MSC Virtuosa arriving into Southampton Photo Credit Spacejunkie2 (Flickr) The MSC Virtuosa was the first cruise ship to dock in Hamburg in 2023.
The MSC Virtuosa arrived in Hamburg on January 1, 2023, marking the beginning of this year’s cruise season.
From January 8 to January 29, the ship will set course for the Canary Islands for three weeks. The ship will make calls in Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Le Havre, Lisbon, Cadiz and Casablanca followed by visits to the Atlantic islands of Madeira, Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lanzarote. On the way back to Hamburg, the MSC Virtuosa will call in La Coruna and Southampton.
The MSC Virtuosa will make several calls in Hamburg before April 16 turning around in the German port.
In the summer of 2023, the cruise ship will then depart from Southampton, England for Norway or southern Europe.
The MSC Euribia will then take over the trips to Hamburg from the MSC Virtuosa. In the summer of 2023, it will depart from Kiel and head to the Norwegian fjords. Throughout the 2023/2024 season, the MSC Euribia will return to Hamburg on a weekly basis.
The Port of Hamburg is expecting around 280 calls from cruise ships in 2023. The highlights in the port are the port birthday from May 5 to 7, 2023, and the Cruise Days from September 8 to 10, 2023.
The ship, launched this summer as the first of six Prima-class vessels will operate a series of 10 and 11 “open jaw” cruises between Southampton and Reykjavik from May to September 2025.
Norwegian Prima’s 2025 itineraries from Southampton will include trips to Geiranger in Norway’s fjords, as well as ports such as Alesund, Flam and Bergen, plus Iceland, Zeebrugge in Belgium and Amsterdam.
The ship, which will sail from the US in 2023 and 2024, offers attractions such as the largest racetrack at sea, increased deck space and a three-deck theatre that converts to a nightclub.
NCL made the announcement as part of the release of its winter 2024/25 and summer 2025 programmes in Europe, the Caribbean and Alaska.
The line’s European deployment plans also include basing Norwegian Viva from Athens between May and November 2025. Viva will be the second Prima-class ship when it debuts next summer.
Meanwhile Norwegian Breakaway will sail a series of round-trip itineraries from Barcelona between April and October 2025.
Sommer said: “Our itineraries are designed to provide longer port hours and fewer sea days to truly allow our guests the opportunity to dive into the cultures and destinations they are visiting.”
Before heading to the UK in 2025, Norwegian Prima will operate a series of round-trip itineraries from New York to the Caribbean in winter 2024/25.
Fred. Olsen Cruise Line announced it is cancelling four winter cruises on the Bolette due to a lack of bookings.
In addition, the next cruise on the Balmoral is cancelled due to a propeller issue and the company also noted that none of these challenges is due to the resignation of Chairman Fred. Olsen Jnr. decided to step down after spending 35 years in the cruise industry.
The company said it continues to be proud of its family-run business with both Fred. Olsen and Anette Olsen remain on the board.
“We got through the pandemic which was the most difficult time for the travel industry, and cruise lines in particular. During this time, we invested in our business by buying two beautiful new ships. Like every travel company, trying to get back to normal, we are still having to navigate some choppy seas along the way,” said Peter Deer, managing director, in a prepared statement. “Our job during this is to look after our guests and crew and ensure we provide a wonderful experience. I sincerely apologise to all guests who are affected on cruises this winter. I hope you will give us the chance to put this right for you.”
In regards to Bolette’s cancellations, the company said: “This is always a quieter period for cruising and this small number of sailings did not quite reach the guest numbers we were hoping for, especially in light of the current high fuel prices we are all facing. With most of our crew remaining onboard (and the remainder taking their planned leave), we will use this time to bring forward some routine technical work which we had planned to do in 2023 – it will also leave us with one of our ships in the north of the country and one in the south for most of the winter.”
The company said that cancelling these cruises was not an easy decision its team has been speaking with affected guests to help them find an alternative cruise to look forward to.
The Bolette will return on December 21 2022 for her planned Christmas cruise to Norway.
The company also made the decision to move her full winter schedule from Tilbury to Dover and Southampton, and any guests who are affected by this have been contacted over the last couple of days.
Making matters worse, the company also said it had an issue with one of the propellers on the Balmoral this week.
“These things happen of course, but the timing really couldn’t be worse,” the statement read. “As a result, she will need to go into a very short drydock in Newcastle which means we have been left with no alternative but to cancel her next cruise which was due to depart from Rosyth on Monday. We have been looking after these guests today, explaining their options. Balmoral will be sailing again from Southampton on 11th September and the rest of her schedule will remain unchanged.”
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