Unfortunately, not all cruises go as smoothly as you’d hope, and one of the things that can go wrong is a change of schedule.
You might’ve booked a cruise based on the ship and what you can do onboard, but most people at least put equal weight on the destinations you’re visiting. But they can’t be guaranteed.
Sometimes, ports of call get cancelled, and some more than others. Let’s take a look at the most-cancelled ports of call and why they’re so badly affected.
The Most Cancelled Ports
1. Funchal, Madeira
Funchal is the capital of Madeira, and a popular port of call for cruises to the Canary Islands and on transatlantic cruises. However, it’s also one of the most cancelled cruise ports due to the weather – the port is unsheltered, and so high winds often build up which can affect a ship’s ability to dock.
It’s extra frustrating with Funchal because, if you’re on a transatlantic cruise, it might be the last port of call for the next several days, and if it’s cancelled there isn’t really an alternative. You might go from having 2 sea days, a trip to Funchal, and then 6 sea days to having 9 sea days in a row.
2. Port Stanley, Falkland Islands
Port Stanley is the primary port for the Falkland Islands, but it often falls victim to bad weather – not just at the port, but on the approach through the Drake Passage, making it harder for the ship to get near.
Cruise lines are often trigger-happy when it comes to cancelling Port Stanley because sailings are typically heading to Antarctica, and so they know passengers might not be as disappointed since it may mean reaching the scenery of the polar continent sooner.
3. Dutch Harbor, Alaska
Dutch Harbor is a pretty port that is in a remote location – and when you have to make that point about an Alaskan port, you know it’s in the middle of nowhere! It’s popular on repositioning cruises between North America and Asia during the ‘shoulder seasons’ of Spring and Autumn, but that’s also when the weather is at its worst.
Because Dutch Harbor is a bit out of the way, and because of those high winds that pick up at just the wrong time, cruise lines will often cancel the port visit just to make sure the ship gets to its new home port for the season in plenty of time.
4. Santorini, Greece
Santorini is a beautiful island in the Eastern Mediterranean that always looks stunning – but what you can never tell from the photos is just how windy it gets all around the destination.
Santorini is not a docking port, which means ships need to anchor out at sea and use tender boats to reach the shore. Because there’s no shelter, sometimes it’s just not possible, especially with smaller cruise ships that are more susceptible to the winds.
It’s a real shame because, for many, Santorini is the real highlight of the region, and many people book cruises here just to visit.
5. Georgetown, Grand Cayman
Georgetown might be on almost the other side of the world to Santorini, but it shares many of the same problems – it doesn’t have a pier capable of hosting cruise ships, meaning tender boats are required, and it often suffers from high winds and high swells on the surrounding waters.
The problem that Georgetown tends to have is that it’s a little unpredictable at times. Because of that, cruise lines need to take a no-risk approach. It would be no good dropping anchor in a morning where the weather is OK, but not ideal, only to then have to weigh anchor in the afternoon and potentially leave guests stranded on the island.
As a result, cruise lines will skip the port if they feel there’s any risk of the weather turning.
6. Isafjordur, Iceland
Isafjordur is notable for its cancelled cruise port visits. The beautiful Icelandic destination has a small dock that smaller cruise ships can use, and that tends to work quite well, but it’s when bigger cruise ships show up that the issues start. The winders out to sea mean that tendering passengers becomes a lot riskier, and so the port is a regular casualty.
There are rumours that the dock is set to be renovated and extended so that larger cruise ships can dock – let’s hope so.
7. Lerwick, Scotland
Lerwick has a cruise pier that’s capable of handling mid-sized cruise ships (larger ships don’t tend to schedule visits to the Shetland Islands anyway). But that doesn’t mean it’s immune from cancellations – the rugged landscape here didn’t happen by chance, and the weather is hit or miss – and when it’s a miss, the storms can be nasty.
So unfortunately this is another port you shouldn’t bank on, though it’s lovely when the weather is calm.
8. Valletta, Malta
Valletta isn’t too bad these days for cruise cancellations, but it does have some history of missed port visits due to the bad weather.
The pier here is relatively well-sheltered and big enough to host large cruise ships, but that doesn’t mean storms and high winds won’t ever affect your cruise visit.
9. Torshavn, Faroe Islands
Some ports of call are just pure unlucky in terms of where they’re based, and Torshavn is one of them. Atlantic storms frequently pass over the port, and the bad weather they bring is enough to make it unsafe for cruise ships to visit this picturesque town.
It’s a shame because the storms tend to happen more during cruise season here, especially for transatlantic ships on a more northern sailing route in September, heading over to the US East Coast or Canada. Cruise lines will often cancel Torshavn because they need to avoid the storm and make sure they get across the Atlantic on time.
10. Cruise Line Private Islands/Resorts, The Bahamas
Rather than listing all the cruise line private islands separately, I’ve bundled them together here because they are unfortunately the victims of several cancellations due to the weather.
