CruzCra-Z Posted February 23, 2023 #1 Share Posted February 23, 2023 just received and email from NCL that my may cruise has changed out Inside Passage Day to an "at sea" day. It said "Norwegian Spirit will no longer cruise the Inside Passage." No further info... Does anyone know any reasons why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdc987 Posted February 23, 2023 #2 Share Posted February 23, 2023 48 minutes ago, CruzCra-Z said: just received and email from NCL that my may cruise has changed out Inside Passage Day to an "at sea" day. It said "Norwegian Spirit will no longer cruise the Inside Passage." No further info... Does anyone know any reasons why? I posted on Facebook groups asking same question. One replied his July cruise also cancelled it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AusWeav Posted February 24, 2023 #3 Share Posted February 24, 2023 We're very bummed about this. We're cruising on May 24th and were looking forward to the Inside Passage as one of the highlights of the trip! I saw online that the Spirit is an older ship and it may have something to do with the emissions - but wouldn't they have known this earlier? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdc987 Posted February 24, 2023 #4 Share Posted February 24, 2023 53 minutes ago, AusWeav said: We're very bummed about this. We're cruising on May 24th and were looking forward to the Inside Passage as one of the highlights of the trip! I saw online that the Spirit is an older ship and it may have something to do with the emissions - but wouldn't they have known this earlier? Yes, I agree. I do wonder (hope) if they will modify the route to go inside at the alaska border for Icy point? I will cross my fingers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AusWeav Posted February 25, 2023 #5 Share Posted February 25, 2023 My travel agent just called us and said he was told by NCL that it was due to ice. He was told that it is expected to be too icy to navigate and they had to make a call - for safety. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdc987 Posted February 25, 2023 #6 Share Posted February 25, 2023 12 minutes ago, AusWeav said: My travel agent just called us and said he was told by NCL that it was due to ice. He was told that it is expected to be too icy to navigate and they had to make a call - for safety. Not! I don't believe this for a minute, all the other ships are ok, including their own Jewel? Thanks for posting your correspondence. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare www3traveler Posted February 25, 2023 #7 Share Posted February 25, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, AusWeav said: My travel agent just called us and said he was told by NCL that it was due to ice. He was told that it is expected to be too icy to navigate and they had to make a call - for safety. I doubt that. A call like that would be made by the Captain on a cruise by cruise basis. If I had to guess because of the additional cruise ship companies sailing to Alaska this year (six new ones), congestion in the narrow strips of waterway spaces might be the issue. Just as the US National Park Service restricts the number of ships in Glacier Bay at one time, the Canadian government may be restricting the number of ships per day that can sail the Inside Passage. Edited February 25, 2023 by www3traveler add words for clarity 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topdog52 Posted February 25, 2023 #8 Share Posted February 25, 2023 2 hours ago, jdc987 said: Not! I don't believe this for a minute, all the other ships are ok, including their own Jewel? Thanks for posting your correspondence. I was on the Bliss last May, and they had to turn around because of ice. Before they made the call to turn around, we went past a couple. I think the biggest part of the iceberg was under the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare GeezerCouple Posted February 25, 2023 #9 Share Posted February 25, 2023 19 minutes ago, Topdog52 said: I was on the Bliss last May, and they had to turn around because of ice. Before they made the call to turn around, we went past a couple. I think the biggest part of the iceberg was under the water. An iceberg in the Inside Passage!?? GC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruzCra-Z Posted February 25, 2023 Author #10 Share Posted February 25, 2023 On 2/24/2023 at 12:52 PM, AusWeav said: We're very bummed about this. We're cruising on May 24th and were looking forward to the Inside Passage as one of the highlights of the trip! I saw online that the Spirit is an older ship and it may have something to do with the emissions - but wouldn't they have known this earlier? I saw this as well. The newer ships aren't cancelled because they have cleaner emissions. I'm sure NCL knew this well in advance since I've seen mention of it from over a year ago. I'd like to think that they've been in some sort of negotiation or maybe trying to make the older ships "cleaner' but seems like this itinerary was deceptive. It definitely would have been something that may have caused me to book a different date/ship. Someone mentioned icebergs but people who are booked in July have also received these emails... I can't imagine they proactively try to predict icebergs that far ahead of time. 👀 They should just come out and be honest. I'm fine... I'm going to enjoy my cruise anyway but don't like the vagueness of the itinerary change reason. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitkat343 Posted February 25, 2023 #11 Share Posted February 25, 2023 (edited) Are you outside of final payment? If so, NCL announcing this while people can make changes to their bookings is actually a huge improvement over what they've done on other sailings. On the January 8th Getaway, they cancelled the DR and morning in Antigua for environmental reasons after final payment. They continued to advertise and sell this cruise as visiting the DR even after it was cancelled, and didn't let anyone reschedule because they made this change within final payment. There was a Panama Canal cruise that replaced Costa Rica and Nicaragua with Aculpolco for safety reasons (which might be valid for Nicaragua but harder to justify for Costa Rica) and the overnight in Panama was replaced with a short late visit that was too late to see the locks in action from land. Families should note that the Spirit doesn't have Splash Academy. Edited February 25, 2023 by kitkat343 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallux