Cruise to Israel cannot go to Israel

[Grandma Cruising]

2 hours ago, blag said:

Good advice!

Airlines do change/cancel itineraries, and/or change times etc. In these circumstances I think that all airlines will offer a refund. 

I agree, very good advice, for example Turkish Airlines have just notified us that our flight with them next February has been retimed, but the change is very minimal. However that would mean that we could cancel and get a full refund.

[laurieb]

On 10/15/2023 at 7:09 AM, Whitby100 said:

It seems that Azamara has not updated Israel itineraries online, unless they’re only dealing with immediate sailings.  We were contemplating sailing with friends on one of the Israel sailings in October 2024 but the itinerary hasn’t changed.  While the destination intrigued us we are limited to an October sailing due to commitments at home, thus the interest. Have people on these cruising been notified of itinerary changes?

I don't think any cruiselines have made changes to 2024 itineraries yet.  I just received an email from Oceania stating that they are looking at the 2024 cruises but are not making any immediate changes.  I'm sure it's the same with Azamara.

[ECCruise]

I think for Israel for 2024 it is like the Black Sea was for us in 2022.  Everyone knew that there is no way we would be going into the Black Sea, but they waited until they had made all the alternative arrangements before they changed the itineraries. 

[MNgardens]

Members on the Windstar boards are reporting that the Star Legend has all of the region's itineraries cancelled for several months and the ship will be deployed elsewhere. The elsewhere is as yet unannounced. At least the travelers and agents can start canceling flights. The schedule shows cruises recommencing in April 2024

 

No doubt Azamara and other lines are shuffling destinations around too.

Edited October 17, 2023 by MNgardens

[Whitby100]

Thanks!

[Host Jazzbeau]

4 hours ago, MNgardens said:

Members on the Windstar boards are reporting that the Star Legend has all of the region's itineraries cancelled for several months and the ship will be deployed elsewhere. The elsewhere is as yet unannounced. At least the travelers and agents can start canceling flights. The schedule shows cruises recommencing in April 2024

 

No doubt Azamara and other lines are shuffling destinations around too.

This shows the downside of such premature announcements:  people on the Windstar forum are complaining that Windstar isn't telling them the details of their options.  Well, yeah:  we're working our tails off and haven't been able to deal with that yet.  Once the replacement itineraries are in place, cruise lines can offer options to stay on the  new itinerary, change to a future one, or get your money back.  But if you announce the cancellation without the replacement options, everyone will demand their money back.

[daviesyvonne]

We are on the Azamara Pursuit 23/10/23 which spent 4/5 days in Israel.
We have been offered the same sailing but ports in Greece and Malta instead of Israel, which we have been to many times before as they are short flights from the UK. 
This is not an acceptable option 
or

To join the same cruise next year while they hang onto a substantial amount of our money for 3 cruise rooms. 
We just want a refund so we can go somewhere else this year instead. 
surely they can’t keep our monies in excess of £10,000
Has anyone managed to get a refund?

help!

thanks x

 

[Vesalius]

2 minutes ago, daviesyvonne said:

We are on the Azamara Pursuit 23/10/23 which spent 4/5 days in Israel.
We have been offered the same sailing but ports in Greece and Malta instead of Israel, which we have been to many times before as they are short flights from the UK. 
This is not an acceptable option 
or

To join the same cruise next year while they hang onto a substantial amount of our money for 3 cruise rooms. 
We just want a refund so we can go somewhere else this year instead. 
surely they can’t keep our monies in excess of £10,000
Has anyone managed to get a refund?

help!

thanks x

 

We did not get a refund but we were able to apply a full credit to an alternate future cruise to New Zealand, about 15 months in the future.  They are keeping all of our money, and in order to make the change, we did have to pay a slight increase in the fare, in full, immediately.  I don't mind that they have our money, as we now have a wonderful trip to look forward to.

 

[daviesyvonne]

On 10/7/2023 at 9:08 PM, Vesalius said:

We booked our cruise later this month to Israel as we have been wanting to visit Israel for a long time.  The cruise itinerary was to travel from Greece and spend 5 days in port in Israel.  Given that war broke out yesterday, Azamara emailed us and notified us that the cruise to Israel will not be going to Israel, but not to worry, they look forward to seeing us and will find somewhere for us to go, to be determined.

 

The purpose and plan for our trip was to visit Israel. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen. We want to cancel our cruise and hope to visit Israel in the future. We asked our travel agent to request a refund and she said she would try, but she doesn’t know what the response will be. Has anyone had experience getting a refund when this type of situation occurs? Any advice? 

 

2 minutes ago, Vesalius said:

We did not get a refund but we were able to apply a full credit to an alternate future cruise to New Zealand, about 15 months in the future.  They are keeping all of our money, and in order to make the change, we did have to pay a slight increase in the fare, in full, immediately.  I don't mind that they have our money, as we now have a wonderful trip to look forward to.

 

They want to charge us almost the full original price for a last minute cruise a week away, despite current prices - basically asking us for £9,000 more!! 

[hamrag]

13 minutes ago, daviesyvonne said:

....surely they can’t keep our monies in excess of £10,000
Has anyone managed to get a refund?

help!....

That's why they have the small print, which 99% of passengers do not read! 😉

[Cyn258]

On the same 10/23 cruise.  No.  we were not able to get refund, only switch to same cruise next year, and yes they keep your money till next year.

[uktog]

When booking a cruise in some parts of the world you have to think of history and risk. The cruise lines pulled out of Israel for several years previously. There was always a higher risk that a cruise to that part of the world would have cancellations than say the Rome to Barcelona run. 

It was clear, even before these problems that the Israel intensive Cruises we’re not selling well, hence the heavy discounting of prices that was going on which may explain why there are now additional funds to pay on some replacements. 
 

I’ve had a fair share of cancellations (including 2 in the week before cruising) and even more altered itineraries. As others have said the cruise contract allows that. It’s a risk when cruising. Your travel agent can guide you on any additional ABTA protections that may help you 

[fruitmachine]

5 hours ago, daviesyvonne said:

We are on the Azamara Pursuit 23/10/23 which spent 4/5 days in Israel.
We have been offered the same sailing but ports in Greece and Malta instead of Israel, which we have been to many times before as they are short flights from the UK. 
This is not an acceptable option 
or

To join the same cruise next year while they hang onto a substantial amount of our money for 3 cruise rooms. 
We just want a refund so we can go somewhere else this year instead. 
surely they can’t keep our monies in excess of £10,000
Has anyone managed to get a refund?

help!

thanks x

 

You're in the UK and have far more protection than many.

If you booked the cruise with any other travel element such as a hotel or flight through a UK travel agent, this will (under the covers) be a package holiday.  As such, this looks like a 'substantial' change that lets you cancel for a full refund and you should contact the TA.

 

If booked direct, then I'd ask somewhere like Citizen's Advice, or the legal advice line that you probably have with your household insurance, to see if you're equally entitled to cancel for a full refund.

Edited October 18, 2023 by fruitmachine

[Traveling Fools]

On 10/18/2023 at 12:03 PM, uktog said:

When booking a cruise in some parts of the world you have to think of history and risk.

 

Not only cruise, but travel in general.  Years ago we had our our first trip to Egypt cancelled because of unrest.