Sirena June 13 cruise Egypt cancelled

[jrm9999]

I know someone on this cruise. They said Egypt was cancelled and they were not given any reason or explanation for the cancellation. Does anyone on the boards here know why? Yes, we understand things happen and itineraries can change, but I think people are owed a reason it its changed.

[Toranut97]

Who did they ask? Cruise Director? Ship's officer?

 

I doubt those of us ashore would know more than those who are there!?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jrm9999]

I am not sure at this point who they have been able to talk to. I sometimes see reports on cc where people find out things before even some on board so thought I would try.

[smartlady25]

Hi,

A few years ago we were scheduled to go on Oceania on the same itinerary. We were told by our TA of it. We called on Oceania and asked what they were substituting and they said the Captain will deciDe. I waited until our final payment was due and since they wouldn't tell us where we were going, we cancelled. That is always an option.

[kreastman]

Are you sure Sirena's Egypt ports were cancelled? My TA is not aware of any cancellations. We were scheduled to be on that cruise, but had to cancel due to a medical situation. I'm sure we would have been very disappointed if Egypt was cut from the itinerary.

[SellaVee]

Hi,

A few years ago we were scheduled to go on Oceania on the same itinerary. We were told by our TA of it. We called on Oceania and asked what they were substituting and they said the Captain will deciDe. I waited until our final payment was due and since they wouldn't tell us where we were going, we cancelled. That is always an option.

 

Not when you are already on board.

[RachelG]

If they feel the security situation is not adequate, they will cancel. We were on regent last year in Egypt, and our guide told us that regent and oceania sent a security team prior to they port calls to make sure their standards were met. If they are not, the stop is cancelled. And if the captain feels there is a security problem, he can cancel, even at the last minute.

[sitraveler]

We've had ports cancelled for various reasons. Weather, strikes and medical conditions on board. I wouldn't jump to any conclusions without more info.

[Cruise Junky]

I'm frankly shocked that they dropped Turkey but left Egypt on the schedule. Sorry you're missing it.

[Pet Nit Noy]

I know someone on this cruise. They said Egypt was cancelled and they were not given any reason or explanation for the cancellation. Does anyone on the boards here know why? Yes, we understand things happen and itineraries can change, but I think people are owed a reason it its changed.

 

If you go to the British Foreign Office's security recommendations for Egypt, they begin their area by area assessment of the situation with the following sentence, "There is a high threat from terrorism."

 

Reading further, the British government makes some additional distinctions. They advise against all travel to the North Sinai, and they advise against all but essential travel to the South Sinai, including the area to the west of the Nile Valley and the Nile Delta. The information directly states the tourist areas around bordering the Nile -- Luxor, Qina, Aswan, Abu Simbel and the Valley of the Kings -- can be visited with the understanding that conditions can change quickly. Demonstrations often turn violent and have been associated with kidnappings, rapes, and beatings of Western nationals.

 

Tucked in among all the warnings (and I have not written everything), the web site states, "Over 900,000 British nationals visit Egypt every year. Most visits are trouble-free."

 

Oceania must make decisions for hundreds of people and a multi-million dollar piece of property, their ship. Of course, their decision is going to be more conservative than the decision of someone doing independent travel or, even, someone traveling with a small group. If I truly wanted to visit Egypt, I wouldn't go via cruise ship. I'd want to be in control of my decision to visit/not visit. The minute someone chooses to travel via ship he/she hands control to the captain and corporate security.

 

Incidentally, I'm not a UK citizen. I went to the UK site because there's a long history of the British Foreign Office's assessments being somewhat less inflammatory than the US Department of State's assessment.

 

British Foreign Office (Egypt): https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/egypt

Edited June 15, 2016 by Pet Nit Noy

[Hawaiidan]

I'm frankly shocked that they dropped Turkey but left Egypt on the schedule. Sorry you're missing it.

 

Turkey, has almost daily bombings in Istanbul ...Numerous countries tell their nationals to get out now and get out fast.... Between ISIS the Kurds and god knows who else this is a war zone.

Seriously I would expect and anticipate that any port past Greece and along the entire eastern Med and North Africa is a powder keg

A whole slew of bad guys are promising the region a blood bath....

