NCL pulling visits to St Petersburg

[Cruiseandgamble]

I'm on the July 11th Dawn cruise out of Stockholm.  Received the updated itinerary and the 20% discount shows up in my account - apparently I only paid $5 for the cruise (it was is a CAS comped cruise but still paid out over $660 for the cruise).

[susiesan]

I don't see on my NCL account what the price of the cruise is. I also don't see when final payment is due. Maybe it is because I booked though a TA and not directly with NCL. The TA says my FP is due April 15 for a Aug. 16 cruise. is this right? Does NCL always have final payment 4 months before the cruise?

[erin21497]

16 minutes ago, susiesan said:

I don't see on my NCL account what the price of the cruise is. I also don't see when final payment is due. Maybe it is because I booked though a TA and not directly with NCL. The TA says my FP is due April 15 for a Aug. 16 cruise. is this right? Does NCL always have final payment 4 months before the cruise?

I was surprised by this too.  FP in March for July cruise.  In today's environment, 120 days is an awfully long time to pay in advance...

[Travelling2Some]

7 hours ago, erin21497 said:

I was surprised by this too.  FP in March for July cruise.  In today's environment, 120 days is an awfully long time to pay in advance...

Agree.  We have a Baltic cruise booked for mid-September and the final payment date is May 24th.  Given the current political situation that is unreasonably far out.  We are okay with the ports substituted for St. Petersburg but events will likely still be too unpredictable for us to make full payment 4 months in advance.  We are keeping the reservation for now and hoping to go but we will likely cancel if the final payment date is not adjusted.   

[susiesan]

2 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

Agree.  We have a Baltic cruise booked for mid-September and the final payment date is May 24th.  Given the current political situation that is unreasonably far out.  We are okay with the ports substituted for St. Petersburg but events will likely still be too unpredictable for us to make full payment 4 months in advance.  We are keeping the reservation for now and hoping to go but we will likely cancel if the final payment date is not adjusted.   

You and always cancel now, keep your air and hotel reservations in place and then  rebook closer to sail date if you decide to go. But you woild likely lose the 20% discount unless NCL substantially lowers the price for new bookings. All Baltic cruises this year will be very lightly booked. 

[mkmain]

On 2/24/2022 at 12:59 PM, charlie murphy said:

not a capitalist economy in russia. The tour guides will survive.  I am sure russia does not rely on the cruise trade for their economy to function, other regions do. i am also not an economist so i could be wrong with my assumptions but I don't think so. My first thought is not to lost revenue of the tour guide,  there is a bigger issue here. such as passenger, crew and vessel safety.  I would suspect that fees at other ports are commencerate with the fees of the russian port, I also assume that those contracts were arranged years in advance, the port of saint petersburg is not saying " oh as long as your not stopping here let us refund your fees" so the cruise line will be eating these fees and scambling to find an alternative. i would not expect a price drop. Let's hope for a better Stop (or two). there are a bunch of great ports in very close proximty in the baltic sea. 

 

[mkmain]

On 2/24/2022 at 10:19 AM, susiesan said:

Just got the email. I will likely cancel.

I tried to cancel and they told me I would lose half of my cruise fare paid. I can’t afford to throw away that kind of money   I even bought the insurance.  We sail May 27th

[Kierste]

12 hours ago, Cruiseandgamble said:

I'm on the July 11th Dawn cruise out of Stockholm.  Received the updated itinerary and the 20% discount shows up in my account - apparently I only paid $5 for the cruise (it was is a CAS comped cruise but still paid out over $660 for the cruise).

hi! Can you post what they sent you for an updated itinerary?  TIA!

[sandygarrison]

Anyone here cancel after this announcement that had already made final payment?  Evidently no refunds for cancellations?

[Lucinarei]

2 hours ago, susiesan said:

You and always cancel now, keep your air and hotel reservations in place and then  rebook closer to sail date if you decide to go. But you woild likely lose the 20% discount unless NCL substantially lowers the price for new bookings. All Baltic cruises this year will be very lightly booked. 

This is what I did for our July 2 Dawn Baltic cruise. It was just too unpredictable for me with a March 4th final payment date, so we canceled the cruise, but are keeping flights and hotels in place for the moment.

 

The price of the cruise has shot way up since we booked ($2k more for the same room), though, so I'm thinking this will likely turn into a land vacation for us.

[julig22]

2 hours ago, Kierste said:

hi! Can you post what they sent you for an updated itinerary?  TIA!

See my post 145

[Kim Viktor]

On 3/10/2022 at 1:23 PM, dexddd said:

Love the precise 9:20 arrival to Stockholm.  Where did Finland go?

The arrival time is so exactly, since it have to go through the archipelago when it is daylight, so 9.20 will be the earliest possible arrival in the beginning of September. 

[AppleDumpling]

Still no word on Getaway cruises in August, as far as I know. The wait is killing me! 

[Travelling2Some]

8 hours ago, Kim Viktor said:

The arrival time is so exactly, since it have to go through the archipelago when it is daylight, so 9.20 will be the earliest possible arrival in the beginning of September. 

I thought all of NCL's ships ported in Nynashamn rather than Stockholm proper?   No?  If you dock in Nynashamn, you do not go through the archipelago unfortunately. 

