2025 Middle East Itineraries Canceled

[critic2023]

I had a September 2025 cruise booked on the Eclipse stopping, among other places, Israel and Egypt. Just received an email about an hour ago that the cruise is canceled. Not surprising given what's going on in that part of the world, but I AM pleasantly surprised that they canceled them this far out. I figured it would be a last minute thing and that I would be forced to make the decision myself and forfeit my deposit.

 

New itinerary hits several places in Greece, Malta, Italy, Croatia, and Montenegro. It's a lovely itinerary but it's not what I signed up for, so I will be canceling.

[Cruise Junky]

Figured it was only a matter of time.  Are you able to post the new itineraries by chance? 

[gordylad]

The cruise is not cancelled....we are booked on it and although the itinerary has been changed I feel Celebrity has come up with a very nice selection of ports...

Original Itinerary

Sun	Sep 7	Athens/Piraeus: EMBARK
			Depart 5:00 PM
Day 2	Mon	Sep 8	Kusadasi: DOCKED
			Arrive 7:00 AM	Depart 10:00 PM
Day 3	Tue	Sep 9	Thira/Santorini: TENDERED
			Arrive 7:00 AM	Depart 10:00 PM
Day 4	Wed	Sep 10	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 5	Thu	Sep 11	Alexandria/Egypt: DOCKED
			Arrive 2:00 AM
Day 6	Fri	Sep 12	Alexandria/Egypt: DOCKED
				Depart 8:00 PM
Day 7	Sat	Sep 13	Limassol: DOCKED
			Arrive 11:59 AM	Depart 7:00 PM
Day 8	Sun	Sep 14	Ashdod: DOCKED
			Arrive 7:00 AM
Day 9	Mon	Sep 15	Ashdod: DOCKED
				Depart 10:00 PM
Day 10	Tue	Sep 16	Haifa: DOCKED
			Arrive 7:00 AM	Depart 10:00 PM
Day 11	Wed	Sep 17	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 12	Thu	Sep 18	Mykonos: TENDERED
			Arrive 7:00 AM	Depart 7:00 PM
Day 13	Fri	Sep 19	Athens/Piraeus: DEBARK
			Arrive 5:00 AM

 

New Itinerary

 

7-Sep-25	Sun	Athens (Piraeus), Greece		5:00 PM
8-Sep-25	Mon	Mykonos, Greece	7:00 AM	6:00 PM
9-Sep-25	Tue	Santorini, Greece	7:00 AM	8:00 PM
10-Sep-25	Wed	Chania (Souda), Crete, Greece	8:00 AM	5:00 PM
11-Sep-25	Thu	Rhodes, Greece	8:00 AM	5:00 PM
12-Sep-25	Fri	At Sea
13-Sep-25	Sat	Valletta, Malta	8:00 AM	6:00 PM
14-Sep-25	Sun	At Sea
15-Sep-25	Mon	Kotor, Montenegro	7:00 AM	5:00 PM
16-Sep-25	Tue	Dubrovnik, Croatia	7:00 AM	6:00 PM
17-Sep-25	Wed	Split, Croatia	9:00 AM	8:00 PM
18-Sep-25	Thu	At Sea
19-Sep-25	Fri	Ravenna, Italy	6:00 AM

[leaveitallbehind]

3 hours ago, critic2023 said:

I had a September 2025 cruise booked on the Eclipse stopping, among other places, Israel and Egypt. Just received an email about an hour ago that the cruise is canceled. Not surprising given what's going on in that part of the world, but I AM pleasantly surprised that they canceled them this far out. I figured it would be a last minute thing and that I would be forced to make the decision myself and forfeit my deposit.

 

New itinerary hits several places in Greece, Malta, Italy, Croatia, and Montenegro. It's a lovely itinerary but it's not what I signed up for, so I will be canceling.

I know what you mean and not being critical but saying the cruise is cancelled is a bit misleading as it is now a revised itinerary with different ports of call.  But to your point they did the right thing in adjusting to the new itinerary early.  Should give everyone booked plenty of time to determine the best options for them.

 

This is happening frequently with different cruise lines with plans for that region.  Not at all diminishing the impact to the people of the region, but this is very unfortunate and causing a lot of headaches for the cruise lines and passengers alike with the complexities involved with major changes such as this.

 

I hope this works out for you and you enjoy your cruise.

Edited July 30 by leaveitallbehind

[jelayne]

The revised itinerary is a nice one but if you have been to these ports before, not so much.

Glad they cancelled the original itinerary this far out, giving cruisers options.

[NMTraveller]

Not surprised at all ...

