Splendor skipping Stavanger again - Ideas?

[lprp]

Hi All

We’ve just received an email that our Splendor Cruise - 31 August 23 Reykjavik to Copenhagen is now skiing Stavanger for a “relaxing sea day”.

I get that things happen, but it seems a fairly long time out before the cruise to be scrapping a port, also, I believe I have seen this being discussed on FB for other RSSC cruises this season.

Wonder if anyone has any insight or ideas? 
Thanks

LP

[irishwitchy]

Last year, I was on Splendor and it stopped in Stavanger, but it really stopped at town about a half hour away.  I had been there before and it’s a nice town when you dock in the actually town.  Great place to stroll, take some pics and do some shopping.   Having to dock out of town, and doing one of the tours made it basically impossible to enjoy the town, because of bussing you back and forth.   I’m guessing a bigger ship has the best spot in town, however I have no special knowledge besides my crystal ball! 

[red1head]

Someone posted a link on the FB group to info about the fact that there has been and are ongoing protests by residents against the intrusion and impact of cruise ships in the area. That could well be the reason Regent is making the change well ahead of time. You or your TA could call Regent and ask. If you are a member of the group (or join), you can search on Stavenger on the group page and you’ll be able to find the info. Still, it’s disappointing. 

[welshfamily]

I agree it is very disappointing to lose a port.

We lost Casablanca for August on the 3rd of May.
Again for a relaxing sea day.

Not sure if this is something Regent do when ports of call are not up to scratch as many posted on this board that Casablanca was not worth getting off the ship.

 

[lprp]

12 minutes ago, red1head said:

Someone posted a link on the FB group to info about the fact that there has been and are ongoing protests by residents against the intrusion and impact of cruise ships in the area. That could well be the reason Regent is making the change well ahead of time. You or your TA could call Regent and ask. If you are a member of the group (or join), you can search on Stavenger on the group page and you’ll be able to find the info. Still, it’s disappointing. 

I’ve checked the FB posts, it’s a possibility, but there are 2 Aida cruise ships due to be there on the same day.

According to CruiseMapper Stavanger has a very busy schedule right through the summer.

I will ask our TA but pretty much except a standard “operational reasons” response.

I’ll report back as and when I get a response……..

[Txcotn]

47 minutes ago, red1head said:

Someone posted a link on the FB group to info about the fact that there has been and are ongoing protests by residents against the intrusion and impact of cruise ships in the area. That could well be the reason Regent is making the change well ahead of time. You or your TA could call Regent and ask. If you are a member of the group (or join), you can search on Stavenger on the group page and you’ll be able to find the info. Still, it’s disappointing. 

This seems to be the mentality of many "ports" these days. Residents claim the town gets too crowded, that passengers don't spend money (in the right places?) etc, etc. Some of these towns are reacting to more ships but even then, it is a short season. Once we heard a guest railing on about Skagway and how crowded and it was and wasn't it awful, but to talk to the local shop owners, they were happy as their season is so very short - make hay while the sun shines attitude. We enjoyed Stavanger when we visited and it's too bad to be docked so far away as it is indeed a very walkable town.

[WNcruiser]

With so many ports close to each other In Norway you would think Regent could find a replacement. Such a beautiful area it’s a shame to have a sea day (unless it’s scenic cruising in the fjords). 
 

Hoping our Voyager cruise still stops there in August. 

[papaflamingo]

No, no one really has any valid insight.  Lots of speculation but in reality they cancelled because they had to, for whatever reason.  It is, sadly, part of cruising.  All we can do on social media is speculate and add rumors. But in reality, at the end of the day, the port will remain cancelled.  You can certainly try to push it up the chain and demand an answer, and maybe you'll get one. 

[Techno123]

We are sailing with Seabourn on a Norwegian Fjord cruise in a few weeks and they have cancelled the scenic cruising of the Trollfjord (Please be advised that due to operational considerations, Seabourn Ovation will no longer conduct scenic cruising of Trollfjord as previously scheduled). And we aren't visiting Flam as previous cruises have done (but that was never on our itinerary) so they are all 'at it'  with the operational issues 😁

 

Doing some research it appears that Norway are 'discouraging' anything other than clean energy ships in some fjords and some ports will only allow a limited number of ships at a time. I assume cruise ships can cause significant damage (look at Venice). 

[PurleyKing]

We will be on the 26 July Splendor cruise from Copenhagen to Southampton; we were recently advised that we were no longer stopping in Stavanger and would instead be having a "relaxing day at sea".

I checked the cruise schedule for Stavanger, and Splendor was the only cruise ship due to be in that port that day.

[FLgemini]

I'm on this voyage and received email yesterday. Honestly, I welcome the extra sea day as it's only the second one for a 12-day trip. Plenty of Norway to still see with other stops in my opinion. Breaks things up. There are two Aida ships on the schedule that day for Stavanger with a combined capacity of 9,300 passengers. Speculation around the web is that two ships that size, now for some reason, puts strain on the port. There is a movement to limit the annual number of ships calling on Stavanger. Regent probably made this itinerary at least, what, two to three years ago? Maybe now, closer in, Regent was given the boot. I was on Explorer last summer on Easter Med and were changed very close to sailing from ending in Venice to ending in Rome.

[lprp]

Spoke to Regent in Southampton. They looked at the correspondence from Miami which just said that they decide on the ports a long time in advance and sometimes changes are needed. So essentially operational reasons.

