What are the odds that HAL will skip Israel in October?

[whogo]

I have been considering the 30 day Holy Land & Journey to the New World Prinsendam cruise since before the Hamas/Israel situation ignited. What are the odds that Holland America will skip the Israel ports? When will they make the decision? When will they announce the decision? Guesses, anyone?

 

Day Date Port Arrive Depart

0 21 Oct 2014 Piraeus (Athens), Greece 05:00 PM

1 22 Oct 2014 At Sea

2 23 Oct 2014 Alexandria (Cairo), Egypt 06:00 AM 08:00 PM

3 24 Oct 2014 Port Said, Egypt 09:00 AM 07:00 PM

4 25 Oct 2014 Haifa, Israel 08:00 AM 09:00 PM

5 26 Oct 2014 Ashdod (Jerusalem), Israel 07:00 AM 08:00 PM

6 27 Oct 2014 At Sea

7 28 Oct 2014 Marmaris, Turkey 08:00 AM 04:00 PM

8 29 Oct 2014 Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey 07:00 AM 07:00 PM

9 30 Oct 2014 Iraklion (Crete), Greece 10:00 AM 06:00 PM

10 31 Oct 2014 Katakolon, Greece 09:00 AM 05:00 PM

11 01 Nov 2014 At Sea

12 02 Nov 2014 Taormina, Italy TR 08:00 AM 04:00 PM

13 03 Nov 2014 Naples, Italy 08:00 AM 06:00 PM

14 04 Nov 2014 Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy 07:00 AM 04:00 PM

15 05 Nov 2014 At Sea

16 06 Nov 2014 At Sea

17 07 Nov 2014 Cadiz (Seville), Spain 10:00 AM 11:00 PM

18 08 Nov 2014 Portimao, Portugal TC 08:00 AM 05:00 PM

19 09 Nov 2014 Lisbon, Portugal 08:00 AM 05:00 PM

20 10 Nov 2014 At Sea

21 11 Nov 2014 At Sea

22 12 Nov 2014 Ponta Delgada, Portugal 08:00 AM 05:00 PM

23 13 Nov 2014 Horta, Portugal TR 08:00 AM 03:00 PM

24 14 Nov 2014 At Sea

25 15 Nov 2014 At Sea

26 16 Nov 2014 At Sea

27 17 Nov 2014 At Sea

28 18 Nov 2014 At Sea

29 19 Nov 2014 At Sea

30 20 Nov 2014 Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US 07:00 AM

[LMaxwell]

If I were to bet on it, I would say the odds of skipping Israel ports are greater than not. When would they announce? Probably on board as they would WANT to make the port but change if necessary as actions in the region would warrant. I would be hopeful to go but realistically speaking I would prepare not to hit those ports.

[zookiebird]

JMHO, but I think LMaxwell's assessment is spot on.

[Viesczy]

^agreeing with Zookie and Lmax. Unless there is a miracle, like peace on all the Earth sorta miracle, I'm betting they're going to skip the ports.

 

Derek

[sail7seas]

The way things are currently going, I would not count on ships porting in Israel anytime very soon.

 

[Eboracum_d]

We have twice booked for cruises which included Israeli ports and each time we missed out, on the first occasion, we heard about 10 days before. On the second we were told only as we embarked.

[chrispb]

Middle East has always been pretty volatile in one area or another. Sometimes they can settle back down pretty quickly but I'm not too optimistic

this time.

 

I think some ports are cancelled/changed far too early, though. Very frustrating for those who cancel their cruises because they don't like the changes.

 

Seems there are not many places in the world which hasn't got troubles at the moment.

[Fouremco]

The more important question that you might want to ask yourself is whether you want to be onboard if HAL decides not to bypass Israel. It's not always best to leave important decisions to others, especially when it comes to your personal safety. A lot of factors other than the lives of passengers go into the decision made by HAL and other carriers. I'm not faulting them, but simply saying that you sometimes need to make hard decisions yourself, based on your own priorities.

[PathfinderEss]

If things keep on going like they are now, I think you have a good chance they will be skipping Israel.

[KirkNC]

I agree with the others, odds are they will have to skip but don't expect a lot of notice.

[cb at sea]

Even if they don't stop that route, I wouldn't be taking it! That entire region is nuts.

[Skipchew]

I think travelling to the Middle East at the moment is insane.

[SilvertoGold]

Anyone think HAL will go along with the schedule and stop in Egypt?

 

A few years ago we had Casablanca cancelled two days before the scheduled arrival.

Edited July 29, 2014 by SilvertoGold

[Scrapnana]

From my experience, they will wait as long as possible before announcing the cancellation. No idea how much before that corporate actually makes the decision. (The cancelling of our ports in Egypt was announced four weeks before we were due to be there.)

 

I'm wondering if the Egyptian ports on that cruise will be cancelled as well.

[Krazy Kruizers]

The situation doesn't seem to be getting any better in Israel.

I am sure glad that we visited Israel and Egypt back in the 90's. I wouldn't consider a cruise or land trip there at all right now.

[Typhoon1]

50/50, We'll have to wait and see how this thing plays out.

[whogo]

My guess as the OP is that the ports will be cancelled with the announcement made less than a month before sailing. The decision might already have been made, we will never know.

 

The prices will plummet after final payment. Current prices are :

$3499 interior

$4249 outside

$5599 vista suite

$6999 signature suite

$14399 neptune suite

[kazu]

From my experience, they will wait as long as possible before announcing the cancellation. No idea how much before that corporate actually makes the decision. (The cancelling of our ports in Egypt was announced four weeks before we were due to be there.)

 

I'm wondering if the Egyptian ports on that cruise will be cancelled as well.