[Cruise Junky]

Too bad they didn’t leave Egypt on there like a lot of other cruise lines have.  

[NMTraveller]

1 hour ago, Cruise Junky said:

Too bad they didn’t leave Egypt on there like a lot of other cruise lines have.  

Hmmm.  Yemen missiles have landed in Egypt.  I would not go there myself.

You can always join the US Navy and get a free cruise to Israel,  Egypt, and the middle east 😇

[Cruise Junky]

28 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

Hmmm.  Yemen missiles have landed in Egypt.  I would not go there myself.

You can always join the US Navy and get a free cruise to Israel,  Egypt, and the middle east 😇

Are you talking about the one that hit Taba last year? If so you may need to check a map.  Not sure the US navy is signing up Canadians but probably easier to just book with the dozen or so cruise lines that are still going to a Egypt.  😎

[PTC DAWG]

47 minutes ago, NMTraveller said:

Hmmm.  Yemen missiles have landed in Egypt.  I would not go there myself.

You can always join the US Navy and get a free cruise to Israel,  Egypt, and the middle east 😇

My thoughts also..I haven’t lost anything in the Middle East..

Edited July 31 by PTC DAWG

[Rick&Jeannie]

We had this same itinerary booked for *this* year before all of the war started. We canceled just before final payment. Very shortly after they revised the itinerary similar to what was posted above. It may very well have been revised to be exactly as shown...I don't have access to my original documents right now. I find it surprising that they were still showing the itinerary that included Israel and Egypt. 

[hcat]

Regardless of  OPs wording, the  "revised itin" is a completely diff cruise; so as good as cancelled!. 

 

Glad folks have sufficient time to cancel and make other plans. Disappointing...but safer!

[Miaminice]

On 7/30/2024 at 11:08 PM, gordylad said:

The cruise is not cancelled....we are booked on it and although the itinerary has been changed I feel Celebrity has come up with a very nice selection of ports...

Original Itinerary

Sun	Sep 7	Athens/Piraeus: EMBARK
			Depart 5:00 PM
Day 2	Mon	Sep 8	Kusadasi: DOCKED
			Arrive 7:00 AM	Depart 10:00 PM
Day 3	Tue	Sep 9	Thira/Santorini: TENDERED
			Arrive 7:00 AM	Depart 10:00 PM
Day 4	Wed	Sep 10	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 5	Thu	Sep 11	Alexandria/Egypt: DOCKED
			Arrive 2:00 AM
Day 6	Fri	Sep 12	Alexandria/Egypt: DOCKED
				Depart 8:00 PM
Day 7	Sat	Sep 13	Limassol: DOCKED
			Arrive 11:59 AM	Depart 7:00 PM
Day 8	Sun	Sep 14	Ashdod: DOCKED
			Arrive 7:00 AM
Day 9	Mon	Sep 15	Ashdod: DOCKED
				Depart 10:00 PM
Day 10	Tue	Sep 16	Haifa: DOCKED
			Arrive 7:00 AM	Depart 10:00 PM
Day 11	Wed	Sep 17	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 12	Thu	Sep 18	Mykonos: TENDERED
			Arrive 7:00 AM	Depart 7:00 PM
Day 13	Fri	Sep 19	Athens/Piraeus: DEBARK
			Arrive 5:00 AM

 

New Itinerary

 

7-Sep-25	Sun	Athens (Piraeus), Greece		5:00 PM
8-Sep-25	Mon	Mykonos, Greece	7:00 AM	6:00 PM
9-Sep-25	Tue	Santorini, Greece	7:00 AM	8:00 PM
10-Sep-25	Wed	Chania (Souda), Crete, Greece	8:00 AM	5:00 PM
11-Sep-25	Thu	Rhodes, Greece	8:00 AM	5:00 PM
12-Sep-25	Fri	At Sea
13-Sep-25	Sat	Valletta, Malta	8:00 AM	6:00 PM
14-Sep-25	Sun	At Sea
15-Sep-25	Mon	Kotor, Montenegro	7:00 AM	5:00 PM
16-Sep-25	Tue	Dubrovnik, Croatia	7:00 AM	6:00 PM
17-Sep-25	Wed	Split, Croatia	9:00 AM	8:00 PM
18-Sep-25	Thu	At Sea
19-Sep-25	Fri	Ravenna, Italy	6:00 AM

that is indeed a very interesting itinerary and great combination of the Greek Islands and the Adriatic. Very nice!
 

We‘ll be in the area at the same time but we’ll try Virgin Voyages for the first time. Not because we are dissatisfied with Celebrity but because we were looking for a change.

