susiesan

What happens if your cruise was bookish SM, you have e a large shore ex credit, and most of your ports get cancelled like what's happening now to the pax on revised Middle East cruises. If you can't use your shore ex credit are you just out the money?

Consider that change a win. Japan is far more preferable to visit than China. What 2 ports in Japan were added?

I've been looking at that same Gate 1 tour for late 2024 or early 2025. It depends on if I can get J award tix to South America that coincide with the dates. I have friends who didd that tour with them and they loved it.

I have one more cruise on deposit, Azamara Croatia Intensive for Sept. 2024. I may or may not take it. The other cruise line I might consider is Windstar. If I was going to do a land tour I'd look at Gate 1 and Overseas Adventure Travel. OAT has a lot of tours that have women groups only and no supplement for singles. When I do land trips I don't take tours, I put my own itinerary together. The last land trip I did in 2019 was in Japan, one week on Kyushu then one week in South Korea. WE travelled by train and bus. I've also been doing National Park road trips here in the US. I'm considering Smoky Mountain NP for spring 2024.

GeezerCouple: you must be reading my mind as I agree 100% with everything you said about your style of cruising not being compatible with SM. I just completed my 6th O cruise, starting with them in 2006. It was my last one. It was a good run, but I'm moving on to other lines that are a better fit. I am also pulling away from cruising and going on more land trips and safaris. I'll monitor Oceania for them dropping SM in the future if it turns out to be a bust.

The physical demand would be able to sit in a safari truck on bumpy roads for possibly a few hours. It would depend on the kind of safari. There Re some that are fly in, with minimal time spent driving between camps, like I did in Botswana last May. You. An choose the level of accommodations by how much you want to spend, luxury level, mid range, or bare bones basic. One you decide the country, a local operator can arrange a trip for you. If you want more info on who I used for each safari, email me. Susiesan8 at gmail.com As to age, I'm 69, my husband is 74, and we will be doing a 2 week walking safari in Uganda in January.

Look into safaris. They are like a cruise on land, your meals, excursions, and transportation are included. Pick a country in Africa you are interested in and go on a safari there. I've done 4 and will do my 5th in January, each in a different country.

Here's an article about cruise companies cancelling ports in the Middle East calling out Oceania: https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/cruise-israel-egypt-jordan-oman-b2438446.html

And still the cruise lines keep building more and more new ships adding more berths to a limited supply of ports. I can foresee a point at popular ports where 2 ships have to share a berth, one will have the morning hours and then leave and another will dock for the afternoon.

Interesting that Oceania deemed it too dangerous to go to Alexandria while yesterday Oct. 29 two Azamara ships were docked there.

If a wide war engulfs the entire Middle East and you were to book a cruise or trip to this region after war is declared, no travel insurance would cover you. They all have exclusions for war.

Wasn't the entire "trip" a roundtrip from the OP's home? Even though this is an AmEx benefit, don't they use an insurance company to handle claims? I know Chase cards run their trip cancellation benefit through an insurance company. Used to be Chubb, but I don't know who Chase uses now.

You would likely just get left somewhere in the Med, maybe back in Istanbul. You will be on your own. Depending on the airline you are ticketed on, you could approach them direct to see if you could change your ticket home from where ever you are from Dubai. What airline did O book you on? If you have a PRN try calling that airline now and ask them about your options if you end up somewhere other than Dubai. In times of war most airlines are willing to work with pax, no matter who paid for the ticket.

Don't give up/in without a fight. Travel insurance companies always deny your claim on the first submittal. Call back and ask for a supervisor. If that doesn't work turn it over to your state's attorney general office/insurance commissioner. Sometimes that gets you results. I don't get why Am Ex insurance won't cover the cruise cost if you paid for it with the AmEx card. Makes no sense.

You should read what Oceania is doing to their itineraries in the Middle East. Some ports are being dropped and not replaced with alternates. People on a cruise from Istanbul to Dubai have had all 6 ports in Israel and Egypt dropped, replaced with Greek Islands, and a 9 day cruise through the Suez Canal. They are not offering any compensation or price reductions. The Holy Land/Mid East cruise has turned into a Greek Islands and repositioning cruise. At least AZ came up with alternate ports for the dropped ones.

Terry&Mike could you please email me off CC to share Africa info susiesan8 at gmail.com

What is the itinerary change? What is the original itinerary and the changed one?

We stopped in Tangiers Morocco in September from a Sirena cruise. We felt very safe. This was my favorite port of the whole cruise.

This will be my 5th African safari. They have become my favorite type of vacation. I'm sure the safari operator will come up with an alternate itinerary if it's not safe to visit QENP in late January. Because we have a day of gorilla trekking in the plan, and it's a bucket list item, I really really want to make the safari.

I just saw the article about this on TripAdvisor. I have contacted the TA who is getting in touch with the local operator. I have 3 months to think about this. The only deposit I have made so far I have pays for the gorilla trek permits which are not refundable.My airline tickets are awards so they can be cancelled and the miles re deposited at no charge. If it is still unsafe at Queen Elizabeth NP in January, where we are scheduled to be for 2 nights, I'm sure the safer operator will go somewhere else in Uganda.

I know that. I am going to be on a private safari with a local ground operator. There will be 4 of us traveling together, we will not be wandering around anywhere without our guide. A large reason for the warning is Uganda's stance on LGBTQ issues.

See my post 134. There are travel/security warnings for Turkey. I'm glad my next vacation in January is not a cruise, it is a safari in Uganda.

The US State Dept. puts this kind of generic vague warning out all the time. I have seen this warning come and go over the years. It is actually common sense when traveling internationally. For those on this itinerary you have a security alert for Turkey/Istanbul October 18, 2023 Location: · Throughout Turkiye · U.S. Consulate Adana Event: · The U.S. Consulate in Adana will remain closed to the public until further notice. U.S. citizens can reschedule their appointments to the U.S. Embassy in Ankara. · Large demonstrations related to events in Israel and Gaza are expected throughout Turkiye for the next several weeks.

If travel insurance companies start excluding countries in the Middle East then cruise ships and travelers will stop going there.

Yes, it's common on Oceania cruises to cancel ports. It's more common for them to sell an itinerary and then after final payment is made to start lopping off an hour or two on a number of the ports, reducing the time in port and altering the itinerary from what you bought.