Liberty Europe Summer 09 - Dover-based (W & N Europe) cruises all cancelled.

[supersherry]

I am so disappointed, I was booked on the 14Jun09 sailing. My travel agent called me an hour ago.

Here is the letter my agent received from Carnival:

I found the related article online below:

 

http://www.travelmole.com/stories/1132467.php

 

Carnival pulls ex-UK cruises

 

 

 

Carnival Cruise Lines has cancelled a programme of summer 2009 sailings from Dover.

 

The ship Carnival Liberty is to stay based in Miami sailing to the Caribbean instead of re-positioning to Europe next summer as originally scheduled.

 

This will mean the cancellation of the ship’s 2009 summer schedule from Dover of 12 and 13-night cruises to Northern Europe and Western Europe respectively.

 

The decision was based on “current market conditions, continued economic uncertainty and high air costs to Europe which impact US visitors wishing to cruise in Europe,” a statement said.

 

UK passengers booked on Carnival Liberty will receive full refunds or be offered alternative cruises by sister Carnival Corporation brands.

 

Passengers are also being offered the option of being rebooked on Carnival Dream, to be launched in Italy in autumn 2009, offering Mediterranean cruises from the port of Rome. Those choosing this option will be given an extra $50 onboard credit.

 

In addition to three 12-night Grand Mediterranean cruises from Rome (Civitavecchia) in September and October 2009, Carnival Dream will also operate a 16 day transatlantic crossing from Rome in late October 2009.

 

Carnival Cruise Lines’ UK office is also working with other sister brands including Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and P&O Cruises to offer comparable cruise deals to affected passengers.

 

Lynn Narraway, Carnival Cruise Lines’ UK managing director, said: “We would like to apologise for the disruption this will cause our UK passengers, and our trade partners who have worked so hard with us to build up our ex-UK cruise presence in the UK market.

 

“As international operators, we are focusing on our core Miami and Port Canaveral cruises, which continue to be most popular for the UK market, and which also remain perennially popular with US passengers, especially in the current economic climate.

 

“We are very sorry that we are now unable to offer our Carnival Liberty ex-Dover sailings for 2009, but very much hope to be back in the future.”

 

 

 

by Phil Davies

 

[jbeb]

I was disappointed to hear my Baltics cruise in May has been cancelled!!!:mad: Carnival sited some lame reasons but I could use some alternate ideas! May 16th to June 2.

Jan

[belle907]

Wow, a whopping $50. OBC to be used on a cruise you didn't want in the first place.

 

I'm sorry to hear your cruise was cancelled and they aren't sending the ship to do the European cruises. :(

[CLEMM]

How about Celebrity Century or Constellation for around the same time?

[jbeb]

How about Celebrity Century or Constellation for around the same time?

Thanks,

These both have May 21st start and we were flying in and arriving LHR @ 7:10 AM Sat the 16th so even the 14 day itinerary fits. We had booked the outside Liberty for $1299... so this is near the ball park. With all that is going on we wonder if we should book now or hold out for further shake outs and discounting possibilities. Hate to sound soooo frugal but I do think I am licking my wounds abit. I am a also remembering my eagerness to book a non-refundable air deal last week. Hmmm

[Bruin Steve]

Personally, I have cruised on the Carnival Liberty and HATED it...worst cruise ship I've ever cruised on--crowded, poorly designed...IMHO, you are better off switching to another cruise line...there are lots of great choices in European cruises.

 

I would easily prefer doing the Baltic on Celebrity, Azamara or Oceania...BUT...the key here is what Carnival will do for you on one of their sister lines...

 

Hopefully, Carnival will offer you something really worthwhile on a HAL or Princess Europe cruise...If they don't, keep writing and calling them and crying and moaning about how long ago you booked this and how much you have spent in other arrangements that you may not get back and how you bypassed other opportunities out of some loyalty to them and that you feel abandoned and abused...See if they'll sweeten the deal...

