NCL Dawn- What is going on??

[Aquarius_traveler129]

Hi all, 

My family and I are cruising on the Dawn embarking on 07/15. I have kept an eye on the itineraries and the past few cruises and at this point I feel like our entire cruise could be swapped around. I am actually probably one of the most flexible people in regards to this, I am just excited to be on a cruise but now I am a bit concerned with the ship. The current sailing had cancellations, the one on the 07/06 and 07/26 lost Norway and Sweden and the Dawn is camping out overnight in Copenhagen and ending their sailing portion of the cruise early.

 

This seems to be happening quite frequently on the Dawn and my point of this post is speculation- why? She is camping out for overnights a lot with these changes, we also lost a few ports a few times with the changes that keep happening. I also believe at this point there will be more because our sailing was ripped off of NCL's website. Do we think she is having propulsion issues and cannot get to all of these ports on time? Why end a cruise early unless something needs to be fixed? Or is this the famous "bait and switch" everyone says that keeps happening with the Dawn. I know she just went into dry dock, but is something else going on? What do you think? 

[AlmiranteChurruca]

26 minutes ago, Aquarius_traveler129 said:

Hi all, 

My family and I are cruising on the Dawn embarking on 07/15. I have kept an eye on the itineraries and the past few cruises and at this point I feel like our entire cruise could be swapped around. I am actually probably one of the most flexible people in regards to this, I am just excited to be on a cruise but now I am a bit concerned with the ship. The current sailing had cancellations, the one on the 07/06 and 07/26 lost Norway and Sweden and the Dawn is camping out overnight in Copenhagen and ending their sailing portion of the cruise early.

 

This seems to be happening quite frequently on the Dawn and my point of this post is speculation- why? She is camping out for overnights a lot with these changes, we also lost a few ports a few times with the changes that keep happening. I also believe at this point there will be more because our sailing was ripped off of NCL's website. Do we think she is having propulsion issues and cannot get to all of these ports on time? Why end a cruise early unless something needs to be fixed? Or is this the famous "bait and switch" everyone says that keeps happening with the Dawn. I know she just went into dry dock, but is something else going on? What do you think? 

 

Was reading your comments with great interest since I am scheduled to be on the Dawn next August. However, could you please give us some more info? You say the current sailing had cancellations. Which ports were cancelled? Also, you speak about changes for the two upcoming itineraries. Could you please be more precise? And finally, what are your sources? You seem to have some insider info or you are much better than me at online detective work! 😅 Thanks in advance!

[www3traveler]

28 minutes ago, Aquarius_traveler129 said:

Hi all, 

My family and I are cruising on the Dawn embarking on 07/15. I have kept an eye on the itineraries and the past few cruises and at this point I feel like our entire cruise could be swapped around. I am actually probably one of the most flexible people in regards to this, I am just excited to be on a cruise but now I am a bit concerned with the ship. The current sailing had cancellations, the one on the 07/06 and 07/26 lost Norway and Sweden and the Dawn is camping out overnight in Copenhagen and ending their sailing portion of the cruise early.

 

This seems to be happening quite frequently on the Dawn and my point of this post is speculation- why? She is camping out for overnights a lot with these changes, we also lost a few ports a few times with the changes that keep happening. I also believe at this point there will be more because our sailing was ripped off of NCL's website. Do we think she is having propulsion issues and cannot get to all of these ports on time? Why end a cruise early unless something needs to be fixed? Or is this the famous "bait and switch" everyone says that keeps happening with the Dawn. I know she just went into dry dock, but is something else going on? What do you think? 

Most probably too many cruise ships wanting to dock at the same port at the same time.  Many many cruise ports around the world are cutting back the number of cruise ships that can dock at one time and cutting back on the number of cruise ship passengers allowed off at each port.  Right now it is a logistical nightmare in many cruise ports.

[Aquarius_traveler129]

2 minutes ago, AlmiranteChurruca said:

 

Was reading your comments with great interest since I am scheduled to be on the Dawn next August. However, could you please give us some more info? You say the current sailing had cancellations. Which ports were cancelled? Also, you speak about changes for the two upcoming itineraries. Could you please be more precise? And finally, what are your sources? You seem to have some insider info or you are much better than me at online detective work! 😅 Thanks in advance!

Of course! 

07/06 Cruise had Germany, Norway and Sweden Cancelled, its on the NCL Dawn info page on FB official information from NCL. Germany was replaced with another Germany port. This sailing had been removed from the website. Their cruise is now porting 2 days in Copenhagen to end their cruise, which is their debarkation port. This is also removed from the website.

 

07/15 My cruise is off of NCL's website, originally had a overnight in Hamburg, that was cut and now we go to Warner Munde not an overnight. We were supposed to port in Amsterdam and now port in Ijmuiden. (minor changes) we lost the port of Kristiansand to a sea day. And now as of last night my cruise is not on NCL's website. 

 

08/26 This one I know the least about, I had just seen a comment stating Oslo was cancelled and they also had a overnight in Copenhagen added. 

 

Does this answer all your questions? I can try and add screenshots but I don't want to break the rules!

