Are NCL selling cruises to ports they have no intention of going to.

[kitkat343]

5 hours ago, cara-cruiser said:

we are booked at NCL Star for a greenland cruise in 08/23. Currently we have received a itinerary change. Greenland and the scoresby sound will be canceld. "Due to newly imposed vessel restrictions in Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland".

They don't provide a refund or FCC. We are deeply disappointed.

I'm also interested in the Greenland/Iceland cruise on the Star, but am very hesitant to book it because on my last cruise, NCL took away the port my daughter wanted, and the morning of another port (which also knocked out what my kids wanted to do there).  Its not easy traveling with 3 small kids, so thanks for letting me know they are starting to mess with the Greenland/Iceland itinerary too.  So sorry that happened to you.

[chengkp75]

5 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

As well you should be. I think that countries like Greenland who start restricting entry to ships like this are going to regret it in the long run. Just my opinion, of course.

Greenland, like many other cruise ship destinations, has figured out that cruise ship tourists spend far less in the local economy than other forms of tourism.  They are looking at restricting ship visits as a way of minimizing the environmental impact of tourism, while maximizing the economic benefit.

[DCGuy64]

1 hour ago, chengkp75 said:

Greenland, like many other cruise ship destinations, has figured out that cruise ship tourists spend far less in the local economy than other forms of tourism.  They are looking at restricting ship visits as a way of minimizing the environmental impact of tourism, while maximizing the economic benefit.

I suppose my larger point is that a trend is developing, I've seen it in Italy, New Zealand, Greenland and Key West, FL, where local measures are being adopted that restrict or ban cruise ships altogether. Given that tourism (from all sources, of course, not just cruising) can be a major source of revenue, it could be a worrying sign.

[CILCIANRQTS]

10 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I suppose my larger point is that a trend is developing, I've seen it in Italy, New Zealand, Greenland and Key West, FL, where local measures are being adopted that restrict or ban cruise ships altogether. Given that tourism (from all sources, of course, not just cruising) can be a major source of revenue, it could be a worrying sign.

But there is something to be said for local control.

When Key West attempted to ban cruise ships, the Florida government said it was a Commerce Clause issue and took away their autonomy on the issue.

It’s a fine line.

[DCGuy64]

3 minutes ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

But there is something to be said for local control.

When Key West attempted to ban cruise ships, the Florida government said it was a Commerce Clause issue and took away their autonomy on the issue.

It’s a fine line.

Yep, and I saw people from Key West on the news complaining of government overreach due to that decision.

[Canbylancer]

Just changed the ports of my trip on Encore next week 19th.  Nassua instead of private island.  Moved days around.  Great stirrup was last day, now a sea day, Nassau is now 1st day.  DR got moved from 1st to last stop.  I don't want to see Nassau again,  was looking forward to Great Stirrup Cay.  Have never been there.  This with canceling Kinky Boots, changes the value of my trip, BUT not their fault and I am stuck for this trip.  Back to Royal after this trip.

[chengkp75]

28 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Given that tourism (from all sources, of course, not just cruising) can be a major source of revenue, it could be a worrying sign.

Yes, but these measures are not restricting tourism as a whole, but only cruising, which they feel does not provide sufficient benefit to offset it's detriments.  They feel that other forms of tourism are better investments for their locales.

[DCGuy64]

You're right, and that's one of the reasons I mentioned that cruising is only one form of tourism. I think there are advantages to both land-based and cruising as tourism, but since Cruise Critic is geared toward the cruise industry, I thought it worth mentioning that some movement toward restricting cruising doesn't bode well for those of who enjoy it. I can tell you that there are places I would not be interested in visiting on land, but would on a cruise ship. If we're restricted, we wouldn't go at all. I might want to stop in various places in Mexico, the Caribbean or Norway, but wouldn't want to fly/drive in between the various cities. But I guess I can't fault cities/countries who've done the math and decided that tourism will be fine with or without ships.

