Holland America Line Cancels Entire Eastern Mediterranean Cruise Season

[HamOp]

From the CC news section http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5587

[cruisemom42]

I'm sure it will be disappointing for many who've booked and made plans.

 

I suppose with Egypt off the table for the foreseeable future and people being nervous about Syria, the cruises probably weren't selling very well. It's a shame, as the Eastern Med is definitely more interesting (to me anyway).

[Vict0riann]

Very sad, but I suppose it's for the best, and safest. Hopefully things will settle down and go back to normal soon.

[sail7seas]

Sorry for those who will be disappointed but it seems a wise judgment IMO

 

Sales likely were very slow as there are many travelers avoiding that region for the time being.

 

[ger_77]

Considering the political unrest in that area, it isn't surprising. Better to be safe, than sorry. Hopefully things will settle down in the next couple of years and folks will again be able to see these beautiful parts of the world. We have some wonderful memories of our 3 cruises there.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[TracieABD]

My mom and I were planning on going to Egypt this year, but in light of the current political situation, we will not attempt it.

 

I think HAL made a good call.

[PathfinderEss]

Probably a very good decision for Hal and potential cruisers.

[iancal]

Not surprised. We have done three eastern Med cruises over the past two/three years. The prices were rock bottom, we had our choice of balcony cabins, and the late Sept/early Oct. dates were perfect for us.

 

All of the cruise lines seem to have been doing deep discounts on that run. Too much capacity so something had to give. Looking back, we a are glad we did them when we did.

[MR NW GUY]

Hopefully things will get better there soon...

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thank you for the information.

I think HAL has made a wise decision. I know that many people will be disappointed, but safety of the passengers comes first.

[m4yb]

From the CC news section http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=5587

We had our May 2014 Noordam cruise rescheduled 3 weeks ago. Have just had to book another cruise, redo all our airflights and acommodation, paying extra, and still waiting to hear if we will get refunds from HAL. So is this just "old news" or another round of cancellations?

[kazu]

Better to let people know sooner I would think. Wonder when the itineraries will be changed? The P'dam's itinerary remains as it was:confused: for October 2014

[Ine]

I think it is Noordam and stops in Egypt. As far as I know Rotterdam will sail to e.g. Greece, Cyprus, Israel etc. in November.

[OlsSalt]

Recently in Istanbul and Athens where they were talking about the increase in tourism because of many of the cruise lines now no longer going to Egypt. HAL is just joining those other lines who have also done the same thing, but even earlier apparently.

[mamaofami]

I think HAL made a very wise decision in light of all the unrest in Egypt. I know if I had been booked to go there, I'd be disappointed, but I'd rather be safe and go somewhere else. Someday, The Pyramids are on my bucket list.

[496and706]

Doesn't anyone look at the stickys at the top of this page before they post? Laura posted this info already. Anyone who had that itinerary (my husband and myself, for example) were informed by HAL more than a month ago that there were changes to the itinerary. Anyone who reads or listens or watches the news would know that there was unrest in that area more than a month ago.

[mamaofami]

No need to be so annoyed. The sticky on the top of the page was posted by Laura on the 18th.

[RuthC]

Doesn't anyone look at the stickys at the top of this page before they post? Laura posted this info already.

Some of us only notice the "stickys" when it takes one more tap on "page down" to get to the start of the threads. (We're back up to three, btw. :rolleyes:)

[KirkNC]

Some of us only notice the "stickys" when it takes one more tap on "page down" to get to the start of the threads. (We're back up to three, btw. :rolleyes:)

 

Yes there are so many I don't even look at them, I guess that sounds like something Yogi Berra would say :p

[KirkNC]

I think the title to the article and this thread are misleading, it is only canceling Egypt, the rest of the eastern med is still open.

[496and706]

Sorry. Didn't mean to sound so aggravated.

[Linda&Vern]

I think the title to the article and this thread are misleading, it is only canceling Egypt, the rest of the eastern med is still open.

How do you get that Eastern Med is still open after reading this? What am I missing?

"The line has redeployed ms Noordam to central and western Mediterranean cruises for spring and summer 2014 rather than the Eastern Mediterranean."

[chrispb]

How do you get that Eastern Med is still open after reading this? What am I missing?

 

"The line has redeployed ms Noordam to central and western Mediterranean cruises for spring and summer 2014 rather than the Eastern Mediterranean."

 

I assume he means Israel, Cyprus, Turkey is still open for business - all are Eastern Med (well, most of Turkey is:cool:). Are cruises still going to these places? No reason they shouldn't.

[HamOp]

Sorry. Didn't mean to sound so aggravated.

 

No problem at all.....

 

I make it a point to use the "Preview Post" feature to see if my fingers said what my brain really meant. Some times yes, and some times no:D

[Sopwith]

We've been trying to book a trip or cruise to Isreal and Egypt for at least 5 or 6 years. Every time we get close to committing, something flares up. Gaza in ~2009, the Egyptian revolution in 2011, and the echo revolution in 2013. We actually did book on Princess for June of his year and diverted to HAL (regrettably) when things flared up again.

 

So you can blame it all on me!