Is Egypt a genuine port of call or just a come on?

[lorene1]

We are booked on the Nov 1 Monuments In Time itinerary which has two key ports (4 days total) in Egypt so we can see the Pyramids, Sphinx, Luxor temples etc. I just read that a Sirena cruiser recently boarded in Athens only to be told then that their Egypt ports were cancelled. The same thing apparently happened 2 years ago to another Oceania MidEast itinerary.

 

Has anyone else had this experience with Oceania and Egypt ports? I don't want to do this cruise if we have to forfeit our whole reason for going....:(

[roaming_kiwi58]

I believe there have been two sailings this year where Oceania have cancelled Egyptian ports on embarkation, but I can't remember exactly when the other one was.

 

We are booked on Insignia out of Rome on 28 August 2016. It is supposed to have a stop in Port Said and another in Alexandria. We have done a land tour in Egypt before so have seen all the big ticket Egyptian sites. However one of the reasons we booked this cruise was because of the stop in Alexandria, which we missed when we were in Egypt last time.

 

My travel agent asked Oceania last week and at the moment they are saying the Egyptian stops are definitely on. I am still expecting to have a change of itinerary when we board! I am puzzled as to why Egyptian ports have been cancelled this year, as Egypt does not seem to have been in the news with unrest. Just in relation to plane crashes!

 

Time will tell. We will still have a good cruise, wherever we end up!

[LHT28]

If you really want to see a specific area & it will crush you if you do not get there do a land trip

 

Any cruises in those areas can change in a heartbeat

 

JMO

[roaming_kiwi58]

As I said we will still enjoy our cruise, no matter what they do to the ports. No change would ever be "a crush", maybe a disappointment.

 

But I suspect in this case the decision may already be made, Oceania are just not telling us until embarkation. I would like chance to research different ports before I leave home if they are going to change things!

 

Land tours are no guarantee either! We did a couple of weeks in Egypt in 2011, after the uprising. We were on tenterhooks right up to the start day of the tour, because of the possibility of cancellation. But everything went ahead and we had a great trip. Everywhere was quiet and we were well looked after. Security was high. Yes, we saw the demonstrations in Tahrir Square, but we just walked in the opposite direction.

[Pet Nit Noy]

We are booked on the Nov 1 Monuments In Time itinerary which has two key ports (4 days total) in Egypt so we can see the Pyramids, Sphinx, Luxor temples etc. I just read that a Sirena cruiser recently boarded in Athens only to be told then that their Egypt ports were cancelled. The same thing apparently happened 2 years ago to another Oceania MidEast itinerary.

 

Has anyone else had this experience with Oceania and Egypt ports? I don't want to do this cruise if we have to forfeit our whole reason for going....:(

 

Any Egyptian port -- along with a long list of other ports -- should be considered an aspirational port. It's not a come on since the news about the political situation in "those" ports is well known, but Egypt etc. can't realistically be considered a genuine port of call.

[Mura]

I can't say our situation with Libya in 2005 is the same as today re Egypt, BUT ...

 

Those of us on the internet (CC as well as the old Yahoo Oceania board) knew well in advance that changes were in the offing. Lots of us wrote to Frank del Rio at the time and initially ports were put back in place.

 

However, the problem then was that Khadaffi was not permitting U.S. passport holders to leave the ship in Libyan ports. As a result, at the last moment they did change the itinerary. Back then the vast number of passengers were from the U.S. or Canada.

 

The thing was that people who did NOT have internet access (or weren't participating on the Oceania boards) had no idea until they boarded that the itinerary had been changed.

 

These days it seems to me that when these changes occur, we do hear here ...

 

Hoping those of you looking for Egypt ports won't be disappointed, but I wouldn't count on it ... any more than I would count on Turkish ports these days.

 

On another subject, we were at the British Museum (and Russell Square) a couple of weeks ago and were shocked to hear today's news about the knife attack.

 

Mura

[Hawaiidan]

Never say never....but I would not count on it for many many years, maybe decades... But yes it is a port, no the chances of going there in your lifetime ( 15 to 20 years..... very very unrealistic expectation of what is reality

[lorene1]

Any Egyptian port -- along with a long list of other ports -- should be considered an aspirational port. It's not a come on since the news about the political situation in "those" ports is well known, but Egypt etc. can't realistically be considered a genuine port of call.

 

 

As they are advertising these ports, I consider they are being promoted as "genuine" ports, and not a "placeholder" for some miscellaneous places we have already seen. We don't cruise to cruise, per se, we cruise for the intineraries. So far, in 10 cruises, including a month in Asia and Southeast Asia, in Europe, Baltics, British Isles, Antarctica, Alaska, Polynesia, we have only been denied two ports, and for rough seas. I just want an honest answer from my TA and Oceania so I can change my plans if necessary.

[luv2travel100]

Just got off the phone with Oceania. The representative (Carl) said, after checking with his manager, that the Egypt ports were cancelled due to a security alert the ship received from the port. Oceania supposedly was not told any specifics about the issue.

 

The representative then said the alert has been removed and the upcoming trips to Egypt (Insignia world cruise in Sept and Nautica cruise in Nov) are still a go, but that their itineraries could change depending on whether another alert gets issued.

 

He said there is no way to predict whether that will happen in advance.

[LHT28]

I just want an honest answer from my TA and Oceania so I can change my plans if necessary.