[Travelling2Some]

22 hours ago, susiesan said:

You and always cancel now, keep your air and hotel reservations in place and then  rebook closer to sail date if you decide to go. But you woild likely lose the 20% discount unless NCL substantially lowers the price for new bookings. All Baltic cruises this year will be very lightly booked. 

My usual habit is to only pay the refundable deposit and make fully cancelable hotel reservations up until the day of final payment.  (I never accepted FCC for canceled cruises, so that is not a consideration.)  On the same day that I make final payment, I buy airfare, buy third party insurance and check for a better deal on our hotels.  At that point I'm in with both feet.  Before that day I can cancel everything with no financial loss.  That makes the final payment date weigh very heavily in my decisions.  I strongly prefer to do things that way and so far I have not lost a penny despite having to cancel at least 6 planned trips during the course of the pandemic.   Frankly, I would not have booked with NCL had I noticed their final payment date was so far in advance.  I think they must have changed this since we last sailed with them.  Anyway, not sure what we will do but I never do things I'm uncomfortable with so . . .   Your point about all Baltic cruises this season being lightly booked is definitely something to think about.  These are not normal times.

Edited March 12, 2022 by Travelling2Some

[milolii]

2 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

I thought all of NCL's ships ported in Nynashamn rather than Stockholm proper?   No?  If you dock in Nynashamn, you do not go through the archipelago unfortunately. 

The Dawn docks at Stockholm, which is one reason some chose it over the Getaway. 

Edited March 12, 2022 by milolii

[susiesan]

6 minutes ago, milolii said:

The Dawn docks at Stockholm, which is one reason some chose it over the Getaway. 

That's true for me, docking right in Stockholm is a plus for me. I prefer smaller ships for all my cruises. With a port intensive cruise like Baltic itineraries are, very little time is spent on the ship. It's  more like a moving hotel room than a cruise. Dawn sails at 4:00pm so I hope I will see the scenery sailing through the archipelago. In August it should stay light much longer being so far north. 

[milolii]

Today there seems to be some gaps in the Dawn’s schedules for July and August.  Not sure what this means. July 20-28 is no longer available. It looks like a few other dates are affected as well. 

[Kim Viktor]

6 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

I thought all of NCL's ships ported in Nynashamn rather than Stockholm proper?   No?  If you dock in Nynashamn, you do not go through the archipelago unfortunately. 

Getaway will dock in both Nynäshamn and Stockholm this summer. However Escape (that was planned for the Baltic last years) is too large for Stockholm (maximum 160 000 gross tonnage is allowed) and had therefore all her planned calls in Nynäshamn. Prima however will go in to Stockholm. 

[dexddd]

5 hours ago, Kim Viktor said:

Getaway will dock in both Nynäshamn and Stockholm this summer. However Escape (that was planned for the Baltic last years) is too large for Stockholm (maximum 160 000 gross tonnage is allowed) and had therefore all her planned calls in Nynäshamn. Prima however will go in to Stockholm. 

When we sailed the Sun in 2012, we originally were to go to Stockholm but a couple months out they changed it to Nynashamn so we missed the trip which I've heard is wonderful.

[Saab4444]

5 hours ago, Kim Viktor said:

Getaway will dock in both Nynäshamn and Stockholm this summer. However Escape (that was planned for the Baltic last years) is too large for Stockholm (maximum 160 000 gross tonnage is allowed) and had therefore all her planned calls in Nynäshamn. Prima however will go in to Stockholm. 

I believe the Port Stockholm cruise schedule is not updated yet as Getaway should go to Stockholm in August for the two day stops and not to Nynäshamn.

[susiesan]

13 hours ago, Travelling2Some said:

   Frankly, I would not have booked with NCL had I noticed their final payment date was so far in advance.  I think they must have changed this since we last sailed with them.  Anyway, not sure what we will do but I never do things I'm uncomfortable with so . . .   Your point about all Baltic cruises this season being lightly booked is definitely something to think about.  These are not normal times.

I'm with you. I have been sailing on Oceania recently and assumed the final payment date was the same as O, 90 days. I also didn't realize NCL has it at 120 days as It has been over 16 years since my last cruise with NCL. There is a roll call going for Aug. 16 Dawn sailing and half of the people on it have cancelled which is why I expect the ship to be lightly sold. I will do the upgrade bid thing closer to sail date, I have an inside booked.  I am still going as long as NCL does not end up canceling the cruise. If they do the money paid would be refunded.

[lixogab]

Looks like they adjusted all Dawn itineraries and pulled off Gateway. I hope they are just adjusting itineraries and not cancelled.

[njkate]

18 minutes ago, lixogab said:

Looks like they adjusted all Dawn itineraries and pulled off Gateway. I hope they are just adjusting itineraries and not cancelled.

The situation changes and becomes more volatile every day, I would not be surprised if the itinerary is drastically changed or out right cancelled.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, njkate said:

The situation changes and becomes more volatile every day, I would not be surprised if the itinerary is drastically changed or out right cancelled.

Let us all hope that the situation in that region of the world does not deteriorate further to the point of cancellation of all Baltic cruises, not just the port of St. Petersburg. Or maybe instead of hope, we should pray.