Norwegian Cancels Summer Sailing from Dominican Republic

For the second time in less than a week, Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) has canceled its summer sailings from a Caribbean island.

Citing challenges around crewing its ships returning to service, Norwegian Cruise Line canceled its sailings out of La Romana, Dominican Republic, this summer, two days after canceling the Norwegian Joy’s season from Montego Bay, Jamaica, according to our sister publication Travel Weekly.

The sailings were to take place on the Norwegian Gem, whose season was to run from Aug. 15 to Oct. 10.

In a letter to booked passengers alerting them to the canceled sailings, NCL said that the decision was based on its launch of Alaska cruises in August.

“As you may know, we have for many months said that launching and crewing our vessels require approximately 90 days,” NCL wrote. “At this time, we are doing our best to maximize our operational fleet and active crew to deliver on cruise vacations in destinations our guests value the most. We are so sorry your cruise has been impacted but we hope to welcome you aboard another sailing.”

When the line canceled the Jamaica sailings it also said it need to transfer crew from the Norwegian Joy to Alaska due to the lead time needed for the Bliss sailings and to “maximize the short Alaska cruise season.”

The Gem is the third ship based in homeports just outside U.S. borders this summer to cancel its season. Royal Caribbean International last week canceled the Vision of the Seas’ upcoming season from Bermuda.