Holland America Line has reached out to visitors booked aboard one in every of this spring’s 14-night Alaskan itineraries aboard Nieuw Amsterdam to inform them of an itinerary change.
One port of name is being swapped for one more and three different port visits are altering days, however the cruise line is adjusting shore excursions as essential to accommodate the modifications.
14-Night time Alaskan Itinerary Modified
The Could 7, 2023 crusing of Nieuw Amsterdam is not going to be the identical itinerary as marketed when visitors initially booked their cruise aboard the Signature-class ship. The cruise line reached out at the moment to inform visitors that there are a number of modifications to the cruise, together with one full port of name change and a number of other port visits being moved to totally different days.
The impacted voyage is a 14-night crusing, roundtrip from Vancouver, Canada, with a number of superb Alaskan ports of name and cruising via the majestic Glacier Bay, one of many prime must-visit websites within the Final Frontier.
“Please be suggested that because of operational causes, Nieuw Amsterdam will now not name to Skagway, Alaska,” the e-mail defined. “[We] will as a substitute name to Victoria, British Columbia.”
The go to to Skagway was to have been on Tuesday, Could 16, whereas the brand new port go to to Victoria shall be on Saturday, Could 20. To accommodate this variation, the ship’s visits to Sitka, Ketchikan, and Prince Rupert will all be moved up by in the future within the itinerary, and Could 19 will now be a day at sea.
Ports of name earlier within the itinerary – Kodiak Island, Anchorage, Valdez, and Glacier Bay – usually are not impacted by the change. Likewise, the ship’s return to Vancouver is similar as initially deliberate.
Holland America Line is robotically refunding shore excursions for Skagway which have been booked via the cruise line, and people refunds shall be processed again to the unique type of cost.
Up to date info for the remaining ports of name, in addition to excursions for the brand new go to to Victoria, British Columbia, shall be obtainable on the cruise line’s web site inside two weeks.
What Operational Causes Precipitated the Port Change?
No particulars have been supplied in regards to the “operational causes” that make eradicating Skagway from the itinerary crucial, however it’s attainable the change is because of ongoing difficulties with rockslides alongside the dock at that standard port.
Throughout the 2022 crusing season, a number of harmful rockslides brought on injury to one of many major cruise ship docks, and the dock was closed for a number of weeks as emergency repairs had been made. Whereas extra repairs have been deliberate, if these repairs usually are not full, it might imply extra cancellations or port modifications for different cruise ships.
Learn Additionally: Fashionable Alaskan Port In search of to Restrict Cruise Ship Visits
This might be very true throughout the top of the summer time season, when a number of ships every day could also be scheduled to go to Skagway. On Could 16, 5 ships had been scheduled for the port.
Together with Nieuw Amsterdam, Princess Cruises’ Royal Princess and Grand Princess, Superstar Cruises’ Superstar Solstice, and Holland America Line’s Koningsdam are all deliberate for Skagway that day.
In all of Could 2023, there is just one different day when 5 ships are scheduled in Skagway – Thursday, Could 25, when ships from Viking Cruises, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean Worldwide, Holland America Line, and Disney Cruises are all scheduled.
Vacationers planning an Alaskan cruise this yr ought to keep in contact with their cruise line if Skagway is on the itinerary, simply in case extra changes are crucial.