Posted February 25, 2023 #12 Share Posted February 25, 2023 9 minutes ago, kitkat343 said: Are you outside of final payment? Final payment is 180 days before the cruise, the OP is on a May cruise. No, they aren't outside final payment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitkat343 Posted February 25, 2023 #13 Share Posted February 25, 2023 2 minutes ago, hallux said: Final payment is 180 days before the cruise, the OP is on a May cruise. No, they aren't outside final payment. Oh I am sorry to hear that. I tried to switch my cruise after they cancelled the DR and took away the morning in Antigua because my kids wanted to have animal experiences that they'd miss in both ports, and NCL wouldn't let me switch. I guess at this point we can only hope they will change their website and not continue to sell these sailings as going to the Inside Passage after they've cancelled that stop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare laudergayle Posted February 26, 2023 #14 Share Posted February 26, 2023 This thread is interesting and I wonder if there is any correlation back to the extra 50% off Alaska Pearl, Spirit Sun offer that some of the CC members have cited receiving this past week. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesea777 Posted February 26, 2023 #15 Share Posted February 26, 2023 41 minutes ago, hallux said: Final payment is 180 days before the cruise, the OP is on a May cruise. No, they aren't outside final payment. 180 days? I thought it’s 120 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare GeezerCouple Posted February 26, 2023 #16 Share Posted February 26, 2023 8 minutes ago, laudergayle said: This thread is interesting and I wonder if there is any correlation back to the extra 50% off Alaska Pearl, Spirit Sun offer that some of the CC members have cited receiving this past week. Are these restricted offers to those receiving them, or is this a general promotion? And... is it a "real" 50% off, or just "50% off a higher price"? Thanks! CG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallux Posted February 26, 2023 #17 Share Posted February 26, 2023 4 minutes ago, bluesea777 said: 180 days? I thought it’s 120 days. oops, you're probably right, but it still has the OP after final payment... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallux Posted February 26, 2023 #18 Share Posted February 26, 2023 3 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said: Are these restricted offers to those receiving them, or is this a general promotion? And... is it a "real" 50% off, or just "50% off a higher price"? Thanks! CG They're added to Latitudes accounts (I have those offers). You book the cruise at the price on the website, then apply it during the payment process. I was looking - I could book an inside room with no perks on the Jewel in September for under $200 plus taxes and fees. Oceanview (no perks) is under $300 for the same trip. And that looks like a great itinerary! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare GeezerCouple Posted February 26, 2023 #19 Share Posted February 26, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, hallux said: They're added to Latitudes accounts (I have those offers). You book the cruise at the price on the website, then apply it during the payment process. I was looking - I could book an inside room with no perks on the Jewel in September for under $200 plus taxes and fees. Oceanview (no perks) is under $300 for the same trip. And that looks like a great itinerary! Do you need to have received some sort of official offer such as email? Or does it just recognize your status, and it is a lower status levels or just higher? ETA: And is it only for insides? or also suites? or...? GC Edited February 26, 2023 by GeezerCouple Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallux Posted February 26, 2023 #20 Share Posted February 26, 2023 36 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said: Do you need to have received some sort of official offer such as email? No email, it just appeared on my account 37 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said: Or does it just recognize your status, and it is a lower status levels or just higher? I reach Gold status on my cruise in 3 weeks so definitely not for higher tiers 37 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said: ETA: And is it only for insides? or also suites? or...? 50% off the cruise, I was just using inside as that's what I would be shopping.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonvoyagie Posted February 27, 2023 #21 Share Posted February 27, 2023 There has to be some other explanation for this change, going around the island will burn more fuel so there is no savings there, The Jewel is still shown taking the inside of the island both NB and SB, the Spirit is still shown doing the inside on the NB but not on the SB. My theory is that there are too many other ships in the channel during the SB trip and the Spirit is the odd ship out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitkat343 Posted February 27, 2023 #22 Share Posted February 27, 2023 Has anyone heard on one of the roll calls how many sailings are affected? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdc987 Posted February 28, 2023 #23 Share Posted February 28, 2023 On 2/26/2023 at 6:42 PM, bonvoyagie said: There has to be some other explanation for this change, going around the island will burn more fuel so there is no savings there, The Jewel is still shown taking the inside of the island both NB and SB, the Spirit is still shown doing the inside on the NB but not on the SB. My theory is that there are too many other ships in the channel during the SB trip and the Spirit is the odd ship out. The map shows inside but the itinerary is definitely both outside on Spirit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishin' musician Posted February 28, 2023 #24 Share Posted February 28, 2023 I wonder if it has to do with how much water the ship drafts? The mega Princess ships have to sail out around Vancouver Island because of this. It's too bad as this is a huge highlight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redbchtrvlr Posted March 1, 2023 #25 Share Posted March 1, 2023 We are considering the Alaska Hawaii Cruise, Aug 30 to Sept 15 and there is no mention of cruising the inside passage. There is no map Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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