Not surprisingly, cruise lines are all navigating away from Russia on planned Baltic itineraries and ports in Ukraine on Black Sea voyages.
Within hours of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Atlas Ocean Voyages was the first to announce plans to drop St. Petersburg. World Navigator will now call at Kotka and Mariehamn, Finland on an Aug. 26 voyage, while the Sept. 7 departure will now also add Saaremaa, Estonia.
Other lines have been scrambling to find alternatives to the Russian port that had been booked for about 100 visits by a dozen different cruise ships starting in May.
Windstar Cruises also cancelled all sailings and cruise-tours in the Black Sea and announced plans to replace St. Petersburg on its five Baltic cruises with a non-Russian port. Black Sea itineraries with calls at Odessa, Ukraine and Sochi, Russia are being modified into round-trip Istanbul voyages featuring Greece and Turkey.
Norwegian Cruise Line and its related brands are replacing St. Petersburg on Baltic itineraries. NCL is cancceling Norwegian Getaway’s cruises with embarkation dates from June 14 through Oct. 9. And as a result of ship redeployment, additional Norwegian Getaway voyages sailing from Oct. 18 through and including Nov. 27, were also canceled.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings is the parent company of Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Oceania Cruises. Together, the three lines had about 50 sailings on their schedules for the year that included stops in Russia’s main Baltic port.
Viking Ocean Cruises cancelled all departures of a Black Sea itinerary that included tours to Kyiv. The company told industry publication Seatrade Cruise News that “The safety and security of our guests and crew is always our top priority. Given recent events and the developing conflict in Ukraine, we have made the difficult decision to cancel all 2022 departures of our Black Sea & Bucharest itinerary.” But it said it is still assessing other sailings that call on Russian ports.
Lines that are owned by Carnival Corp. are all planning to amend itineraries to avoid St. Petersburg Its brands including AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, P&O Cruises, Cunard and Seabourn, are all sailing Baltic itineraries this spring and summer. “We stand for peace,” said Carnival Corp. spokesman Roger Frizzell. The changes will be announced as alternative ports can be confirmed.
Holland America is informing guests that replacement ports on Baltic itineraries will include Riga, Latvia; Klaipeda, Lithuania; and Visby, Sweden with an additional overnight stay in Stockholm. A cruise that was scheduled to visit Vladivostok, Russia, will instead visit Busan (Pusan), South Korea.
Seabourn is replacing St. Petersburg with a variety of replacement ports including stops in Gothenburg and Helsingborg, Sweden; Ulvik, Sandness (Stavanger), Farsund, and Aalborg, Norway; and Amsterdam.
Lines that are part of Royal Caribbean International are also cancelling calls on St Petersburg. Instead of visiting Russia, some of Voyager of the Seas’ sailings will go to Rostock, Germany for trips to Berlin and Gdansk, Poland. Other itineraries will add overnights in Stockholm.
Silversea Cruises has St. Petersburg on Baltic itineraries of two of its ships. “The safety of our guests and crew are always our top priority. We know this is a difficult situation, and we are monitoring it carefully,” said spokesperson Brad Ball.
A spokesperson for Celebrity Cruises said: “The safety of our guests and crew is always our top priority and we continuously monitor world events, including the current situation in Ukraine. We are not currently sailing in this region and we will evaluate whether or not we will visit St. Petersburg, Russia, as scheduled for sailings starting in May. We have plans for alternative ports as needed and will communicate any updates to our guests. Guests do have the option to reschedule their sailing without penalty through our Cruise with Confidence program.”
MSC Cruises has shifted Grandiosa’s route to the Norwegian Fjords this summer and says it is also working to find alternative ports in Scandinavia for four other ships that were scheduled to call in St. Petersburg.
This story will be updated as itinerary changes are announced.
Wallace Immen is executive editor of The Cruisington Times.
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