Cruises that stop in Israel

[10sam]

On celerity apex that was spooked to do 3 days in Israel last Sunday and the 2 days in Egypt.  All were cancelled and the ship deviated to the Greek islands

[10sam]

*supposed

[RJHNorthyorks]

On 10/12/2023 at 9:05 PM, kathy49 said:

interesting replies here...not sure most are watching the news. This will not be short term...the actions taken above by NCL will be followed by all cruise lines. Israel off the program for 2023 and many are also cancelling Egypt, This could be a regional war as things get going. Lots of moving pieces and Israel has not even unleashed the massacre they promise. I would not consider an itinerary in this area for quite some time and sure to be daily itinerary changes.

I agree. The region is very volatile at the best of times. 
We were due to visit Israel, Egypt and Jordan next April but spoke to TA this afternoon about cancelling. 

[Markanddonna]

I would cancel.  If peace breaks out by then, you can rebook. I would hesitate through the first half of 2024. I was there independently last December (even to the fence borders of Lebanon and Syria- what was I thinking!!!???) . Even in more peaceful times, Israel has tensions that aren't seen elsewhere. 

[lifeintravel86]

Another Epic port currently considered "at risk" per the news report below is Cyprus.  Depending how this all escalates, ports in Turkey may not be friendly either. 

 

We have decided not to wait to see how this escalates, and have accepted NCL's offer of 100% Future Cruise Credit plus refund of taxes and excursions, and have cancelled our cruise.   We understand everyone's disappointment and our hearts and prayers go out to everyone in Israel or who has family in Israel. Be safe everyone.

 

One additional point that NCL conveyed directly to us is that the FCC will not be posted until closer to actual departure date, and due to the significant number of people who have already cancelled, NCL will make their ultimate decision on whether cruise happens at all based on some magic number of the passengers that remain. Unfortunately, for all of us who were hoping day after day after day that there would be an official announcement, it may still be a while.

 

[ReligBookFreak]

Oceania announced that it has canceled ALL cruise stops in Israel through the end of 2023.

Alan

Edited October 16, 2023 by ReligBookFreak

[LondonTowner]

On 10/11/2023 at 4:32 PM, Cruise_Context said:

Travel.state.gov is the US Government site that guides some of the decisions and timing of cruise line itinerary changes, hence the lack of announcement regarding changes to most itineraries for November.

 

The levels are: 

1. Exercise normal precautions

2. Exercise increased caution

3. Reconsider travel

4. Do not travel

 

For your situational awareness, while many on here are mentally and emotionally at level 4+, in actuality the US has Israel listed currently at level 2 (same as it was before the current conflict), except for Gaza, which is clearly a 4, pasted here: 

 

 

 

Not everybody on here is an American and the British government is advising against any non essential travel to Israel.

 

this also invalidates your travel insurance.

[Harters]

On 10/15/2023 at 5:29 PM, lifeintravel86 said:

Another Epic port currently considered "at risk" per the news report below is Cyprus.

Depending on if this escalates into a wider regional conflict, Cyprus may well be "at risk" because, although an independent country, it still houses British military bases which, presumably, would be used in any UK involvement. Short of that, I doubt there is any risk in visiting the country (unless, of course,  you were visiting the Turkish held north of the island). 

[cruiselover108]

I’m having trouble understanding why Silversea is not cancelling its cruises going through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea.  
 

The US has destroyers in the northern Red Sea shooting down missiles and drones aimed at Israel.

 

USS Carney shot down 15 drones and 4 missiles during 9-hour time span in Northern Red Sea

 

What am I missing?

[tscoffey]

Don’t know  if you’re “missing” anything - but thank goodness the US Navy doesn’t seem to be.

[hurwitz5]

We are sailing on a Viking Saturn ocean cruise; boarding in  Rome on December 6.  We were supposed to dock in Israel for 3 days mid-December.  The ports have been taken off our itinerary. Viking has substituted 2 days in Malta and added an extra day in Cyprus (now 2 days there).  Not sure why Viking  would increase time in Cyprus since it’s very close to Israel and Lebanon, plus many war ships will be in the area. Hope they consider canceling Cyprus altogether and add time in Sicily.  Perhaps they are waiting for the situation to cool down, but it takes time to book a port docking and arrange shore excursions.

[GonzoWCS]

Continuing to watch this thread closely as we have a March 20204 cruise to these parts.  Thanks

 

Cheers

[cruiselover108]

On 10/21/2023 at 12:50 AM, cruiselover108 said:

I’m having trouble understanding why Silversea is not cancelling its cruises going through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea.  
 

The US has destroyers in the northern Red Sea shooting down missiles and drones aimed at Israel.

 

USS Carney shot down 15 drones and 4 missiles during 9-hour time span in Northern Red Sea

 

What am I missing?

