Does this look like an "itinerary change" to you?

[RB9643]

On 7/8/2023 at 3:02 PM, Cruising Lynne said:

They are going to be losing loyal customers.

 

 

Some of us would be fine with that. I would love to see a 4-500 less people on my ship.

 

 

[omahabob]

Just book on a smaller ship, and your wish is granted!  😜

[Vagabond Knight]

I have googled and googled and, except for that one article that talks about the total overhaul of that NCL cruise, I can find no mention anywhere of "new restrictions" about tender ports in Ireland from October through April.  So, is there really such a government restriction or is it simply a NCL policy change?  I have trouble believing that we wouldn't be able to find ANY other articles talking about the restrictions affecting cruises on other cruise lines and/or how it will affect the tourism in the port cities. 

[mugtech]

18 hours ago, RB9643 said:

 

Some of us would be fine with that. I would love to see a 4-500 less people on my ship.

 

 

Certainly would send those last minute deals in a monetary plunge

[Norwayfan1]

1 hour ago, Vagabond Knight said:

I have googled and googled and, except for that one article that talks about the total overhaul of that NCL cruise, I can find no mention anywhere of "new restrictions" about tender ports in Ireland from October through April.  So, is there really such a government restriction or is it simply a NCL policy change?  I have trouble believing that we wouldn't be able to find ANY other articles talking about the restrictions affecting cruises on other cruise lines and/or how it will affect the tourism in the port cities. 

See post 76 on this thread.

[Vagabond Knight]

32 minutes ago, Norwayfan1 said:

See post 76 on this thread.

 

Thank you, @Norwayfan1.

[kitkat343]

On 7/7/2023 at 8:37 AM, WickedRed said:

 

IDK if this will help you, but it does sound like the changes are for next year.  I am on a British Isles cruise this October with 2 ports in Ireland: Dun Laoghaire (Dublin) and Cobh (Cork).  So far there have been no changes.  If weather conditions are typically and issue for these locations starting in October, I expect any changes to be last minute.  Honestly, when it comes to cruises that are not Boston to Bermuda then I'm batting about 60/40 with 60% of the cruises I've been on have had a last minute itinerary change. 

Are those itinerary changes related to weather or other emergencies outside of NCL's control?   Or are they to help the environment (which I totally support making changes for, but prior to final payment)?

Edited July 11, 2023 by kitkat343

[Ulsteinvik]

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..

 

[WickedRed]

4 minutes ago, kitkat343 said:

Are those itinerary changes related to weather or other emergencies outside of NCL's control?   Or are they to help the environment (which I totally support making changes for, but prior to final payment)?

All weather and safety related.  Safety first after all.  I'm the type of person who's going to roll with it.  Just happy to be away and not working.  2 of them involved more than one port and we were told either at check in or while we were leaving Miami.  Itinerary changes keeps things interesting.  lol.

 

[eileeshb]

On 7/8/2023 at 4:53 PM, njkate said:

I had once taken an Irish ferry from Roselare I believe across the Irish Sea to Wales in October, very rocky so I can't imagine tendering

Try doing an overnight ferry crossing from le Harve to Rosslare in late October when a storm hits so badly the ship crew consider diverting to Portsmouth to wait it out but don’t… 

I pity the housekeeping crew that had to clean the cabins after we got back to Rosslare. 
 

Btw I can understand cancelling itineraries with tenders on the west coast of Ireland from October to April, that is prime surf season for us. The surfers are usually revving up their jet skis for the tow-in surf spots along this side of the country. 
For the folks currently sailing and having tender ports cancelled I can only says the current weather is even worse than our normal unreliable summer.  
The ferries that run from Doolin to the Aran islands used to have to use tenders at low tides before the new pier was built but even with their new pier they still shutdown operations from the end of September or October depending on when the weather turns. 
here’s a news story of the sort of wave action we can get in storms, the village of Lahinch is smack in the middle of the west coast, only a few miles from the Cliffs of Moher. In between Dingle and Galway on those ireland itineraries.  I did see an national geographic cruise ship in the bay here once a few years back sending guests ashore to Liscannor village  on ribs. 

[clojacks]

5 hours ago, Vagabond Knight said:

 

Thank you, @Norwayfan1.

