Cruises for Ukrainians

Ukrainians still regularly go on sea cruises today, only the route to the port of embarkation looks different than it did before 2022. No airport in Ukraine currently accepts civilian flights, so the road to the liner always consists of two parts: first a ground segment to a neighboring country, most often Poland, but also Romania, Moldova, Hungary, or Slovakia, then a flight to an airport near the European port of embarkation, usually Barcelona, Venice, Civitavecchia near Rome, Genoa, or Piraeus near Athens. The airport and the pier are not always in the same place, so after landing it is worth budgeting a short transfer to the port itself as well. From there MSC, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, Costa, and Celestyal liners depart, and it is on board that the part of the trip everything was planned for begins: your own cabin, pool decks, evening shows, and a daily change of ports of call. The logistics have grown more complicated, but the trip is entirely achievable: thousands of Ukrainians successfully make it every year, and each season agencies and carriers make it more convenient. Besides sea cruises, there is also a river format, for example routes along the Danube or the Rhine, where the European departure cities often have simpler connections and can suit those not ready for a long flight. The specific route differs depending on which Ukrainian city you depart from: the road to the border takes much less time from Lviv than from Kharkiv or Dnipro, while people from Odesa sometimes find it more convenient to travel through Moldova or Romania than through Poland. We described these differences for Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Warsaw in separate pages, and collected the full step by step route with all the details in the article "How a Ukrainian can get on a cruise: the road to the port."