[timcahill98]

On 2/27/2023 at 2:21 PM, woodley said:

The last two NCL cruises I have been on have cancelled port/countries after final payment with little or no explanation and no return of port fees.  I have been reading other reports of this happening with increasing frequency.  I understand bad weather could sometimes impact the ability to dock but it does seem to be happening more and more also ports and countries were cancelled on both my recent cruises with no reason given at all.  I am beginning to think they are advertising and selling cruises to ports/countries they have no intention of going to. What do others think?

 

They sure are!  On February 12th I booked an 8-day Bahamas cruise from New York, departing on March 18th, that was advertised with an itinerary of New York - Orlando - Great Stirrup Cay - Bermuda - New York.  That was the EXACT itinerary that was being advertised when I booked.  But then as soon as I made my payment (paid in full) and had access to my cruise page, the itinerary showed as New York - Orlando - Great Stirrup Cay - Nassau - New York.  *****!  I don't believe the itinerary could have been changed in that exact split second it took me to pay.  And I PURPOSELY booked that cruise because I have never been to Bermuda and wanted to go.  

 

Turns out, after reviewing the cruise critic forums, I found the itinerary had actually been changed all the way back in November!  So they continued to falsely advertise this cruise for 3 months after the official itinerary change.  As a first time NCL cruiser, I can say this is also going to be my last NCL cruise.  I feel like they literally robbed me.

[dexddd]

9 hours ago, timcahill98 said:

They sure are!  On February 12th I booked an 8-day Bahamas cruise from New York, departing on March 18th, that was advertised with an itinerary of New York - Orlando - Great Stirrup Cay - Bermuda - New York.  That was the EXACT itinerary that was being advertised when I booked.  But then as soon as I made my payment (paid in full) and had access to my cruise page, the itinerary showed as New York - Orlando - Great Stirrup Cay - Nassau - New York.  *****!  I don't believe the itinerary could have been changed in that exact split second it took me to pay.  And I PURPOSELY booked that cruise because I have never been to Bermuda and wanted to go.  

 

Turns out, after reviewing the cruise critic forums, I found the itinerary had actually been changed all the way back in November!  So they continued to falsely advertise this cruise for 3 months after the official itinerary change.  As a first time NCL cruiser, I can say this is also going to be my last NCL cruise.  I feel like they literally robbed me.

Maybe due to Sail and Sustain?  Sorry that happened to you.

[RD64]

Sail and Sustain is not a valid excuse (in my opinion).

[DCGuy64]

10 hours ago, timcahill98 said:

They sure are!  On February 12th I booked an 8-day Bahamas cruise from New York, departing on March 18th, that was advertised with an itinerary of New York - Orlando - Great Stirrup Cay - Bermuda - New York.  That was the EXACT itinerary that was being advertised when I booked.  But then as soon as I made my payment (paid in full) and had access to my cruise page, the itinerary showed as New York - Orlando - Great Stirrup Cay - Nassau - New York.  *****!  I don't believe the itinerary could have been changed in that exact split second it took me to pay.  And I PURPOSELY booked that cruise because I have never been to Bermuda and wanted to go.  

 

Turns out, after reviewing the cruise critic forums, I found the itinerary had actually been changed all the way back in November!  So they continued to falsely advertise this cruise for 3 months after the official itinerary change.  As a first time NCL cruiser, I can say this is also going to be my last NCL cruise.  I feel like they literally robbed me.

Wow, that's crazy. I don't know how they could have continued to show the Bermuda stop if it was no longer available. Did you get any explanation? Do you have any options? I would hope they'd allow you to cancel and rebook for a cruise that's actually going to Bermuda.

[njkate]

2 hours ago, RD64 said:

Sail and Sustain is not a valid excuse (in my opinion).

IMO it's just a bunch of BS

[Bluewake]

On 3/10/2023 at 3:10 PM, DCGuy64 said:

Yep, and I saw people from Key West on the news complaining of government overreach due to that decision.

