Middle East Situation

[stevenr597]

Just read that NCL is cancelling all port visits to Israel for 2024.  Personally this seems a bit premature to me. 

We are currently booked to visit Israel on Niuew Statendam next Oct.  Wonder if Holland Ammerica will follow NCL's lead.  

[albingirl]

Too early to tell. Without causing controversy, we are praying for an end to this war.

[Mary229]

I wouldn’t pay final payment or get my hopes up.  I finally went ahead and booked the Baltics for next year realizing that Russia may go behind the iron curtain for a long time and there was no point in waiting.  

[RD64]

1 hour ago, stevenr597 said:

Just read that NCL is cancelling all port visits to Israel for 2024.  Personally this seems a bit premature to me. 

We are currently booked to visit Israel on Niuew Statendam next Oct.  Wonder if Holland Ammerica will follow NCL's lead.  

While it may seem premature, NCL is being proactive. Some cruise lines had Israeli / Middle East ports all winter. For others, the 2024 Mediterranean season is starting as early as February / March. By cancelling now, they are able to re-jig their itineraries, find alternate ports without scrambling at the last moment, and avoiding the passenger angst and uncertainty about not getting the cruise that they have always dreamed of, and it is all NCL’s fault.

 

Would you rather decisions made now, or later when you have already booked your non-refundable airfare and do not approve of the revised itineraries?

Edited November 2, 2023 by RD64
Additional

[bennybear]

We too are booked on that cruise next October.  We were actually booked this October but had to cancel a few months earlier.  We’ve been trying to do this cruise for a few years, and it was one HAL cancelled during the height of the pandemic.  

My cruise plans pale in light of the situation.    
 

However, a proactive approach would be appreciated.   
 

 

 

Edited November 2, 2023 by bennybear

[stevenr597]

2 hours ago, bennybear said:

We too are booked on that cruise next October.  We were actually booked this October but had to cancel a few months earlier.  We’ve been trying to do this cruise for a few years, and it was one HAL cancelled during the height of the pandemic.  

My cruise plans pale in light of the situation.    
 

However, a proactive approach would be appreciated.   
 

We were planning to be in Israel for a land tour (which would have included Jordan) but decided to put it off from this October,  to October next year.   We also decided rather than a land tour to do a cruise...hence Nieuw Statendame. 

In place we booked and just completed a Trans-Atlantic on Regal Princess.  

 

 

[Mike B Landlubber]

6 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I wouldn’t pay final payment or get my hopes up.  I finally went ahead and booked the Baltics for next year realizing that Russia may go behind the iron curtain for a long time and there was no point in waiting.  

Good choice! I took a Baltic cruise in May and thought I regretted missing St. Pete, I enjoyed the Baltic states so much that I have scheduled a land side trip of a few days in Riga before a Western Europe cruise next summer. Gotland is wonderful also. Our tour guides were uniformly grateful for us being there. Apparently losing Russia has killed the demand for Baltic cruises, and their customer base is way down.

 

To get on topic, I think NCL is being smart. As RD64 mentioned, NCL will have good options for port slots and shore excursion operators, and at least their passengers will know the score.

Edited November 2, 2023 by Mike B Landlubber

[jakers]

While cruise lines cancel visits to problematic areas, it is usually the result of passengers canceling their cruise first. It is far easier to rearrange your schedule now then to offer cut rate pricing to fill a ship that goes somewhere that is uninviting.

[ski ww]

This way people know where the ship is going and are not surprised when the itinerary is changed at the last minute to some place they didn't want to go. I think there is going to be problems in that part of the world for a long time.

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, ski ww said:

This way people know where the ship is going and are not surprised when the itinerary is changed at the last minute to some place they didn't want to go. I think there is going to be problems in that part of the world for a long time.

Yes, and even when there are no immediate problems, there is always the threat of a situation arising. It's been that way there for a long time.

[Hlitner]

13 hours ago, stevenr597 said:

Just read that NCL is cancelling all port visits to Israel for 2024.  Personally this seems a bit premature to me. 

