Change of Itinerary

[Tallante]

Anybody have any thoughts on the revised itinerary on 15th May sailing on the Encore  from Athens?  We are not exactly devastated  but one of the reasons we booked this cruise was to visit Ashdod and Jerusalem.  Encore is still going into Haifa, I guess because it’s an embark/disembark port and Seabourn cannot change this,

.

Whilst we understand that the reasons for the itinerary change is somewhat out of Seabourns control re revised Covid texting rules, it’s extremely disappointing to those whose reason on booking this cruise was the options available on visiting places in Israel.

 

Not to mention missing out Antalya!

What will be will be I guess these days.

[rucrazy]

4 minutes ago, Tallante said:

one of the reasons we booked this cruise was to visit Ashdod and Jerusalem.

I would be bummed as well.. those two are on my personal bucket list!

[FlyerTalker]

Simple rule of thumb:  If you absolutely want to go somewhere, don't do it on a cruise.  Make your own arrangements to fly there on your own.

 

You want to go to the Falklands?  Fly to the islands on LATAM from Santiago.  Because the odds of landing from a cruise are roughly 50-50.  Want to go to Israel?  You can fly on El Al from either MAD or BCN in Spain, as well as from dozens of other airports.  Plus service by other carriers.

 

Sorry to be blunt, but that's the reality of cruise travel.  You may or may not get to one of the scheduled stops - and everyone should be fully ready for this on ANY cruise you may book.

[amandabliss]

May I ask what was the reason provided for the change? We’re sailing on a different cruise line, but similar itinerary and are wondering if we may encounter a similar change. 

[islanderr]

There's quite a bit of strife in Israel this last month. Here's an account from today's NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/05/06/world/israel-attack-news

 

We are scheduled to cruise out of Israel on the Encore May 22, or one week later than the original poster of this thread. We have not received a notification from Seabourn yet, but I now see that Jerusalem has disappeared from the itinerary. We'll just have to roll with the punches.

[Fletcher]

9 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

Simple rule of thumb:  If you absolutely want to go somewhere, don't do it on a cruise.  Make your own arrangements to fly there on your own.

 

You want to go to the Falklands?  Fly to the islands on LATAM from Santiago.  Because the odds of landing from a cruise are roughly 50-50.  Want to go to Israel?  You can fly on El Al from either MAD or BCN in Spain, as well as from dozens of other airports.  Plus service by other carriers.

 

Sorry to be blunt, but that's the reality of cruise travel.  You may or may not get to one of the scheduled stops - and everyone should be fully ready for this on ANY cruise you may book.

You are partially right.  The Falklands can be tricky on a big ship like any of the Seabourn fleet, especially if your itinerary only calls at Stanley, but choose an expedition ship (including of course the new Venture) and you will go ashore by zodiac, including the outer islands.  I got to places on my bucket list which you cannot fly to (Tristan, Pitcairn etc) by choosing the right ship.  

 

A great shame about the Israel cancellations.  There are currently great tensions in the Jerusalem area, even more than normal. 

Edited May 7, 2022 by Fletcher

[amandabliss]

52 minutes ago, islanderr said:

There's quite a bit of strife in Israel this last month. Here's an account from today's NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/05/06/world/israel-attack-news

 

We are scheduled to cruise out of Israel on the Encore May 22, or one week later than the original poster of this thread. We have not received a notification from Seabourn yet, but I now see that Jerusalem has disappeared from the itinerary. We'll just have to roll with the punches.

Please keep us updated. I was aware of the unrest but was curious if that was the reason cited or if different language was used. 

[FlyerTalker]

44 minutes ago, Fletcher said:

but choose an expedition ship (including of course the new Venture) and you will go ashore by zodiac, including the outer islands.

 

Seas can preclude use of zodiacs.  If you got ashore, you were fortunate.

 

I've been on cruises where the zodiacs were not launched due to the combination of wind and waves.

[Tallante]

10 hours ago, amandabliss said:

May I ask what was the reason provided for the change? We’re sailing on a different cruise line, but similar itinerary and are wondering if we may encounter a similar change. 

It's due to Israel now insisting on a PCR Covid test for all passengers at Haifa and the tests being sent to an  Israelian  laboratory for testing. This means arriving a day earlier at 15.00 hrs instead of the following morning at 7.00. Hence the cancellation of the call at Antalya and longer in Limassol. Additional Port is now Agios Nikolaos.

 

I assume we have to go into Haifa as it’s a change over port. It is possible to do the Jerusalem trip from there but it’s a much longer distance and maybe if there is trouble brewing in the area Seabourn will play safe and not run the tour.

 

Since we started cruising with Seabourn 11 years ago this is only the 3rd tIme we have had to miss out a port.  The others were due to weather conditions. So I guess we have been lucky.

 

We will enjoy ourselves though and have another wonderful cruise being pampered by the crew.

.

[Fletcher]

Interesting piece in today's Telegraph about a Covid-affected April trip on a new Saga ship, Spirit of Discovery.  The itinerary was Southampton to Spain and back and they failed to land at a single scheduled port of call.  The Captain thought this was possibly a record for the entire cruise industry. They did make it to a couple of unscheduled ports. 

[kmkord]

My daughter and I are on the 14 day Encore sailing on May 15th. I'm very disappointed in the port changes. Hoping the rest of the trip makes up for the cancellation of these prime ports, and hope the water problem is solved by the time we board.

 

 

[Sunviking]

2 hours ago, kmkord said:

My daughter and I are on the 14 day Encore sailing on May 15th. I'm very disappointed in the port changes. Hoping the rest of the trip makes up for the cancellation of these prime ports, and hope the water problem is solved by the time we board.

 

 

I am on the Encore disembarking tomorrow in Istanbul and have been on for two weeks. I have not had a water problem. One night we had a notice in the suite that there would be repairs done overnight on the cold water system. Toilets worked and I could get running water in my sinks. By mid-morning all was well. I’m sure the change in ports is disappointing but that’s a chance one always takes when cruising. I can assure you that the entire staff and crew have been absolutely wonderful during my 14 days onboard. I have seen no diminution of services or cruise experience at all. I can’t wait until my next cruise with Seabourn.