Egypt - Escalating Revolution - Uniworld Response?

[Uniworld]

LATEST UNIWORLD UPDATE:

 

Uniworld is continuing to monitor the situation in Egypt and we are in contact with our ground handlers in Egypt.

 

At this time Uniworld is cancelling upcoming tours due to arrive in Egypt up to and including February 12, 2011, and customers may choose alternative tours or a full refund.

 

We will continually assess the forward situation and make announcements as appropriate. Clients who remain in Egypt are of course being looked after by our representatives and continuing with their itineraries as appropriate to the situation. Guest choosing to return home are also being accommodated according to flight availability.

 

Clients who plan to travel on our Egypt tours from February 13 through February 28, 2011 have the option to cancel and rebook any 2011 Uniworld program. The full value of the canceled booking will be applied toward the new booking. Guests must re-book by March 31, 2011.

 

As always, the comfort and safety of our clients is our number one priority and we will update this message as new information becomes available.

 

Should and if the situation does change we will notify all appropriate parties.

 

Please contact your Travel Professional or Uniworld at 1-800-733-7820 if you have further questions.

[GraNanny]

Empathy aside for the crew and for what people are going through in Egypt (I share these sentiments as well).

 

What I feel is unethical are these facts:

 

1. Other suppliers such as airlines are canceling service and providing full refunds because they do not want to put their clients at risk - who knows what can/may/happen. This is a prudent business decision that is based on their clients safety - not their bottom line.

 

2. There is a mandatory curfew nationwide - how can you say - everything including tours and activities are normal and everyone is having a good time.

 

3. Tourists in Cairo are being asked to remain in hotels and not to venture into the streets or public places. Tourists that do venture out are having their cameras confiscated and smashed in the streets by the military. But again, everything is normal and folks are having a great time.

 

3. The US government and the UK government and a few others have issued a policy - advising their citizens to not travel unnecessarily to Egypt. How can you advise your clients to keep their plans - since everything is operating normally - but hey, it's up to you if you don't want to come. This is a major disconnect. For those on here thinking I'm bashing or sour graping - if your name was on an airline ticket to Cairo tomorrow - would you go because Uniworld says - it's ok - or would you listen to your countries intelligence/CIA/state departments recommendation?

 

4. The current state of the Egyptian government is questionable. Who is in power today - what may happen tomorrow? Would you want to arrive there tomorrow only to find out - something shifted and there are new rules. Then Uniworld would say - well, sorry it was ok 2 days ago...

 

Look - I'm not sour graping about my dream vacation, nor am I being insensitive to what is happening socially, democratically. I just feel that in this case - there is more of a focus on REVENUE MANAGEMENT vs RISK MANAGEMENT and I believe this is unethical in this situation.

 

If you want my airline ticket - your welcome to it. Oh - by the way - it's on Delta and they have canceled their Cairo flights....

 

It looks like you are comparing Uniworld's THURSDAY comments to the situation that only escalated on Friday. Their post about everything being fine was the day before the travel advisories and cancellations by airlines. On Friday, they revised their policy and offered all passengers the opportunity to rebook on any 2011 sailing.

 

Their press release didn't mention cancellation of any sailings but that could still happen if the situation continues to escalate. Have you asked them what their policy is for travelers that are unable to rebook in 2011? Did you purchase travel insurance, and if so can you get a refund thru your insurance?

[Hydrokitty]

deleting post is no longer relevant

[nordski]

Remember the Iceland volcano. Cruises were not cancelled and there lines offering rebooking, not refunds. A gentleman from Kentucky posted here about his time at Cincy airport trying to get out to his cruise--company gave him credit for another trip. Disappointment yes, safety yes. Sleazy ops, no.

Hope the crew is being paid and cared for during thistime. Let's pray that this comes to a good end for the Egyptian people. Pat

We were caught in the Icelandic Volcano flight disruption and were fortunate that HAL postponed the Eurodam's Rome departure for one day. We made it, barely, but I already

had a case # for a possible claim.

 

I don't think any cruise company would wish to place passengers in danger, if not for safety concerns then at least for the fear of potential of terrible publicity.

 

We can only hope that the Egyptian polity can respond in a manner that will least harmfully impact the vast majority of people and provide greater economic equality. In that light, I'm certain they'll do their best to restore/protect tourism but the outcome is not certain.

[Windy56]

Jestercourt's comment was. "They will eventually do the right thing."