 

Enjoy your cruise 👍

[Pushka]

I think the original cruise has pretty much been cancelled as the new itinerary is very different. If I'd been on the original cruise I'd be cancelling as the replacement one offers nothing new to me. 

[chemmo]

2 hours ago, Pushka said:

I think the original cruise has pretty much been cancelled as the new itinerary is very different. If I'd been on the original cruise I'd be cancelling as the replacement one offers nothing new to me. 

I do think the itinerary is a good one as so many of the ports have more than one ‘obvious’ sight to see. We spent two weeks on Crete and still didn’t see all the archeological sites, also great hiking there too. Much as we love Valletta, Malta is so much more…Then almost all the ports will have boat trips…For a ‘put together’ itinerary I think they have put some thought into it…

 

On 7/30/2024 at 10:08 PM, gordylad said:

The cruise is not cancelled....we are booked on it and although the itinerary has been changed I feel Celebrity has come up with a very nice selection of ports...

Original Itinerary

Sun	Sep 7	Athens/Piraeus: EMBARK
			Depart 5:00 PM
Day 2	Mon	Sep 8	Kusadasi: DOCKED
			Arrive 7:00 AM	Depart 10:00 PM
Day 3	Tue	Sep 9	Thira/Santorini: TENDERED
			Arrive 7:00 AM	Depart 10:00 PM
Day 4	Wed	Sep 10	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 5	Thu	Sep 11	Alexandria/Egypt: DOCKED
			Arrive 2:00 AM
Day 6	Fri	Sep 12	Alexandria/Egypt: DOCKED
				Depart 8:00 PM
Day 7	Sat	Sep 13	Limassol: DOCKED
			Arrive 11:59 AM	Depart 7:00 PM
Day 8	Sun	Sep 14	Ashdod: DOCKED
			Arrive 7:00 AM
Day 9	Mon	Sep 15	Ashdod: DOCKED
				Depart 10:00 PM
Day 10	Tue	Sep 16	Haifa: DOCKED
			Arrive 7:00 AM	Depart 10:00 PM
Day 11	Wed	Sep 17	Cruising: CRUISING
Day 12	Thu	Sep 18	Mykonos: TENDERED
			Arrive 7:00 AM	Depart 7:00 PM
Day 13	Fri	Sep 19	Athens/Piraeus: DEBARK
			Arrive 5:00 AM

 

New Itinerary

 

7-Sep-25	Sun	Athens (Piraeus), Greece		5:00 PM
8-Sep-25	Mon	Mykonos, Greece	7:00 AM	6:00 PM
9-Sep-25	Tue	Santorini, Greece	7:00 AM	8:00 PM
10-Sep-25	Wed	Chania (Souda), Crete, Greece	8:00 AM	5:00 PM
11-Sep-25	Thu	Rhodes, Greece	8:00 AM	5:00 PM
12-Sep-25	Fri	At Sea
13-Sep-25	Sat	Valletta, Malta	8:00 AM	6:00 PM
14-Sep-25	Sun	At Sea
15-Sep-25	Mon	Kotor, Montenegro	7:00 AM	5:00 PM
16-Sep-25	Tue	Dubrovnik, Croatia	7:00 AM	6:00 PM
17-Sep-25	Wed	Split, Croatia	9:00 AM	8:00 PM
18-Sep-25	Thu	At Sea
19-Sep-25	Fri	Ravenna, Italy	6:00 AM

 

I thought about you when I saw the post heading…I think many (like you) booked this cruise ‘in hope’ rather than expectation. I think it will sell well with a 12 night duration and the option of a few days pre cruise in Athens or post cruise in Italy. I seem to remember you got a good deal? I am so pleased that you are happy with the new itinerary and that the change has happened so far out giving you the option to consider what to do in each port.

[gordylad]

yes I got a good deal as after I posted the price shot up 1k but the guarantee cabins have now came down again.....we have sailed into some of the ports not all those being [Rhodes, Malta, Split and Ravenna]

so we will keep the cruise and my wife is not disappointed and she did was not as enthusiastic about Egypt and Israel as I was.

we wont miss [Kusadasi or Limassol]...............

over here the news is speaking about the people in Santorini being very annoyed recently as 11k people got off multiple cruise ships in the same day most trying to get views of the sunset.

