Uniworld Cruises - Never Again

[George and Family]

Four family members were scheduled to do this premium trip in Egypt and cruise the Nile with Uniworld from 12-9 to 12-20 (Uniworld River Cruises Reservation 3381829). Then the Israeli/Hamas War started on 10-07-2023. We were totally afraid of traveling to this area (Cairo is 200 miles from Gaza) in the midst of bombings and 1000s of violent deaths. We contacted both our [travel] agent (who was totally sympathetic but powerless) and Uniworld several times (who were totally unsympathetic) saying we were too afraid to travel to a War Zone, with terrorist actions against American Tourists. We begged Uniworld to reschedule to a future date, or to give us a voucher for some other trip.  Absolutely no sympathetic response!! Uniworld is UN-sympathetic, UN-caring, and UN-moveable. The 4 of us cancelled our trip at a 50% penalty (we lost $5,000 per person). Despite the premium costs of UniWorld trips, don't think they care about you, their customer. They only care about their policy, and their income. I would DEFINITELY NEVER USE UNIWORLD AGAIN BASED ON THIS EXPERIENCE.

Edited December 1, 2023 by CC Help Michell
removing name of a travel agent per guidelines

[Squawkman]

Hate to be the one to tell you this, but Egypt cruises are going on as usual (at least on Viking) as there is an active roll call here on CC where folks are anticipating their Egypt cruises for this winter. Other than canceling pre or post extensions to Jerusalem, cruises are going on. Unless you had CFAR insurance, I don’t think any other cruise line would treat you differently.

[mozfoz]

Too bad about your loss. This was an expensive and exotic trip. Many things can go wrong. Did you have insurance? If not, why not? 

[George and Family]

We only had the insurance that our VISA card covers, and we're not sure they cover this situation.  Who could have predicted a War breaking out??  Lesson Learned.  

[Daisi]

I understand your feelings of possibly not being safe, however as cruises and trips are still going on in Egypt I'm not sure what you expect. Your cruise probably did go, so it would be the same for those who cancel European cruises on the *chance* of low water problems, and you would have no recourse.

 

As mentioned by @Squawkman, this is when CFAR insurance is best. We always choose it as we have situations at home where we may have to cancel shortly before our cruises. Since the war isn't in Egypt, I'm not sure your CC will cover it.

 

I wish you good luck.

[capriccio]

Out of curiosity, has any company cancelled Nile River cruises?  I did a Google search and only found articles where other companies have cancelled pre and/or post cruise excursions to Israel, Jordan and possibly Lebanon.

[Pushka]

This is called 'change of mind'. Same thing happened with Covid. If you wanted to cancel before the cruise line did then you weren't covered and nor would travel insurance cover you. 
 

We travelled by cruise ship to this region in May. We fully expected our Israel port might get cancelled, because of war. To not expect war in this region I would call being naive. 
 

Viking likely would be exactly the same. 

Edited December 2, 2023 by Pushka

[CDNPolar]

I do not intend to be disrespectful to the OP, but this stuff is likely going to happen more often in the world we live in.  We went on our Nile Cruise with Uniworld in August this year - much before all this started.  I have been following this somewhat to see what is happening, and the fact is that the war is not in Egypt, and if we were travelling now instead of August, and if my cruise was scheduled to go, we would have traveled and boarded the cruise.

 

I get when anyone feels unsafe in parts of the world.  My husband and I have invited my bother and his wife on many of our trips and my sister-in-law's response is "We don't feel comfortable in that area of the world."  My brother on the side will say that he would join us if he could.  It is my sister-in-law's concern, not his.

 

The only insurance that would have helped you with this is CFAR as typical cancellation insurance requires a medical situation or death to occur, and war is rarely covered.

 

Uniworld and Viking and others are still running their cruises.  

 

I think that this is unfair to say what you said about Uniworld.  You would have had the same response from all cruise lines.  

 

Again, not trying to be disrespectful, this is my opinion.

[Roz]

@George and Family, welcome to cruise critic.  I noticed you joined on Thursday,  and your favorite line is Emerald. 

 

I'm curious as to what you hoped to accomplish with your post.  Were you looking for advice? Sympathy? Put Uniworld out of business?

[IMNiles]

Gosh, this has the potential to spiral out of control very quickly.  Were I a mod, I’d probably close the topic, though I think the answers so far have been generally spot on, and I’m gratified that the flamethrowers have remained mostly holstered.  

 

I’m very sorry the OP’s plans were ruined, and I have no reason to doubt their own subsequent “lesson learned” response.  An expensive and painful lesson to be sure, but also perhaps a reminder we could all use.  I mean, we were all expecting a global pandemic, right?  

 

Things that may once have seemed far off and unlikely are not just possible, but seem to be increasing in frequency (or at least in visibility).  Fear of travel is real, and it’s an insurable risk.  If we’re going to visit corners of the world not renowned for their stability, we need to adjust the way we think about that risk, and either accept it or insure against it.  I don’t think it’s fair or reasonable to expect a travel supplier to shoulder a risk from events in which they really have no role (I see no evidence of negligence here).  I think travel agents can also play a part in helping people understand what they can and cannot expect in terms of flexibility in the event of this sort of eventuality.  

 

I believe it’s also important to recognize, without weighing in on who is right or wrong (this is not the time or place), the impact on our travel plans is definitely not the greatest tragedy of this conflict.

