Ulsteinvik

6 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

According to Norway, on January 1, 2026 no ships that are not "zero emissions" will be allowed to cruise some of the popular fjords including Geiranger and Flam. At this moment, not a single large cruise ship would be qualified....

 

 

They changed the rule, bio LNG is allowed in the 2 fjords on a transitional basis. The MSC Euribia can already bunker Bio LNG and other shipping companies are also preparing their LNG ships to operate on Bio LNG. 

9 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

So lets play a speculation game.  If we assume that the Kiel story is true, and going to happen, why?  The ship is scheduled to begin a voyage on Aug 21, from Hamburg.  Repositioning the ship from Italy to Kiel would put it much closer to Hamburg.  If we again speculate that all or some of the insulated panels will be replaced, this work is "dry work" that can be done by workmen at any location (even at sea).  So, carrying this pure speculation to its conclusion, do you think that Explora will cancel the cruises from Aug1 21 and than pick up their published schedule from Hamburg?

 

I will again emphasize that this post is pure speculation (based on nothing but the Kiel news) that is the only sense I can make out of the Kiel theory.

My theory is as follows: As of now, Explora I is expected to be delivered on July 24th. Therefore, a sail to Copenhagen by August 1st seems nearly impossible, which likely means the cruise from August 1st to 15th, starting and ending in Copenhagen, will be cancelled. However, she could possibly start her 6-day tour from Copenhagen to Hamburg beginning on August 15th. Since Explora has had to cancel its christening ceremony and still wants to properly showcase the ship to press representatives, travel agencies, etc., there may be a christening voyage or introductory trip before the new maiden voyage on August 15, 2023 from Copenhagen. This could, for example, go from Copenhagen to Kiel and back. That's my idea.

A crewmember who works at Explora I said on a Facebook group that the Kiel call is correct and Explora will communicate it in few days. 

https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/safety-security/explora-i-delayed-due-fire-safety-concerns-updated

That is also interesting. They say the delivery should be on 24 July 2023 in Monfalcone. If you deliver this ship on this date, you need to sail constantly 21.8 knots to reach Copenhagen on 01st August 2023 without a bunker stop. For me this is very unrealistic with this ship..

56 minutes ago, ljsanantonio said:

The Reykjavick port has the Explora I in port on August 7, 8, and 9.

and for September 9 and 10. https://www.dokk.is/embed/calendar/5?l=en&w=csyear=2016#2016-9-27

 

But not sure that really means anything in light of the Kiel/Hamburg info

We have to wait some days I think because the Kiel call was booked today. So I expect next week more informations about this.

Portofkiel updated today its 2023 cruise list. Now Explora I is booked there for an overnight on 13 August 2023.

Did anyone also notice the two route changes from the NCL Dawn for July 2024? The Dawn was scheduled to do a Western Europe tour from Southampton to Lisbon from 06 July 2024 - 15 July 2024(here the Roll Call https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2906628-dawn-9-night-europe-from-london-to-lisbon-july-6-2024/) and a Western Europe tour back from Lisbon to Southampton from 15 July 2024 - 25 July 2024. She sails now instead a Western Europe/ Scandinavia Tour from Southampton to Copenhagen and then back from Copenhagen to Southampton. Her route is almost the same new route as the NCL Star October 2024 tour. What is the reason here? For me it looks more like bad booking numbers instead of the reasons that NCL is telling us..

Could be a reason yes. Maybe they will focus more on the Baltics with Fantasia? 

Fantasia had several port bookings in Bergen and some other Norwegian ports for 2024 but they removed all calls there 5-6 weeks ago. The weird thing is, that the Fantasia is well booked this year, almost all Northern Europe cruises of her are sold out. That's why I don't understand why they should remove the second ship from Kiel. But let's wait and see..

I never saw MSC cancelling Norway cruises.

15 hours ago, tony s said:

We are on the Dawn in August. Our”Hamburg “ stop is docking an hour away in Kiel. May that’s why it’s not listed in Hamburg as it’s docking at a cheaper slip in Kiel . I know it’s harder to believe NCL would inconvenience passengers by being cheap.

Most cruise lines are doing that. HAL, Carnival has also "Hamburg (Kiel)" and several cruise lines also "Berlin (Warnemunde)" so it has nothing to do with NCL. And in a Baltic cruise you can't put Hamburg in the itinerary because it is based in the North Sea and big ships like the Dawn can't pass the Kiel Canal. It has nothing to do with a cheaper docking place in Kiel (by the way, Kiel is not really cheap for cruise ships).

16 hours ago, Sugar Magnolia said:

 

Wow you are right. Those of us embarking on the Dawn on July 12th are only aware of two tender ports: Dun Laoghaire / Dublin and Newhaven / Edinburgh. Kirkwall is not listed as a tender port on our itinerary.

 

Something else that's been swirling in my conspiratorial mind...

