Norwegian Cruise Line shocks passengers with itinerary overhaul
No matter where you're cruising or which cruise line you're sailing, cruise itinerary changes are always possible. Although itinerary changes that swap out multiple ports are rare, no cruise itinerary is ever guaranteed.
Cruise lines reserve the right to change itineraries for any reason, but typically only do so when absolutely necessary. Most itinerary changes happen at the last minute due to weather or unexpected issues that prevent a ship from sailing to a planned destination. However, cruise lines occasionally make itinerary changes in advance of a sailing when ship deployment plans change or port availability shifts.
After releasing itineraries for its 2027-2028 cruise season in late 2025, Norwegian Cruise Line later made some major changes to certain 2027 and 2028 sailings, including Caribbean cruises on Norwegian Viva and a bucket-list Europe cruise on Norwegian Star.
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Norwegian Cruise Line reworks entire Norwegian Star itinerary
Shortly after canceling and redeploying a full season of cruises on Norwegian Viva due to port availability issues, Norwegian Cruise Line reconfigured an entire Europe cruise itinerary on Norwegian Star for the same reason.
But instead of canceling the sailing and replacing it with a new one like with Norwegian Viva, Norwegian notified passengers booked on the Nov. 13, 2027 Norwegian Star sailing that the first several ports on their 9-day cruise itinerary were swapped with others, including the embarkation port.
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"Please note that the cruise will now embark in Tarragona, Spain, due to port availability in Lisbon, Portugal," Norwegian Cruise Line wrote in an email to those booked on the cruise that passenger Cheryl Theriault shared on Facebook.
Not only will the cruise now embark in Spain rather than Portugal, it will transform into a Mediterranean cruise visiting ports in France, Italy, and Malta instead of Portugal, the Canary Islands, and Morocco. The only parts of the itinerary that remain unchanged are the final port of call: Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and the disembarkation port: Barcelona.
"That's a whole different cruise now," RelaxingTiger9466 commented on Theriault's post.
Cruise itinerary changes made far in advance leave passengers with options
Although the itinerary overhaul is disappointing for those who were looking forward to cruising through Portugal, Spain, and Morocco, passengers have options.
With a cruise that's more than a year away, canceling and rebooking another cruise isn't a huge hassle since passengers wouldn't have finalized travel arrangements yet. Until 120 days prior to a sailing, passengers (at least those from the U.S. and Canada) are still well within the window to cancel their cruise booking for a full refund, too.
"Definitely an entirely different cruise, but thankfully you have plenty of time to change," Stephani Batten Long and other cruisers pointed out in the comments on the Facebook post.
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Changing your cruise plans is rarely convenient, but in this case, passengers have ample time to make other plans if they don't want to sail on the new Mediterranean-focused itinerary. They can even switch to Norwegian Star's Nov. 22, 2027 sailing, which offers a similar itinerary to the original one they booked.
On social media, cruise passengers have expressed frustration in the past about Norwegian's tendency to make cruise itinerary changes after the final payment was due for a sailing. At that point, passengers would face fees for canceling their cruise booking. In the case of Norwegian Star's November 2027 cruise at least, the cruise line isn't leaving passengers feeling stuck with a cruise they didn't sign up for.
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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 3:23 PM.