Cancellation of Alexandria, Egypt as well as Israel on Moon cruise 10th December

[mancunian]

1 hour ago, scseas said:

It’s crazy to think that one deranged person, acting in isolation, would cause Silverseas to cancel this port. I refunded my trip yesterday as without Israel and Egypt, and any overnight ports now, this voyage turned into an island hopping boat. We’re going to pick up another line to check out Greece and then do Egypt and possibly Israel on our own afterwards. I understand that traveling to these countries independently gives us more flexibility because we’re only planning for ourselves. However, I’m still surprised SS cancelled these ports so early. Interestingly, it looks like this April voyage is still planning on Egypt and Israel, so I wonder what’s really going on: https://www.silversea.com/destinations/mediterranean-cruise/rhodes-to-athens-piraeus-sl240401s10.html

April is quite a long way off and they are doubtless waiting to see.

 

To be honest I am lucky to have done a two week land trip to Israel many years ago but had thought I would like to go back for a refresher.    Now I don’t want to go back.  

 

I just want a cruise before. Christmas so we are sticking with Greece and Turkey

 

 

 

[scseas]

Just now, mancunian said:

April is quite a long way off and they are doubtless waiting to see.

 

To be honest I am lucky to have done a two week land trip to Israel many years ago but had thought I would like to go back for a refresher.    Now I don’t want to go back.  

 

I just want a cruise before. Christmas so we are sticking with Greece and Turkey

 

 

 

My cruise is at the end of June, yet these ports were cancelled for the voyage. Makes no sense.

[jjs217]

I imagine Silversea is trying to prevent the nightmare that Regent went through with last minute re-routing and logistical problems.  Even though horror can happen anytime anywhere, it sounds like they are just trying to be proactive in keeping passengers and crew on an even keel.

[bitob]

On 10/20/2023 at 1:30 PM, applefan75 said:

Alexandria is huge loss for myself on this trip.

There is nothing there except lovely modern library.  On my March cruise on Whisper they have substituted Heraklion for Alexandria and I am overjoyed.  Heraklion is fabulous.  I spent a full week on Crete decades ago.

[scseas]

2 hours ago, bitob said:

There is nothing there except lovely modern library.  On my March cruise on Whisper they have substituted Heraklion for Alexandria and I am overjoyed.  Heraklion is fabulous.  I spent a full week on Crete decades ago.

Alexandria in the launching point to see the pyramids so this is a big disappointment for me.

[bitob]

2 minutes ago, scseas said:

Alexandria in the launching point to see the pyramids so this is a big disappointment for me.

Never occurred to me. We spent three weeks in Egypt. Stayed in Cairo for a week. I’m sure ur disappointed

[nav1027]

It seems that there are multiple cancellations now judging from the number of available cabins. So I am wondering what will happen if this trend continues especially in light of today's speech by Erdogan who is fully supporting Hamas and has canceled his trip to Israel...

[mancunian]

I personally do not like Alexandria much but loved Cairo and as well as the Pyramids by day there is an amazing light show at night.  

 

I also loved the Cairo Museum which is large and crowded but with super exhibits.

 

nav1027 I do hope our Turkish ports do not become cancelled.  I love Istanbul, like Ephesus also though not overly keen on Kusadasi.  Antalya is fairly new to us.  We did go for a day a long time ago but I believe it is much larger now.

 

 

 

 

[nav1027]

10 minutes ago, mancunian said:

nav1027 I do hope our Turkish ports do not become cancelled.  I love Istanbul, like Ephesus also though not overly keen on Kusadasi.  Antalya is fairly new to us.  We did go for a day a long time ago but I believe it is much larger now.

 

 

 

 

Hi Angela,

 

I don't mind if they completely reroute us to Ionian and Adriatic Seas. 🙂 Of course, the probability of such thing happening is close to zero. About Antalya: the ship tour of Perge and Aspendos looks appealing to us, we don't care too much about the "Russian conquest of Turkish Riviera". 🙂 Ephesus night concert was one of the highlights of our Crystal cruise 10 years ago, we don't mind visiting Ephesus again, but we are a bit concerned about the overload of Greek and Roman history in the current itinerary.