 

Sorry, people. I like doing business with a company that does the right thing at the right time. Uniworld dragged its heels on this for at least 48 hours. It was obvious that 48 hours ago this next cruise should have been cancelled. I would have to be a pom pom waving Uniworld cheerleader to have excused such a long delayed response, had I been booked on this next cruise. It goes without saying that my heart goes out to the people of Egypt, but the fact remains this: many Uniworld customers booked on this next Eyptian cruise have had to wait far too long to get the obvious final decision that this cruise is not going to happen. I would not have wanted to have been in their shoes waiting for this company to come forward and tell me if I should be packing a bag or praying that my insurance policy covers it (in most cases it would not in this situation) or breathing a sigh of relief that I would get my money back and have the freedom to spend it the way I wanted to.

 

I belong to a group of posters on Cruise critic who will never, for the life of us, understand this strange loyalty to a cruise line. They are a company. I am a customer. They offer a product. I pay for that product. I owe them no loyalty. That I reserve for family, friends and colleagues. What they do owe me, in a time like this, is information delivered in a clear and timely fashion, and Uniworld has failed on these two accounts. Even Cruise Critic reported that it was unclear whether Uniworld had cancelled when the company posted its position on the site.

[GraNanny]

Just curious, has anyone heard what the other cruise operators are doing? According to the latest story on CC, it doesn't look like any of them have outright cancelled any trips, only rerouting some of the ports of call.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4339

 

I have no loyalty to any cruise line, but it seems that Uniworld is the only company to publicly responded at all.

[Windy56]

What happens to the crew on the Uniworld boats if the cruise is cancelled?? Are they laid off?? Is this something that these employees can afford?? Well, I am sure we all agree, that a loss of income is certainly preferable to loss of life. And if a Uniworld crew member is willing to work this cruise for the income and risk his/her life doing so, I am not willing to go along for the ride.If Uniworld - or any other cruise line - decides to cancel all sailings through to February 28th (the time frame that Uniworld is offering refunds) - and the situation clears up a week or two before then - are people then going to post that Uniworld was too hasty, and complain that the cruises should not have been cancelled?? I would always err on the side of safety and would have respect for any company that would do the same.

 

Reading the threads posted here - and the links posted earlier - it appears that the situation has been a slow but steady escalation. The one link posted earlier gave an in-depth account from someone close to the situation --> at the time that it was posted, it appears that the situation was not wide spread, and that some areas seemed not to be affected at all. This situation has (obviously) changed. there are now travel advisories from a number of governments - and flights are cancelled.

 

Lots of speculation here about who may or may not get refunds. One poster was able to switch her booking for next September.... I think that goes above and beyond what should be expected.I don't understand your position in this case at all. The poster had a cruise booked for September and decided to change it. Why on earth wouldn't they switch the booking. She is well within her window to do so without penalty. She is merely shifting her money from one cruise with the same company to another cruise with the same company. How does that go above and beyond? Stating that this will expose Uniworld's "unethical business practices" - without knowing if people actually were denied a refund, or knowing if other companies are reacting the same way, seems a bit harsh. But we do know, Franski. While other companies were cancelling their Egypt cruises, Uniworld was going ahead with it and offering no refund but telling people they had to rebook on another cruise and had only two months to do so. Avalon had already cancelled its Egyptian cruise 24 hours earlier with full refunds guaranteed for their passengers.When there were +++ interruptions last year due to the volcanic ash, Uniworld was one company that garnered some kudos for the way they handled the situation. I think it would only be fair to see what *does* happen in this situation before throwing stones based on what we think may happen.

As a stone thrower in this case, I am motivated by two factors - the slow and muddled response by Uniworld to the unrest in Egypt and their poor level of service on my recent cruise with them. I make no bones about it. There are companies I just love dealing with and my praise is high and public for those companies, some of which are cruise lines, but Uniworld does not make that list.

[cruzerca]

LATEST UNIWORLD UPDATE:

 

Uniworld is continuing to monitor the situation in Egypt and we are in contact with our ground handlers in Egypt.

 

At this time Uniworld is cancelling upcoming tours due to arrive in Egypt up to and including February 12, 2011, and customers may choose alternative tours or a full refund.

 

We will continually assess the forward situation and make announcements as appropriate. Clients who remain in Egypt are of course being looked after by our representatives and continuing with their itineraries as appropriate to the situation. Guest choosing to return home are also being accommodated according to flight availability.

 

Clients who plan to travel on our Egypt tours from February 13 through February 28, 2011 have the option to cancel and rebook any 2011 Uniworld program. The full value of the canceled booking will be applied toward the new booking. Guests must re-book by March 31, 2011.

