NCL’s Many Itinerary Changes - Here's My Story

[@frankyoung3626]

We are on the June 30, 2025 cruise from Reykjavik-NY with the identical itinerary with 4 other friends. It seems this itinerary gets frequently changed due to port/ice conditions. Usually the changes are not to “enhance our experience ” or due to customer feedback, but because the proposed change is a cheaper option than the original plan-and they can justify those changes in the name of safety or weather. NCL has had a lot of reviews lately complaining about schedule changes, reduced services, declining standards, persistent upselling, etc. I’m looking forward to viewing your other videos about this trip to learn about the dining and updated ship features. We used to be regular NCL cruisers but our last experience was less than stellar, so we are hopeful that the overall experience will be as positive as yours. Thanks for posting.

[@shirleysjourneys9505]

I hope your itinerary goes without a hitch. Maybe they will see all the bad press they are getting about the itinerary changes and try to adequately plan in advance. I am working on my videos about our hotel and tours in Reykjavik, and the things we did in the other ports. Hopefully, some of them will be helpful, too.

[@martyptx]

@@shirleysjourneys9505They won’t. It’s NCL, don’t expect too much.

[@ginacampbell2486]

I believe it is a bate and switch. Thank you for all of your videos.

[@shirleysjourneys9505]

I appreciate your comments!

[@martyptx]

Hi Shirley, very informative video. It just shows how nice a person you are that you did not really lay into what NCL did. I have watched some of your other videos and really enjoyed them. My wife and I were on a Circle Iceland cruise this summer starting in the middle of July, on the HAL Nieuw Statendam (I believe a ship you had previously been on.). We were round trip from Amsterdam with stops in Norway, Shetland Islands, 5 stops all around Iceland, and a couple of stops in Scotland. So sorry you had to deal with so many changes. We absolutely loved our cruise and all the Iceland stops. We had a great time visiting Akurryri. I will watch your other videos. Again, you are a genuinely nice person! -Marty

[@martyptx]

Later in September, we did another HAL cruise from Quebec City to Boston, with a stop in Halifax. We had a great day exploring Peggy’s Cove and the Halifax Public Gardens.

[@martyptx]

We had done one NCL cruise, 15 days from LA to Miami through the Panama Canal. The embarkation and de-embarkation were both so ridiculously chaotic that we decided to probably never cruise on NCL again. Of course, the highlight of the cruise was the Canal, and the broadway shows, we say Six and Jersey Boys, and they were both great! The food was generally good, but the service everywhere was pretty bad, plus the worst thing was they really didn’t seem to care. We were in an upgraded balcony stateroom, and many times our room was still not touched when we got back to it to prepare for dinner. Not good, NCL!

[@shirleysjourneys9505]

We did a similar itinerary on Princess, but round trip out of New York

[@izengolf1]

NCL just changed our itinerary for a November 2024 sailing with the exact same letter as your first one except we also will receive a 10% FCC to be used in 1 year. That extra "sorry" suggests more disappointments to come! Hard to resist the wonderful itineraries on the Star and Dawn but if they don't actually sail them...

[@shirleysjourneys9505]

I hope you don't have additional changes.

[@karencalderwood9058]

It is bait & switch sadly. NCL did the same thing to our Panama Canal cruise. Next time I’ll use a different cruise line!

[@shirleysjourneys9505]

It’s really frustrating when it happens! So sorry it happened to you, too.

[@kingsgaurd]

The past few days NCL has cancelled months of future cruises for 3 or 4 ships, starting in October or November 2025 due to "fleet repositioning". Several of the cancelled cruises included problematic stops that have been cancelled in the past including Antarctica and Madagascar.

[@shirleysjourneys9505]

Yes. In those cases, I feel that safety played a large factor in the decision to cancel, but I do feel sorry for the cruisers who had made plans that they now have to rearrange.

[@joannfarrell312]

Everyone understands adjustments to ports…but that amount is not ok.

[@shirleysjourneys9505]

Agreed! It was just over the top this time.

[@CooksExplore]

Just had our trip of a lifetime trip on Norwegian Star changed and our dream destination removed from the itinerary… NCLs $50 compensation miserly … We’ve been told by our travel agent that NCL are inundated with complaints on itinerary changes at the moment….seems something is going horribly wrong at Norwegian.

[@shirleysjourneys9505]

I really hope they get their act together. I don’t know if they are purposely misleading guests in order to get the bookings, or if it is poor planning and they cannot secure the dock space they had hoped to secure. But it really affects who will book a second time with them.

[@chairmandan1794]

When the Cruise Line changes the itinerary for "my safety", I simply don't believe them. I have experienced different cruise lines the lying is not unique to NCL.

[@shirleysjourneys9505]

Agreed that it is not unique to NCL, but this was my first experience to changes at this extent. A family member had a whole cruise rerouted from Western Caribbean to Eastern Caribbean due to a hurricane in the path - That one was completely understandable, and the change took them into beautiful weather.

[@Lumpia_In_Texas]

Princess just did this to me for Feb 2025. Changed from the awesome Mahogany Bay to crappy Belize City. The US Govt strongly recommends NOT to travel to Belize city!

[@shirleysjourneys9505]

So disappointing.

[@Youtube_Stole_My_Handle_Too]

Funny this ended up in my feed. I have never been on a cruise and will never go on a cruise. I find the whole business to be half criminal and this video served as cementing.

[@shirleysjourneys9505]

I always find random things on my feed, too. Some intrigue me and I watch. Others get a hard, “No.” Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment on my little channel.

[@kingsgaurd]

Not a good look for NCL.