 

AT & Kira

[mancunian]

15 minutes ago, nav1027 said:

Hi Angela,

 

I don't mind if they completely reroute us to Ionian and Adriatic Seas. 🙂 Of course, the probability of such thing happening is close to zero. About Antalya: the ship tour of Perge and Aspendos looks appealing to us, we don't care too much about the "Russian conquest of Turkish Riviera". 🙂 Ephesus night concert was one of the highlights of our Crystal cruise 10 years ago, we don't mind visiting Ephesus again, but we are a bit concerned about the overload of Greek and Roman history in the current itinerary.

 

AT & Kira

Hi

I walk with a rollator and although we fancy Perge and Aspendos I do not think I could manage it.

We are going to do the very easy Ephesus tour - we have been before and also the concert.

Angela

[TLCOhio]

On 10/21/2023 at 1:34 PM, Randyk47 said:

We did the Rome (Civitaveccha) to Dubai itinerary on the Spirit a few years ago.  Even back then it was an off and on situation for my wife who is a senior manager in the US Department of Defense.   Her travel, even personal travel, has to be approved for certain parts of the world including Israel, most of North African, and the Persian Gulf states.  Right now she is in Poland on official travel and told me this morning she’d received a long cautionary message to be careful and that specifically cancelled all official and personal travel to Israel, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf states pending further review.  Stuff happens.   

 

Appreciate this good, interesting background and follow-up from well-traveled and experienced Randy about your wife's situation and the changing world conditions.  

 

Yes, will be watching with interest how all of these conditions affect the cruise industry and their world-wide reach/connections.  Adjusting port stops is part of the "risk".  For our February 2024 Mumbai to Singapore cruise, Silversea had earlier after our original booking moved to scrub out the three days of stops that had been planned for Myanmar/Burma.  As wisely noted by Randy "stuff happens".  Parts of the exotic world we seek to explore and experience are not always as safe and stable as we desire.  

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

[notjaded]

On 10/21/2023 at 7:34 AM, Randyk47 said:

We did the Rome (Civitaveccha) to Dubai itinerary on the Spirit a few years ago.  Even back then it was an off and on situation for my wife who is a senior manager in the US Department of Defense.   Her travel, even personal travel, has to be approved for certain parts of the world including Israel, most of North African, and the Persian Gulf states.  Right now she is in Poland on official travel and told me this morning she’d received a long cautionary message to be careful and that specifically cancelled all official and personal travel to Israel, North Africa, and the Persian Gulf states pending further review.  Stuff happens.   

Hey Randy, this is 747FC. Hope your wife is safe and sound in Poland. Thank her for her service.

 

Just cancelled our ME trip for April. Don't trust that even then we will be able to have a stress-free and relaxing trip.

[Randyk47]

5 hours ago, notjaded said:

Hey Randy, this is 747FC. Hope your wife is safe and sound in Poland. Thank her for her service.

 

Just cancelled our ME trip for April. Don't trust that even then we will be able to have an stress-free and relaxing trip.

Thank you.  Mrs K made it back from Poland late last night.  24 hour trip on three planes so she’s pretty tired.   Mentioned you cancelling your trip this morning and she agreed that probably is wise.   

[Cruiser32323]

Did you get a full refund scseas?

[scseas]

30 minutes ago, Cruiser32323 said:

Did you get a full refund scseas?

I was within the free cancellation period as I had booked D2D. However, I asked Silverseas to waive the $500 admin fee/ FCC. They simply ignored me which has left a very bad taste in my mouth. We rebooked on Virgin Voyages which we find a lot more fun at 1/4 the price, especially for a Greek island cruise. The voyage also has an overnight stop which our Silverseas cruise lost with the schedule change. We will also visit Egypt and Israel on our own before the cruise, providing the situation has improved as that was the motivating factor of the original trip.

 

I also had a really bad experience trying to book custom biz class flights months ago before the itinerary switch via Silverseas. I ultimately decided to book my own biz class flights because Silverseas was too difficult to deal with.
 

Overall, I was very disappointed by these customer issues, especially given the price of the voyage. I’m not sure I’ll be back to Silverseas after how I felt treated by them…which is to say, largely ignored.

[TLCOhio]

On 10/28/2023 at 8:31 AM, Randyk47 said:

Mrs K made it back from Poland late last night.  24 hour trip on three planes so she’s pretty tired.   Mentioned you cancelling your trip this morning and she agreed that probably is wise.   