[Aquarius_traveler129]

9 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

Most probably too many cruise ships wanting to dock at the same port at the same time.  Many many cruise ports around the world are cutting back the number of cruise ships that can dock at one time and cutting back on the number of cruise ship passengers allowed off at each port.  Right now it is a logistical nightmare in many cruise ports.

Interesting, I know there's a lot of issues/crowding in Europe right now as well with civil unrest and the Olympics. It's crazy to me how insane it's going to be! I just want to make sure the ship is okay. It's kind of crazy for the people who leave today for the 6th cruise were just notified of these changes so last minute!

[AlmiranteChurruca]

4 minutes ago, Aquarius_traveler129 said:

Of course! 

07/06 Cruise had Germany, Norway and Sweden Cancelled, its on the NCL Dawn info page on FB official information from NCL. Germany was replaced with another Germany port. This sailing had been removed from the website. Their cruise is now porting 2 days in Copenhagen to end their cruise, which is their debarkation port. This is also removed from the website.

 

07/15 My cruise is off of NCL's website, originally had a overnight in Hamburg, that was cut and now we go to Warner Munde not an overnight. We were supposed to port in Amsterdam and now port in Ijmuiden. (minor changes) we lost the port of Kristiansand to a sea day. And now as of last night my cruise is not on NCL's website. 

 

08/26 This one I know the least about, I had just seen a comment stating Oslo was cancelled and they also had a overnight in Copenhagen added. 

 

Does this answer all your questions? I can try and add screenshots but I don't want to break the rules!

 

Thanks a lot for the extra info. Very helpful indeed. 👍

 

As mentioned in other posts, this is a very annoying recent trend with NCL.

[CruiseMH]

1 hour ago, www3traveler said:

Most probably too many cruise ships wanting to dock at the same port at the same time.  Many many cruise ports around the world are cutting back the number of cruise ships that can dock at one time and cutting back on the number of cruise ship passengers allowed off at each port.  Right now it is a logistical nightmare in many cruise ports.

No,that is for sure not a reason.

Yes, several ports/cities are cutting back number of cruise ships/passengers but northern europe doesn`t have any of such ports. Norway is thinking of it but also only for a very few ports and times per year.

 

 

[marrashadow]

Norway is actually looking at removing ships with certain propulsion systems for more environmentally friendly options and the Dawn for its age would not fit that. There are tons of reason a port can cancel even when weather doesn't immediately look like the culprit. Currents, water levels, other docking priorities there are many reasons. Everyone jumps to money but there are more than just that.

[Jbrase0424]

We were on the Dawn June 16-June 26th.  We did not lose any ports but they swapped Wandemunde and Copenhagen and the reason given was for environmental reasons which I would assume fuel consumption.  There seemed to be no problems with the propulsion system as we eclipsed 20 knots a couple of times.  By the way an overnight in Copenhagen should be welcomed.  Lots to see in that city- wish we had more than 10 hours in port. 

[Aquarius_traveler129]

On 7/7/2024 at 8:49 PM, Jbrase0424 said:

We were on the Dawn June 16-June 26th.  We did not lose any ports but they swapped Wandemunde and Copenhagen and the reason given was for environmental reasons which I would assume fuel consumption.  There seemed to be no problems with the propulsion system as we eclipsed 20 knots a couple of times.  By the way an overnight in Copenhagen should be welcomed.  Lots to see in that city- wish we had more than 10 hours in port. 

A lot of people on that sailing were pretty mad- we embark from Copenhagen leaving this Saturday so we’re pretty excited. We have a full day there! 
 

I haven’t received an itinerary change just yet- but they received theirs 3 days prior to sailing so I guess anything can happen. Like I said- we’re excited no matter what! 

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We just got off the Dawn on Saturday.  It was the 6/26 sailing.

months before sailing the Orkney Islands stop was cancelled due to limitations placed by yhe locals on the number of cruise passengers.  More locations are doing this and it wil

l certainly I,pact cruise e periences.  Venice started it last year and Barcelona is making changes as well as Amsterdam.  Big sigh.  Can’t blame them but it is disappointing.  We wound up missing our stop in Edinburgh because of crazy hgh winds and waves, it was not safe to tender.  I’m not such we could have even docked if that had been an option.

I do not believe NCL is doing this intentionally, they lose revenue from excursions, and have increased strain on food and beverage venues while they have people on board.  Plus, it’s just bad for customer satisfaction.  Just Mu humble opinion. 

 

[chrisnsal]

Hi, sorry to bombard this chat, @MagnoliaBlossom, I saw on a previous chat that you liked that carnival had some rooms up front of ship that they prices as inside rooms because of a small hallway, but had windows.  Do you mind sharing those rooms?  Anyway I can save money is very helpful.  I tried to DM you, but that featured is disabled.  Thank you in advance!

[MagnoliaBlossom]

8 hours ago, chrisnsal said:

Hi, sorry to bombard this chat, @MagnoliaBlossom, I saw on a previous chat that you liked that carnival had some rooms up front of ship that they prices as inside rooms because of a small hallway, but had windows.  Do you mind sharing those rooms?  Anyway I can save money is very helpful.  I tried to DM you, but that featured is disabled.  Thank you in advance!

