Norwegian Joy's May 2028 Alaska Sailing Drops Sitka and Skagway, Adds Whittier
If you're booked on Norwegian Joy's May 19, 2028 Seattle sailing, note that Sitka and Skagway have been dropped and Whittier added, Icy Strait Point shifted to a different day and an hour later, and Ketchikan now starts at noon instead of 8 a.m. Any prepaid excursions booked through Norwegian should adjust automatically or be refunded, but if you've booked independent tours in the affected ports, contact those operators directly to cancel or change plans. Since embarkation and debarkation in Seattle are unchanged, your pre- and post-cruise travel arrangements don't need adjusting.
Norwegian says berth availability drove this, without naming which port forced the cascade — my read is that's the tell of a scheduling conflict rather than a single canceled call. Losing both Sitka and Skagway while gaining Whittier is a bigger reshuffle than a typical port swap, and cutting Ketchikan's call by four hours (noon arrival instead of 8 a.m.) trims real time ashore even though it's technically the "same day." The saving grace here is the 20-month runway: excursion operators are easy to rebook and Seattle embarkation/debarkation didn't move, so pre- and post-cruise plans are untouched. If I had this booking, I'd hold off on any independent Sitka or Skagway tours until Norwegian's official update lands, and I'd keep an eye on my account for the automatic excursion adjustments the line typically makes on affected port calls.