Storm Manja: how one week of weather rewrote a dozen cruise itineraries
Oslo dropped, Kristiansand swapped for Copenhagen, departures pushed back twelve hours. We checked where the affected ships actually are — and explain what passengers can claim.
26. October 2026 ·
First storm Luise, then hurricane-force low Manja: gusts around 100 km/h were forecast for the North Sea coast over the weekend. For cruise ships that does not mainly mean rough seas — it means harbour manoeuvres become impossible and authorities close fairways.
The result was a week in which hardly a ship in the North Sea could keep to its plan.
Where the ships actually are
We record positions continuously. The picture at Monday midday:
- AIDAluna is in Copenhagen — four kilometres from the harbour centre, zero knots. The schedule said Kristiansand.
- AIDAnova is in Oslo, two kilometres from the centre. According to onboard information she arrived around twelve hours early.
- AIDAperla lies off Kristiansand.
- Mein Schiff Relax is under way at twelve knots in the German Bight, just under 50 kilometres off Cuxhaven.
- Mein Schiff 3 is stuck in Bremerhaven after her collision while leaving port.
What happened on each voyage
Mein Schiff Relax was hit twice. On the short cruise from 21 to 25 October, Oslo was dropped — the voyage's only destination, which turned it into a pure North Sea trip. The ship returned to Hamburg early to get ahead of an Elbe closure for large vessels. The following voyage could then not leave at 19:00 on Sunday as planned, but only at 07:00 on Monday. Southampton was cancelled.
At AIDA the chain ran through several ships: AIDAperla is sailing an altered Norway route, AIDAnova reached Oslo well ahead of schedule, AIDAluna swapped Kristiansand for Copenhagen. The AIDAluna change was already visible in Kristiansand's port schedule the day before the line confirmed it.
Mein Schiff 3 had already cancelled before the collision: Le Havre was dropped and the ship returned to Bremerhaven early. That she then collided on her next departure belongs to the same weather system.
Why cruise lines replan so early
Sea state is rarely the reason. Modern cruise ships sail safely in heavy seas; it is merely uncomfortable. Three other things decide it.
First, berthing: a ship with a large side area can no longer be brought alongside under control in strong wind. Second, the fairways: authorities close waters such as the Elbe to large ships, and there is no way around that. Third, the schedule — when one port falls away, everything after it shifts, and at some point the return to the home port is the only thing still reliably plannable.
That is why the decision usually comes days ahead, not the night before.
What passengers can claim
A cancelled port is not a defect in the holiday if the weather makes it impossible. Force majeure relieves the operator, and as a rule there is no refund for it.
It looks different when the voyage as a whole is substantially impaired. If a voyage with a single destination loses exactly that destination — as with Mein Schiff Relax, whose only call was Oslo — a price reduction may come into consideration. That is a case-by-case question and depends on what was contractually promised.
Shore excursions already booked are refunded if they do not take place. So are port fees charged with the fare — many lines credit them to the onboard account automatically.
If you are travelling to the ship, check the onboard information before setting off. A departure moved by twelve hours is better noticed at home than at the terminal.