So we got an update from Silverseas:  No Aqaba, Sharm El-Sheik, Luxor nor Petra.  Disappointing but better safe than sorry…

[cruiselover108]

Just now, cruiselover108 said:

So we got an update from Silverseas:  No Aqaba, Sharm El-Sheik, Luxor nor Petra.  Disappointing but better safe than sorry…

Instead, we’re going to Santorini and Rhodes (for the third time!).

[GonzoWCS]

Celebrity Infinity - March 4 2024.  Celebrity has changed the itinerary by deleting both Israel and Egypt.  We are working with our TA to cancel this trip...

 

Cheers

[cruiselover108]

Good luck!  Silverseas told us we could cancel but we would lose our $17,600 fare…

[ReligBookFreak]

6 minutes ago, cruiselover108 said:

Good luck!  Silverseas told us we could cancel but we would lose our $17,600 fare…

If you have NOT made final payment yet, then the most you could lose is your deposit -- depending upon whether it's refundable or not.

Alan

[cruiselover108]

5 minutes ago, ReligBookFreak said:

If you have NOT made final payment yet, then the most you could lose is your deposit -- depending upon whether it's refundable or not.

Alan

Ours was entirely paid for and we were outside the cancellation period so no refund.  They cancelled the Petra and Luxor ports which was the reason we purchased the cruise in the first place…

[goldensand]

I’m booked on Norwegian Dawn leaving from Turkey November 24 going to Dubai. About 2 weeks ago, NCL took out 2 stops in Israel and Port Said. These were replaced by a sea day and a overnight in Alexandria Egypt. 
 

But we have more planned stops in Egypt, Aqaba Jordon, Saudi before we get to Oman and places in UAE. The ship is scheduled to stay and do a couple of week tours going to Bahrain, Qatar etc. 

 

So I don’t know if there is any chance they will cancel cruise but instead just miss a bunch of ports along the way. If a cruise changing itinerary majorly, do they have to compensate in some way or allow cancellation??

 

Sandy

[ReligBookFreak]

35 minutes ago, goldensand said:

So I don’t know if there is any chance they will cancel cruise but instead just miss a bunch of ports along the way. If a cruise changing itinerary majorly, do they have to compensate in some way or allow cancellation??

 

Sandy

If you examine the cruise contract that you are REQUIRED to sign in order to board the ship, every cruise line states that they can change the itinerary without compensating passengers. Having said that, frequently, cruise lines will indeed compensate passengers if they make major itinerary changes, but NOT if they have to skip a port or two because of weather, local uprisings (e.g., the one in Peru in December 2022), or other reasons.

Alan

[butterfly4108]

39 minutes ago, ReligBookFreak said:

If you examine the cruise contract that you are REQUIRED to sign in order to board the ship, every cruise line states that they can change the itinerary without compensating passengers. Having said that, frequently, cruise lines will indeed compensate passengers if they make major itinerary changes, but NOT if they have to skip a port or two because of weather, local uprisings (e.g., the one in Peru in December 2022), or other reasons.

Alan

And having spoken to NCL numerous times regarding this they are refusing to allow cancellation with compensation, refunds, or FCC's.  Basically they're taking your money and whether you go is up to you is pretty much what I was told.  Insurance doesn't cover acts of war but if you have it you can file a claim which will be denied but then they'll tell you to contact NCL for a FCC of 75%.  I haven't tried this yet as I'm waiting for the last minute (since it won't make a difference) but it "might" be an option to save SOME of your money if this continues to escalate...

[GonzoWCS]

21 hours ago, cruiselover108 said:

Good luck!  Silverseas told us we could cancel but we would lose our $17,600 fare…

Celebrity full refund inbound to us.  Our TA is working with them and although it might take a week or two we see progress already.  Good luck with Silverseas hope you can work things out with them...

 

One caveat we are/were not at final payment yet.

 

Cheers

Edited November 2, 2023 by GonzoWCS
Additional information

[roninman]

On 11/2/2023 at 1:18 PM, GonzoWCS said:

Celebrity full refund inbound to us.  Our TA is working with them and although it might take a week or two we see progress already.  Good luck with Silverseas hope you can work things out with them...

 

One caveat we are/were not at final payment yet.

 

Cheers

Keep us posted!

[cruiselover108]

On 11/2/2023 at 8:18 PM, GonzoWCS said:

Celebrity full refund inbound to us.  Our TA is working with them and although it might take a week or two we see progress already.  Good luck with Silverseas hope you can work things out with them...

 

One caveat we are/were not at final payment yet.

 

Cheers

 

1 hour ago, roninman said:

Keep us posted!

Pleased to hear Celebrity treated you so well.  Will let you know our outcome…

[GonzoWCS]

59 minutes ago, roninman said:

Keep us posted!

Received full refund for cruise almost immediately ($900.00 deposit).  Just looked this morning and ALL pre-booked excursions have been refunded.   So from November 2 until now complete refund processed.  Sad that we had to do this, but Celebrity took great care of us.  Fun and Safe travels to all!

 

Cheers