Israeli Ports and The Gem

[cruiseny4life]

4 hours ago, yakcruiser said:

There are also major protests in support of Hamas in every major North American city. Should we all just hide in our dwellings every time there is a bit of unrest? Istanbul is like every major city. Places you should go and places you shouldn't. Don't believe everything you see on the tv or the internet. They sensationalize to get you to watch or read. Give Istanbul a chance. You might like it. Or not. You will not know until you experience it yourself.

I don't know...those protestors in Grand Central looked mighty scary to me! They held up signs and everything!!

[laudergayle]

5 hours ago, yakcruiser said:

There are also major protests in support of Hamas in every major North American city. Should we all just hide in our dwellings every time there is a bit of unrest? Istanbul is like every major city. Places you should go and places you shouldn't. Don't believe everything you see on the tv or the internet. They sensationalize to get you to watch or read. Give Istanbul a chance. You might like it. Or not. You will not know until you experience it yourself.

I watched a morning show today that talked about the Orsen Wells radio broadcast in 1938, The War of the Worlds.  Eighty-five years ago, people believed because they believed the broadcasting source.  And many people didn’t tune in at the beginning so they never heard this was a fiction story.  They ended the segment with a comparison of how today’s internet can spread disinformation and how we might view that 85 years from now, it left me scratching me head.

 

 

[njkate]

On 10/28/2023 at 2:46 PM, yakcruiser said:

There are also major protests in support of Hamas in every major North American city. Should we all just hide in our dwellings every time there is a bit of unrest? Istanbul is like every major city. Places you should go and places you shouldn't. Don't believe everything you see on the tv or the internet. They sensationalize to get you to watch or read. Give Istanbul a chance. You might like it. Or not. You will not know until you experience it yourself.

From what I have seen as far as the US the demonstrators are NOT pro Hamas but supporting Palestinian, not every Palestinian is Hamas. 

[Laszlo]

On 10/28/2023 at 2:46 PM, yakcruiser said:

There are also major protests in support of Hamas in every major North American city. Should we all just hide in our dwellings every time there is a bit of unrest? Istanbul is like every major city. Places you should go and places you shouldn't. Don't believe everything you see on the tv or the internet. They sensationalize to get you to watch or read. Give Istanbul a chance. You might like it. Or not. You will not know until you experience it yourself.

I've been in 4 major East Coast cities the last two weeks. Non of the protesters are supporting Hamas. What they are supporting is the Palestinian people

[BatterySam]

Anybody else notice that there has apparently been another change to the itinerary? While I haven't received an email notice from NCL my online itinerary shows a change now with 4 "at sea" days....

Edited October 31, 2023 by BatterySam

[monzmom79]

5 minutes ago, BatterySam said:

Anybody else notice that there has apparently been another change to the itinerary? While I haven't received an email notice from NCL my online itinerary shows a change now with 4 "at sea" days....

What was removed?

[BatterySam]

Overnight in Alexandria, Limassol, Heraklion:

 

Day	Land Tours And Cruise Ports	Arrive	Depart	Booked
Sat	Athens (Piraeus), Greece	---	8:00 PM	0
Sun	At Sea	---	---	0
Mon	Alexandria, Egypt	6:00 AM	8:00 PM	1
Tue	At Sea	6:30 AM	9:00 PM	0
Wed	At Sea	7:00 AM	11:00 PM	0
Thu	At Sea	6:00 AM	8:00 PM	1
Fri	Larnaca, Cyprus	8:00 AM	4:00 PM	0
Sat	Alanya, Turkey	7:00 AM	6:00 PM	0
Sun	Rhodes, Greece	8:00 AM	6:00 PM	0
Mon	Kusadasi, Turkey	7:30 AM	3:00 PM	0
Tue	Istanbul, Turkey	11:00 AM	Overnight	1
Wed	Istanbul, Turkey (Flight Departure)

[monzmom79]

41 minutes ago, BatterySam said:

Overnight in Alexandria, Limassol, Heraklion:

 