 

The Dawn is scheduled to port in Hamburg on July 16th and 17th. However, the Dawn is not listed as porting at all on the official Port of Hamburg website as of last week. The Dawn was listed prior to last week as docking at Steinwerder Terminal, and there have been multiple mentions on CC and FB that the Dawn is docking at Steinwerder, yet...

 

https://www.hafen-hamburg.de/de/schiffe/?schiffe=169804&kreuzfahrt-segelliste=169806

 

I live in Kiel and I know the official port sites in Kiel, Hamburg, Warnemunde..

Your link is not the official one for Hamburg. This one is -> https://www.cruisegate-hamburg.de/schiffsankuenfte/

In the past it was always the same. Cruises removed from the system and some days/weeks later NCL announced the cancellations. So here I expect the same..

1 hour ago, BWV said:

Thank you so much for the information!

On 14 July she will get the same berth in Kiel.

1 hour ago, Zqueeze1 said:

Ok. I will have to google it. Are they there to see me?

 

Z and TB

It is one of the biggest regattas in the world. Be aware that the city in Kiel could be full with visitors, the event always has around 3 million visitors every year. Mostly visitors are coming from the afternoon, so in the morning it should be not crowded. It looks like that:

https://admiral-scheer.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/hotel_admiral_scheer_laboe_kieler-woche.jpg

https://www.schausteller.de/media/cache/large/media/pag/2017-06/8255-1-kiwo-hoern-010-jpg.jpg?v205

I see you will be in Kiel during the famous event "Kieler Woche -> Kiel week". A lot of ships and people will be there in the port. 

In Kiel you could also go to Lubeck, similar distance like Kiel-Hamburg and Lubeck is more compact.

On 5/5/2023 at 9:17 PM, Goosebear Mum said:

We are on a cruise currently in the Baltic (P&O, not Viking yet!) and we were in Kiel today. It took a long time for the tug to help pull Aurora off the dock at the EOD, with the choppy waters. We’re now on our way to Helsinki, and conditions are supposed to ease tomorrow 🙂 We kept being told in Kiel by our tour guide, that these are unusual conditions for Kiel.  Enjoy the enforced rest, and watching the sea 🙂 

Yep I saw your maneuver yesterday in Kiel because I live there. It was a very uncommon but interesting maneuver, I thought that Aurora will skip Kiel but thanks to the experienced captain he did not, so I could make great photos 🙂 

15 hours ago, Jumping Cruiser said:

 

Do you have the link for the schedule please?

https://www.puertocadiz.com/escalas-cruceros/?tipo=anual&ano=2024

12 minutes ago, OfTheSeasCruiser said:

I’d bet that’s actually Utopia. 

That would make more sense. it shows also the length of Icon and it says 364,96 m. Utopia should have around 362 but let's wait and see, maybe you are right and just a placeholder.

Maybe the delivery could be delayed, Cadiz (Spain) updated their official cruise schedule for 2024 and it shows now Icon of the Seas on 23 June 2024 8.00-18.00 from La Rochelle to Port Canaveral.

Just now, kitkat343 said:

If the official port schedule is different than NCL, I would trust the official port site.  

 

 

I also trust only the official port sites. The user who started that topic said he sails in the Baltic on August with the Dawn but no Baltic port shows other cruise dates than NCLs schedule in this case. 

Did you read my comment on #10?

tell me what your sources are, they are never the officials..

Copenhagen = cmport.com

Warnemunde = rostock-port.de

Gdynia = port.gdynia.pl

Klaipeda= portofklaipeda.lt

visby= cmport.com

Helsinki= portofhelsinki.fi

Kiel=  Portofkiel.com

7 hours ago, fcccruiser said:

I am taking a Baltic cruise this August on the Dawn.  I was looking at the port schedules to see if there would be other boats in port on the same day at our stops (to anticipate potential crowds) and noticed that which port we are scheduled to be in on which day is different according to the port schedules (and I checked multiple sites) than in my official NCL agenda.  This hasn't been the case on any of my previous cruises, so I don't know if the port schedule is fluid or if I should be expecting a notification of change from NCL at the last minute.  While not a huge deal I like to arrange independent excursions and don't want to book several tours only to not be in that port on that day.  Any help or insight is appreciated.

I live in the Baltic and I know all official port sites of the Baltic ports. Are you sure you checked the official port sites and not unofficial cruise pages with the old itineraries when St.Petersburg was in? I don't know in which of the 2 Baltic cruises you're booked in on August but I've checked the official port sites for both baltic trips and the NCL Dawn is registered everywhere as it says in NCL's schedule. Last year there were many changes in the Baltic where you could see the changes in the official Baltic ports before NCL officially announced them. But this year there are no changes so far.

The pilot strike in Hamburg was pushed back by 12 hours. The strike will start tomorrow at 6 a.m, so that will no longer affect the Virtuosa.