 

 

[Squawkman]

I thought this might be a good place to share this info as Nile cruises are alive and well.

 

Viking is running promo - see the details and promo code at 

 

[CDNPolar]

My husband and I discussed this very topic last night and it is his opinion that a cruise line - any cruise line - will likely not cancel until there is an immediate threat.  This is probably quite true of all cruise lines not just Uniworld.

 

I do feel for the OP and what they lost in money.  Their loss was significant for sure and the loss of that kind of money would make me very angry for sure.

 

We are in a bit of a situation right now - that is not the same as this - but I hope it will make a point about insurance and CFAR insurance.

 

We may have to cancel an upcoming land-based trip in January for at the time of booking and until only a few days ago unforeseen medical reasons.  We are six weeks from departure.  Friends are joining us on this trip.

 

We have not told many people at all about our situation and the possible need to cancel but we did call our friends immediately so that they know there is a high probability that we may cancel.

 

We have an annual medical and cancellation plan that covers this trip purchased directly with a Canadian insurance provider, AND we bought cancelation insurance and CFAR from the land tour provider.

 

Our friends have no insurance.  They have often talked about it but never bought it.  The sad part is that this land tour providers insurance is cheap and the CFAR is only $39 pp at the point of booking.  This was a no brainer for us.  Now we will cancel under the Canadian insurance provider for the medical reason and get a full refund, but our friends could have canceled under the CFAR if they bought it.  They don't want to go on this trip without us because it was a joint decision to go from the start.

 

Long story short - if you are forking out significant funds for a trip like this - buy the insurance.  If you have the option to get CFAR insurance then buy it because after penalties kick in, you must have a valid medical reason to cancel otherwise.  CFAR generally only gives you a voucher for future travel, but that is better than losing so much.

 

I think today we don't know where conflict will break out and we have to be prepared.

[Got2Cruise]

@George and Family sorry this happened to you. Unfortunately you would have the same outcome if you used another cruise line. I notice that Amawaterways continued their cruises to Egypt also.

 

I have read that trips to ISRAEL   On United and Et Al are not canceled and no refunds or credits given. 
 

The only solution is Cancel For Any Reason insurance. 

Edited December 3, 2023 by Got2Cruise

[Daisi]

@CDNPolar sorry to hear you are going to miss out on your trip.  I don't know if it's because my family travelled extensively growing up or what, but travel insurance has always been something we got whenever we left the country. Because most of our trips were to the US, we usually picked it up just before we left. It wasn't until I started researching our first river cruise that I found out about the CFAR insurance. Now, for the expense of a cruise, I make sure to get it. I look at it like car insurance, hope you don't need it, but if you do, it's nice to have. 

[bubbulz]

One of the things I love with Uniworld is their travel protection plan. If I'm not comfortable with traveling at any point up to one day prior to my trip, I can cancel and (at a minimum) get a full future cruise credit. I purchase the insurance with every single booking I make with them.

 

"Are you ready to book your dream river cruise, but worried about the unexpected? Uniworld's Travel Protection Plan may protect you from unforeseen events so you can travel with confidence.

Our Travel Protection Plan allows you to cancel up to one day prior to your first Uniworld-arranged travel date for any reason and receive a future travel certificate or even a full refund for select covered reasons. You’ll also be covered should you become sick while traveling and need to return home."

 

(Bolding is mine.)

[CDNPolar]

15 hours ago, bubbulz said:

One of the things I love with Uniworld is their travel protection plan. If I'm not comfortable with traveling at any point up to one day prior to my trip, I can cancel and (at a minimum) get a full future cruise credit. I purchase the insurance with every single booking I make with them.

 

"Are you ready to book your dream river cruise, but worried about the unexpected? Uniworld's Travel Protection Plan may protect you from unforeseen events so you can travel with confidence.

Our Travel Protection Plan allows you to cancel up to one day prior to your first Uniworld-arranged travel date for any reason and receive a future travel certificate or even a full refund for select covered reasons. You’ll also be covered should you become sick while traveling and need to return home."

 

(Bolding is mine.)

 

Only having cruised on Uniworld once, and we arranged the air on our own, a couple of questions:

 

1) Do Uniworld arrange air also?  If so, would this CFAR include cancelling the air?

2) Is the cost reasonable?

[bubbulz]

1. Uniworld will arrange air if desired. I’ve never personally used them for it since I prefer to make my own arrangements and typically can change my tickets without incurring any fees. That said, I believe the Uniworld insurance covers all costs, as I know it will cover my pre-cruise extension they arranged for my next trip. But this would be a question best asked of them and the insurer. There is also detailed information available on their website that you can view based upon where you live.

2. I always compare to other insurance plans in terms of coverage and costs. (For other travel, I usually use Allianz). The costs are usually comparable, with the big benefit of the Uniworld sponsored insurance being the ability to cancel up to one day prior to the trip for any reason.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

@George and Family None of the River cruise lines operating within Egypt are cancelling their cruises or altering their itineraries in any way (with the exception of pre/post Israel extensions which are being cancelled).  Egypt is NOT in an active war zone and has remained out of the conflict (except for facilitating humanitarian aid).  There is no increased threat to tourists in Egypt at this time.  Unless you have a  "cancel for any reason" insurance policy you would be out of luck with ANY cruise line in this type of situation as you are choosing to voluntarily cancel the trip.  Uniworld is correct in the application of the penalty.  I'm sorry you are not comfortable travelling internationally, but these are the facts.