 

As always, the comfort and safety of our clients is our number one priority and we will update this message as new information becomes available.

 

Should and if the situation does change we will notify all appropriate parties.

 

Please contact your Travel Professional or Uniworld at 1-800-733-7820 if you have further questions.

 

Uniworld, thank you for doing the right thing. A good business takes into consideration customers feedback when making difficult decisions.

[cruzerca]

It looks like you are comparing Uniworld's THURSDAY comments to the situation that only escalated on Friday. Their post about everything being fine was the day before the travel advisories and cancellations by airlines. On Friday, they revised their policy and offered all passengers the opportunity to rebook on any 2011 sailing.

 

Their press release didn't mention cancellation of any sailings but that could still happen if the situation continues to escalate. Have you asked them what their policy is for travelers that are unable to rebook in 2011? Did you purchase travel insurance, and if so can you get a refund thru your insurance?

 

Linda, to arrive in Cairo for UW's Jan 29 departure, you would have to leave Thurs or Fri. As of 3pm EST on Friday - UW was saying - everything's fine - we are not canceled and on schedule. Friday morning (in the US) the reports came out from State Dept, airlines etc.

 

I was simply asking/pushing for a decision - not unreasonable given the situation. Obviously timing was extremely critical.

 

Would you have left? Even if you tried you would be sitting at JFK or other for a couple of days since air carriers canceled flights.

 

Trust me I was comparing apples to apples on Friday afternoon.

[shoshona2]

Hi,

One news account just stated that there are 2,000 people at Cairo Airport trying to get out of Egypt. Can one imagine what they are going through right now????? That would be worse than having to rebook a cruise.

 

Sheila

[franski]

Actually, Windy56, I am not sure that the Uniworld's response was slow and muddled. As Nordski pointed out, their original response was on Thursday - before the travel advisories came out. They have revised their position, and posted regularly here on CC - even though the comments here have been a tad brutal.

 

In response to your comment about switching the booking, most companies in the river cruise world do not allow that (just because you change your mind) without penalty. Most deposits/bookings are non-refundable. It is quite clearly stated in the fine print. That is why it is a good idea to purchase cruise insurance.

 

This morning in the Toronto Star there has been quite a bit of press on the situation in Egypt - with some background on the people. The average wage is less than $200/month. One fifth of it's 85 million people live on less than $1/day. Unemployment is officially 10% - but may be as high as 20%. One in 4 Egyptians is illiterate - with higher rates among women. The question was asked "is it time to cancel my pyramids trip?" The Egyptian tourist industry hopes that people will still come as tourism pulls in 11% of the gross national product, and provides 1 in 8 jobs.

 

I am sure that this has not been an easy time for anyone in this situation. The situation was changing daily, and having up-to-date information is vital when making a decision such as cancelling a cruise - when to do so may significantly affect the living environment of the people in the host country. You state you would err on the side of safety, and respect any company that does the same, but how do you stack this up against a decision that may cost a family the very food on their table??

 

I realize that you are jaded as a result of your recent interactions with Uniworld, but I do give them credit for continuing to post on this thread when they must feel as if they are being attacked for their business practices. I understand your sense of frustration - and understand your reasons for not booking with them again - but (imho) I think that it is not fair for anyone to trash the company to this extent based on opinions of what the "right" response would have been. I think that a better measure would be to talk with people who are already in Egypt, and see how Uniworld - and any other tour companies - addressed the situation on site.

[Jesterscourt]

Windy, I loved what you said about "loyalty" to a cruise line. You wouldn't believe how personal people take some of the criticism of their favorite cruise line on these boards! You are right. We are consumers, not family. However, I don't want to see Uniworld unjustly criticized until the whole situation is over and we can reflect back how it was handled. They have a business to run, and it's not always easy to make everyone happy, and remain solvent.

[nema]

We are booked on Gate 1 for March 10th. My travel agent says she can't get through to Gate 1 for any info. Neither can I. Anyone have any info on what they plan to do? My trip is paid in full and so are the tickets to and from JFK as well as hotel in NY for one night. We bought the travel insurance from Gate 1 and it says it covers acts of terrorism but this is not considered terrorism. Gate 1 can you respond?

[Shorex]

Just curious, has anyone heard what the other cruise operators are doing? According to the latest story on CC, it doesn't look like any of them have outright cancelled any trips, only rerouting some of the ports of call.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=4339

 

I have no loyalty to any cruise line, but it seems that Uniworld is the only company to publicly responded at all.

