International Cruising Regulations?

[cinnamon]

I’m booked on Millenium 24th September. As soon as I paid my balance I received an email telling me that the itinerary has changed dramatically and Celebrity say it is due to International Cruising Regulations.  
We were due to sail to Northern Japan for two ports and now all the ports are south of Tokyo. To say I’m peeved is a big understatement. 
 

Try as I might I’ve not been able to discover what regulations have changed recently. 
Any ideas?  

[cruisestitch]

Try asking on your rollcall. Maybe someone there has some insight?

[cinnamon]

Just now, cruisestitch said:

Try asking on your rollcall. Maybe someone there has some insight?

Only one other person on there has posted that they’ve had the email. 

[PTC DAWG]

13 minutes ago, cinnamon said:

I’m booked on Millenium 24th September. As soon as I paid my balance I received an email telling me that the itinerary has changed dramatically and Celebrity say it is due to International Cruising Regulations.  
We were due to sail to Northern Japan for two ports and now all the ports are south of Tokyo. To say I’m peeved is a big understatement. 
 

Try as I might I’ve not been able to discover what regulations have changed recently. 
Any ideas?  

Sounds like you are outside of final payment, barely.

[cinnamon]

Just now, PTC DAWG said:

Sounds like you are outside of final payment, barely.

Well not here in U.K.  my final payment date was this week. 

[PTC DAWG]

Mine was June 23 for a September 23, 2024 sailing…your cruise sounds like a good one for sure, I hope it works out fine for you. 

[leaveitallbehind]

29 minutes ago, cinnamon said:

Try as I might I’ve not been able to discover what regulations have changed recently. 
Any ideas?  

Have you tried calling Celebrity?

[jelayne]

Are the changes to your itinerary the same as the changes that were made to the July 2, 2024 sailing?

If so someone on that Roll Call may have some info.

[cinnamon]

25 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Have you tried calling Celebrity?

No, seems a bit pointless. I know they can do what they like really, under the cruise contract rules.
 The other cruises from August onwards with that northern route seem to be the same. July not so. 

[cinnamon]

21 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Are the changes to your itinerary the same as the changes that were made to the July 2, 2024 sailing?

If so someone on that Roll Call may have some info.

Thanks, I’ll check. 

[royal3]

September is during whale season off of Japan. Wonder if speed restrictions are in place which prevent going to the some of the original ports? Just a guess, but it has happened in other places and would fall under "international cruising regulations."

[cinnamon]

23 minutes ago, jelayne said:

Are the changes to your itinerary the same as the changes that were made to the July 2, 2024 sailing?

If so someone on that Roll Call may have some info.

I don’t think that cruise was due to go to the northern ports

[cinnamon]

1 minute ago, royal3 said:

September is during whale season off of Japan. Wonder if speed restrictions are in place which prevent going to the some of the original ports? Just a guess, but it has happened in other places and would fall under "international cruising regulations."

Thanks for the thought. Just can’t understand why Celebrity wouldn’t know this in advance though. Only after we’d paid the balance. 😏

[leaveitallbehind]

16 minutes ago, cinnamon said:

No, seems a bit pointless. I know they can do what they like really, under the cruise contract rules. 

Its not a matter of them doing what they want.  That's not the point.   It seems like you are struggling to find the reason and maybe they would at least be able to answer your question and tell you why the itinerary changed.   Seems to me like a logical place to try.

Edited June 21 by leaveitallbehind

[cinnamon]

1 minute ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Its not a matter of them doing what they want.  That's not the point.   It seems like you are struggling to find the reason and maybe they would at least be able to answer your question and tell you why the itinerary changed.   Seems to me like a logical place to try.

Fair enough. Thank you. 

[jelayne]

1 hour ago, cinnamon said:

I don’t think that cruise was due to go to the northern ports

I don’t know where it was going but it had a least 1 itinerary change and possibly 2.

[debfed65]

 

2 hours ago, cinnamon said:

he itinerary has changed dramatically and Celebrity say it is due to International Cruising Regulations.  

 

We also received notification yesterday that our October 6th 2024 Best of Japan itinerary changed as well.

