VENICE, Italy -- Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Norwegian Cruise Line has seen a drop in interest for Baltic cruises.
Many guests who had already booked are rescheduling for 2023 or switching to Mediterranean voyages, NCL executives said Tuesday.
"Certainly, near term, there has been some hesitation for people to take cruises to the Baltic," CEO Harry Sommer told journalists and travel advisors at a media event in Venice on Tuesday to promote the upcoming Norwegian Prima ship.
NCL pulled Russian city St. Petersburg from its itineraries soon after the fighting began in Ukraine. While the line is replacing St. Petersburg with other ports, Sommer said St. Petersburg "has been a highlight of many of those cruises leaving either from Copenhagen or Stockholm on the various cruise ships we have there, so clearly, there's been some fall."
David Herrera, NCL's chief consumer sales and marketing officer, said guests with their heart set on St. Petersburg are waiting for 2023.
Asked if the war in Ukraine has hurt new European bookings, Herrera said, "for sure it's been impacted," but he added that many customers who have decided to move forward with their Mediterranean cruises "have done their homework, they're more informed."
Herrera said he expects the cruise industry to remain resilient through the geopolitical crisis.
"Whenever there's new news ... it gives people a pause in general. It's usually short-lived," he said.
FCCs for Russian customers
Sommer said NCL is issuing future cruise credits to booked Russian guests.
"We believe Russian people are as much a victim of the madness of the political elite in that country as elsewhere, but because we understand they can't travel, we'll give them a future cruise certificate so when travel reopens -- I don't know when that's going to be -- they can join us then," said Sommer.