Day	Land Tours And Cruise Ports	Arrive	Depart	Booked
Sat	Athens (Piraeus), Greece	---	8:00 PM	0
Sun	At Sea	---	---	0
Mon	Alexandria, Egypt	6:00 AM	8:00 PM	1
Tue	At Sea	6:30 AM	9:00 PM	0
Wed	At Sea	7:00 AM	11:00 PM	0
Thu	At Sea	6:00 AM	8:00 PM	1
Fri	Larnaca, Cyprus	8:00 AM	4:00 PM	0
Sat	Alanya, Turkey	7:00 AM	6:00 PM	0
Sun	Rhodes, Greece	8:00 AM	6:00 PM	0
Mon	Kusadasi, Turkey	7:30 AM	3:00 PM	0
Tue	Istanbul, Turkey	11:00 AM	Overnight	1
Wed	Istanbul, Turkey (Flight Departure)

Oh no, that's not ok.

[Laszlo]

1 hour ago, BatterySam said:

Overnight in Alexandria, Limassol, Heraklion:

 

Day	Land Tours And Cruise Ports	Arrive	Depart	Booked
Sat	Athens (Piraeus), Greece	---	8:00 PM	0
Sun	At Sea	---	---	0
Mon	Alexandria, Egypt	6:00 AM	8:00 PM	1
Tue	At Sea	6:30 AM	9:00 PM	0
Wed	At Sea	7:00 AM	11:00 PM	0
Thu	At Sea	6:00 AM	8:00 PM	1
Fri	Larnaca, Cyprus	8:00 AM	4:00 PM	0
Sat	Alanya, Turkey	7:00 AM	6:00 PM	0
Sun	Rhodes, Greece	8:00 AM	6:00 PM	0
Mon	Kusadasi, Turkey	7:30 AM	3:00 PM	0
Tue	Istanbul, Turkey	11:00 AM	Overnight	1
Wed	Istanbul, Turkey (Flight Departure)

That makes no sense..... its 422 miles port to port.... they must still be moving things arounds. 

[BatterySam]

DK- That's what it shows. Still showed original itinerary yesterday not the 10/19 revision

[monzmom79]

@BatterySam I'm on the 11/22 Istanbul - Rome cruise on the Gem. Our Heraklion and Limassol stops have disappeared from this summary too. But, they're still on the bar across the top (2nd & 3rd pictures). So I'm thinking they're still updating the website?

[monzmom79]

@BatterySam Looks like it's been fixed. 🙂 Hopefully this is true for your cruise as well. 

[BatterySam]

@monzmom79Thanks for the update. I'll take a look

 

[babydrum]

On 10/26/2023 at 8:34 AM, BatterySam said:

Board "newbie" here. My wife and I are booked on the Nov. 11-22 cruise. This would be our 1st cruise on NCL. I've been following this thread for several weeks and have pretty much decided that we're not going due to the risk. To us the revised itinerary isn't worth it. Like many others we were going for the Israel and Egypt POC's.  We have the "cancel for any reason" insurance but of course that's worthless.  I'm trying to determine if we should still check in and not show or officially cancel. If we cancel then they cancel I understand we're SOL for any possible compensation. Any downsides to checking in and not showing??  Suggestions/thoughts/comments?

Why is your CFAR insurance worthless?  It shouldn't matter why you wish to cancel, it could be due to port changes.

[Vitrbt1103]

On 11/3/2023 at 11:17 PM, babydrum said:

Why is your CFAR insurance worthless?  It shouldn't matter why you wish to cancel, it could be due to port changes.

We are currently on the Gem cruise 11/1-11/11, Visited Istanbul and now the Pyramids. So far everything is great! Next is Greece. Istanbul is amazing, felt safe everywhere we visited. In Cairo, security officer on board our tour bus plus a police escort. Pyramid tour is the best

[Panhandle Couple]

FWISW,

RCL yesterday canceled their 2014 Haifa sailings.

 

[aryavibhu]

On 10/31/2023 at 1:13 PM, monzmom79 said:

@BatterySam Looks like it's been fixed. 🙂 Hopefully this is true for your cruise as well. 

 

@monzmom79  We're US citizens on the same cruise and not able to get clarity on visa requirements for any of the ports, especially for Alexandria. Kindly share if we need to apply in advance or can get when we are disembarking the port? 

 

Thanks!