Also, check out my post #95

[clojacks]

1 hour ago, eileeshb said:

Try doing an overnight ferry crossing from le Harve to Rosslare in late October when a storm hits so badly the ship crew consider diverting to Portsmouth to wait it out but don’t… 

I pity the housekeeping crew that had to clean the cabins after we got back to Rosslare. 
 

Btw I can understand cancelling itineraries with tenders on the west coast of Ireland from October to April, that is prime surf season for us. The surfers are usually revving up their jet skis for the tow-in surf spots along this side of the country. 
For the folks currently sailing and having tender ports cancelled I can only says the current weather is even worse than our normal unreliable summer.  
The ferries that run from Doolin to the Aran islands used to have to use tenders at low tides before the new pier was built but even with their new pier they still shutdown operations from the end of September or October depending on when the weather turns. 
here’s a news story of the sort of wave action we can get in storms, the village of Lahinch is smack in the middle of the west coast, only a few miles from the Cliffs of Moher. In between Dingle and Galway on those ireland itineraries.  I did see an national geographic cruise ship in the bay here once a few years back sending guests ashore to Liscannor village  on ribs. 

What I don't understand, is if NCL is soooo safety conscious, what were they doing originally booking these cruises assumedly fully well having these known conditions available to their logistics and planning teams? To me, that smacks of carelessness and thoughtlessness. I'm curious, but have these been cruises that NCL and other lines have done in the past...before COVID put a pretty good halt to Ireland cruises?

[insidecabin]

6 minutes ago, clojacks said:

What I don't understand, is if NCL is soooo safety conscious, what were they doing originally booking these cruises assumedly fully well having these known conditions available to their logistics and planning teams? To me, that smacks of carelessness and thoughtlessness. I'm curious, but have these been cruises that NCL and other lines have done in the past...before COVID put a pretty good halt to Ireland cruises?

The Irish sea(East coast Ireland) can be bad any time of year as this week showed for the Dawn.

West coast can get left over storms from the hurricane season 

 

Even the English channel is not immune worst storm we have had was there on the Pearl leaving Southampton.

MSC belisimima got hit the same another year.

 

Round Ireland have been rare cruises  P&O have done some and the smaller(more expensive) ships usually have the alternative* ports on itineraries most years.

 

* Cobh, Dun Laoghaire, Belfast are regular on loads of cruises.

[omahabob]

2 hours ago, clojacks said:

What I don't understand, is if NCL is soooo safety conscious, what were they doing originally booking these cruises assumedly fully well having these known conditions available to their logistics and planning teams? To me, that smacks of carelessness and thoughtlessness. I'm curious, but have these been cruises that NCL and other lines have done in the past...before COVID put a pretty good halt to Ireland cruises?

 

NCL cancels tendering anywhere if the weather is rough. That's NCL's decision. The ports have now cancelled tendering for a calendar period, regardless of any weather. That's not an NCL decision. There were decent weather days in that period, and NCL used them. They no longer have that option now.

[insidecabin]

16 hours ago, Vagabond Knight said:

I have googled and googled and, except for that one article that talks about the total overhaul of that NCL cruise, I can find no mention anywhere of "new restrictions" about tender ports in Ireland from October through April.  So, is there really such a government restriction or is it simply a NCL policy change?  I have trouble believing that we wouldn't be able to find ANY other articles talking about the restrictions affecting cruises on other cruise lines and/or how it will affect the tourism in the port cities. 

A lot of port operation changes never hit the press or get any official announcement.

 

 

[eileeshb]

17 hours ago, clojacks said:

What I don't understand, is if NCL is soooo safety conscious, what were they doing originally booking these cruises assumedly fully well having these known conditions available to their logistics and planning teams? To me, that smacks of carelessness and thoughtlessness. I'm curious, but have these been cruises that NCL and other lines have done in the past...before COVID put a pretty good halt to Ireland cruises?

They’ve expanded their fleet with moving Joy back from China and adding Prima, plus Viva as well. That means they’re now expanding the range of itineraries and extending the seasons for others. E.g. Bliss and Encore will be sailing to Alaska until the end of October and they started early in April.
I’d suspect insurance issues may have an influence too for Ireland in particular, our ports may have had insurance refused for those months. There are serious issues with public liability insurance in Ireland across all industries but in particularly anything connected to the leisure industry. The local insurance companies randomly increase premiums or stop offering coverage entirely even when nothing has happened, it’s a mess due to being such a small market.