The main sponsor of the "this is gov't overreach" campaign was the owner of the largest private cruise pier in Key West.  Interesting how, shortly after he donated $1 million to the governor's campaign/party, the Florida legislature passed a law restricting the rights of the local community to regulate cruise ship traffic.  Read the story here:   https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article250934164.html

Edited March 13, 2023 by Bluewake

[DCGuy64]

49 minutes ago, Bluewake said:

The main sponsor of the "this is gov't overreach" campaign was the owner of the largest private cruise pier in Key West.  Interesting how, shortly after he donated $1 million to the governor's campaign/party, the Florida legislature passed a law restricting the rights of the local community to regulate cruise ship traffic.  Read the story here:   https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article250934164.html

It's a touchy subject, I can think of a million reasons that a local community ought not be allowed to overrule an entire state. I'm fairly conservative and let's just say there are lots of industries in my state that I'd like to ban, but it doesn't work that way. Also, are you implying a quid pro quo? Correlation isn't causation, after all. I suspect there were donations on both sides of this issue. Thanks for the link to the article, I will check it out, provided it's not behind a paywall.

[Bluewake]

1 hour ago, DCGuy64 said:

It's a touchy subject, I can think of a million reasons that a local community ought not be allowed to overrule an entire state. I'm fairly conservative and let's just say there are lots of industries in my state that I'd like to ban, but it doesn't work that way. Also, are you implying a quid pro quo? Correlation isn't causation, after all. I suspect there were donations on both sides of this issue. Thanks for the link to the article, I will check it out, provided it's not behind a paywall.

If it walks and quacks like a duck.....

[bedfordmom]

Just off of the 2/26 Getaway.  Upon embarkation  we learned that St. Lucia was dropped, St Kitts moved and St Martin added. Now I absolutely love St. Martin but come on, telling us as we are arriving at the port. Obviously they knew prior as they had already had 50+ excursions set up.   Luckily my other site had people reporting in the changes. I was able to change my day pass at a St. Kitt pool and was desparately looking for a St. Martin non ship excursion. I wanted the America Cup, privately it was sold out (guess what Norwegian had all the spaces) I booked it w/NCL and they ended up cancelling us as they only had 3 participants. One silver lining is when I was checking the rest of my private excursions I noticed that I booked the wrong date for the Barbadps catamaran (the day after-totally my fault) . A quick call to Barbados (I can't wait to see that cost) and they switched me to the correct date. 

 

Now I have an issue with the dropping of Dominican Republic. Although I was just there six months ago and I had a request for Mamajuana (their spiced rum).  Guess what, I had nothing to bring this person back as I had waited for the last port to buy it. .  A trip to the liquor shop on board showed 2x prices in MA/NH (yes I had taken pictures prior to departure of the main liquors).  So the day after disembarkation, we went to the local liquor store to buy some gifts  The ship announced 15 minutes after departure that we were dropping DR and having a sea day. Now they knew that hours prior because the new information was on the dailies that were delivered immediately upon sailing. .  Not sure why they waited to let us know, perhaps afraid people would take their time boarding.  

[DCGuy64]

17 minutes ago, Bluewake said:

If it walks and quacks like a duck.....

Haha, agreed!

[ontheweb]

4 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

It's a touchy subject, I can think of a million reasons that a local community ought not be allowed to overrule an entire state. I'm fairly conservative and let's just say there are lots of industries in my state that I'd like to ban, but it doesn't work that way. Also, are you implying a quid pro quo? Correlation isn't causation, after all. I suspect there were donations on both sides of this issue. Thanks for the link to the article, I will check it out, provided it's not behind a paywall.

A politician selling his or her vote??? Why would anyone think that happens? 🤣🤣🤣

[RocketMan275]

On 3/5/2023 at 9:42 AM, CruiseMH said:

Maybe i`m a little bit more relaxed in these regards cause in germany we are quite good protected by law in regards of such changes.(not only itineraries on cruises but also for "regular" round trips by bus or any other vehicle) .If the itinerary changes are so big that they do "change the character of the journey"(original text of the law) we do have the right to cancel the trip in advance or(if itinerary changed while on board) get a refund of a part of the cruise fare afterwards.

It is not clear what " changing the character of the journey" exactly means but in worst case it has to be decided by the judges in a lawsuit.

 

I've read that there must be changes to two ports to trigger those protections.