 

Great to hear, Randy, that Mrs. K is back home and hopefully recovered and rested after that challenged flight schedule from Poland.  

 

In checking today as to the Silver Moon's Athens to Petra sailing, Dec. 22-Jan. 6, Silversea has made more changes and adjustments.  They have scrubbed Safaga/Egypt for Dec. 29-30 and Sharm El Sheikh/Egypt for Dec. 31, 2023.  Plus, moved the Suez Canal transit back from Dec. 28 to Dec. 31.  More time for an overnight in Rhodes, etc.  Am I understanding these schedule changes correctly??

 

From our late 2018 experiences on another line, the two-day stop at Safaga was spectacular as it allowed time for Luxor, the Valley of Kings, Karnak Temple, night music drama, sailing on the Nile, etc., etc.  Wonderful and amazing Egypt history!!   Our stop at Sharm El Sheikh was OK, but nothing that dramatic to worry about missing.  

 

Reactions and/or predictions as to what happens next for this fast-changing Silver Moon sailing?

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Athens & Greece: Visuals, details from two visits in a city and nearby with great history, culture and architecture.  Now at 59,465 views.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1101008

[Mahogany]

3 hours ago, scseas said:

I was within the free cancellation period as I had booked D2D. However, I asked Silverseas to waive the $500 admin fee/ FCC. They simply ignored me which has left a very bad taste in my mouth. We rebooked on Virgin Voyages which we find a lot more fun at 1/4 the price, especially for a Greek island cruise. The voyage also has an overnight stop which our Silverseas cruise lost with the schedule change. We will also visit Egypt and Israel on our own before the cruise, providing the situation has improved as that was the motivating factor of the original trip.

 

I also had a really bad experience trying to book custom biz class flights months ago before the itinerary switch via Silverseas. I ultimately decided to book my own biz class flights because Silverseas was too difficult to deal with.
 

Overall, I was very disappointed by these customer issues, especially given the price of the voyage. I’m not sure I’ll be back to Silverseas after how I felt treated by them…which is to say, largely ignored.

Were you using a travel advisor - or talking directly to Silversea (not Silverseas)?

[Kauaijim]

3 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

 

Great to hear, Randy, that Mrs. K is back home and hopefully recovered and rested after that challenged flight schedule from Poland.  

 

In checking today as to the Silver Moon's Athens to Petra sailing, Dec. 22-Jan. 6, Silversea has made more changes and adjustments.  They have scrubbed Safaga/Egypt for Dec. 29-30 and Sharm El Sheikh/Egypt for Dec. 31, 2023.  Plus, moved the Suez Canal transit back from Dec. 28 to Dec. 31.  More time for an overnight in Rhodes, etc.  Am I understanding these schedule changes correctly??

 

From our late 2018 experiences on another line, the two-day stop at Safaga was spectacular as it allowed time for Luxor, the Valley of Kings, Karnak Temple, night music drama, sailing on the Nile, etc., etc.  Wonderful and amazing Egypt history!!   Our stop at Sharm El Sheikh was OK, but nothing that dramatic to worry about missing.  

 

Reactions and/or predictions as to what happens next for this fast-changing Silver Moon sailing?

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Athens & Greece: Visuals, details from two visits in a city and nearby with great history, culture and architecture.  Now at 59,465 views.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1101008

Terry, still no changes to our 1/6 trip from Aquaba . Not hard to predict changes but everything is paid for and silence from SS 

[scseas]

1 hour ago, Mahogany said:

Were you using a travel advisor - or talking directly to Silversea (not Silverseas)?

Both. My TA tried and I thought I could be more persuasive after she got a “no.” 

[Ridge4553]

We are supposed to be on the Silver Moon on 11/29 and they changed 5 of our days(3 in Israel and 2 in Egypt) and  we were too close to cancel now.   I noticed on their website there are a lot of empty cabins now.   I’m wondering if people cancelled just before the 30 days to at least get 25% back or silver seas is offering a future cruise credit to those that escalate? I just found it odd so many cabins are available 4 weeks out.  We were only told to accept the new itinerary or dont  go and lose all our money.  I’m really concerned about safety and as many of you said we weren’t going on a cruise to see mainly Greece. 

