How common are port changes and cancellations to HAL cruises?

[badtwin]

We don't usually shop cruises so far in advance, but over eighteen months ago I found a HAL itinerary I really liked - a 13 night Mediterranean that included two stops in Malta and one in Ravenna Italy that were of particular interest.    While we were still watching and waiting for the right deal, one of the Malta stops got changed to  Naples which was disappointing.  Then we booked something else  and I quit watching but the other day got a price notice from a website that will not be named and had to check it out and noticed that Ravenna was gone from the itinerary.  I checked and Ravenna was gone from the two or three HAL cruises we had been considering.  Needless to say we are much relieved we had booked the other cruise as the most important port (to us) were no longer included.

 

My question is if this is a frequent issue with HAL (or any other lines you know) or is it just a quirk on the route I was considering.  As I said, we don't usually look for a cruise that far ahead of time, so maybe it is more common than I know.  I can understand when weather conditions make it impossible to visit a port while on the cruise, but I never really considered that a cruise I booked could change quite that much after booking.

 

Thanks for your insights.

 

 

 

[Cruizer Bill]

If you book a (relatively) longer cruise in advance that has lots of port calls, there is a pretty good chance there will be some changes.  I believe this is true for all cruise lines.  I have seen it happen many times. 

[0bnxshs]

My experience has been different from Cruizer Bill's in that we book (relatively) longer cruises and have seen only a couple of port changes prior to embarkation.  We have had ports changed during cruises due to port issues like strikes/work stoppages but I can think of only 2 times when we've had ports changed on an itinerary booked several months out prior to embarkation.

 

I think it's a very dynamic thing that might happen in clusters dependent on various issues like security, contracts and local changes in port management.  We've perhaps been lucky to pick itineraries that aren't often affected by whatever causes these changes.

Edited May 15, 2019 by 0bnxshs

[catl331]

In 20 HAL cruises I can only recall one instance of a port change prior to sailing: on a  West Med cruise Mallorca/Majorca was eliminated without explanation. Of course we've had a half-dozen or so missed ports due to weather or ship equipment problems.

Edited May 15, 2019 by catl331

[kazu]

Well, I guess I am the unlucky one.  On my last 2 cruises a port has been changed each time.

 

One was due to tides (doesn’t someone check out tides in advance?) and the other due to French immigration issues.

 

We’ve had ports changed on other cruises due to security reasons (changes in the world), etc.  

 

It can happen.  

[3rdGenCunarder]

18 minutes ago, kazu said:

Well, I guess I am the unlucky one.  On my last 2 cruises a port has been changed each time.

 

One was due to tides (doesn’t someone check out tides in advance?) and the other due to French immigration issues.

 

We’ve had ports changed on other cruises due to security reasons (changes in the world), etc.  

 

It can happen.  

 

Yeah, the tide thing was pretty stupid.

 

Your cruises were on Prinsendam, which had a lot of "one-off" cruises. I think the more unusual the itinerary is, the more likely that something will come up to necessitate a change. Look at Maasdam to Alaska. It's the first year they sold the 3-week cruise. I was thinking about it, so I looked at it from time to time. Lots of port changes, and in the end I stuck with the Cunard cruise I had already booked for this June.

 

 

[kwb101]

16 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

Look at Maasdam to Alaska. It's the first year they sold the 3-week cruise. I was thinking about it, so I looked at it from time to time. Lots of port changes, and in the end I stuck with the Cunard cruise I had already booked for this June.

I'm on board Maasdam (today we're at Homer), and there were several changes some weeks ago:

• Instead of stopping at Anchorage, Vancouver, and Victoria, each of the three itineraries only offered two, so you had to pick the pair you wanted. We ended up missing Anchorage.
• Kake (home to the world's tallest totem pole) was dropped for scenic cruising. However, you can still visit Kake, but only on a Zodiac shore excursion for $200. Not cool. 
• Eureka, California was dropped for Port Alberni, BC

It's still a good itinerary, but unfortunate that the itinerary changed as much as it did. 

[slidergirl]

I always look at cruises as stopping at possible ports.  Nothing is set in stone.  If you book a cruise with "one-off" ports and some or all are missed,  sure, you can be disappointed, but no whining allowed 😉

I think there are even times when ports of embarkation/debarkation are changed to due to significant events...