Sometimes the cruise lines will not know if they will make it to the port they are hoping they get there so put it on the itinerary

If unrest breaks out a week before the cruise then you will not be going there

It is like weather they cannot predict when trouble will happen in those Countries

You can take a chance & hope they go there or you can cancel now before the penalties kick in or you get a cruise going to place you may not want to go to

your call

 

If you want to see Egypt do a land trip

JMO

 

I think they should just drop those ports anyway but that is just me

 

[Pet Nit Noy]

As they are advertising these ports, I consider they are being promoted as "genuine" ports, and not a "placeholder" for some miscellaneous places we have already seen. We don't cruise to cruise, per se, we cruise for the intineraries. So far, in 10 cruises, including a month in Asia and Southeast Asia, in Europe, Baltics, British Isles, Antarctica, Alaska, Polynesia, we have only been denied two ports, and for rough seas. I just want an honest answer from my TA and Oceania so I can change my plans if necessary.

 

"Aspirational" means Oceania hopes it will happen. The itinerary as currently published is what Oceania is directing its hopes and efforts to deliver. But you're talking about a cruise to a region where the State Department's web site is currently writing, "Credible information indicates terrorist groups also seek to continue attacks against U.S. interests in the Middle East and North Africa. The U.S. government remains highly concerned about possible attacks against U.S. citizens, facilities, businesses, and perceived U.S. and Western interests... In Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria, groups affiliated with ISIL, Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and other terrorist groups have conducted attacks against both foreign and local targets."

 

Under the circumstances, why do you think it's possible for Oceania to do more than list future Egyptian port calls as anything other than aspirational?

 

As others have already said, the only way to guarantee visiting a specific destination is to take a land vacation where you make your own decisions about go/no go and about visiting specific sites once in the country.

Edited August 5, 2016 by Pet Nit Noy

[wripro]

This information should have been communicated to TAs so that they could inform their clients pre departure. I cannot believe O simply decided on day of sailing to cancel the ports. Trouble in Egypt is hardly a new or sudden problem. But then O has a long history of skipping ports, shortening time in ports and changing itineraries.

[Hawaiidan]

Honestly, unless your living on Etna Carne, a savvy, well read traveler should be able to figure out that even if advertised, historicaly, it hardyl ever happens due to a very unstable mid east...which is going to remain unstable with the current political inept past present and future leaders.

 

Be realistic and decide for yourself what the chances are...advertising or not...your intelligence should be the governing factor... follow your logical assessment

[flygirl1420]

I am booked on the November cruise that the OP is referring to...I booked the cruise because of the stop in Aqaba. Having lived and worked in the Middle East years ago and having visited since then, I can tell you that there is NEVER a so called "good time" to visit! I believe chances of seeing the sights are better if you are on a cruise ship....for this particular cruise we are scheduled to go through the Suez canal and the cruise ends in Dubai. If we do not make our stop in Port Said, not sure how we get to Dubai.....so that will affect the next cruise as well. :)

[luv2travel100]

flygirl, I suppose they'd simply skip Cairo and head down the Suez Canal like all the other ships.

[CorgiNole]

Nautica did visit Egypt in April, on the itinerary before we boarded in Athens. So they don't always cancel the ports there.

[tropicalkerry2002]

Has anyone ever felt they should cancel due to a government advisory about travelling in these areas of the world?

 

Both the cancellation insurance and the medical insurance we use state that you are not covered if you're in a place with a government advisory against travel.

 

Also, how safe is it in the Red Sea and Suez Canal?

[lorene1]

So this is the official response I got from my TA and Oceania:

"It’s hard to gauge whether a port will ever be cancelled or not. As mentioned with all of the geopolitical issues it’s hard to see where we stand. We will only cancel the port if we are told by port officials that it is far too unsafe to enter. I am sorry we can not guarantee Egypt will be visited at this time, however we have no plans to cancel. If we do, we will send out notifications immediately."

 

Any change I make at this point incurs penalties for our Nov. 1 sailing. TBD if we decide to forgo. I have trip insurance which covers geopolitical risk, but not sure that would apply to abandoned ports, probably just the whole trip.

[Paulchili]

Any change I make at this point incurs penalties for our Nov. 1 sailing. TBD if we decide to forgo. I have trip insurance which covers geopolitical risk, but not sure that would apply to abandoned ports, probably just the whole trip. [/color]

 

In addition, I would not be certain that your insurance will cover this situation.

Yes, it will probably cover it if there is active fighting in Egypt, like there was during the Arab Spring.

However, if things are much like they are today BUT Oceania thinks it is unsafe and decides not to go there, there might not be sufficient reason for the insurance to cover this circumstance.

JMO

[wripro]

I think the moral of this story is do not book an itinerary including Egypt if that is your main priority. Chances are you will be disappointed. If you like the rest of the itinerary too then go ahead.

[PaulMCO]

We did a Nautica cruise thru the Suez this April. Luxor was scheduled and executed. Lots security.

[ORV]

We did a Nautica cruise thru the Suez this April. Luxor was scheduled and executed. Lots security.

 

Are you sure executed is the right word.

[PaulMCO]

Are you sure executed is the right word.

depends on your point of view :D

[roaming_kiwi58]

Iorene1 - for your information -

We are due to join Insignia this Sunday. The itinerary had stops at Port Said and Alexandria. We have just heard that these two stops have been cancelled and replaced with an extra at Haifa,Israel and a call at Chania, Greece.

Disappointed, but expected! We were in Chania just last year and could have done without that port, though it is a nice enough stop. There is certainly more we can do from Haifa. One of the hazards of booking a cruise, unfortunately

[DavidTheWonderer]

If you really want to see a specific area & it will crush you if you do not get there do a land trip

 

Another excellent alternative is a river cruise on the Nile. I did one last Fall with Uniworld, and was sure glad I didn't miss the experience. There are a few reviews over on the River Cruising board. Here's mine: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2274435&highlight=egypt

Edited August 25, 2016 by DavidTheWonderer