 

To be fair, the NCL Jade and the MSC ships are ocean-going vessels doing Med cruises where the Alexandria port stop was only one of numerous ports. There is no imperative to cancel a Med cruise when only one port is no longer a viable option.

 

The Washington Post is reporting that parts of Egypt have fallen into "near anarchy" and another paper reports that army is protecting the Egyptian Museum from falling into the hands of looters.

 

And this from Delta:

"ATLANTA (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines Inc has suspended service to Cairo indefinitely as a result of the civil unrest in Egypt, the U.S. carrier said on its Twitter site on Friday. A company representative confirmed the move.

 

The carrier added its last flight will leave Cairo on January 29 and the resumption of service was to be determined.

 

The State Department has advised U.S. citizens to postpone nonessential travel to Egypt amid widespread protests demanding the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak."

 

Only those wearing the rosiest of glasses would not be canceling all tours in Egypt for at least several months to come.

[Windy56]

Actually, Windy56, I am not sure that the Uniworld's response was slow and muddled. As Nordski pointed out, their original response was on Thursday - before the travel advisories came out. They have revised their position, and posted regularly here on CC - even though the comments here have been a tad brutal.

 

In response to your comment about switching the booking, most companies in the river cruise world do not allow that (just because you change your mind) without penalty. Most deposits/bookings are non-refundable. It is quite clearly stated in the fine print. That is why it is a good idea to purchase cruise insurance.

 

This morning in the Toronto Star there has been quite a bit of press on the situation in Egypt - with some background on the people. The average wage is less than $200/month. One fifth of it's 85 million people live on less than $1/day. Unemployment is officially 10% - but may be as high as 20%. One in 4 Egyptians is illiterate - with higher rates among women. The question was asked "is it time to cancel my pyramids trip?" The Egyptian tourist industry hopes that people will still come as tourism pulls in 11% of the gross national product, and provides 1 in 8 jobs.

 

I am sure that this has not been an easy time for anyone in this situation. The situation was changing daily, and having up-to-date information is vital when making a decision such as cancelling a cruise - when to do so may significantly affect the living environment of the people in the host country. You state you would err on the side of safety, and respect any company that does the same, but how do you stack this up against a decision that may cost a family the very food on their table??

 

I realize that you are jaded as a result of your recent interactions with Uniworld, but I do give them credit for continuing to post on this thread when they must feel as if they are being attacked for their business practices. I understand your sense of frustration - and understand your reasons for not booking with them again - but (imho) I think that it is not fair for anyone to trash the company to this extent based on opinions of what the "right" response would have been. I think that a better measure would be to talk with people who are already in Egypt, and see how Uniworld - and any other tour companies - addressed the situation on site.

 

We'll have to agree to disagree, Franski. I hold my position that their response was slow and indecisive, compared to Avalon. I am also not naive enough to believe that Uniworld's decision had anything to do with people putting food on their plates for their families. Sorry.

[Windy56]

Windy, I loved what you said about "loyalty" to a cruise line. You wouldn't believe how personal people take some of the criticism of their favorite cruise line on these boards! You are right. We are consumers, not family. However, I don't want to see Uniworld unjustly criticized until the whole situation is over and we can reflect back how it was handled. They have a business to run, and it's not always easy to make everyone happy, and remain solvent.

 

You are right. Uniworld has a business to run and they are making business decisions, based on revenue, not based on what they think their waiting passengers are going through or concern about their crew losing wages or Egyptian vendors losing income, criteria that people on this board actually think they are applying.

 

I am, however, not unjustly criticizing Uniworld. I am watching their handling of this as carefully as I am watching other cruise lines and they just happen to be behind at this point. Again, if I had booked with them for this cruise, I would not be a happy camper, having to wait 48 hours for them to cancel a cruise which was obviously not going to take place.

[ashley@cruisecritic]

LATEST UNIWORLD UPDATE:

 

Uniworld is continuing to monitor the situation in Egypt and we are in contact with our ground handlers in Egypt.

 

At this time Uniworld is cancelling upcoming tours due to arrive in Egypt up to and including February 12, 2011, and customers may choose alternative tours or a full refund.

 

We will continually assess the forward situation and make announcements as appropriate. Clients who remain in Egypt are of course being looked after by our representatives and continuing with their itineraries as appropriate to the situation. Guest choosing to return home are also being accommodated according to flight availability.

 

Clients who plan to travel on our Egypt tours from February 13 through February 28, 2011 have the option to cancel and rebook any 2011 Uniworld program. The full value of the canceled booking will be applied toward the new booking. Guests must re-book by March 31, 2011.

