The situation in Ukraine is escalating, and more and more shipping companies and tour operators refuse their offers in Russia. As expected, the war in Ukraine is having a strong impact on tourism. As the situation in Eastern Europe worsens, more and more companies say they are blacklisting tour destinations in Russia.
First of all, we hear from cruise operators about cancellations and re-routing. This mainly concerns St. Petersburg, as well as ports on the Black Sea and river cruises. Several cruise companies have already excluded Russia from their programs. However, it is anticipated that more cruise operators will announce cancellations as re-routes are determined.
MSC has suspended scheduled visits to St. Petersburg from the end of May to October. Four ships MSC Preziosa, MSC Grandiosa, MSC Poesia and MSC Virtuosa were damaged. The company is looking for alternative ports such as Stockholm, Helsinki and Tallinn to confirm vessel calls. MSC also plans to update its website to reflect confirmed information about the new routes. Currently, no MSC Cruises ship calls at St. Petersburg.
Sea Cloud Cruises has also excluded from this year’s schedule the visits to St. Petersburg of the large new ship Sea Cloud Spirit. The cultural capital of Russia was originally featured four times in the schedule for the debut of a three-masted ship with full sailing gear in the Baltic. Sea Cloud Cruises will develop a new itinerary for cruises in June and July. Guests who have already booked cruises have already been informed of the operator’s decision.
Earlier last week, TUI Cruises announced that it would be removing the Russian port city of St. Petersburg from its schedule due to the attack on Ukraine. “In the light of events, we have decided, for ethical and moral reasons, to adjust the schedule of our Baltic Sea cruises from May to October 2022: we will no longer call at St. Petersburg,” a spokeswoman for the shipping company in Hamburg said. Alternatively, cities in the Baltic region such as Klaipeda in Lithuania and Riga in Latvia or Copenhagen in Denmark and Visby in Sweden will be served.
Carnival Corporation, which includes Aida Cruises, has already announced that none of its nine brands will make calls to Russia anytime soon. Also last week, AIDA Cruises reached out to customers and announced that there would be no calls to Russian ports in the upcoming 2022 summer season, confirming Carnival Corporation’s announcement. In particular, cruises on the Baltic Sea, which was supposed to include St. Petersburg, were also affected.
Norwegian Cruise Lines became the first cruise company to announce the exclusion of Russia from its program. About 50 routes were affected, which this summer included a stop in St. Petersburg. “This is disappointing,” said Frank Del Rio, CEO of the Norwegian company. – St. Petersburg is one of the pearls on the Scandinavian routes. But of course there are alternatives.”
Atlas Ocean Voyages, Viking Cruises, Saga Cruises and Windstar Cruises will also temporarily stop calls to Russia.