Nieuw Statendam "operational issues" ????

[ghstudio]

Just received this notification for our cruise that leaves in 4 days on the Nieuw Amsterdam

 

Please be advised that due to operational reasons, Nieuw Statendam will call
to Eidfjord, Norway from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM on Monday, August 5, 2024 rather
than 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and our call times for Lerwick, Shetland Islands will
be 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Tuesday, August 6 rather than 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
Also, our arrival time to Akureyri, Iceland will be 9:00 AM on Thursday,
August 8 rather than 10:00 AM, and our departure from Invergordon (Inverness),
Scotland will be at 5:00 PM on Tuesday, August 20 rather than 4:00 PM.

 

That's a lot of last minute changes.  Sounds like there are some mechanical issues....but nothing reported (yet) from the ship's current cruise.  Not an auspicious start to a cruise......

[CurlerRob]

16 minutes ago, ghstudio said:

Just received this notification for our cruise that leaves in 4 days on the Nieuw Amsterdam

 

Please be advised that due to operational reasons, Nieuw Statendam will call
to Eidfjord, Norway from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM on Monday, August 5, 2024 rather
than 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and our call times for Lerwick, Shetland Islands will
be 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Tuesday, August 6 rather than 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
Also, our arrival time to Akureyri, Iceland will be 9:00 AM on Thursday,
August 8 rather than 10:00 AM, and our departure from Invergordon (Inverness),
Scotland will be at 5:00 PM on Tuesday, August 20 rather than 4:00 PM.

 

That's a lot of last minute changes.  Sounds like there are some mechanical issues....but nothing reported (yet) from the ship's current cruise.  Not an auspicious start to a cruise......

 

I'm not sure how you arrive at 'mechanical' issues - the changes are mostly shifts of one hour. I'd guess port scheduling issues as the cause, as well as HAL waiting until late to advise pax of all of them. 🍺🥌

[ghstudio]

4 minutes ago, CurlerRob said:

 

I'm not sure how you arrive at 'mechanical' issues - the changes are mostly shifts of one hour. I'd guess port scheduling issues as the cause, as well as HAL waiting until late to advise pax of all of them. 🍺🥌

You may be right, but they didnt just find out…and people do make plans that now need to be changed with little time.  Something isn’t working right..,either on the ship or in HQ.  BTW, Barring unusual circumstances, port schedules are set a year or more in advance.

Edited August 1 by ghstudio

[CurlerRob]

5 minutes ago, ghstudio said:

You may be right, but they didnt just find out…and people do make plans that now need to be changed with little time.  Something isn’t working right..,either on the ship or in HQ.  BTW, Barring unusual circumstances, port schedules are set a year or more in advance.

 

I understand the annoyance of schedule changes that affect private excursions or activities - that's always a pain.

 

While you're correct that port arrivals generally have a long scheduled lead time, the specifics of permitted arrival time, berth assignment, etc. are often in flux right up to arrival - and always at the discretion of the port director. We've had that sort of thing impact our plans as well. 🍺🥌

[POA1]

As someone who lives right near a port, Port Everglades, I can tell you that (1) schedules are published pretty far in advance, and (2) operational issues change the schedules very frequently. For instance, on a weekend, we'll have many cruise ships with the exact same scheduled departure or arrival time. They can't all arrive or depart at once. There aren't enough pilots, tugs, Coast Guard escorts, or space in the turning basin or the Shanahan River (aka the exit channel to the Atlantic Ocean.) The port will jigger the schedule closer to the event dates to accommodate traffic - and yes, times do change by up to 2 hours.

 

Northern ports have to deal with tidal swings that are much higher than the two feet or so we get, so that's another complicating factor.

[TRLD]

11 hours ago, ghstudio said:

Just received this notification for our cruise that leaves in 4 days on the Nieuw Amsterdam

 

Please be advised that due to operational reasons, Nieuw Statendam will call
to Eidfjord, Norway from 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM on Monday, August 5, 2024 rather
than 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and our call times for Lerwick, Shetland Islands will
be 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM on Tuesday, August 6 rather than 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
Also, our arrival time to Akureyri, Iceland will be 9:00 AM on Thursday,
August 8 rather than 10:00 AM, and our departure from Invergordon (Inverness),
Scotland will be at 5:00 PM on Tuesday, August 20 rather than 4:00 PM.

 

That's a lot of last minute changes.  Sounds like there are some mechanical issues....but nothing reported (yet) from the ship's current cruise.  Not an auspicious start to a cruise......

Considering that the changed are arriving earlier while keeping the total port length the same rather unlikely to be mechanical issues. More likely a port schedule issue.

 

If it was mechanical you would see late arrivals with shortened port stops. Not the same length stops shifted by an hour.

[esimon]

11 hours ago, ghstudio said:

You may be right, but they didnt just find out…and people do make plans that now need to be changed with little time.  Something isn’t working right..,either on the ship or in HQ.  BTW, Barring unusual circumstances, port schedules are set a year or more in advance.

Have you never proved before? They found out in advance not the day of that’s usually a plus. I’ve booked a cruise for a certain port and the port gets moved. It’s called cru

[cbr663]

Operational issues is an all-encompassing statement and could very well mean port changes, mechanical issues or be as simple as we want to slow down the ship' speed to save fuel.

 

I agree with the OP that it is indeed frustrating to have this many ports changed so close to sailing and can indeed be very disruptive for cruisers and their plans.

[FlaMariner]

So no ports cancelled and the "time in port" has not been reduced...just times adjusted?  Did I read that correctly?

 

We would call that a great cruise.

 

Enjoy the Nieuw Statendam.....no matter the port times adjustments.  

 

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Every thing is fine on the ship.