[Randyk47]

49 minutes ago, Ridge4553 said:

We are supposed to be on the Silver Moon on 11/29 and they changed 5 of our days(3 in Israel and 2 in Egypt) and  we were too close to cancel now.   I noticed on their website there are a lot of empty cabins now.   I’m wondering if people cancelled just before the 30 days to at least get 25% back or silver seas is offering a future cruise credit to those that escalate? I just found it odd so many cabins are available 4 weeks out.  We were only told to accept the new itinerary or dont  go and lose all our money.  I’m really concerned about safety and as many of you said we weren’t going on a cruise to see mainly Greece. 

I guess I can understand people bailing if that’s what has happened. We luckily took the same itinerary a few years ago during a relative period of peace and quiet in the area.  Visiting Egypt was a life long dream of mine as Egyptology was my post graduate minor and a lifetime interest.  Our cruise was a great one and the dream visit and cruise of a lifetime.  Today I would probably cancelled too because the whole reason for that cruise was Egypt and Jordan as a second reason.  I would have been heartsick but the investment in money and time for a cruise/trip that didn’t stop in Egypt would not be worth it.    

[applefan75]

7 hours ago, Randyk47 said:

I guess I can understand people bailing if that’s what has happened. We luckily took the same itinerary a few years ago during a relative period of peace and quiet in the area.  Visiting Egypt was a life long dream of mine as Egyptology was my post graduate minor and a lifetime interest.  Our cruise was a great one and the dream visit and cruise of a lifetime.  Today I would probably cancelled too because the whole reason for that cruise was Egypt and Jordan as a second reason.  I would have been heartsick but the investment in money and time for a cruise/trip that didn’t stop in Egypt would not be worth it.    

Yes, I'm heartsick about missing Egypt as well.  I just can't justify losing 75% of my investment in the trip at this point.

[Randyk47]

1 hour ago, applefan75 said:

Yes, I'm heartsick about missing Egypt as well.  I just can't justify losing 75% of my investment in the trip at this point.

That’s a hard decision for sure.  Easy for me to sit here after being able to previously take this itinerary.   I was so focused on being able to fulfill a lifelong dream the other ports were just “stops” and not of any particular interest.  Have to say the full transit of the Suez Canal was interesting and a highlight.   We’ll be adding a full transit of the Panama Canal to our bucket list check off this coming April on the Nova.

[canderson]

2 hours ago, Randyk47 said:

We’ll be adding a full transit of the Panama Canal to our bucket list check off this coming April on the Nova.

Really hope you're able to successfully check that one off.  It's an itinerary with an amazing history, but...

 

We've done it in both directions, and were privileged to have David McCullough as our guest speaker for one of them.  Recommend reading "Path Between the Seas" before that voyage.

[TLCOhio]

As a follow-up from Wednesday's quarterly stock analyst briefing by the Norwegian CEO, here below are more details as to the impact for this major cruise company scrubbing stops in Israel later this year and for all of next year.  Will Royal Caribbean and Silversea cancel ALL of its 2024 cruises stopping in Israel?  Below is the map just posted by Silversea as to how their 15-day,  Dec. 22-Jan. 6 cruise has changed so dramatically.  The stops have been adjusted with the skipping of planned/promised ports for Israel and Egypt.  Could future war events impact the finish of this cruise in the southern tip of Jordan?

 

From this business news website yesterday, they had this headline: “Norwegian Cruise Line cancels all Israel sailings for 2024” with these highlights: “Norwegian Cruise Line has canceled all calls in Israel ports in 2024, due to the Israel-Hamas war.   When asked why it was necessary to cancel sailings so far ahead, Norwegian Cruise Line CEO Harry Sommer said, 'I think it will take time before people feel safe about returning to Israel and so we have canceled cruises to Israel in 2024, even if the conflict, as we hope, ends in a short time.'  The company said that 7% of its capacity in the fourth quarter was connected to the Middle East (including Cyprus) and about 4% of expected capacity in 2024.”

 

Also from this report: "Royal Caribbean has 14 cruises that call at Israel ports each year, Norwegian Cruise Line ten and Carnival only six."

 

Full story at:

https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-norwegian-cruise-line-cancels-all-israel-sailings-for-2024-1001461614

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Athens & Greece: Visuals, details from two visits in a city and nearby with great history, culture and architecture.  Now at 59,465 views.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1101008