Princess Ship Changes Itinerary Due to Generator Maintenance

Guests aboard Sky Princess‘s current cruise will not be sailing the itinerary they originally booked to visit ports in Norway and Denmark, due to generator maintenance that needs completion.

Princess Cruises has notified guests onboard of the change, and is substituting an alternative destination in place of a cancelled port.

Sky Princess Itinerary Change

Guests onboard Sky Princess have been notified of several changes to their current itinerary. The ship is sailing a 7-night roundtrip Scandinavia cruise from Southampton, which departed on Saturday, May 27, 2023, with scheduled visits to Kristiansand, Norway; Copenhagen and Skagen, Denmark; and Oslo, Norway.

“I wish to advise you of a change to our scheduled itinerary,” the letter from the ship’s master, Captain Marco Fortezze, began. “We are currently performing scheduled maintenance of one of our diesel generators, which is taking longer than expected.”

The letter explains that the safety of the ship, guests, and crew is in no way impacted by the maintenance, but the ship must sail at reduced speed. This has impacted the planned itinerary route and the timing of ports of call.

While the ship’s visit to Kristiansand, the first port of call on the sailing, went ahead as planned, all the remaining ports of call have needed adjustment.

The call to Skagen, Denmark has been cancelled and replaced with Zeebrugge, Belgium on a different day of the sailing. To accommodate that change, the visit to Oslo has also been shifted to a different day, and the time in port reduced by one hour.

The time spent in Copenhagen has also been reduced by four hours, departing the city at 6 p.m. rather than 10 p.m. as planned on Tuesday, May 30.

“We apologize for any disappointment this change may cause,” the letter continued. “When we create itineraries, we look forward to taking our guests to the destinations they expect to visit. We sincerely sympathize with our guests when unexpected issues occur and we must make the decision to change our itinerary.”

These changes follow a radical alteration of Sky Princess‘s previous itinerary, when multiple ports of call in Iceland and Norway were missed due to medical emergencies and poor weather. While coincidental that two consecutive cruises are so dramatically altered, the reasons for the changes are not related.

Sky Princess is a Royal-class vessel that debuted in 2019. At 145,281 gross tons, the ship is one of the largest in Princess Cruises’ fleet, and can welcome 3,660 guests at each sailing. Onboard, more than 1,300 international crew members provide the cruise line’s signature royal service.

Shore Excursion Changes

Because of the multiple changes to Sky Princess‘s itinerary, shore excursions must also be altered. Any excursions booked through Princess Cruises for the now-cancelled call in Skagen are being automatically cancelled and refunded to guests’ onboard accounts.

For the calls in Copenhagen and Oslo, tours are being rescheduled if possible, but will be refunded if they cannot be adjusted for the new day and time in port. Guests are also urged to continue checking the Princess Medallion Class app for tour options in Zeebrugge as they become available.

Guests who have made independent shore tour arrangements will need to contact their individual tour operators for cancellation, rescheduling, or other options.

“Thank you for your understanding,” the letter concluded. “On behalf of the officers and crew of Sky Princess, we look forward to continuing to serve you on our voyage together.”

At this time, there is no indication that the next voyage for Sky Princess, a 14-night roundtrip “Icelandic Norwegian Fjords” sailing, may be impacted by slower speeds, but guests booked aboard that cruise will want to stay in close contact with Princess Cruises for updates as necessary.