It may well be that the 2 Aida ships have booked all the available tours, who knows? Whatever the reason, getting excited or upset isn’t going to change anything. Just looking forward to the cruise - our first on Splendor, interested to compare her to the others.

[Gilly]

We are also on the Splendor cruise from Copenhagen, but having stopped in Stavanger last year on board Navigator, on the same day as the enormous P&O Iona, I can understand how residents feel. I posted a link to a video on the FB conversation and can't find it right now to share here, but it made for interesting viewing I thought. Yes it's disappointing to miss a port but that's life on a cruise...and at least we have a beautiful ship on which to sail.  

Ps   found the link

 

Edited May 19, 2023 by Gilly

[FLgemini]

17 hours ago, welshfamily said:

We lost Casablanca for August on the 3rd of May.

 

Off topic, but agree with others, you are not missing much by not stopping in Casablanca. The movie has completely romanticszed that city. Today, you have to really, really be into a gritty, authentic experience to appreciate it. We stopped and used the time to go to Rabat, which we enjoyed (Marrakesh and Fes are simply too far out of reach for a single day port stop). For others who went ashore and stayed in Casbalanca, MANY stories of how unappealing it was.

[lesliew]

We had just booked this cruise the day before and Stavanger was one of the stops we were looking forward to, so a little disappointed.

I do agree that it might be a welcome sea day as there is only one other day at sea on this itinerary.

 

[Techno123]

Gilly that video is actually quite scary and if it's happening day after day it's no wonder the residents get a bit peeved 😱 Now if only everyone sailed on dinky little ships like ours 😁
 

We are due to be in Stavanger on the Ovation in July and have booked to go to Preikestolen so 🤞🏻we are allowed in.

Edited May 19, 2023 by Techno123

[Gilly]

I agree @Techno123 because whilst it's a far from impartial film, nevertheless it gives a little insight to the effects of these huge ships.  I'm not sure how frequently Iona is in Stavanger but think that last year, she was on a regular Norwegian Fjords itinerary aimed at families.  When we were in port, my dh went into town to seek a cash machine and reported that it "felt like being in Basildon"  (not that either of us has any first hand experience of that!)  Watching the crowds returning to the shi in the late afternoon, I understood what he meant.

I just looked at P&O itineraries and it appears that at least one of their ships visits weekly, with Iona doing the Norwegian Fjord cruise throughout the summer.  Iona is fuelled by LNG which I assume makes it more acceptable to the Norwegian environmental authorities.

[flossie009]

We are due to call in to Stavanger on Navigator in August.

Hopefully no changes as we are the only ship due in port that day 🤞 .......... but it will be what it will be.

 

16 hours ago, Gilly said:

my dh went into town to seek a cash machine and reported that it "felt like being in Basildon" 

Possibly appropriate as apparently "a party of Vikings were defeated at Benfleet in AD 894 after trying to loot the Basildon area"

(Basildon history)

[Gilly]

@flossie009 I love it!!  🤣

 

I hope you are able to enjoy the city as planned, though I'm wondering if it's a fuel/environmental issue that's taking effect as Norway is particularly concerned about the impact of cruise ships.  I think many are rescheduling as a result of not going to St Petersburg, perhaps?  It's a little ironic when Stavanger gained so much as a result of oil and gas exports though, isn't it?  🤔

[lprp]

@flossie009, @Gilly seems we will all be in the same area albeit in July, August and September - almost literally ships that pass in the night 😉

Hopefully your respective cruises will call at Stavanger.

LP

[2012_Alaska_bound]

4 hours ago, flossie009 said:

We are due to call in to Stavanger on Navigator in August.

That is when @Gilly and I were there on Navigator last year, so hopeful for you.

[Gilly]

@lprp we're sailing a B2B on Splendor, having enjoyed our Norwegian trip with @briar14 and @2012_Alaska_bound so much last year.   We'll leave Copenhagen on July 26th and return home from Reykjavik on August 23rd, overnighting in Southampton which will be strange as it's not much more than an hour from home.  Our previous Greenland itinerary was cancelled due to CV, so we're making up for lost time, I hope - we were eager to see the Faroes too.

We already heard that our Stavanger stop has been cancelled, which doesn't bother us terribly, but I know how disappointing such things can be.  I have my fingers crossed for all the others as I know that Greenland was a no go for quite a few people last year, because of bad weather (I think?)

 

How about you @lprp ?  Will our paths cross?

Edited May 20, 2023 by Gilly

[lprp]

3 hours ago, Gilly said:

How about you @lprp ?  Will our paths cross?

Afraid not @Gilly, we’re flying to Reykjavik joining Splendor on 31 August headed for Copenhagen.

Have a great time, I hope you get to the Faroes, never been but everyone I know who was impressed.

I think we may be on the same Christmas cruise as @flossie009 - Mariner to the Amazon 

LP

[Gilly]

Aaaagh, @lprp, I have so many friends I've never met... @flossie009 and @forgap included and others who got on and we got off or vice versa ( hi @liptastic !)   It was fabulous to finally meet @briar14  last year and @2012_Alaska_bound too - perhaps one of these days we'll all find ourselves on the same ship and heaven knows what mayhem might break out!  We managed Shetland and the Orkneys last year and have aimed for the Faroes once before (and the Falklands) and missed...but hey, this may be our lucky year!

[liptastic]

Gilly what a lovely idea. 😊.  Jean.