Norwegian Cruise Line announced that it is canceling a second cruise ship scheduled to depart from outside the United States this summer.
NCL announced that scheduled cruises from the Dominican Republic on Norwegian Gem between August 15, 2021 and October 10, 2021 will be canceled.
Originally, NCL wanted to set sail with three ships outside the United States:
- Norwegian jade from Athens, Greece
- Norwegian Joy from Montego Bay, Jamaica
- Norwegian gemstone from Punta Cana (La Romana), Dominican Republic
- Norwegian short break in Rome
- Norwegian epic in Barcelona
Sails on the Joy were canceled last week so only the Jade could sail from Greece.
In an email to guests booked on the Gem, the cruise line announced the time it would take to prepare the ship, and Americans’ desire to cruise from local ports led to the change.
“As you may know, we have been saying for many months that our ships take about 90 days to launch and crew. We are currently doing our best to maximize our operational fleet and active crew to accommodate cruise travel to destinations like ours Guests appreciate the most. “
“We are very sorry that your cruise has been compromised, but we hope to see you aboard another cruise.”
Joy’s crossings were canceled so the ship could be relocated to Alaska instead.
The new cancellations come less than a month after Frank Del Rio, CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) told investors that customers are buying up the new cruises: “The response to our resumption of international travel has been overwhelming, and even so Trips from our new Caribbean home ports are doing better than expected despite the extremely shortened booking window. “
Royal Caribbean recently canceled two scheduled departures outside of the US: Vision of the Seas from Bermuda and Odyssey of the Seas from Israel.
The Odyssey season was canceled due to the cruise line’s inability to vaccinate its crew members as well as violence in the area. Vision’s cruises appear to be canceled due to weak demand and the expected return of cruises from the US
Both Royal Caribbean and NCL seem to see a far greater demand for cruises departing from the US than placing ships in new home ports.
Adventure of the Seas is set to sail from the Bahamas in less than two weeks, and NCL has three ships scheduled to cruise outside of Europe.