[chemmo]

31 minutes ago, gordylad said:

yes I got a good deal as after I posted the price shot up 1k but the guarantee cabins have now came down again.....we have sailed into some of the ports not all those being [Rhodes, Malta, Split and Ravenna]

so we will keep the cruise and my wife is not disappointed and she did was not as enthusiastic about Egypt and Israel as I was.

we wont miss [Kusadasi or Limassol]...............

over here the news is speaking about the people in Santorini being very annoyed recently as 11k people got off multiple cruise ships in the same day most trying to get views of the sunset.

I can see Santorini in the years to come limiting the number of cruise ships they allow in. 
 

Quite simply too many cruise passengers swarm the island but spend very little. They arrive with their bottles of water in their bags, reluctantly may purchase a bottle of beer to keep them going but relatively few will buy a meal…In contrast, people who have booked a two week stay are paying for their accommodation, food and drinks but may be put off visiting an island ‘crawling’ with cruisers! On our last visit we sat down in a bar in a picturesque spot enjoying a beer and a shared cold selection and were amazed by the rude tourists who entered the bar, took some pictures of the views and left…Must be very frustrating for the locals…

 

I don’t know if you have visited the archaeological museum there (about a 10 minute walk from the top of the cable car) but it is well worth a visit…

[debfed65]

11 hours ago, Miaminice said:

that is indeed a very interesting itinerary and great combination of the Greek Islands and the Adriatic. Very nice!
 

We‘ll be in the area at the same time but we’ll try Virgin Voyages for the first time. Not because we are dissatisfied with Celebrity but because we were looking for a change.

 

Enjoy your cruise 👍

I hope you do one of your live reports from Virgin Voyages!  Your photos and commentary are always wonderful to follow. Maybe you can let us know on the Celebrity board when you are sailing (if you are reporting) so we can follow along....😉

[Miaminice]

@debfed65
I am sure I will report… we‘ll do a 7 night cruise and then stay on Paros for one more week. I can try to post a note on the Celebrity board - and hope it won’t be deleted.

[tfred]

11 hours ago, chemmo said:

I can see Santorini in the years to come limiting the number of cruise ships they allow in. 
 

Quite simply too many cruise passengers swarm the island but spend very little. They arrive with their bottles of water in their bags, reluctantly may purchase a bottle of beer to keep them going but relatively few will buy a meal…In contrast, people who have booked a two week stay are paying for their accommodation, food and drinks but may be put off visiting an island ‘crawling’ with cruisers! On our last visit we sat down in a bar in a picturesque spot enjoying a beer and a shared cold selection and were amazed by the rude tourists who entered the bar, took some pictures of the views and left…Must be very frustrating for the locals…

 

I don’t know if you have visited the archaeological museum there (about a 10 minute walk from the top of the cable car) but it is well worth a visit…

you could say that about almost every island in the Caribbean that has 2-5 ships docked at one time. It is a tsunami of pax that overwhelm any local culture, spend $50 and then head back to the ship for a late lunch. 

[Mrzmiliz]

We are wanting to book this route since it changed.  My only concern is that the eclipse is not listed as ship in port at all for the dates for this itinerary.  Has anyone else confirmed this is final route?

 

sincerely,

 

B

[gordylad]

I don't think Celebrity would be showing the changed route on their web site (UK) if it wasn't......

[Mrzmiliz]

I agree, its just shouldn’t they already have reserved spots at all those ports?  I always check to see how many ships are in port before so we can figure out the crowds on a particular port day.  I have contacted celebrity but no real response yet.

[Clarissa01]

Wow, hello from Sydney Australia..

 

I booked this cruise last night for myself and my sister and noticed the celebrity website stated Egypt and Israel, so was a bit confused.

Celebrity’s  marketing team should place a ‘Revised itinerary ‘ and deleting Egypt Israel on their website.

 

The ports of call have been on my bucket list for ever. September should be a great month not only for the (slightly) lower temperatures but the tourists ( esp Americans) should be on their way home ready to start the school year.

 

Does anyone know if a meet n greet roll call scenario, has been scheduled as yet ?

 

Cannot wait. 🙂

 

 

[Clarissa01]

On 8/1/2024 at 6:56 PM, gordylad said:

yes I got a good deal as after I posted the price shot up 1k but the guarantee cabins have now came down again.....we have sailed into some of the ports not all those being [Rhodes, Malta, Split and Ravenna]

so we will keep the cruise and my wife is not disappointed and she did was not as enthusiastic about Egypt and Israel as I was.

we wont miss [Kusadasi or Limassol]...............

over here the news is speaking about the people in Santorini being very annoyed recently as 11k people got off multiple cruise ships in the same day most trying to get views of the sunset.

Gordylad thanks for posting the revised itinerary. Where exactly can I find the port that has tender information. This is great to know in advance.