JasonOasis Posted June 2, 2023 Report Share Posted June 2, 2023 A few days ago NCL announced it was canceling the entire winter 2023/24 European cruise season on Norwegian Epic and will instead redeploy Epic to the highly lucrative Caribbean market. Norwegian Epic had been schedule to spend the entire winter season sailing the Mediterranean doing 7 - 10 night cruises departing from places like Rome (Civitavecchia) Haifa Israel, and Lisbon Portugal, instead Epic will be redeployed to Port Canaveral and will do 7 night cruises to the Caribbean. According to NCL the cancellations are do to fleet redeployments but some industry insiders state it comes down to money and low bookings for Mediterranean cruises during the winter season. NCL is offering a full refund to effected passengers and a 20% FCC if guest book another European cruise or a 10% FCC if effected guest book any other cruise on any NCL ship. https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/NCL-cancels-winter-Norwegian-Epic# Has there ever been a time in recent years (not including COVID shutdown) where a cruise line cancels an entire season this close? We are only 6 months away from December 1st which is when Epic's winter 2023/24 season was scheduled to begin. According to another article Port Canaveral has the space to accommodate Epic but so far NCL hasn't released the new sailings as they are still working on which ports of call in the Caribbean to send Epic too. KristiZ and WAAAYTOOO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted June 2, 2023 Report Share Posted June 2, 2023 Winter cruising in the Med is best suited to the European lines that tend to have more local or regional guests. There isn't a huge demand for it and I suspect NCL, like Royal tends to have a decent contingent of US based cruises for European cruises. The regional folks who book the European lines that do winter Med cruises probably aren't going to pick NCL over their normal line just because NCL offered it. Most Americans aren't looking to cruise the Med in the winter. Combine the two and it's a recipe for low bookings. We often hear European or UK based residents suggesting Royal stay through the winter but I suspect if Royal tried it, Royal would end doing what NCL just did. Place the ship where it's going to make more money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattycruise Posted June 2, 2023 Report Share Posted June 2, 2023 Does travel insurance cover this? It seems it might be wise to book refundable air in case travel insurance doesn’t cover the cancellation. When Royal has cancelled people due to overbooking the airfare reimbursement is laughable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted June 2, 2023 Report Share Posted June 2, 2023 4 minutes ago, Pattycruise said: Does travel insurance cover this? It seems it might be wise to book refundable air in case travel insurance doesn’t cover the cancellation. When Royal has cancelled people due to overbooking the airfare reimbursement is laughable. Likely varies by policy. The cruise fare is refunded so that much is good. Many airlines allow a credit for the flight value which an insurance company may use to avoid paying out. Often those credits are bound to similar international travel so it can leave a gap when insurance companies deny a claim. Flights by Air2Sea would be covered by Royal but I'm not certain what NCL offers for flights. Pattycruise 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaMG Posted June 2, 2023 Report Share Posted June 2, 2023 As a "local", I wouldn't particularly want to cruise in the Med in winter so I was quite surprised to see both NCL and Celebrity testing the waters. I'm less surprised at NCL pulling out. Celebrity's programme is less extensive than NCL's but I'm wondering whether it will survive or whether they will abandon ship too, so to speak. I do think there is a potential niche market for short cruises out of and around the Canary Islands/Madeira and perhaps even Cape Verde during the winter months. Many Europeans fly to these places for winter sun holidays and I can't help thinking there would be a lot of people interested in doing a hotel/cruise combination if it were offered. However, if none of the cruise are doing it, perhaps they've done the market studies and come to the conclusion there just isn't the market for it. twangster 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted June 3, 2023 Report Share Posted June 3, 2023 On 6/2/2023 at 5:41 PM, FionaMG said: As a "local", I wouldn't particularly want to cruise in the Med in winter so I was quite surprised to see both NCL and Celebrity testing the waters. I'm less surprised at NCL pulling out. Celebrity's programme is less extensive than NCL's but I'm wondering whether it will survive or whether they will abandon ship too, so to speak. I do think there is a potential niche market for short cruises out of and around the Canary Islands/Madeira and perhaps even Cape Verde during the winter months. Many Europeans fly to these places for winter sun holidays and I can't help thinking there would be a lot of people interested in doing a hotel/cruise combination if it were offered. Agree 100% No way i would cruise or even visit the Med in Winter. Like yourself i have previously mentioned cruises based out of Maderia which is a completely different geographic to the Med in Winter. FionaMG 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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