3 Ports Canceled, Compensation Offered

Norwegian Cruise Line is offering compensation to passengers currently sailing on the 25-year-old ship, Norwegian Sun.

The ship will be skipping it’s call in Sweden today, and two more ports will have to be missed due to issues on the vessel.

The 1,976-passenger vessel is currently on a 9-day Northern Europe sailing from Helsinki to Copenhagen, but throughout the cruise, the ship has been plagued by propulsion issues.

The cruise just began on June 24, but the problems with the ship have led to at least three canceled ports in Sweden, Lithuania, and Poland.

Reduced Speed and Letter from NCL

On June 25, 2026, guests on board received a letter from the cruise line. The ship is experiencing a technical glitch that requires it to operate at a reduced speed.

According to tracking data with CruiseMapper, the ship has struggled to push past 14 knots.

While NCL was made sure to clarify that the issue does not affect the safety of anyone on board, it has dramatically changed the intended schedule for passengers.

Because the ship is moving so slowly, it simply cannot make it to all its destinations on time.

I should note that passengers on the previous week’s sailing reported a similar loss of propulsion that forced them to skip Stockholm as well.

The Canceled and Altered Ports

To keep the cruise moving, NCL had to downsize the itinerary. That’s never a fun thing for passengers to hear, but since the cruise had already begun, there was really no other option for the crew operating the ship.

Here are the exact ports the ship will miss that were originally planned:

• Nynäshamn (Stockholm), Sweden: Completely canceled (Replaced with a Day at Sea).
• Klaipėda, Lithuania: Completely canceled (Replaced with a Day at Sea).
• Gdynia, Poland: Completely canceled (Replaced with a stop in Rønne, Denmark).

The Full Revised Schedule

• Day 1 (June 21): Helsinki, Finland: Departed at 4:00 PM as planned.
• Day 2 (June 22): Tallinn, Estonia: Visited from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM
• Day 3 (June 23): Nynäshamn (Stockholm), Sweden: Canceled (Day at Sea).
• Day 4 (June 24): Riga, Latvia: Visited from 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM
• Day 5 (June 25): Klaipėda, Lithuania: Canceled (Day at Sea).
• Day 6 (June 26): Gdynia, Poland: Canceled (Replaced with Rønne, Denmark from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM).
• Day 7 (June 27): Warnemünde, Germany: Schedule adjusted to an extended port stay (7:30 AM to 11:00 PM).
• Day 8 (June 28): Kiel, Germany: Schedule shortened due to a later arrival and earlier departure (8:00 AM to 5:00 PM).
• Day 9 (June 29): Copenhagen, Denmark: Delayed morning arrival (10:30 AM), followed by the scheduled overnight stay.
• Day 10 (June 30): Copenhagen, Denmark: Disembarkation at 6:00 AM as planned.

Passengers Take to Social Media to Vent

When you pay for a cruise because of the itinerary and that itinerary gets chopped up like this, it makes sense that it would lead to some bad sentiment.

Passengers took to Reddit and Facebook to vent about the situation. One user was upset the cruise was even allowed to begin.

“They knew there was a problem, and they still put 1900 passengers on the ship.” They one passenger said.  “Just very disappointing to spend all this time and money just to sit in a floating hotel without being told NCL had changed the itinerary.”

Another cruiser added a bit of reality to the situation, saying “Failures happen on ships, especially ones that have almost no downtime… Disappointing sure, but that is cruising sometimes and ports can and will get cancelled.”

Apparently, the OP did have travel insurance and it’s important to note that many cruise travel insurance policies will cover canceled ports.  Not every company offers it and it’s usually an add-on for port changes.

Experienced cruisers noted that unlike newer ships with swiveling “azipod” systems, the 25-year-old Norwegian Sun relies on traditional propellers and rudders. While this means it has plenty of backup steering capacity to remain perfectly safe, it can’t magically make up for a problematic engine, or whatever the specific issues are.

What is NCL Offering?

Although some initial complaints about the skipped ports stated that NCL did nothing to help passengers, the cruise line did in fact offer several forms of compensation.

To help make up the extra unintended sea days, NCL is handing out the following compensation:

• Onboard Credit: Each stateroom gets $100 in nonrefundable onboard credit (split as $50 each for the first two guests).
• Future Discounts: Every guest gets a 25% Future Cruise Credit to use on a booking within the next year.
• Excursion Refunds: Any shore excursions booked directly through NCL for the canceled ports are automatically being refunded to passengers’ accounts.

Some people online are also reminding everyone that the “fine print” of cruise contracts allows cruise lines to change itineraries for any reason. And in this case, it’s not a fun reason but a necessary one.

If you are booked on a future sailing on Norwegian Sun later this summer, you’ll definitely want to keep a close eye on your email inbox. If NCL can’t fix this propulsion problem during its turnarounds, more schedule changes might be in the future.