Princess Cruises’ Enchanted Princess is having multiple changes to her planned August 31, 2024 sailing due to local restrictions on cruise ship visits. Guests have been notified of the adjustments so they can reconsider their travel plans if preferred.
Enchanted Princess is scheduled to homeport from New York City for the autumn sailing season. The ship will be offering a total of ten 7-night cruises exploring popular ports in New England and Canada at the peak of the fall foliage period.
Unfortunately, the ship’s August 31 sailing will not be keeping to the original planned itinerary. Guests are being notified of not one, but two port of call adjustments for that cruise, with a third change shifting the time the ship will be visiting another destination.
“Please be advised that due to recent restrictions on cruise ships in Rockland, Maine, Enchanted Princess will no longer call to Rockland on Tuesday, September 3 and will instead call to Eastport, Maine,” the notification read. “Additionally, we will no longer call to Newport, Rhode Island on Sunday, September 1 and will instead spend the day at sea.”
Interestingly, while Princess Cruises cites “recent restrictions on cruise ships in Rockland” as the reason for changing the port of call, but Rockland voted in fall 2023 to raise limits and welcome more ships.
However, those new limits only permit one large ship (up to 3,000 guests) during each week in September and October. The 145,281-gross-ton, Royal-class Enchanted Princess still exceeds that limit with her capacity of 3,660 passengers.
No explanation has been offered for why Enchanted Princess will not be visiting Newport, but it may be due to sailing speeds and the additional distance to reach Eastport for the replacement visit.
Eastport is approximately 140 miles of sailing distance further northeast than Rockland, which would take an extra six hours of sailing at the ship’s typical speed of 25 miles per hour.
As one further adjustment to the itinerary, Enchanted Princess has also changed the time she will be visiting Boston, Massachusetts. While the port of call visit will still be on Monday, September 2, the ship will now be in port from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. rather than 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Overall, the number of hours in port while visiting Boston remains unchanged.
Read Also: Boston Begins What Will Be a Record-Breaking Cruise Season in 2024
This may mean, however, that travelers who have arranged private excursions may need to contact their tour providers to adapt to the new schedule. Tours arranged through Princess Cruises will be automatically adjusted or cancelled if necessary due to the itinerary changes.
Other Enchanted Princess Itinerary Changes
The itinerary change for Enchanted Princess‘s August 31 departure comes on the heels of several other changes for the ship’s autumn itineraries.
Due to cruise ship visitor caps being imposed in Bar Harbor, Maine, as many as eight of the ship’s other autumn itineraries have been adjusted to remove that port of call. Bar Harbor was never part of the August 31 sailing.
Autumn sailings to New England and the Canadian Maritime provinces are popular cruises, as guests have an amazing opportunity to see spectacular foliage and experience the wonderful culture and natural beauty of the region.
With more small communities imposing limits on the number of cruise ships or the total number of passengers who may be able to visit at once, however, these sailings may become more limited with fewer options for eager travelers.
Any cruise travelers with fall foliage sailings planned, no matter what cruise line, should stay in close communication with their line in case of itinerary adjustments, port cancellations, or other changes as these new restrictions come into more widespread practice.