But, let me ask  you these:

- can you cancel a cruise after it's been booked? How and when?

- can you get a discount from the published fare?

- have these protections driven up the price of the cruise?

[newcruisehi]

23 hours ago, timcahill98 said:

They sure are!  On February 12th I booked an 8-day Bahamas cruise from New York, departing on March 18th, that was advertised with an itinerary of New York - Orlando - Great Stirrup Cay - Bermuda - New York.  That was the EXACT itinerary that was being advertised when I booked.  But then as soon as I made my payment (paid in full) and had access to my cruise page, the itinerary showed as New York - Orlando - Great Stirrup Cay - Nassau - New York.  *****!  I don't believe the itinerary could have been changed in that exact split second it took me to pay.  And I PURPOSELY booked that cruise because I have never been to Bermuda and wanted to go.  

 

Turns out, after reviewing the cruise critic forums, I found the itinerary had actually been changed all the way back in November!  So they continued to falsely advertise this cruise for 3 months after the official itinerary change.  As a first time NCL cruiser, I can say this is also going to be my last NCL cruise.  I feel like they literally robbed me.

Since they continued to advertise and sell your cruise after they changed it, if you wanted to cancel I think you might have success if you contact the media.  This site was talking about possibly doing a story when NCL did the same thing a few months ago.    gene.sloan@thepointsguy.com  You can also try to contact travel scam sites or travel news sites.  Technically, NCL has the right to change their itinerary for any reason, but they shouldn't continue to advertise cruises as traveling to cancelled destinations.  Its customers like you who purchased months after ports were cancelled  that might be able to get the attention of the media.  At this point, cruise critic users probably know about this, but other travelers have the right to know.

[Panhandle Couple]

On 3/10/2023 at 7:31 AM, DCGuy64 said:

As well you should be. I think that countries like Greenland who start restricting entry to ships like this are going to regret it in the long run. Just my opinion, of course.

Greenland is a territory of Denmark.  The rules and restrictions are made there.

[DCGuy64]

9 hours ago, Panhandle Couple said:

Greenland is a territory of Denmark.  The rules and restrictions are made there.

Sort of. Greenland's local government has jurisdiction over many things. It is a territory of Denmark, you're correct. But many local matters are controlled by the parliament there, not in Copenhagen. It's technically known as an autonomous territory. I would have to do some more digging into which entity decides on matters like cruise ship docking, but logic tells me it's the local legislature/parliament.

[CruiseMH]

20 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

I've read that there must be changes to two ports to trigger those protections.

But, let me ask  you these:

- can you cancel a cruise after it's been booked? How and when?

- can you get a discount from the published fare?

- have these protections driven up the price of the cruise?

 

yes, we can get a discount. Regarding the cancellation it depends on how big the changes are.

If the original itinerary e.g. was the eastern caribbean and now it is the western then you can cancel, even after booking.

If there is only a change/cancellation of one port - even if the cruise line itself marks it as highlight of the cruise - then a discount is more likely.The exact height of the discount is usually agreed between cruise line and the guests individually. But if the cruise line refuses you can start a lawsuit and always get at least a discount.

 

If these protections do have driven up the cruise prices...i don`t really know,because the protection is valid for all kinds of vacation.(e.g. hotels or roundtrips through south america or asia) and not only cruises.

 

 

 

[julig22]

On 3/3/2023 at 9:29 PM, styles27 said:

This article says 2024 so who knows which is correct? Although your article was from September and this one is from November so I’m thinking this is the most current. 
 

https://www.cruisehive.com/cruise-port-in-maine-votes-to-restrict-cruise-ship-visitors/87122?fbclid=IwAR1XCxNQ4td12GE4HcWCrkYcakscCPhUDJ_GvnGq2_u2vWiL5p78n0_XrbE#letiurzzqv3htjhlql

Recieved notice about 10 days ago that the itinerary for the Sky in September 2023 has been updated.  Bar Harbor replaced by Portland, lost 1 stop in Nova Scotia as well.  Itinerary on the web site does match the itinerary they sent out, changes due to "port congestion" according to the notice.