Just under a month into its 113-day world cruise, the 3,080-passenger Crown Princess has had to make a major itinerary change after encountering some severe weather while off the coast of South Africa.
In a follow-up to Cruise Hive’s report on June 24, an official itinerary update has been made by Princess Cruises as a result of ongoing severe weather.
This update was shared in a letter that was provided to all guests currently onboard, which included the specific itinerary changes to Cape Town and Walvis Bay, as well as the addition of a stop in Durban.
As outlined in this communication on June 24, 2025, the ship was initially scheduled to arrive in Cape Town on June 25, but instead it will now call on Durban, South Africa.
Additionally, the stop in Durban will be one hour longer than the original stop planned in Cape Town on June 25, with an arrival time of 7 a.m. as planned, but departing at 7 p.m., which is an hour later than on the original itinerary.
Unfortunately, the passengers onboard Crown Princess spent most of June 23 and 24 cruising back and forth along the coast of Durban as severe weather forced the ship to delay its route to Cape Town.
The good news is, the new stop in Durban is part of Princess Cruises’ plan to delay long enough for the weather to pass so that the vessel can still make its way to Cape Town.
“We will delay our arrival into Cape Town, South Africa, and will remain on the east coast to allow the worst of the weather to pass through the area,” the letter to guests read.
“While we may still experience some rough seas, this should enable us to avoid the worst of the weather and provide you with the most comfortable cruise,” it continues.
While it may not all be smooth sailing, Crown Princess will now call on Cape Town from June 28 through the 29, doing an overnight stop as initially planned, just several days later.
The vessel will arrive at 7 a.m. on June 28 and will depart at 6 p.m. on June 29, after which it will head to Namibia, another stop that has been pushed back.
Crown Princess was supposed to call on Walvis Bay in Namibia on June 28, but seeing as the visit to Cape Town was delayed, it was inevitable that the stop in Namibia would be as well.
As included in the letter to passengers, the ship will now visit Walvis Bay on July 1 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and while the ship was not set to call on another port that day, these itinerary changes are not expected to stop.
“We anticipate further impacts to our onward itinerary and will share these details once confirmed,” added Captain Petar Lesic, who wrote the letter given to the guests.
While some passengers might be upset about unexpected itinerary changes, Crown Princess‘ crew surely does not want a repeat of the incidents that have happened this year already as a result of Mother Nature.
Crown Princess vs Bad Weather
So far, 2025 has been off to a rocky start for the 113,561-gross-ton vessel, as it seemingly keeps sailing into bad weather systems.
While en route from Sydney to Adelaide on June 6, 2025, the ship encountered rough seas that caused it to list 7°.
This incident caused damage to shops and forced all activities to remain closed for the remainder of the day. Mind you, this happened on the very same world cruise that the Crown Princess is still currently doing.
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The ship also listed 14° on February 24th, 2025, while it was entering Milford Sound in New Zealand.
This incident was also a result of weather, as the vessel was hit by strong winds that caused it to temporarily list more than it normally does.
While it may seem like a recurring theme for Crown Princess to be encountering bad weather, it is important to keep in mind that this vessel regularly navigates some of the roughest seas in the world.
Even though it may be bound to experience rough seas more often than some other ships due to its itineraries, the staff and crew who work on Crown Princess will always do their best to keep passengers out of harm’s way — and might even add a stop here and there!