They are on the older , smaller ships like the Dream and Breeze.  If yI u look at decks 6 thru 9 (I think). They are full forward.  There are either six or eight of them if I remember,

 certainly no more than that.  I know at least one of them is handicapped equipped because we were in it once.  There may be two.

[graphicguy]

Just an opinion, I think the cities/countries of some of these ports are going to impact these port stops more and than they are doing now.  I know NCL is/was looking for a port other than Barcelona late last year.  

 

Going to be lots of port changes for all the cruise lines going forward!

[Travelling2Some]

Agree.  We have had significant disruptions on 3 out of 5 of our last cruises so we now take a few  "defensive" actions:  (1)  We replace cruises with land travel if the destinations are very important to us.  (2)  We take ship-sponsored excursions so that if NCL scrambles the ports it's their headache to re-book our excursions, not ours.  (3) Picking favorite ships so the whole thing is not a disappointment if the itinerary changes. (Our Panama Canal trip was a disaster itinerary wise but was saved by how much we enjoyed the Bliss.)

 

Going forward I think my "cruising future" will increasingly come down to just an annual winter break to Caribbean ports that I could care less about (which is most of them) and repeat journeys to favorite places where we have already seen the sights.  We were eyeing the Korea/Japan cruises but decided that trip will be better done by train.  The threat of itinerary changes partially drove that decision.

 

[MagnoliaBlossom]

Amsterdam has moved ALL ships, even the river cruises outside of the city, Venice stops are now in a place row hours (I’ve read) away and charge a day pass fee for visitors.  There was a article in the news yesterday about Baecelona  residents descended on tourists eating in an outdoor cafe and blasted them with water guns and brandished signs saying, “you’re urge not welcome here”, etc.  Big cities are growing weary of the congestion and strain on their public resources (trash, water)   It hasn’t helped that ships are now carrying a monstrous number of passengers.  I believe Juneau residents are up in arms as well.

[Travelling2Some]

Yes, the list is growing.  And cruisers are particularly unwelcome because we don't spend as much as land tourists and the environmentalists hate cruise ships.  As you say, the size of the newer ships doesn't help.  I want to think that this is just a surge in post-pandemic demand since people couldn't travel for a couple of years.  But there are more permanent factors too.  Large numbers of folks are able to work remotely and there are a lot of travelers from newly prosperous nations that have jumped into the market. 

 

I don't see a solution but (selfishly) I am grateful that I was able to see these places before they became overtouristed.  We were even fortunate to spend some time in the Cinque Terra before it was discovered.  (Yeah, I'm pretty old, lol.)

[Seas2mountains]

3 hours ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

Amsterdam has moved ALL ships, even the river cruises outside of the city, 

I think you might mean a different city than Amsterdam?
 

I have a cruise booked in 2025 that embarks and disembarks in Amsterdam so I was surprised by the comment but understand your point about cities banning cruise ships. It looks like they will limit ships going forward before moving the cruise terminal in 2035. 

 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ports-destinations/cruise-ships-will-continue-berth-amsterdam-city-centre-terminal-relocation

[MyriamS]

I would be really curious to know how many of those people throwing water at tourists in Barcelona then go on to a MSC/Costa Mediterranean cruise for an affordable summer break for their family. Or take a jaunt to Munich for the Oktoberfest with their friends: do I get to throw water at them since I'm a local? 

 

I understand you need measures to limit tourist numbers but it's never ok to be abusive to people and it comes off as staggeringly hypocritical coming from people who are very likely tourists themselves. Btw I never heard of this "civil unrest" (I would rather call it a temper tantrum) happening in Northern Europe. Nor do I see why the Olympics would cause German, Swedish and Norwegian ports to be cancelled.

 

 

 

[Asawi]

45 minutes ago, MyriamS said:

I would be really curious to know how many of those people throwing water at tourists in Barcelona then go on to a MSC/Costa Mediterranean cruise for an affordable summer break for their family.

My guess: Very few! If any!
But either way, those people are probably just a "select" group of trouble makers. As in so many other situations.Their actions are not representative of the "people". Their opinions may be shared by many though. 

[MagnoliaBlossom]

19 hours ago, Seas2mountains said:

I think you might mean a different city than Amsterdam?
 

I have a cruise booked in 2025 that embarks and disembarks in Amsterdam so I was surprised by the comment but understand your point about cities banning cruise ships. It looks like they will limit ships going forward before moving the cruise terminal in 2035. 

 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/ports-destinations/cruise-ships-will-continue-berth-amsterdam-city-centre-terminal-relocation

I read this in Cruise Hive a month or so ago, don’t remember the start date.

[Ulsteinvik]

Amsterdam is still available for cruise ships, NCL Dawn was the 3 days ago.

2026 they will limit the cruise calls to 1 ship per day. and they try to move the ships until 2035 to a cruise quay outside Amsterdam.

[Travelling2Some]

Maybe some confusion is because Amsterdam has had trouble docking cruise ships due to low water levels.  Apparently they had to turn large ships away but it seemed to be a separate issue from imposing limits going forward.