 

Say, if you were on that June 14 sailing--12 nights, Dover round trip...Note that HAL does a 12 night Baltic on the Rotterdam on June 12 out of Copenhangen:

 

1 Fri, Jun 12 Copenhagen 5:00 P

2 Sat, Jun 13 Cruise Baltic Sea

3 Sun, Jun 14 Tallinn 10:00 A 6:00 P

4 Mon, Jun 15 Saint Petersburg 7:00 A

5 Tue, Jun 16 Saint Petersburg 6:00 P

6 Wed, Jun 17 Helsinki 6:00 A 5:00 P

7 Thu, Jun 18 Stockholm 9:00 A 6:00 P

8 Fri, Jun 19 At Sea

9 Sat, Jun 20 Warnemunde 6:00 A 11:00 P

10 Sun, Jun 21 Arhus 9:00 A 4:00 P

11 Mon, Jun 22 Oslo 9:00 A 6:00 P

12 Tue, Jun 23 Cruise North Sea

13 Wed, Jun 24 Rotterdam

 

Your itinerary on the Liberty was:

 

Sun London (Dover), England 5:00 pm

Mon "Fun Day" at Sea

Tue Copenhagen, Denmark 8:00 am 4:00 pm

Wed Berlin, (Warnemunde), Germany 6:30 am 11:00 pm

Thu "Fun Day" at Sea

Fri Helsinki, Finland 8:00 am 6:00 pm

Sat St. Petersburg, Russia* 7:00 am

Sun St. Petersburg, Russia 7:00 pm

Mon Tallinn, Estonia 7:00 am 4:00 pm

Tue "Fun Day" at Sea

Wed "Fun Day" at Sea

Thu Amsterdam, Netherlands 12:00 pm 7:00 pm

Fri London (Dover), England 7:00 am

 

...So, you'd pick up Arhus, Oslo and Stockholm...and not really lose any ports--You could visit Copenhagen and Amsterdam at the beginning and end...and Stockholm is a GREAT port to visit...And HAL is a much better product than Carnival...

 

You might want to push for them to put you on this one and to pay for the difference in fares and any penalties or fees if they are...and to put you in an equal or upgraded cabin...I'd work every angle I could...

 

Good luck...

[cruisemom42]

I enjoyed my Princess Baltics cruise very much and Emerald is a quite new ship. They have a roundtrip Copenhagen itinerary on May 16 that you may like (particularly if Carnival Corp does something to sweeten the pot, as they should....). It's only 10 days but spending a few extra days in Copenhagen is worthwhile.

 

http://www.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll?qscr=ksrs&tovr=-1294637292

[BP99]

Hi,

I had a very funny phone call today with a Carnival rep.

I was phoning to get my refund on a paid cruise to the Baltics

On the Liberty next year.

He told me several times that the cruise was NOT CANCELLED!!!

I told him that I read the news on CC, blogs etc and that Carnival did

Indeed cancel the Baltics cruises.

He told me that the cruise was not cancelled but it was leaving from Miami.

It was also changing its itinerary.

To bad that I had paid for airfare to London/Dover instead of Miami.

How did I ever make that mistake?

This is the 2nd time within a year that Carnival cancelled on me.

Last time I booked a carb cruise with air online.

The next day they told me that they couldn’t do the cruise

Since the airfare could not be included (price increases etc).

I lost $70 in booking fees in 24 hours due to THEIR ERROR!!

I’m losing faith with this organization. I spend a lot of

Money, time and effort planning trips.

As you can see I’m not happy.

[madra2112]

We were booked on the June 26th sailing, and as a result of work and summer camp commitments, our window to change is tight.

 

At present, HAL are ofering a straight swap for the 10 day Gems of the Baltic cruise out of Copenhagen on June 22nd. Our TA (in Dublin) has contacted Princess UK to see if anything similar is being offered on Emerald Princess ; as of Friday afternoon they were unaware of any commitment from Carnival that deals would be offered.

 

Our other options are to take the deposit refund from Carnival and go for either Norwegian Jewel leaving Dover on June 27th or Celebrity Constellation leaving Harwich the same day.

