03/01/2022
How the Cruise Industry Is Reacting to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine By James Shillinglaw, Feb 28, 2022,
One of the first segments of the travel industry to react to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is cruising, which has many scheduled itineraries that visit Russia, especially St. Petersburg in the Baltic and ports in the Black Sea. Atlas Ocean Voyages last week revised its schedule so it would avoid St. Petersburg and other cruise lines have quickly responded in a similar fashion. (Photo: A cruise ship in St. Petersburg, Russia, something we might not see for quite some time.)
In response to the invasion of Ukraine, small-ship cruise line Windstar Cruises said it has cancelled sailings and cruise tours in the Black Sea region and will change its Baltic itineraries to replace calls in St. Petersburg with calls in a non-Russian port. Guests and travel advisors will be notified of the changes.
Windstar's “Black Sea Sights & Turkish Delights” sailing was scheduled to take place on two dates in 2022 (in May and September), with calls on Odessa, Ukraine and Sochi, Russia among other Black Sea ports. Both dates will be modified for this year with a new round-trip Istanbul itinerary featuring Greece and Turkey that will be shared as soon as ports are confirmed.
Windstar's five 2022 Northern Europe sailing dates in the Baltic that included St. Petersburg as a port will be adjusted to include time in an alternate, non-Russian port. Windstar has no other port calls or cruises in Russia.
"We are currently working to confirm replacement ports and will remain in close contact with our partners in the region," said Windstar Cruises President Christopher Prelog. "We prioritize safety above all and will be monitoring this situation very closely, amending itineraries as necessary."
Meanwhile, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd, which operates Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises, said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had forced it to alter itineraries and cancel sailings to ports in both countries. NCLH is looking for alternative ports around the Baltic region for the scheduled summer sailings.
Nearly 5 percent of NCLH’s total capacity, or roughly 50 sailings, visit the Russian port of Saint Petersburg over the summer. An NCLH spokesperson said the company is currently working to confirm replacement ports and will advise all impacted passengers and travel advisors as soon as possible.
Elsewhere, top cruise lines are reacting to another challenge that has arisen because of the crisis in Ukraine. Many crew members are from Ukraine and a number also are from Russia. Michael Bayley, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, posted on Facebook that his cruise has been receiving messages from guests asking about crew who come from the Ukraine.
“We have over 500 Ukrainian crew onboard our ships today and understandably they are extremely concerned and anxious about their loved ones at home,” Bayley wrote. “We have made available all communication channels that we have so they can access their families. [We] have offered assistance getting them home or close to home if they wish to leave their ship and we are trying to expedite any Ukrainian crew who wishes to join any of our ships earlier than scheduled.”
Bayley wrote that counseling has been made available to Ukrainian crew and ship captains and management are in daily communication with them to offer assistance as needed. “We also have over 200 Russian crew who also are concerned and anxious over these events and we are offering them the same support,” Bayley wrote. “The Royal family is here for all our crew and our thoughts and prayers go out to all impacted by these events.”
Of course, cruising isn’t the only travel industry segment that is reacting to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. EU countries are barring Russian commercial aircraft and the air space over Russia and Ukraine is now closed to commercial aircraft. And airlines with codeshare agreements with Russian airlines have withdrawn from those agreements. Delta Air Lines, for example, has withdrawn codeshare services operated in conjunction with Russian national airline Aeroflot effective immediately. “We have removed our code from Aeroflot-operated services beyond Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport and removed Aeroflot’s code from Delta-operated services from Los Angeles and New York-JFK,” Delta said. “Accommodations will be made for customers affected by these changes.” Delta does not operate services to Ukraine or Russia.