 

So no I would not be surprised at any cancel and no passenger should book without understanding there are no guarantees.

[SellaVee]

Marine Traffic seems to suggest that Sirena has visited two Greek ports, Thira and Heraklion instead of Alexandria and Cairo. Next stop Israel.

[jrm9999]

If you go to the British Foreign Office's security recommendations for Egypt, they begin their area by area assessment of the situation with the following sentence, "There is a high threat from terrorism."

 

Reading further, the British government makes some additional distinctions. They advise against all travel to the North Sinai, and they advise against all but essential travel to the South Sinai, including the area to the west of the Nile Valley and the Nile Delta. The information directly states the tourist areas around bordering the Nile -- Luxor, Qina, Aswan, Abu Simbel and the Valley of the Kings -- can be visited with the understanding that conditions can change quickly. Demonstrations often turn violent and have been associated with kidnappings, rapes, and beatings of Western nationals.

 

Tucked in among all the warnings (and I have not written everything), the web site states, "Over 900,000 British nationals visit Egypt every year. Most visits are trouble-free."

 

Oceania must make decisions for hundreds of people and a multi-million dollar piece of property, their ship. Of course, their decision is going to be more conservative than the decision of someone doing independent travel or, even, someone traveling with a small group. If I truly wanted to visit Egypt, I wouldn't go via cruise ship. I'd want to be in control of my decision to visit/not visit. The minute someone chooses to travel via ship he/she hands control to the captain and corporate security.

 

Incidentally, I'm not a UK citizen. I went to the UK site because there's a long history of the British Foreign Office's assessments being somewhat less inflammatory than the US Department of State's assessment.

 

British Foreign Office (Egypt): https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/egypt

 

I did see that and it may be the reason.

 

I just think its odd that the cruise line has not really given a reason. The majority of people understand a cruise schedule can change. But I think they are owed a reason.

[jrm9999]

Marine Traffic seems to suggest that Sirena has visited two Greek ports, Thira and Heraklion instead of Alexandria and Cairo. Next stop Israel.

 

This is correct.

[jrm9999]

Who did they ask? Cruise Director? Ship's officer?

 

I doubt those of us ashore would know more than those who are there!?

 

 

So asking general crew, guest services, etc the canned answer being given is "corporate made the decision to alter the itinerary and cancel Egypt"

 

No further reason past that. If the opportunity arises those I know on board plan to ask an officer, but they have not been able to yet.

 

The general belief by those on board is that Oceana knew ahead of time it was getting cancelled but waited until people arrived on board to tell them in fear of a mass amount of people cancelling the cruise. No one really knows for sure, or how far in advance they knew, but one person who was on board for the first 10 day cruise prior kept asking why they had no info on shore excursion for Egypt and kept getting told "were waiting for it to download from corporate".

[Pet Nit Noy]

I did see that and it may be the reason.

 

I just think its odd that the cruise line has not really given a reason. The majority of people understand a cruise schedule can change. But I think they are owed a reason.

 

If I chose a cruise with port calls in Egypt, Israel, Turkey, and a few other countries where conditions are -- to put it gently -- in flux, I'd consider it a gift if we actually made any of those port calls. Would you be satisfied by the captain saying only, "Out of an abundance of caution...? Or would you need to know specifically if a kidnapping had occurred? or a rape had occurred? or ominous demonstrations were taking place? or a plane had disappeared?

 

Unless, the incident had specific implications for cruisers (e.g. another airplane went missing and guests could expect heavily increased security at airports) I really wouldn't need to know. The State Department and Foreign Office had already warned me. Your Mileage May Vary.

Edited June 15, 2016 by Pet Nit Noy

[Paulchili]

 

The general belief by those on board is that Oceana knew ahead of time it was getting cancelled but waited until people arrived on board to tell them in fear of a mass amount of people cancelling the cruise.

 

I would doubt this theory VERY much - although I agree that O probably knew about the cancellations before the current cruise (how long before - I don't know)

These people would lose all their money for cancelling just before the cruise (or past their final payment) unless they had a "cancel for any reason" policy - which generally few people have.

I doubt that too many people would be willing to part with that much money just for missing Egypt.