 

However, the Celebrity option is out of our price range (two adults and two teens), and I'm not prepared to pay what NCL are asking at the moment, even though I know their UK prices will fall drastically in the coming months.

 

The problems are 1. With two teens, we need to be sure of getting cabins in close proximity, and 2. Air fares from here to London rise sharply in price the closer you get to flight time, so we could save on the cruise and end up losing a few hundred euro on the plane cost.

[peck]

Well my Liberty cruise was cancelled as well and I got offered a really poor deal. Pay an increased cost to go with HAL around £300.00 all in and I can buy cheaper myself!. Was not offered Princess. Have now booked RCI on Jewel of the Seas with a better itineray. Will never ever book Carnival again!

[madra2112]

Well my Liberty cruise was cancelled as well and I got offered a really poor deal. Pay an increased cost to go with HAL around £300.00 all in and I can buy cheaper myself!. Was not offered Princess. Have now booked RCI on Jewel of the Seas with a better itineray. Will never ever book Carnival again!

 

I'm sad to say I'm experiencing similar issues - We have been offered a straight swop to Eurodam in June, and we're trying to negotiate a few things through our TA, but HAL are moving at a sluggish pace which suggests they neither want nor need our business.

 

Again, our TA contacted Princess, they know nothing about anything, and certainly seemed to have no inkling that Carnival HQ in Miami were issuing letters and press releases suggesting Princess would be offering alternatives.

 

I'm at the point of asking the TA to just claimn all the refunds, put the money back in our credit card account and just sit back for a few months and watch how the pricing on various lines pans out in the new year.

[calvincleo]

Hi there,

We also had booked on the Carnival Liberty for the Baltics in August and got cancelled. We were very disappointed, especially since Carnival was offering such a good price. We did switch to the Emerald Princess for the 10 day cruise and Princess gave us a great price, including air. They would not honour the $200 shipboard credit that Carnival was giving us but their basic price was much better anyway. We were looking forward to seeing Dover but I've heard Copenhagen (departure point) is lovely so now we're trying to decide if we should take the Princess pre-stay there (it's pricey!)

[kestrel]

Hi there,

We also had booked on the Carnival Liberty for the Baltics in August and got cancelled. We were very disappointed, especially since Carnival was offering such a good price. We did switch to the Emerald Princess for the 10 day cruise and Princess gave us a great price, including air. They would not honour the $200 shipboard credit that Carnival was giving us but their basic price was much better anyway. We were looking forward to seeing Dover but I've heard Copenhagen (departure point) is lovely so now we're trying to decide if we should take the Princess pre-stay there (it's pricey!)

 

Copenhagen is indeed a very lovely city. I highly recommend that you spend a day or two there. However, you don't need to book Princess pre-stay there. You can find a cheaper hotel yourself. It is very easy (and not expensive) to hire a taxi to the port from your hotel.

[dinoman]

Ever thought about joining the 12-day Baltics ex Dover on NCL?

[bigwally]

Would HAL's 12 night "Vikings and Czars" perhaps work out for you? Rotterdam-Copenhagen on the Rotterdam, sailing June 24th.

 

 

We were booked on the June 26th sailing, and as a result of work and summer camp commitments, our window to change is tight.

 

At present, HAL are ofering a straight swap for the 10 day Gems of the Baltic cruise out of Copenhagen on June 22nd. Our TA (in Dublin) has contacted Princess UK to see if anything similar is being offered on Emerald Princess ; as of Friday afternoon they were unaware of any commitment from Carnival that deals would be offered.

 

Our other options are to take the deposit refund from Carnival and go for either Norwegian Jewel leaving Dover on June 27th or Celebrity Constellation leaving Harwich the same day.

 

However, the Celebrity option is out of our price range (two adults and two teens), and I'm not prepared to pay what NCL are asking at the moment, even though I know their UK prices will fall drastically in the coming months.

 

The problems are 1. With two teens, we need to be sure of getting cabins in close proximity, and 2. Air fares from here to London rise sharply in price the closer you get to flight time, so we could save on the cruise and end up losing a few hundred euro on the plane cost.