Libya-Prinsendam Oct '06

[doxiemom]

We heard last night from friends who have an Oceana cruise for Nov. 2006 that the government of Libya has informed Oceana that the cruise line CANNOT disembark passengers in Libya in November. Our guess is that our HAL Prinsendam cruise Oct 1 to 17, "Cradle of Civilization" Athens to Lisbon will have this same denial of disembakation for our two scheduled Libyan stops.

We have made full payment for our cruise and have just this week had our credit card billed for shore excursions in 11 ports. HAL has not informed us that we will not be visiting Libya. Could it be that Oceana is not welcome in Nov., but HAL is welcome in Oct. ??? Want to place any bets????

[hammybee]

Libya has been on my " must see" list for quite some time, so I follow the port situation. It seems that it changes day to day. Sometimes the port is cancelled. Sometimes a ship can dock, but U. S. passport holders are often denied diembarkation. And sometimes, all is well. The only consistentcy seems to be inconsistentcy. One ship can be allowed to dock and the next is out of luck. There is rampant speculation about the causes, ranging from the number of U.S. passport holders on board, payment of " anything goes" port fees and who is running the show at the moment.

 

Those with Israeli issued or stamped passports are usually denied boarding a cruise that is headed to Libya. There is a thread, Costa, I think, that talks about some passengers who had to be put off the ship, in Malta, because of passport issues, versus the ever changing policies at the Libyan port.

 

Many of the online cruise web sites make it clear that U.S. passport holders will not be allowed to disembark in Libya and have been saying this for quite some time. I think they are managing expectaions of those contemplating a cruise that includes any Libyan ports.

 

On the positive side ( assuming Libya is a desirable port for you), maybe HAL is taking a wait and see approach because things change daily. Perhaps Oceonia decided to eliminate the suspence and simply pulled the port.

[doxiemom]

Thank you for your reasoned reply. You are most gracious in your analysis as to possible reasons why Oceana is already a no go and HAL is still up in the air. I will wait and see. DH and I can handle not visiting Libya, but our cruise is also scheduled to make 2 stops in Egypt. Both stops offer the Pyramids and Sphinx at Giza. We so very much want to take this tour. We hope that conditions in the area don't cause these ports to be eliminated. I am in no way equating missing a shore tour to the tragedy that is now occuring in the middle east.

 

doxiemom

[hammybee]

Thank you for your reasoned reply. You are most gracious in your analysis as to possible reasons why Oceana is already a no go and HAL is still up in the air. I will wait and see. DH and I can handle not visiting Libya, but our cruise is also scheduled to make 2 stops in Egypt. Both stops offer the Pyramids and Sphinx at Giza. We so very much want to take this tour. We hope that conditions in the area don't cause these ports to be eliminated. I am in no way equating missing a shore tour to the tragedy that is now occuring in the middle east.

 

doxiemom

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You are most gracious and are welcome. I think the intinerary is fabulous, a trip of a lifetime, at a very challenging time.

[Navy_Chief]

Libya has been on my " must see" list for quite some time, so I follow the port situation. It seems that it changes day to day. Sometimes the port is cancelled. Sometimes a ship can dock, but U. S. passport holders are often denied diembarkation. And sometimes, all is well. The only consistentcy seems to be inconsistentcy. One ship can be allowed to dock and the next is out of luck. There is rampant speculation about the causes, ranging from the number of U.S. passport holders on board, payment of " anything goes" port fees and who is running the show at the moment.

 

Those with Israeli issued or stamped passports are usually denied boarding a cruise that is headed to Libya. There is a thread, Costa, I think, that talks about some passengers who had to be put off the ship, in Malta, because of passport issues, versus the ever changing policies at the Libyan port.

 

Many of the online cruise web sites make it clear that U.S. passport holders will not be allowed to disembark in Libya and have been saying this for quite some time. I think they are managing expectaions of those contemplating a cruise that includes any Libyan ports.

 

On the positive side ( assuming Libya is a desirable port for you), maybe HAL is taking a wait and see approach because things change daily. Perhaps Oceonia decided to eliminate the suspence and simply pulled the port.

 

Sorry Hammybee but the only way I want to see Lybia is through a bombsight (my apologies for being so blunt). They were a state sponsor of terrorism and that attitude alone shows me they haven't chnaged other that they haven't blown up any more 747s since PanAm 103. I guess it all stems back to Beirut in October of 1983 and continued throughout the 80's. Those of us who were there won't forget it or our shipmates that were lost. I'm relieved that we have been given a green light to hunt these terrorists down, it's too bad it took the death of 2700 civilians to do it (not counting the men and women wearing the uniforms lost). Again, apologies to the group for venting a bit.

[hammybee]

Sorry Hammybee but the only way I want to see Lybia is through a bombsight (my apologies for being so blunt). They were a state sponsor of terrorism and that attitude alone shows me they haven't chnaged other that they haven't blown up any more 747s since PanAm 103. I guess it all stems back to Beirut in October of 1983 and continued throughout the 80's. Those of us who were there won't forget it or our shipmates that were lost. I'm relieved that we have been given a green light to hunt these terrorists down, it's too bad it took the death of 2700 civilians to do it (not counting the men and women wearing the uniforms lost). Again, apologies to the group for venting a bit.

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I understand.

[Namvet4]

Sorry Hammybee but the only way I want to see Lybia is through a bombsight (my apologies for being so blunt). They were a state sponsor of terrorism and that attitude alone shows me they haven't chnaged other that they haven't blown up any more 747s since PanAm 103. I guess it all stems back to Beirut in October of 1983 and continued throughout the 80's. Those of us who were there won't forget it or our shipmates that were lost. I'm relieved that we have been given a green light to hunt these terrorists down, it's too bad it took the death of 2700 civilians to do it (not counting the men and women wearing the uniforms lost). Again, apologies to the group for venting a bit.

Navy_Chief,

You do not need to apologize to me....The truth requires no explanation......

[TedC]

Sorry Hammybee but the only way I want to see Lybia is through a bombsight (my apologies for being so blunt). They were a state sponsor of terrorism and that attitude alone shows me they haven't chnaged other that they haven't blown up any more 747s since PanAm 103. I guess it all stems back to Beirut in October of 1983 and continued throughout the 80's. Those of us who were there won't forget it or our shipmates that were lost. I'm relieved that we have been given a green light to hunt these terrorists down, it's too bad it took the death of 2700 civilians to do it (not counting the men and women wearing the uniforms lost). Again, apologies to the group for venting a bit.

 

 

Several weeks ago the US announced we were resuming diplomatic relations with Libya.

 

We are booked on Prinsendam Aug. 14 to 30 - Lisbon to Rome - with two stops scheduled in Libya.

 

A couple of months ago HAL emailed us that an excursion we booked was canceled. I feared it was Libya, but it was our call in Tunisia that was canceled for "operational reasons."

 

We'll be really disappointed if we miss Leptis Magna and Cyrene in Libya.