 

Eureka is a brand new "port" - I wonder if they bit off more than they can chew and figured they can't handle such a large ship and  thousands of tourists.   They only had "The World" back 7 years ago - not the many guests.   From what I read, they were hoping to sell lots of cruisers on private tours to areas outside of Eureka, like to Redwood National Park, Trinidad, maybe kayaking in Humbolt Bay.   Eureka also has a severe homeless situation, exacerbated by a major meth/opiod addiction crisis, similar to rural area in Vermont.  Some cruisers may be put off at the prospect of encountering these people wandering the streets (the homeless camps have been/are being destroyed, leaving the homeless no place to "live" but the streets).   I some complain about the homeless situation in San Francisco as a reason they don't want to go there - image a very, very small town with a situation much worse given it's small size.  I applaud Eureka for an attempt to get money tourist money, but I hope it goes toward assisting those in this remote area toward getting assistance at all levels, not just putting the money in the pockets of vendors.

The area is geographically beautiful.  I've camped up in the area many times.  I have old friends who went to Humboldt State College (now University).   I just can't imagine thousands getting off a ship and swamping the area.    But, if you want to sample some legal marijuana - Eureka is in the heart of the "Emerald Triangle", home to some of the best quality marijuana in the world.  It is actually a major cash crop and makes a lot of money in taxes now for the state.   Just don't go wandering aimlessly around out in the woods - producers still protect their crops with armed guards!!!

Edited May 15, 2019 by slidergirl

[kwb101]

We've stayed in Eureks a couple of times over the past few years, and it's a nice town. However, you've hit the nail on the head about some of the problems there. When we saw it on the May 7 itinerary, we liked the novelty of stopping there on a ship, but didn't see that there was much to do there. 

As far as itineraries changing, we were on the Viking Passage in September 2018. One port was added just before sailing, but we lost another just after we sailed because of the weather. We were in one port two nights (scheduled to be one day), which resulted in one Greenland port being canceled. Then, as we neared Saint Johns, Nova Scotia, we had to assist in searching for someone who jumped overboard from an Aida ship, so we lost that port as well. We arrived in NY on time, and HAL gave everyone a 15% credit toward a future cruise.

Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. 

[slidergirl]

1 minute ago, kwb101 said:

We've stayed in Eureks a couple of times over the past few years, and it's a nice town. However, you've hit the nail on the head about some of the problems there. When we saw it on the May 7 itinerary, we liked the novelty of stopping there on a ship, but didn't see that there was much to do there. 

As far as itineraries changing, we were on the Viking Passage in September 2018. One port was added just before sailing, but we lost another just after we sailed because of the weather. We were in one port two nights (scheduled to be one day), which resulted in one Greenland port being canceled. Then, as we neared Saint Johns, Nova Scotia, we had to assist in searching for someone who jumped overboard from an Aida ship, so we lost that port as well. We arrived in NY on time, and HAL gave everyone a 15% credit toward a future cruise.

Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches. 

 

You are correct - there really isn't anything to do in town, other than hit a little restaurant or bar.  It's history was a logging and fishing town.  Tourism is it's prime gig now, but largely as a gateway to those going to the National and State Parks in the area, and those driving up PCH (Pacific Coast Highway).   There are a bunch of Victorian-type houses in town, kind of like in Astoria, OR.  But outside of that, not much.  

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have had change of ports many times on various cruise lines.

 

One time we found a letter on our bed once we got on the ship indicating that there was a port change.  Most times we had advanced warning.

 

These things happen.

[kwb101]

I'm being to think that a trip without a port change is more the exception than the rule ;)

[kazu]

4 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Yeah, the tide thing was pretty stupid.

 

Your cruises were on Prinsendam, which had a lot of "one-off" cruises. I think the more unusual the itinerary is, the more likely that something will come up to necessitate a change. Look at Maasdam to Alaska. It's the first year they sold the 3-week cruise. I was thinking about it, so I looked at it from time to time. Lots of port changes, and in the end I stuck with the Cunard cruise I had already booked for this June.

 

 

 

You’re right on the ship but it’s not the only ship where there have been changes.

 

We’ve had changes on multiple ships and multiple lines.

 

Probably the worst was what was scheduled to be an overnight in Bermuda on our TA  and because we were a plague ship (Noro) the ship (O) was not allowed to let the healthy ones off.  So we ended up in Nassau.  Uggh. 

 

Back to the changes...

 

Some were understandable and beyond the cruise lines’ control.

 

Others with last minute notifications (like the tide thing) I just shake my head and wonder.

 

In any case if anyone really wants to get somewhere, a land tour is the best solution.  But cruising is a nice way to go 😉 

[bennybear]

We’ve had a lot too.  The worst when they dropped Beijing.   But our last Japan cruise they dropped Fukuoka where I done a lot of planning and threw in Sakaiminato for operational reasons!   We are also booked on the Med that dropped Ravenna,  a lovely town with amazing mosaics for Koper.   There never is any real explanation or compensation.  Sometimes it is a deal breaker, other times it can be a plus or minus.   

 

I too understand when when they can’t make a port,  goodbye Mykonos!   But some of these others don’t make sense to me.