 

As always, the comfort and safety of our clients is our number one priority and we will update this message as new information becomes available.

 

Should and if the situation does change we will notify all appropriate parties.

 

Please contact your Travel Professional or Uniworld at 1-800-733-7820 if you have further questions.

 

 

Uniworld, have you canceled all sailings through Feb. 12? I just want to clarify what's meant by "tours."

[GraNanny]

Linda, to arrive in Cairo for UW's Jan 29 departure, you would have to leave Thurs or Fri. As of 3pm EST on Friday - UW was saying - everything's fine - we are not canceled and on schedule. Friday morning (in the US) the reports came out from State Dept, airlines etc.

 

I was simply asking/pushing for a decision - not unreasonable given the situation. Obviously timing was extremely critical.

 

Would you have left? Even if you tried you would be sitting at JFK or other for a couple of days since air carriers canceled flights.

 

Trust me I was comparing apples to apples on Friday afternoon.

 

I absolutely wouldn't go, regardless of what their decision was! at the end of the day, my safety is more important than the cost of the cruise, if a refund were not offered.

 

I would be on the phone with them constantly as I'm sure their staff that monitors this message board doesn't consider it their top priority.

 

I'm still curious about the other cruise lines. I heard Avalon canceled their two upcoming cruises but what about their long term position? According to CC's latest update:

 

"We've spoken to a number of river-cruise tour operators, including Discover Egypt, Avalon and Cosmos Tourama. All report that they're monitoring the situation. Cosmos Tourama is not offering its usual excursions to Cairo from Luxor and Aswan, keeping passengers instead in Upper Egypt, where there's less trouble. "

 

Someone else mentioned Gate 1... have they responded? It seems to me that they are all taking the same approach. I feel so bad for all of you that are affected by this! I just hope everything is resolved soon!

[shoshona2]

If you scroll down to the other thread re Egypt, you will read that Gate 1 has cancelled all their tours to Egypt to the end of February.

 

Sheila

[GraNanny]

If you scroll down to the other thread re Egypt, you will read that Gate 1 has cancelled all their tours to Egypt to the end of February.

 

Sheila

 

Where is the other thread about Egypt?

[shoshona2]

It's about 7 threads down from here, "Has Anyone Been on the M.S. Neptune in the Nile" started by Shadowdiver and has 586 posts.

 

Sheila

[cruzerca]

Uniworld, have you canceled all sailings through Feb. 12? I just want to clarify what's meant by "tours."

 

Uniworld is swamped today (understandably) but I did get through and I was told all cruises/tours through Feb 12. This is a good business decision and once again thanks to Uniworld.

[Wineart]

I'm glad you are happy with the offer you received from Uniworld, but there are those of us who are still unhappy with their response. Since my trip isn't scheduled for 3 more weeks, the only option Uniworld is offering right now for my tour is to cancel and transfer the payment to another Uniworld tour in 2011, which unfortunately is not something I can do. The current situation in Egypt is not going to go away quietly within the next few weeks, and I do not want to risk my personal safety by traveling there until the political climate had stabilized for more than just a few weeks. Gate 1 has taken a very pragmatic and customer service oriented approach by cancelling their tours for the next 4 weeks, while Uniworld is still "monitoring" the situation.

[ashley@cruisecritic]

Uniworld is swamped today (understandably) but I did get through and I was told all cruises/tours through Feb 12. This is a good business decision and once again thanks to Uniworld.

 

Thanks for checking! I was finally able to get in touch with someone, as well, but your help is certainly appreciated.

[chloes nana]

I'm glad you are happy with the offer you received from Uniworld, but there are those of us who are still unhappy with their response. Since my trip isn't scheduled for 3 more weeks, the only option Uniworld is offering right now for my tour is to cancel and transfer the payment to another Uniworld tour in 2011, which unfortunately is not something I can do. The current situation in Egypt is not going to go away quietly within the next few weeks, and I do not want to risk my personal safety by traveling there until the political climate had stabilized for more than just a few weeks. Gate 1 has taken a very pragmatic and customer service oriented approach by cancelling their tours for the next 4 weeks, while Uniworld is still "monitoring" the situation.

If you can go to Egypt why can you not go somewhere else and plan Egypt for a later date when things are more secure?

I did and without any travel insurance and talking nicely to people I only had to pay BA a $550 cancellation and rebook fee and actually received a lesser cost on my European Jewels cruise through Uniworld, substantially lees than the online or booklet fare was I might add. If you have the time go somewhere else, I don't see it getting much better in the near future, after the Holy Holiday comes the elections! wow! won't that be fun???