Dr_Moos

50 minutes ago, Vitrbt1103 said:

I just called NCL and no refunds if you cancel as we have a contract that said port visits are all subject to change. Not sure what to do at this point. Turkey and Egypt are not safe.

Charge back on your Credit Card. You purchased online one thing they are delivering something else. It's like you purchased sandals, and they are delivering boots...

18 minutes ago, Jetstreamer said:

If people avoid the areas around Israeli embassies then they won't encounter most of the incidents people here seem to want to highlight as "proof" that this cruise is not safe.

 

The above incident was in Nicosia (nowhere near the coast). Thousands of tourists continue to fly into Cyprus every day as they do to Egypt and Turkey. 

 

Israel has never been truly safe yet the same people happy to go there 3 weeks ago now complain that other ports on the itinerary are too dangerous! 

 

Always exercise caution when travelling. That advice never changes. Most of all look for the positives and have a great cruise. 

It is up to you if you want an "adventure" cruise or not. Maybe you like to cruise with a helmet on your head. I do not. For me a cruise should be a relaxation. I am still at home one week from my flight to Istanbul, which NCL still can not confirm as embarkation port. All they respond for Istanbul is "At the moment - yes". Am I relaxed...? Hell -No.
Shall I be more relaxed when I board the Gem and sail into insecure area. Hell - No. I do not demand a refund. I asked to be re-routed to another ship, or given a FCC. They refuse to do so, while not providing information nor solutions. Those who want to go - have a nice cruise!
The others should be given a choice, because their fears are justified. What we are looking at the moment in Israel and surrounding countries might turn into major catastrophe. Unfortunatelly, some people are not taking this seriously... 

3 minutes ago, DaisyJ214 said:

Hi we have been booked on the 11/22 Gem sailing, our primary reasons for picking this cruise was  the Pyramids and Holy Land itinerary. We do not want to take this cruise and be told that we will be given extra Sea Days, or different Turkish or Greek islands which is what they have done so far.

we also booked the 3day land package for Turkey. I certainly don't feel safe touring around Turkey when it is an Ally of Hamas, and America supports Israel. The whole area is unsafe for Americans at this time!!
We have taken insurance but as mentioned above, nothing covers Acts of War or Terrorism, not even the Amex travel ins. 
NCL is putting our lives at risk!

Perhaps a class action law suit would get attention for those passengers that don't want to go and feel strongly that a refund should be offered.

They do not care for your safety out of the ship or their shore excursions. They will sail to Alexandria and do the overnight there. Lot of people will remain on the ship and will not go to Cairo. The GEM November cruises were booked by most of guests especialy for Egypt and Israel. Calling to Alexandria and not seeing the pyramides is terrible. Costa Pacifica was scheduled to be in Alexandria today, but they did not. They were in Volos today.

57 minutes ago, OctCruise11 said:

Insurance through Norwegian has 75% FCC for CFAR .   Also for other parts of the insurance the war exclusions would not apply (innocent bystander) as the exclusions state following: 

Loss caused by or resulting from:

1....

2. war, invasion, acts of foreign enemies, hostilities between nations (whether declared or not), civil war. This exclusion does not apply if You are an innocent bystander to these events.

From "innocent bystander" to "Innocent victim" - very short way... 

4 hours ago, LadyWalkTall said:

Did nobody buy insurance? 

No insurance in the world covers cancellation due to war situation. Not even those with "Cancel For Any Reason". Just find and read small print.
Quote from Nationwide CFAR insurance policy Q&A: "The policy does not offer coverage for the threat of a Terrorist Incident or any war-related activity. See the policy for further details."

NCL is waiting, calculating. Unfortunatelly the situation will get more complicated. This is not just another local incident. Israel can not back up, they will go to all the way, otherwise they will have rockets again shortly.  NCL will have to cancel at the end. They do not have any right to force people to travel the dangerous part of the world. Who will in behalf of NCL declare GEM next cruises as safe? Who will take responsibility if incident happens - NCL CEO? By prolonging their decision to do the inevitable, they are doing more damage to the people, because they will, at best, have to modify their flights, and pay fees to do that. Some will lose their money due to non refundable fares. Someone here wrote "Ships are still calling to Alexandria and Middle East ports. Yes they do, those that have to pass the Suez channel. But who will dare to take a whole day bus tour to Cairo. Such a great target, bus full of US tourists, and plenty of time and places to do the job. NCL will wait until the end. At the end they will have to refund... Calculating till the very end NCL are doing damage to them self. According to some post here I am sure that NCL people are reading this forum. I read many times here - "No more NCL". Not good for future company image.

New warships are arriving. Few days from now there will be a total of at least 10 US warships in the area. If they force us to cruise Greek islands, it will be a cruise between aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates and many other interesting things to see... 

15 hours ago, sailingships said:

Our cruises are Nov 11th and 22nd. A couple of days ago I was told any moment we could get an Email . Just now I was told November cruises would get an Email in a week or 2. 

Great..., what UK office told me couple of days ago was that they will publish options for November cruises yesterday - Oct 16. It's not only that the cruise becomes almost non interesting without Israel and Egypt , but some people might not feel comfortable traveling to that part of the world, The situation might worsen until Nov. 1.  It looks like they will wait until very end, until our flight  modifications become impossible or much more expensive. Hope someone will publish something here soon...  

I am on the same Nov. 1, GEM cruise.  After the Alexandria incident, I am not sure if my party feels comfortable to go to that part of the world anymore. I contacted NCL customer service and asked to be transferred to NCL STAR doing Lisbon-Lisbon cruise with the same sailing date as Gem.  I hold the reservation for that cruise as option. Nice lady told me that she can not do it right now, because I would be a subject to cancellation policy and loose most of the fare money. But on Monday the company will decide on Egypt ports for GEM and offer options. She also mentioned that full refund might be offered. She also extended my reservation option with STAR until Oct. 18. We'll see what happens on Monday...