Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCl) announced today that it is cancelling the cruise aboard the Norwegian Pearl from Rome (Civitavecchia) scheduled for July 5, 2019, according to an employee of NCL and comments posted on social media.
An NCL employee who works in their corporate offices and wishes to remain anonymous informed me that the Pearl is experiencing engine problems. The NCL employee sent me a screengrab of a “Voice Reach” regarding the last minute cancellation, which will be sent to all guests booked on the cruise and/or their travel agents.
The cruise is advertised as a 13-Night Greek Isles & Italy from Rome (Civitavecchia), which includes Kotor, Montenegro; Dubrovnik, Croatia; Corfu, Greece; Santorini, Mykonos, and Piraeus (Athens), Greece; Messina, Sicily; Naples and Livorno (Florence/Pisa), Italy; and Monaco; returning to Civitavecchia (Rome) on July 18th.
There are a number of complaints posted on Twitter regarding the cancellation, including at least one NCL guest who had already flown to Italy for the cruise.
@CruiseNorwegian what the hell?!? You cancel the cruise 2 days before sailing???? I already flew Miami, Florida to Italy… now what? …. Norwegian Pearl out of Rome July 5 now cancelled… and your customer services does not pick up for hours??? WTH is wrong with you people?!?!
— meshem (@meshem3) July 2, 2019
NCl promises to refund the fare and any pre-booked excursion, but the cruise line is silent regarding reimbursing its guests for airfare and hotel accommodations for those people who are making a vacation to Italy before and after this ill-fated cruise. There are over 2,300 guests affected by this cancellation.
The prior cruise on the Norwegian Pearl has been plagued by engine problems which led to NCL ending the cruise in Barcelona. At least one passenger described the ship as just “limping along with just one engine.” The passenger stated: “We had to bypass Mallorca and landed in Barcelona. Now they informed us we’ll have to bypass Monte Carlo. Not sure how we’re going to get to Rome to disembark, but I suspect the rest of the itinerary is trash. Again, they’re not telling us much, but learning that the next cruise on the Norwegian Pearl is now cancelled, we’re wondering if we’re going to leave Barcelona.”
A number of dissatisfied guests on the prior cruise also complained about the lack of compensation and communications from NCL on social media:
The Norwegian Pearl has now canceled two ports of call during its voyage without giving passengers compensation. Absolutely unacceptable, especially for a vacation this expensive. Will never sail NCL again. @CruiseNorwegian
— Cheyenne (@cheyennetlewis) July 2, 2019
There is no information publicly available regarding the type of engine problems affecting this 13 year old cruise ship.
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