were just on a 20-night Holland America cruise from Copenhagen to NY. We missed one port in Iceland due to weather, another in Greenland because we were delayed a day by a storm in Iceland, and then we missed St. John's because we were called to assist in the search for a passenger who had jumped overboard from another cruise ship. (Things besides weather can cause a port to be missed. The person was never found, and that was an incredibly sad day at sea.)

 

None of those things was HAL's fault, but out of the blue, the evening we were to have called at St. John's, we received a letter in our cabins stating that everyone was getting OBC of $50 pp and a future cruise credit in the amount of 15% of the base fare we each paid for this cruise. HAL did not have to do that, but I can tell you that this was really appreciated. It's called business goodwill. It would appear that the corporate folks at NCL need to learn about that.

 

I do hope that NCL steps up here.

[steamboats]

There are regulations when you dock in St Petersburg you have to stay over night. Not sure why. Think it has something to do with customs.

 

No, definitely not. My DD has been on the Serenade of the Seas this August with a planned one day stop in St. Petersburg. In 2016 our stop in St. Petersburg was cut short to one day instead of two due to the weather. And it was the decision of the ship to stay only for one day and not miss out Stockholm and Helsiniki.

 

steamboats

[Trimone]

This Baltic cruise has had problems from day one, on our itinerary we were due to dock in Stockholm through the small islands, we ended up in nynashamn.

[anonmom]

Everyone complained about this stuff happening last year, too. The Baltics sounds lovely, but I think if you are a middle-class traveler doing it as a bucket list trip/once in a lifetime type trip it just makes sense to do a land tour. Really only makes sense to do the Baltics cruise for Haven passengers who cruise multiple times a year and are already bored with the Caribbean and Mediterranean itineraries.

 

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[zitsky]

Everyone complained about this stuff happening last year, too. The Baltics sounds lovely, but I think if you are a middle-class traveler doing it as a bucket list trip/once in a lifetime type trip it just makes sense to do a land tour. Really only makes sense to do the Baltics cruise for Haven passengers who cruise multiple times a year and are already bored with the Caribbean and Mediterranean itineraries.

 

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Is there any time of year when weather is decent and there is less chance of schedule changes?

[KeithJenner]

Is there any time of year when weather is decent and there is less chance of schedule changes?

 

 

Yes. Most of the season.

 

I disagree completely with the post you quoted. At the very start or end of the season there is quite a big risk of this sort of disruption. But for most of the time these itineraries run with no trouble at all.

 

Overall, for the main period from mid June to late August, there is slightly more chance of the odd missed port than somewhere like the Med, but most cruises go absolutely fine.

 

There have been some issues with Stockholm in the past few years, but that is more to do with the size of the ships that NCL have been using than the weather.

 

 

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[sryan]

Is there any time of year when weather is decent and there is less chance of schedule changes?

 

We were on this cruise at the end of May 2018 and we had sunny, beautiful, warm weather for the entire trip. I believe June and July are probably the best months to cruise here.

We had been to the Baltic on a cruise 10 years ago in mid August and it rained most of the time and was cold.

[uavshadow]

Why not insurance available to allow another trip. Sure could be expensive but give folks the choice.

 

 

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[JillK]

Heard overnight from my parents who were on this cruise.

 

They report that they were very disappointed to miss the three ports but they really enjoyed Tallinn and Saint Petersburg.

 

They believe they were credited for one missed port fee, but assume they did not get the other two since they spent an extra day docked in both Copenhagen and Saint Petersburg. No other compensation received and my mom did express a bit of disappointed that NCL did not provide a nominal goodwill gesture.

 

She said the ship was great but overcrowded in the public indoor areas due to missed ports. Food and entertainment were good as were the fellow passengers they met.

 

They had tacked this cruise on to the start of a land trip so they still have the majority of their vacation to do but she said lesson learned about cruising at the end of the season.

[Seminole1975]

Is there any time of year when weather is decent and there is less chance of schedule changes?

 

 

We went mid September last year and had beautiful fall weather. Bright blue cloudless skies. It got warm at times. The only time I got even a little cold was in Copenhagen on a canal boat tour on the latter part of our trip.We had no schedule changes.