Russia & Ukraine: All the Cruise Lines Changing Itineraries

(updated March 7)
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, nearly every cruise line with itineraries in the region has announced itinerary changes ranging from the cancellation of entire seasons to one-off port cancellations.  

Here are all the cruise lines that have announced tweaks, with specific changes where available.  

AmaWaterways
A spokesperson for the river cruise line told TMR last week that no changes had been made as of yet, but the line is prepared to do so. 

The spokesperson said that AmaWaterways’ operations team “is closely following the situation in Ukraine, and if necessary, we will make adjustments to our Eastern European itinerary and advise our travel partners and guests.” 

“We have a 20 year proven track record of safely adapting our cruises to ensure that unexpected events have a minimal impact on the guest experience so that those wishing to still cruise can do so, safely. Travel during these times remains a personal choice, and we have kept our flexible policies in place to best accommodate the evolving conditions,” the spokesperson added.

Atlas Ocean Voyages 
Atlas has dropped St. Petersburg have all summer Baltic itineraries. On both the Hamburg-to-Kiel itinerary, departing August 26, and the Kiel-roundtrip sailing, departing September 7, World Navigator will call at Kotka and Mariehamn, Finland instead. Additionally, the August 26 voyage will include a transit of the Kiel Canal, while the September 7 sailing will add a stop in Saaremaa, Estonia. 

Carnival Corp. 
Carnival Corp. has announced several of its brands will be making changes, though no specifics are yet available.  

“In light of the recent attacks by Russia in Ukraine, Carnival Corporation brands will be modifying our itineraries in the coming week once alternative ports can be confirmed. We stand for peace,” the line said.  

Replacement ports on Princess Cruises, for instance, will include Stockholm, Sweden (overnight call); Visby, Sweden and Gdansk (Gdynia), Poland.  

A spokesperson for Cunard further added, “In light of the current situation with Russia and Ukraine we will be amending itineraries on Baltic cruises. Our top priority is compliance, environmental protection and the health, safety and well-being of our guests, crew members, shoreside employees and the people in the places we touch and we will advise guests of the changes as soon as possible.” 

MSC Cruises 
MSC Cruises has canceled all stops to St. Petersburg on four ships scheduled to call there this summer. The ships will instead call on Stockholm, Helsinki or Tallinn. The four ships with impacted itineraries include: MSC Preziosa, MSC Grandiosa, PSC Poesia and MSC Virtuosa.  

Regent Seven Seas Cruises & Oceania Cruises 
Sister brands Regent Seven Seas and Oceania, both owned by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, are pulling stops to all port calls in Russia and Ukraine, including stops in the far north of Russia.

“We are currently working to confirm replacement ports and will advise all impacted guests and travel advisors as soon as possible,” a spokesperson for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings said.  

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.
All three Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. brands made changes to upcoming North Sea or Baltic region cruises to eliminate St. Petersburg from the itineraries. Celebrity Cruises, for example, has replaced St. Petersburg visits with Scandinavian ports of call, essentially creating a new “Best of Scandinavia” itinerary, a spokesperson said. 

Tauck
Tauck is continuing with its plans to operate 2022 St. Petersburg & Baltic Sea cruises. However, due to the current Russia-Ukraine crisis, the line is replacing visits to St. Petersburg with different Baltic Sea ports of call. 

Viking River Cruises 
Viking was one of the first cruise lines to announce changes in response to the invasion. Its changes are also among the most extensive with the cancellation of the entire season of Kyiv, Black Sea & Bucharest sailings.  

“Given recent developments and the developing conflict in Ukraine, we have made the difficult decision to cancel all 2022 departures of our Kyiv, Black Sea & Bucharest itinerary. Guests and their travel advisors on impacted departures have been notified directly by Viking customer relations,” a Viking representative said.  

Additionally, the cruise line is monitoring the situation and evaluating other itineraries that call in Russia this year which it says “will require modifications.”  

Windstar Cruises
Windstar Cruises is canceling all of its sailings and cruise tours in the Black Sea region. On other itineraries with port of calls scheduled for St. Petersburg, the line is swapping out the port for non-Russian ports. Two Black Sea Sights & Turkish Delights sailings were affected. They have been replaced with new round-trip Istanbul itinerary featuring Greece and Turkey. Additionally, five 2022 Northern Europe sailings had been scheduled to stop in St. Petersburg. Replacement ports will be announced as they are determined.