JMO

Edited June 15, 2016 by Paulchili

[StanandJim]

These people would lose all their money for cancelling just before the cruise (or past their final payment) unless they had a "cancel for any reason" policy - which generally few people have.

 

In that situation, it would be an Insurance Company which was out the money, not the Cruise Line.

Oceania does not offer "for any Reason" cancellation insurance.

[jrm9999]

I would doubt this theory VERY much - although I agree that O probably knew about the cancellations before the current cruise (how long before - I don't know)

These people would lose all their money for cancelling just before the cruise (or past their final payment) unless they had a "cancel for any reason" policy - which generally few people have.

I doubt that too many people would be willing to part with that much money just for missing Egypt.

JMO

 

 

I don't disagree. Just passing on what I am hearing.

[Paulchili]

In that situation, it would be an Insurance Company which was out the money, not the Cruise Line.

Oceania does not offer "for any Reason" cancellation insurance.

 

I realize that O does not offer that type of insurance but other companies do.

However, IMO, very few people opt for that type of insurance as it can be expensive. Thus if people did not have that type of insurance and cancelled the cruise last minute fbecause of not going to Egypt, it would be only those passengers that would be out of money and not the insurance company nor Oceania - for obvious reasons.

Edited June 15, 2016 by Paulchili

[Cruise Junky]

Turkey, has almost daily bombings in Istanbul ...Numerous countries tell their nationals to get out now and get out fast.... Between ISIS the Kurds and god knows who else this is a war zone.

Seriously I would expect and anticipate that any port past Greece and along the entire eastern Med and North Africa is a powder keg

A whole slew of bad guys are promising the region a blood bath....

 

So no I would not be surprised at any cancel and no passenger should book without understanding there are no guarantees.

 

Her's the Canadian warnings for Turkey vs Egypt.

 

Turkey - Exercise a high degree of caution

 

There is no nationwide advisory in effect for Turkey. However, you should exercise a high degree of caution due to crime, the threat of terrorist attacks and ongoing demonstrations throughout the country.

 

Egypt - AVOID NON-ESSENTIAL TRAVEL

 

Global Affairs Canada advises against non-essential travel to Egypt due to the unpredictable security situation. This advisory does not apply to the Red Sea coastal resorts of Hurghada (and its surroundings) and Sharm el-Sheikh, nor to the area from Luxor to Aswan along the upper Nile, where you should exercise a high degree of caution.

Edited June 16, 2016 by Cruise Junky

[Cybercsp]

Hello.

We are currently on this cruise, and I will share what I know. People on the previous cruise (doing a B2B) found a letter on their bed on the last night of their first leg, along with the other usual papers. There was no announcement. We were handed the letter, with no discussion, by the agent completing our embarkation. The notification letter states, "We've been monitoring the geopolitical situation in Egypt, and out of an abundance of caution, we decided to cancel Sirena's upcoming calls to Port Said and Alexandria."

 

The first updated schedule (given to the B2B passengers, and viewed by us at the dining reservation table at about 11:30 AM indicated that we would keep our first stop in Patmos, and substituted Mykonos and an extra night in Haifa (going from 2 to 3 days in port) to make up for the two missed ports in Egypt. Later that day, Patmos was cancelled, Mykonos was dropped, and Santorini and Heraklion were added.

 

We booked this trip specifically in hopes of getting to Egypt, so I was heartbroken, but will not let it spoil the cruise. As people who plan independent excursions, we were facing a lot of juggling in our jet-lagged state, which was an unfortunate beginning.

 

We were told that Patmos was cancelled due to forecasts of poor weather, as it is a tender port. It was very windy that evening.

 

We are now 0 for 2 in our cruise attempts to get to Rgypt....maybe the third time's the charm?

 

Hope this answers some questions,

Nancy

[bitob]

Take a land trip to see Egypt. A few days in port is wholly insufficient. Plus you will be in control of your trip

[Queen of DaNile]

take a land trip to see egypt. A few days in port is wholly insufficient. Plus you will be in control of your trip

 

+ 1

A land trip is the way to go. Don't risk doing it by cruise ship if you try for a third time.

[SellaVee]

Thanks, Cybercsp, for the information. I wondered what happened to Patmos.

 

It's a shame about Egypt. When/if the situation calms down consider a river cruise on the Nile as part of a land trip.