ShaZoGus

Enjoy and I hope you have as amazing a time as we did!

Best of luck with whatever you choose to do, as it needs to be a decision that you’re comfortable with.

Just returned from Uniworld “Splendors of Egypt & The Nile” on the River Tosca and pre-cruise extension in Jordan. Due to the situation in Israel, I was extremely apprehensive about taking this trip and was very close to cancelling and forfeiting a large sum of money. It ended up being the best trip ever! From the time my husband and I arrived at Amman airport, we were exceptionally well taken care of by Uniworld. We felt safe the entire time and we were able to see the amazing museums, temples, tombs and, of course, the Pyramids of Giza without huge crowds. Our Jordanian and Egyptian guides as well as every crew member on the beautiful River Tosca did their utmost to ensure our comfort and safety. Understandably, capacity was way down on both the cruise and pre-cruise extension, but it was the trip of a lifetime!

Oh my…you really got it bad! Any idea what caused it? I heard that it’s wise to avoid salads as well as any raw fruit and veggies that have been peeled and to always use bottled water.

Thank you for your advice…we have some activated charcoal tablets in the event of “Pharaoh’s Revenge” and plan to be careful with food in Egypt (if we go!). Still hoping that Uniworld cancels!

Yes, it did change and we found out the hard way. We used CIBT, a third party visa company, completed all the forms and sent them by FedEx along with our passports in order for the Egyptian embassy in Ottawa to process old-school paper visas on September 14. CIBT received our package on September 15 and immediately called to say that things had changed yet again and we were no longer eligible for the paper visas and that we could now apply for an e-visa which needed to be approved and issued by October 1st and would be valid for 3 months. Completed the online forms on September 15th and finally received the e-visas on September 29th after being told that the process would take only 5 business days.

That’s good to know for future reference. Thank you.

Unfortunately, we did not purchase Uniworld insurance…there were some pre-existing health conditions at the time of booking which have since been resolved.

Oh yeah…getting the Egypt Visas was very stressful, but we did manage to get our e-visas just before the cutoff date of October 1st.

Thanks for your response. Our trips sound quite similar, although with different cruise companies. We are scheduled to fly to Jordan on November 5th, just over 2 weeks from now. I very much agree with you that this won’t be a worry-free trip if it happens, which defeats the purpose of a vacation. Hopefully the river cruise companies will do the right thing and cancel, as I’m pretty sure that we aren’t the only passengers with these concerns!

Booked on a Uniworld Nile River cruise with a pre-cruise extension in Jordan. Uniworld cancelled Israel post-cruise 2 days ago due to the war. Feeling very anxious and stressed about going to that part of the world but we’re at the mercy of Uniworld should they decide to make any further cancellations. As we do not have cancel-for-any-reason insurance, we stand to lose a lot of money. Air Canada is allowing us to rebook our flights ( Toronto-Amman and TelAviv-Toronto) at no fee or to receive a refund. If a major airline is offering a full refund on business class tickets, they seem to be taking the situation more seriously than the cruise line. Anybody else out there in a similar situation?

Thanks for your advice!

Thank you!

Booked on Oceania Nautica “Highlights of the East” departing Tokyo on April 22/23. Spending several days in Japan before cruise & our Japanese friend who lives in Kyoto will be showing us around. First time visiting Okinawa, Hiroshima, Taipei, & Vietnam (Hanoi, DaNang, NhaTrang, Saigon)…any thoughts on whether it’s best to pre-book excursions or wing-it once we arrive at those destinations?

Booked on Oceania Nautica from Tokyo-Singapore in April/23. My husband and I are Canadian and will each require a visa for our ports in Vietnam from May 4-8. The invoice from Oceania with our final payment states that “Transit Visa On Arrival” is required, but the websites I’ve been searching are saying that type of visa is only applicable for tourists arriving by air and not by cruise ship. I suppose I’ll have to ask my travel agent to call Oceania again…any suggestions or input?