Cozumel Pier Damage Cancels Norwegian Encore Call

The Norwegian Encore Cozumel call was canceled after localized pier damage left the ship without a safe berth for its scheduled stop on December 17, 2025. Guests sailing the seven night Western Caribbean itinerary from Miami, plus anyone holding prepaid Cozumel tours, are affected by the last minute port swap. Norwegian Cruise Line says the ship will visit Falmouth, Jamaica, instead, and travelers should pivot plans, confirm automatic refunds for ship sold excursions, and save documentation of the change for any third party claims.

The Norwegian Encore Cozumel call change matters because a single pier failure can erase an entire shore day, trigger excursion cancellations, and shift timing at the next port where tender and tour windows are tightly managed.

Norwegian told guests that the Cozumel stop was removed due to localized pier damage and replaced with a call at Falmouth on December 17, 2025. The line said the George Town, Cayman Islands stop remains scheduled for December 18, 2025, and that the routing change should allow the ship to arrive about two hours earlier than previously planned. Norwegian also said shore excursions booked through the company for Cozumel will be automatically canceled, with a full monetary refund credited to guests' onboard accounts.

Cozumel appears to be dealing with a berth constraint rather than a full cruise shutdown. The Quintana Roo port authority's published cruise arrival schedule for Cozumel on December 17 still shows multiple ships assigned across the island's terminals, but it does not list Norwegian Encore for that date, which supports the idea that a localized pier issue can still knock a single ship off the lineup.

Who Is Affected

Guests on the current Norwegian Encore sailing are the immediate impact zone, especially travelers who prebooked Cozumel activities that are hard to reschedule, such as dive trips, beach clubs, private drivers, and timed reservations tied to the original all aboard. The disruption tends to be larger for families and groups because a port day often anchors childcare plans, specialty dining, and onboard activities that were scheduled around time ashore, and now those pieces must be rearranged on short notice.

Travel advisors, and independent excursion providers also feel the shock because a pier driven cancellation is typically announced late in the voyage, leaving little time to rebook clients or recover sunk costs. When a ship diverts, the replacement port sees a surge in demand, and operators may cap availability based on vehicles, guides, and attraction limits, which can leave late bookers choosing between a different activity category, or a self guided day.

Travelers should also plan for secondary timing effects. Even when the replacement port is confirmed, arrival and departure times can still move as the bridge team optimizes speed, fuel, and berth windows, and that variability can squeeze independent plans that assume a fixed return time to the ship.

What Travelers Should Do

Save proof first, then clean up commitments. Screenshot the revised itinerary and port times in the Norwegian app, and keep any written onboard notice, because that documentation helps with third party refunds, travel protection claims, and card disputes. Cancel Cozumel reservations you control right away, and ask for a refund or credit using the operator's missed port terms. If you booked Cozumel shore excursions through Norwegian, monitor your onboard account for the automatic refund, and keep the line item details in case anything posts incorrectly.

For the replacement call at Falmouth, decide quickly whether to lock in a ship sponsored excursion or keep the day flexible. If the priority is a high demand experience that is distance constrained, such as a Dunn's River Falls day trip, a Martha Brae rafting outing, or an organized beach transfer, booking early is the safer play because diverted guests concentrate demand. If the priority is simply time ashore, waiting can work, but only if the group is comfortable self navigating and building a conservative buffer to return to the ship without relying on a single driver or tour operator.

Over the next 24 to 72 hours, keep monitoring for small timing changes and operational notes. Norwegian said the revised routing should bring the ship into Grand Cayman earlier on December 18, 2025, which can be a benefit, but it can also change tender group pacing, excursion meeting windows, and crowd patterns at popular early arrivals. Watch for updated meeting instructions and guest services advisories, and avoid prepaying add on activities in the replacement port unless the supplier has clear missed port refund terms.

How It Works

Cruise itineraries look fixed to passengers, but they are built on a hard physical constraint, the berth. A ship needs a pier that can safely accept its lines and fenders, support a stable gangway connection, and meet security and passenger flow requirements. When a pier is damaged, even in a localized section, a port can lose an assigned berth or restrict which ships can dock there, and the port authority must reshuffle berths among ships already scheduled, often with very little notice.

The first order traveler impact is straightforward, the port call is canceled, and the linked shore products unwind. Cruise line sold excursions are usually the cleanest because they are integrated with the ship's schedule and billing system, so they can be canceled and refunded at scale, as Norwegian said it would do for Cozumel. Independent excursions are harder because they sit under separate contracts, and operators may require proof of the itinerary change, which is why screenshots and written notices matter.

The second order ripple is displacement and congestion. When a ship diverts into an alternate port, transportation, guides, and attraction capacity get stressed, and a single port swap can become a regional pinch point if other ships face similar berth limits in the same week. Adept Traveler has seen the same cascade effect when ports are swapped for sea conditions, as in Brazil Coastal Weather Diverts Cruises To Ilhabela, and when a single ship's constraints reshape port access, as in Carnival Horizon Skips Grand Cayman Over Repairs.

Sources

• Norwegian Cancels Visit to Cozumel Due to Pier Damage
• APIQROO - Calendario de Arribo de Cruceros