We are currently booked to visit Israel on Niuew Statendam next Oct.  Wonder if Holland Ammerica will follow NCL's lead.  

NCL (and its main company NCLH) acts in some strange ways.  Cancelling Israel for an entire year is preventative, but might be somewhat premature.  On the other hand, by taking this step they are avoiding having to make last minute changes in their itineraries, and it gives them more time to schedule alternative ports.  But we have often wondered why NCLH is one of the very few cruise companies to use Acapulco as a cruise port.  This is a port that has been eliminated (from itineraries) by nearly every other cruise corporation (i,e. RCI, CCL, etc) because of the crime problem in that city.  Even though the US Department of State advises all Americans to not visit Acapulco (or its surrounding State) NCLH has continued to have all of its lines (NCL, Oceania, and Regent) call at that port.

 

Hank

[Loreto]

Holland America is taking a different approach with my Nov. 9, 2024 42 day Ultimate Mediterranean and Atlantic Passage cruise.  Prior to Oct. 7 excursions were posted for booking at the HAL website for Israel Ports of Haifa and Ashdod.  After the 7th.they all were taken down and  reappeared as "sold out but wait list available.'  It costs nothing to be on the wait list.   So it looks like HAL right now is not cancelling, but taking a wait and see approach. 

 

Our dates are in December 2024.  I personally wish they would cancel and offer new ports.  A number of members on our roll call booked for the opportunity to visit the Holy Land without an international flight, and are left in limbo as to whether to go or cancel. I have been to the Holy Land twice so it is not critical for me.  This is just my observation and pray that peace comes to the region..

Karen

[Cruising-along]

32 minutes ago, Loreto said:

Holland America is taking a different approach with my Nov. 9, 2024 42 day Ultimate Mediterranean and Atlantic Passage cruise.  Prior to Oct. 7 excursions were posted for booking at the HAL website for Israel Ports of Haifa and Ashdod.  After the 7th.they all were taken down and  reappeared as "sold out but wait list available.'  It costs nothing to be on the wait list.   So it looks like HAL right now is not cancelling, but taking a wait and see approach. 

 

Our dates are in December 2024.  I personally wish they would cancel and offer new ports.  A number of members on our roll call booked for the opportunity to visit the Holy Land without an international flight, and are left in limbo as to whether to go or cancel. I have been to the Holy Land twice so it is not critical for me.  This is just my observation and pray that peace comes to the region..

Karen

Karen thanks for the information about the Israel excursions.  I hadn't noticed.  I agree, and wish new ports would be substituted.  We've spent 4 days in Israel (not that we wouldn't like to go back, but we've done everything offered).  

[Mandalay1903]

We recently booked the HAL NS cruise in Sept 2024 because it avoids the Israel ports yet still includes Istanbul. Even so, we believe there is still a probability (a lower probability) of other itinerary changes impacting other nearby ports (say, in Egypt, Cyprus and even Istanbul) if the situation there intensifies. Three of the ports on that itinerary also have no excursion offerings at this time, including Port Said, but that could also be for other operational reasons rather than a contemplated itinerary change.

 

Glad that we visited Israel and Palestine last spring, and we hope to see peace.  Current course and speed, we fly to Cairo next week for a Nile River cruise. Of course, all pre- and post-cruise extensions to Israel have been cancelled through December 2023. This river cruise line is being less aggressive than NCL, apparently.

[RD64]

On the RCL board, a poster has received itinerary change info for September 2024 with Israel cancelled.

[stevenr597]

Recently checked on our Cruise scheduled to pay port visits to Israel in October.  No evidence of any cancellation....yet.   

Hoping that Holland America hangs on.  Right now it can go either way in the Middle East.  Not that worried about Hamas, but the situtation in the North could certainly escalate. 

 

[Blackduck59]

I'm not sure it's a really touristy thing to do, to be concerned that their cruise may be cancelled in an active war zone. The last thing they need is more "visitors".

[mcrcruiser]

Always best to check the State Dept web site , Recently Turkey has said that are aligning with Iran . Thus ,this can make that part of the world a suspicious place to cruise