 

We lost Hakodate & Aomori and they have been replaced with Kumamoto & Nagasaki.  One of our sea days is gone and we are now arriving back to Yokohama at 2:30pm the day before the end of the cruise.  Does your itinerary reflect the same changes as this?

 

There are many unhappy passengers on our roll call.  Someone has contacted Celebrity seeking clarification on the International Cruising Regulations, with the promise that they are going to call them back with an explanation.  They said they will post the response on the roll call once Celebrity gets back to them.  It will be interesting to find out what it means.

 

 

[foodsvcmgr]

I’m on a Holland America transpacific cruise to Japan in October 2025 stopping at Hakodate and Aomori.

Curious if these “regulations” may affect more than just Celebrity itineraries.

[cinnamon]

9 hours ago, debfed65 said:

 

 

We also received notification yesterday that our October 6th 2024 Best of Japan itinerary changed as well.

 

We lost Hakodate & Aomori and they have been replaced with Kumamoto & Nagasaki.  One of our sea days is gone and we are now arriving back to Yokohama at 2:30pm the day before the end of the cruise.  Does your itinerary reflect the same changes as this?

 

There are many unhappy passengers on our roll call.  Someone has contacted Celebrity seeking clarification on the International Cruising Regulations, with the promise that they are going to call them back with an explanation.  They said they will post the response on the roll call once Celebrity gets back to them.  It will be interesting to find out what it means.

 

 

Thanks for replying Deb. I saw that other cruises had been affected too. Your changes are similar to ours with Hakodate and Aomori dropped, Fukouka and Nagasaki added. One less sea day and Yokohama at 10.30 am the day before we disembark. 
 

I’ll keep an eye on your roll call to see if that person gets a reply from Celebrity. 

[StopTheWorld]

Following. On the 6th Oct 2024 cruise.

I just checked and all 2024 cruise itineraries have now been updated, with Hakodate and Aomori dropped.
So far 2025 cruise itineraries are unchanged (though Celebrity may be going through the cruises in date order). 
We received an email on Thursday advising of change. 

[debfed65]

6 hours ago, cinnamon said:

Thanks for replying Deb. I saw that other cruises had been affected too. Your changes are similar to ours with Hakodate and Aomori dropped, Fukouka and Nagasaki added. One less sea day and Yokohama at 10.30 am the day before we disembark. 
 

I’ll keep an eye on your roll call to see if that person gets a reply from Celebrity. 

At least your arrival to Yokohama is 10:30am and not 2:30pm like ours...four hours make a big difference when trying to plan something to do for the day. 

[cinnamon]

9 minutes ago, debfed65 said:

At least your arrival to Yokohama is 10:30am and not 2:30pm like ours...four hours make a big difference when trying to plan something to do for the day. 

TBH I had anticipated a relaxing sea day before our long flight home the next day. We may take it easy onboard or just a quiet wander around. Won’t want a tour I don’t think. 

[cinnamon]

4 hours ago, StopTheWorld said:

Following. On the 6th Oct 2024 cruise.

I just checked and all 2024 cruise itineraries have now been updated, with Hakodate and Aomori dropped.
So far 2025 cruise itineraries are unchanged (though Celebrity may be going through the cruises in date order). 
We received an email on Thursday advising of change. 

Two July cruises are still going to Hakodate and Aomori. 😢

[monkey@cruise]

18 hours ago, royal3 said:

September is during whale season off of Japan. Wonder if speed restrictions are in place which prevent going to the some of the original ports? Just a guess, but it has happened in other places and would fall under "international cruising regulations."

The waters off Hokkaido are a migration route of humpback whales from the northern feeding areas to the southern Asian breeding areas. The Right Whale Ship Speed Rule which set a speed limit of 10 knots for boats larger than 65 feet in whale habitat areas. 

[Mark_K]

1 hour ago, monkey@cruise said:

The waters off Hokkaido are a migration route of humpback whales from the northern feeding areas to the southern Asian breeding areas. The Right Whale Ship Speed Rule which set a speed limit of 10 knots for boats larger than 65 feet in whale habitat areas. 

The only rule like that I know of is a NOAA regulation that only applies in certain US waters.