But it’s not necessarily because the ports are badly sheltered, or that they don’t have piers (because many of them do). It’s because they’re so popular, they’ll be included on itineraries year-round in the region, including during hurricane season, and that’s when the cancellations are more frequent.
The weather tends to be worse further out in the Bahamas where these islands are, so cruise lines will often skip their own private islands for a day at sea or an alternative port nearer the US mainland, but they will typically try to get guests to their resorts because they know they can make more money from excursions there.
Other Reasons Ports Can Be Cancelled
The ports above are all cancelled frequently because of the weather, which is unpredictable. The destinations are worth visiting, so cruise lines will include them on itineraries, even though there’s always a chance things can change.
But bad weather is not the only reason that cruise ports can be cancelled. There are several other factors which sometimes come into play, but these are much harder to predict:
Overbooking
Many cruise ports can accommodate multiple cruise ships at once, but it’s still possible for the most popular ports to become overbooked – too many cruise ships apply to visit the port on the same day.
When this happens, a port will be cancelled in advance. This isn’t something that happens during your cruise – at worst, it’ll probably be a couple of weeks before you sail that you find out, but usually it’s earlier than that.
When this happens, the cruise line will do its best to replace the port with an alternative.
Political Unrest/Safety
Unfortunately, when you’re cruising around the world, sometimes there can be issues that make a port unsafe to visit.
It might be a particular port or country that’s undergoing some political changes or increases in crime, or it might be an entire region of the world – in early 2024, several cruise lines made changes to sailings to avoid the Red Sea due to ships being attacked with the ongoing situation in the Middle East.
Because things can happen quickly, it’s possible that you might have a port visit cancelled last minute, as soon as a destination is deemed unsafe.
Mechanical Failures
Sometimes ports are cancelled not because of the destination, but because of a problem with the ship. If it’s a tender port, it might be that there’s something wrong with the tender boats.
Or, something might have happened to the ship itself – if an engine breaks down and there are propulsion issues, the captain may have to cancel port visits to make sure the ship gets back to her home port in time for repairs.
Health Concerns
While it’s very rare, sometimes there’ll be an outbreak of an illness such as norovirus on a cruise, and when that happens the captain may have to make the call to cancel a port visit and essentially quarantine the ship.
Usually, the scale of the outbreak will be the determining factor – if only a few people get sick, they’ll be asked to remain in their rooms but guests can typically continue their cruise as normal, provided they show no symptoms. However, it’s not unheard of for ships to have to return to their homeport and stay there for a few days until guests are given the all-clear.
Alternatives May Be Offered
When a port of call is cancelled by a cruise line, there is usually a scramble to find a replacement port of call.
Cynical cruise passengers sometimes make claims that cruise lines will cancel ports too easily, in a bid to encourage passengers to spend more time (and therefore more money) on the ship. But that’s not true – cruise lines know that cancelled ports are frustrating, and they would rather you had a great cruise experience so that you want to rebook again and again.
So, where they can, they’ll sail to a new port. This will depend on where you are in the world, which ports can be reached without disrupting the rest of your itinerary, and whether the port is already too busy.
In the Mediterranean or the Caribbean, there are typically enough ports that an alternative option can be arranged, but in other destinations you may just end up with an extra sea day. Extended overnight stays in an existing port might be offered, but typically only by luxury cruise lines – the port fees for staying overnight are often cost-prohibitive, and cruise lines will only go so far to make sure you have a good time!
Don’t Count On Compensation (But Do Get Insurance)
If you’re on a cruise where a port is cancelled, don’t expect the cruise line to shower you with compensation to make it up to you. It’s in your contract that cancellations can happen, and they don’t owe you anything for it.
What you will likely get is a refund of any port fees, but this amount is minimal. You’ll also get a refund on any shore excursions you’d booked through the cruise line, though if you booked with a third party you’ll need to contact them directly to arrange a refund.
If the cruise line arranges an alternative port, you might still get a partial refund of port fees, if the new destination is cheaper. If the fees for the replacement port are higher, the cruise line will absorb that cost.
You can get travel insurance that covers cruise port cancellations, so it’s worth looking into that if you’re cruising to any of the ports in this guide.
It won’t come as standard – you need specific cruise insurance, and you need to request this add-on. It’ll increase your premium but not by much, and if you do have a port cancelled you’ll get some money back to soften the blow.
My Recommendation
My recommendation for cruise insurance depends on where you live.
These are trusted price comparison sites that will quickly get you lots of quotes to match your exact needs.
Final Word
Even in the parts of the world with the most beautiful tropical weather, sometimes the elements can conspire against you and cause you to miss a port you were looking forward to.
Just try to roll with it – the cruise line will only be looking out for your safety, and if you’ve bought cruise insurance with port cancellation cover, you’ll at least have a bit of extra cash to spend to make the day a bit more fun.
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Jenni Fielding is the founder of Cruise Mummy. She has worked in the cruise industry since 2015 and has taken over 30 cruises. Now, she helps over 1 million people per month to plan their perfect cruise holidays.
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