Passengers furious after cruise ditches main leg of Antarctica route

Passengers on board a cruise ship bound for Antarctica have been left furious while on board, after a serious change to the route.

Passengers on board a cruise ship bound for Antarctica claim they’ve been left out in the cold, after operators made a last-minute change to their once-in-a-lifetime itinerary.

Guests of the Norwegian Star — operated by Norwegian Cruise Lines — claim that a significant change was made to their route while all passengers were already on board the ship.

Instead of going to the original stop in Paradise Bay and continental Antarctica, arguably what passengers were looking forward to the most, the Star would instead be passing the tip of the sub-Antarctic South Shetland Islands and Elephant Islands.

It’s a change that has left passengers outraged, especially because some allege reasons for the change were not made clear during announcements.

Passengers on board the Norwegian Star are furious at a route change. Picture: NCL

One furious Australian guest — who launched a TikTok channel titled “ruinedvacation” to document the ordeal — alleges the cruise line was aware that the route would need to be changed before passengers boarded on January 31.

However, a spokesman for the company told news.com.au that was not the case and they tried to stick to the original route as closely as possible.

“We are committed to providing exceptional vacation experiences, both aboard our ships and by taking our guests to some of the most sought-out destinations around the world,” the spokesman said in a statement.

“While we try to maintain original itineraries as much as possible, at times modifications are made to optimise the itinerary or to accommodate certain circumstances.”

The route will no longer go to the destination passengers expected.

One Aussie passenger was furious by the route change.

The spokesman said the change to the itinerary was made with passengers’ experience front of mind — noting the ship was also placed under a “reduced speed” order which impacted how far south it could travel.

“To enhance the guest experience, the ship’s current itinerary was revised to allow more time for guests to explore Stanley, Falkland Islands.”

@mandythecruisepla Update on the Norwegian Star itenerary change regarding Antartica. #cruise #cruisetok #ncl #norwegiancruise #norwegianstar ♬ original sound - mandythecruiseplanner

As such, the cruise by Paradise Bay, Antarctica was replaced with a cruise by Admiralty Bay, Antarctica.”

But passenger “ruinedvacation” claimed passengers felt “scammed” by the sudden alteration to the route, given passengers had paid “a lot of money” for the voyage.

“They think we’re idiots,” she said. “We’re not idiots, and we’re not prepared to just accept this sitting down.”

The cruise ship need to take a different route, and passengers are not happy.

“Passengers have spent life savings, big money, to be on this ship. They’re here for major milestones.

“We’ve lost that trip that we had all been hoping for and waiting for. We won’t get another chance to go to Antarctica.”

According to the New Zealand Herald, passengers were notified of the route alteration in a message blast, with images of the information now circulating on Facebook group “Norwegian Star South America & Antarctica”.

One said they were furious and had been given “no explanation” about the drastic change.

“The entire ship are really pi**ed off. My wife and myself only found out via whispers in the hallway.”

The Norwegian Star is a 23-year-old 2300-passenger cruise and one of the larger vessel to visit Antarctica this summer.