Will cruise ships once again call on Russia as part of their Baltic and Northern Europe itineraries? It might happen sooner than expected, according to one cruise line executive.
Harry Sommer, president and CEO of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH), indicated that ships in the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises fleets might see St. Petersburg added back to their schedules as soon as 2026.
Sommer shared this information during NCLH’s fourth-quarter 2024 earnings call Thursday. “In our summer ’26 deployment, we have one-third of our fleet — 11 ships — that are going to be based in Northern Europe, and that’s without St. Petersburg being available,” Sommer said. “If St. Petersburg was to become available for the summer ’26 season, I think… we could disproportionately benefit from positive things in that region. Of course, as a human being, I hope for peace for purely humanitarian reasons, but as a cruise operator, we think this could provide us a unique opportunity for the summer of ’26 or… the summer of ’27. “
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, cruise lines scrapped calls on Russian ports and sometimes completely canceled their Baltic seasons.
This past week saw discussions between the U.S. and Russia regarding terms of a potential peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine. Several international government officials suggested that an end to the Russia-Ukraine war might be near.
Sommer raised the topic in response to a question about recent statements by Howard Lutnick, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, who said he would make efforts to increase taxes paid by cruise lines to the U.S. Sommer refrained from speculating on what more taxes would mean for the industry but highlighted potential positive changes from the current administration.
“Considering how many moving pieces there are… it’s really hard for us to speculate on what this would mean to us, so I won’t,” Sommer said. “But I will say that I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out some of the positive things that are coming out of the administration. I think this push for sustained peace in the Middle East and potentially between Ukraine and Russia can be a significant tailwind for us in 2026.”
Sommer also noted that they would consider adding Israel calls back onto cruise schedules if geopolitical conditions improve. However, even if conditions turn favorable soon, a return to Israel is unlikely before 2027 due to logistical challenges compared with adding back ports like St. Petersburg.
“The Middle East is a little more complicated because that’s part of a deployment program where we position ships between the summer and winter,” said Sommer. “So we would not change our deployment to take advantage of a Red Sea Middle Eastern opening in short term; that would be more of a ’27 item.”
Ships sailing in the Middle East often spend time there between their summer and winter seasons.
During the earnings call, Sommer also mentioned that NCLH brands have not seen any decline in booking confidence due to current political climate conditions, within-the-U.S..
“The week-of-the-election was challenging week-as-it-is every four years-but- that’s one-out-of-two-hundred-weeks-so-we-don’t necessarily worry-about-that,” said-Sommer-“I-think-since-then-we’ve-seen-normal-patterns-nothing-really- extraordinary-positive-or-negative-since-the-election-has-occurred”
NCLH’s booking numbers remain strong with highest growth-in-company-history- according-to-Sommer-Its-overall-net-yield-was-up-ten-percent-in-twenty-twenty- four-and-projected-revenue-in-twenty-twenty-five-is-expected-to-top-ten-billion- dollars Additionally across-three-brands-thirteen-new-ships-are-on-order- scheduled-for-delivery-over-next-decade