 

My experience so far in Europe is that HAL has given us notice.

 

We had notice for the Ukraine long before it exploded to the level it has now and the itinerary was changed.

 

We had notice for a change in the way to get to Seville a couple of years ago when we were supposed to go upriver but the silt hadn't been cleaned by the Spanish Government.

 

both of those notices were at least 6 months before the cruise if memory serves me correctly.

 

Obviously for Israel HAL is on a wait and see and that's understandable.

 

I suspect they will make a decision before the cruise - I could be wrong of course but if things continue as they are they won't wait.

 

The only ports we were 'surprised' in at the last minute was a port whose dock was destroyed by a storm and a much loved excursion that was ruined by mud slides (too dangerous to go). We still docked at the latter port.

 

They will have to make a call I think as it takes time to get new itineraries and ports.

 

Oceania cancelled their Israel stops for their September 8th sailing but the rest are on a wait and see (or at least they were the last time I looked).

 

I suspect an announcement will be made before sailing. I guess we shall see.

 

Likelihood of going - it depends upon what happens. If things are as they are right now, I would say no.

[eandj]

Even if they don't stop that route, I wouldn't be taking it! That entire region is nuts.

 

Agree. If the OP waited this long, why choose this itinerary now? :eek:There's too many stops in the region that would need to be cancelled. Too depending on travel warnings, getting travel insurance could be a problem.

Edited July 29, 2014 by eandj

[AlohaPride]

At this point, I'd be asking myself if I would be happy with the itinerary WITHOUT Israel. :(

[cruisemom42]

If things keep on going like they are now, I think you have a good chance they will be skipping Israel.

 

Yes, I agree. But the key thing you mention is if things keep on like they are now. Things flare up and quiet down relatively quickly (though this time is more serious than many over the past few years...) But who knows -- a cease fire could be agreed upon tomorrow and by the end of October it'll be old news.

 

My experience so far in Europe is that HAL has given us notice.

 

We had notice for the Ukraine long before it exploded to the level it has now and the itinerary was changed.

 

I wouldn't count on it. Several folks have already posted their experience on HAL in this neck of the woods. My parents have twice had ports cancelled on them on long HAL cruises + TA (once it was ports in Egypt and once in Tunisia). Neither time did HAL let them know anything prior to boarding, although they had strong suspicions.

 

Interestingly, the ship I was on, Minerva, operated by Swan Hellenic, was sailing the southern Med at the same time that my parents were on HAL. Our ship made the two scheduled calls in Tunisia, but HAL cancelled, despite the fact that there had been nothing to set off any alarm bells for months before that....

 

I can't figure out why, if HAL was going to cancel anyway (since there were no new incidents, it had to have been a foregone decision), they didn't let people know in advance of sailing.

Edited July 29, 2014 by cruisemom42

[mamaofami]

October is a long way off, and this situation might be over by then. Personally, I would not be wanting to stop in Israel right now. My grandson was supposed to spend next school year there, but the college he was accepted to and he wants to go to, would not defer his admission which made me very happy.

[andrewjv1955]

Having lived in Israel, in Jerusalem, both outside the Old City, and inside the Old City, which is where most people want to go, especially when on a cruise ship, I would say that the chances of even getting to the Old City from Haifa (the main port) is slim to none even if the ship did dock in Israel. The security would be tremendous around all of the holy shrines (Christian, Muslim or Jewish) and you'd spend an inordinate amount of time just getting in and out of the port for security reasons.

 

Whenever you board a vessel in Israel (coming or going) there is a tremendous amount of security and given the current situation, it would be far more intense adding to a longer delay. So a excursion, for example, of shopping and a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchure in the Old City (Christian Quarter) or the Western Wall (Jewish Quarter) would include security getting off the ship and into Israel and then getting back off the ship.

 

Pray for peace in the Holy Land as everyone suffers when there is trouble as you can see by all the disappointment by travelers who want to visit the wonderful sites in the Holy Land but can't.

Edited July 30, 2014 by andrewjv1955

[Commodore]

Yes, I agree. But the key thing you mention is if things keep on like they are now. Things flare up and quiet down relatively quickly (though this time is more serious than many over the past few years...) But who knows -- a cease fire could be agreed upon tomorrow and by the end of October it'll be old news.

 

 

 

I wouldn't count on it. Several folks have already posted their experience on HAL in this neck of the woods. My parents have twice had ports cancelled on them on long HAL cruises + TA (once it was ports in Egypt and once in Tunisia). Neither time did HAL let them know anything prior to boarding, although they had strong suspicions.

 

Interestingly, the ship I was on, Minerva, operated by Swan Hellenic, was sailing the southern Med at the same time that my parents were on HAL. Our ship made the two scheduled calls in Tunisia, but HAL cancelled, despite the fact that there had been nothing to set off any alarm bells for months before that....

 

I can't figure out why, if HAL was going to cancel anyway (since there were no new incidents, it had to have been a foregone decision), they didn't let people know in advance of sailing.

 

I agree, the cruise lines should advise passengers before boarding and let them choose to cancel if they wish so.

[sail7seas]

My guess as the OP is that the ports will be cancelled with the announcement made less than a month before sailing. The decision might already have been made, we will never know.

 

The prices will plummet after final payment. Current prices are :

$3499 interior

$4249 outside

$5599 vista suite

$6999 signature suite

$14399 neptune suite

 

 

 

Seeing you have waited this long, were I you, I'd consider waiting until after final payment before booking. It is reasonable to think it possible for price drops but you should be prepared for itinerary change.

 

Depending on your 'must' for this cruise, the value could be worth it even if sadly stops in Israel are cancelled.