Guests booked on a 2025 Asia cruise aboard Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Spirit were informed of several itinerary changes, including a new embarkation port, that render the voyage virtually unrecognizable from its original route.
The 1,966-guest Norwegian Spirit’s 11-night cruise was to sail from Keelung, Taiwan, on September 24, 2025 but will now embark passengers in Seoul, South Korea. It means a likely change in air arrangements for many guests, however, with the voyage nearly a year away, guests have plenty of time to rebook tickets.
The cruise concludes as scheduled in Yokohama (Tokyo) Japan, on October 5, 2025, but much of the rest of the journey is different from the original itinerary. The original cruise was to provide two days at sea, but the new routing has no days at sea.
In a notice to guests and travel agent partners, the line detailed the changes but did not offer any specific reason why the itinerary was altered.
“At Norwegian Cruise Line, we strive to create extraordinary vacation experiences that delight our guests. Occasionally, scheduled itineraries may need to be altered, allowing us the opportunity to enhance the original voyage to accommodate strong guest demand, and provide a more immersive experience,” Norwegian Cruise Line said in its notice to guests.
The cruise line apologized to booked guests, but indicated that the modifications were made with “optimal guest experience top of mind.”
Popular port calls, including to Hong Kong, and Kobe, Japan, for instance, were removed from the itinerary, as were Kaohsiung and Hualien, Taiwan; and Hirara (Miyakojima) and Naha, Japan.
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The revised itinerary shows port calls now scheduled to Jeju (Jeju Island), South Korea; and Nagasaki, Kagoshima, Hiroshima, Kochi, Himejl, Osaka, and Nagoya, Japan.
Also, the ship will extend its port call at Shimizu, Japan, gateway to Mount Fuji. Originally the ship was to call from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. but now will visit from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., providing guests with an additional two hours in port.
The ship will depart Seoul on September 24, 2025 at 4 p.m., the same time she was to depart from Keelung.
Revised Voyage Is Part of Line’s Expansion Across Asia
Norwegian Spirit is one of three ships the cruise line has deployed to Asia in a major expansion of offerings in the region. Between September 2024 and March 2026, the 1,944-guest Norwegian Sky and the 1,976-guest Norwegian Sun will join Norwegian Spirit in operating a series of sailings.
The three ships together will sail from 15 departure ports and feature itineraries of 9 to 19 days to some 60 destinations.
Itinerary changes are common across the cruise industry, but Norwegian Spirit has been in the news recently with route changes on other voyages, too.
In early October 2024, guests booked on a November 2024 Japan voyage were told that their itinerary had been altered. One overnight in port was nixed and arrival and departure times in five other ports were changed.
These revisions impacted some shore excursions, and deprived guests from enjoying an overnight in Osaka. Changes to the 11-day cruise from Incheon, South Korea, to Tokyo were revealed just weeks before departure.
In that case, the cruise line provided a $100 onboard credit to guests and was automatically revising booked shore excursions as needed. In the new itinerary change for the 2025 sailing, no onboard credit has been announced.
