Norwegian Cruise Line has reached out to friends booked aboard Norwegian Joy in early 2024 to tell them that their cruises have been cancelled, and the ship shall be present process a drydock revitalization through the impacted time interval.
Compensation is being offered, and for the reason that affected sailings are a yr away, friends have loads of time to change their journey plans for a special cruise trip.
Norwegian Joy Sailings Cancelled
Guests eagerly anticipating their upcoming cruises aboard the Breakaway-Plus-class Norwegian Joy in early 2024 might want to reschedule their trip plans, as Norwegian Cruise Line has emailed booked passengers {that a} month of sailings has been cancelled for the ship’s revitalization.
“As part of our commitment to continuously offer extraordinary vacation experiences around the world for our guests, and to uphold a consistent world-class product across our fleet, Norwegian Joy will be undergoing a revitalization in early 2024,” the e-mail learn.
“In order to complete these enhancements, Norwegian Joy sailings from January 6, 2024 through and including February 10, 2024 have been canceled.”
A complete of 4 sailings are impacted by this cancellation, together with two one-way 15-night voyages between Miami and Los Angeles that might have taken friends by the Panama Canal and to numerous ports in Colombia, Guatemala, and Mexico. The different two cancelled cruises are a 5-night Mexican Riviera getaway from Los Angeles to Cabo San Lucas, and a 7-night crusing from Miami to Honduras, Belize, and Mexico.
No additional particulars concerning the ship’s deliberate revitalization have been launched, however the drydock work will doubtless embrace commonplace resort upgrades and refinishing of public areas, in addition to numerous technical or behind-the-scenes upgrades.
It is feasible that a number of the refurbishment may even embrace adjustments to lounges and leisure areas in keeping with the cruise line’s latest announcement about lowering leisure choices.
The 167,725-gross-ton Norwegian Joy first joined the fleet in 2017 in China, and far of her design was particularly outfitted for Chinese friends. Her most up-to-date refurbishment was in 2019, an in depth $50 million (USD) replace that renovated the vessel to raised serve a Western market somewhat than an Asian one.
Refunds and Other Compensation Offered
All friends booked on the now-cancelled cruises will robotically obtain a 100% refund returned to the type of fee made to safe the reservation, although refunds might take 30-45 days to seem again in friends’ accounts, relying on their monetary establishment. If a future cruise credit score (FCC) was used for the reservation, that credit score shall be returned to friends’ cruise line loyalty accounts.
It must be famous that the expiration date, if relevant, of the FCC won’t be adjusted. Because the crusing is a yr away, nevertheless, friends do have ample time to use any credit to different sailings as they modify their journey plans.
In addition to the complete refund, friends are additionally being provided a ten% FCC primarily based on their fare paid for the cancelled voyage, which can be utilized to any future Norwegian Cruise Line crusing by December 31, 2024. “We sincerely appreciate your understanding and look forward to welcoming you aboard very soon,” the e-mail concluded.
Why Cancellations?
While impacted friends will understandably be upset on the cruise cancellations, a majority of these scheduling adjustments do occur and cruise strains make each effort to offer friends with early discover so their journey plans could be extra simply adjusted.
Cruise ship dry docks are typically scheduled properly prematurely, and cruise strains attempt to plan for gaps in a ship’s deployment so no cruises should be cancelled when a ship is out of service for upgrades and upkeep.
This isn’t at all times doable, nevertheless, and shipyard schedules, the provision of supplies, environmental regulation adjustments, and sudden repairs can all require changes to dry dock plans.
Norwegian Cruise Line equally canceled cruises for Norwegian Escape in September 2022 because of dry dock, whereas Carnival Cruise Line canceled 5 sailings for Carnival Paradise in October 2023 for dry dock renovations.
At this time, many shipyards are nonetheless battling scheduling points from the pandemic disruption, which induced quite a few delays and postponements of ship development, renovations, and repairs. Similar cancellations are to be anticipated for all cruise strains, and visitor ought to stay versatile and understanding with their journey plans.