[aryavibhu]

@BatterySam  @monzmom79 We're US citizens looks like on the same 12 day cruise  departing Istanbul on Nov 22nd. We are not able to get clarity on visa requirements for any of the ports, especially for Alexandria. Kindly share your experience if we need to apply in advance or can get when we are disembarking the ports? 

 

Thank you,

 

 

[Vitrbt1103]

1 hour ago, aryavibhu said:

@BatterySam  @monzmom79 We're US citizens looks like on the same 12 day cruise  departing Istanbul on Nov 22nd. We are not able to get clarity on visa requirements for any of the ports, especially for Alexandria. Kindly share your experience if we need to apply in advance or can get when we are disembarking the ports? 

 

Thank you,

 

 

Visa to Egypt is arranged by Norwegian once you arrived in Alexandria before going to any tours.

[Vitrbt1103]

1 hour ago, aryavibhu said:

 

@monzmom79  We're US citizens on the same cruise and not able to get clarity on visa requirements for any of the ports, especially for Alexandria. Kindly share if we need to apply in advance or can get when we are disembarking the port? 

 

Thanks!

Visa to Alexandria is arranged by Norwegian once you arrived at the port and before you go on your tours. I'm currently aboard Norwegian Gem. We applied for online visa for Istanbul but not required for other ports.

[aryavibhu]

53 minutes ago, Vitrbt1103 said:

Visa to Alexandria is arranged by Norwegian once you arrived at the port and before you go on your tours. I'm currently aboard Norwegian Gem. We applied for online visa for Istanbul but not required for other ports.

Thank you @Vitrbt1103. Will Norwegian arrange for Visa at Alexandria even if we go on our own tour i.e. not on with Norwegian arranged tour?

 

Also, I read somewhere that Istanbul has 'Visa on arrival' for US citizens which is a bit cheaper than online eVisa. Is it the correct information?

 

Thanks!    

[monzmom79]

6 minutes ago, aryavibhu said:

Thank you @Vitrbt1103. Will Norwegian arrange for Visa at Alexandria even if we go on our own tour i.e. not on with Norwegian arranged tour?

 

Also, I read somewhere that Istanbul has 'Visa on arrival' for US citizens which is a bit cheaper than online eVisa. Is it the correct information?

 

Thanks!    

@aryavibhu from what I understand you can get the Turkey visas on arrival. People warned about late arrivals where you might not be able to get them on site. I went ahead and got ours for $52 each. I figured that after travelling from Northern California, we wouldn't be in any state to deal with it upon landing. 

[Vitrbt1103]

1 hour ago, monzmom79 said:

@aryavibhu from what I understand you can get the Turkey visas on arrival. People warned about late arrivals where you might not be able to get them on site. I went ahead and got ours for $52 each. I figured that after travelling from Northern California, we wouldn't be in any state to deal with it upon landing. 

 

1 hour ago, aryavibhu said:

Thank you @Vitrbt1103. Will Norwegian arrange for Visa at Alexandria even if we go on our own tour i.e. not on with Norwegian arranged tour?

 

Also, I read somewhere that Istanbul has 'Visa on arrival' for US citizens which is a bit cheaper than online eVisa. Is it the correct information?

 

Thanks!    

Yes, Norwegian will arrange Visa for everyone on board and it's free. I'd rather do it on line for Turkey visa, you get it same day you apply. NCL should have sent you the link. I've seen a long line at the airport whose trying to get visa. You can't claim your luggage without the Visa. I suggest you get it online.

[Vitrbt1103]

4 minutes ago, Vitrbt1103 said:

 

Yes, Norwegian will arrange Visa for everyone on board and it's free. I'd rather do it on line for Turkey visa, you get it same day you apply. NCL should have sent you the link. I've seen a long line at the airport whose trying to get visa. You can't claim your luggage without the Visa. I suggest you get it online.

I also recommend NCL arranged tour. NCL provides security officer on the bus and a police escort going to Cairo.

[Airbear232]

On 10/23/2023 at 12:52 PM, sailingships said:

Unfortunately the parts that are unsafe are the parts that are POC, Alexandria and Istanbul.

Have you been to either of these POC?  What is your frame of reference?  Crime in both is mostly petty with very low violent crime.  They rank better than the majority of major US cities.  Why the fear mongering?