Sharm el-Sheikh & Worldies

[Victoria '82]

Gosh, all this business in Sharm el-Sheikh makes me wonder what might happen to the 2017 World Cruise itineraries and will P&O change them to avoid the area. Aurora is actually scheduled to make a call at Sharm el-Sheikh and Arcadia, which we are booked will be transiting the Suez Canal. Fortunately neither of the ships are heading that way for the 2016 Worldies.

I guess we sort of feel safe on the ships, certainly more so than flying BUT it is nonetheless a heck of a target with a whole lot of Brits or indeed Americans all in one place. Sorry don't mean to frighten anyone.

A day or two following the 9/11 tragedy, we were on the old Arcadia moored in Gibraltar, those of you have been there will know the airport runway is adjacent to the port. Well we, along with a lot of other passengers were lounging on deck when an aircraft literally flew over the deck to land at the airport. You have never seen so many folk jump out of their loungers as the aircraft descended in its approach towards us, it was really frightening.

I for one hope P&O change the route via South Africa. Any other views.

 

Vicky

_________________

 

114 P&O cruises, 10 in the pipeline

[jeanlyon]

Re Gibraltar, if the wind was in the wrong direction, the aircraft land on the more unusual runway and may have looked close to the ship. I used to land there a lot.

 

Re Sharm, wouldn't matter if they didn't stop there. It's only beach, beach and more beach. Lots of other more interesting places to visit like Jordan.

[Scrapnana]

Gosh' date=' all this business in Sharm el-Sheikh makes me wonder what might happen to the 2017 World Cruise itineraries and will P&O change them to avoid the area. Aurora is actually scheduled to make a call at Sharm el-Sheikh and Arcadia, which we are booked will be transiting the Suez Canal. Fortunately neither of the ships are heading that way for the 2016 Worldies.

I guess we sort of feel safe on the ships, certainly more so than flying BUT it is nonetheless a heck of a target with a whole lot of Brits or indeed Americans all in one place. Sorry don't mean to frighten anyone.

A day or two following the 9/11 tragedy, we were on the old Arcadia moored in Gibraltar, those of you have been there will know the airport runway is adjacent to the port. Well we, along with a lot of other passengers were lounging on deck when an aircraft literally flew over the deck to land at the airport. You have never seen so many folk jump out of their loungers as the aircraft descended in its approach towards us, it was really frightening.

I for one hope P&O change the route via South Africa. Any other views.

 

Vicky

_________________

 

114 P&O cruises, 10 in the pipeline[/quote']

 

If there are still any issues the port will be cancelled. I was on the QE World Voyage and all our ports in Egypt were cancelled.

[dsrdsrdsr]

Re Gibraltar, if the wind was in the wrong direction, the aircraft land on the more unusual runway and may have looked close to the ship. I used to land there a lot.

 

Re Sharm, wouldn't matter if they didn't stop there. It's only beach, beach and more beach. Lots of other more interesting places to visit like Jordan.

 

I don't think the concern is whether or not the ship stops at Sharm. It's the thought of being a target while going through the Suez Canal that's the worry.

[dorsetlad]

Why worry about something that's not due to happen for another 2 years. You'll worry yourself into an early grave. lol

 

Brian

[jeanlyon]

Oh I see, well we didn't stop at any Egyptian ports on Balmoral, they were cancelled and that was 2 years ago, but we did go through Suez. I don't think I would be worried about the Canal. I don't fly these days though!

[Victoria '82]

Why worry about something that's not due to happen for another 2 years. You'll worry yourself into an early grave. lol

 

Brian

 

Thanks for your terrific advice and deep thought!!! By the way, just to get the maths right, 2017 is just over a year away. lol

 

Vicky

[Host Sharon]

Re Gibraltar, if the wind was in the wrong direction, the aircraft land on the more unusual runway and may have looked close to the ship. I used to land there a lot.

 

Re Sharm, wouldn't matter if they didn't stop there. It's only beach, beach and more beach. Lots of other more interesting places to visit like Jordan.

 

The ships call at Sharm to visit Safaga. I for one will be disappointed if it is cancelled but that is life today! Who knows what things will be like in 14 months time.

[davecttr]

The ships call at Sharm to visit Safaga. I for one will be disappointed if it is cancelled but that is life today! Who knows what things will be like in 14 months time.

 

Safaga is about 80 miles away from Sharm, the other side of the Red Sea :confused::confused: Plus it is a dump!

 

Aqaba in Jordan is the port of choice with Petra, the Dead Sea and Wadi Rum (Lawrence of Arabia) the best excursions. I went to Petra and Wadi Rum, we had a overnighter, and they were excellent. Back then Thomson Celebration used Sharm as its home port for the winter season but they dropped it when the troubles worsened. Sharm airport was a shambles back then as well. We sat on the runway for over an hour because the Thomson captain refused to take off as the baggage manifest did not match the number of passengers aboard the plane. He told us they might have to unload all the cases and we would have to identify them individually. Luckily it turned out to be a mistake in the baggage manifest.

[dorsetlad]

Thanks for your terrific advice and deep thought!!! By the way' date=' just to get the maths right, 2017 is just over a year away. lol

 

Vicky[/quote']

 

My point, admittedly tongue in cheek, was why worry about something in the future that may not even happen. We have enough to concern us at the present time. Just enjoy life and take it as it comes.

 

Brian

[bee-ess]

The ships call at Sharm to visit Safaga. I for one will be disappointed if it is cancelled but that is life today! Who knows what things will be like in 14 months time.

 

We docked in Safaga for 2 days a couple of years ago and it is a dump - nothing much to do if you don't want the long coach tours to the nile sights. Quite near to Hurghada and that is another dump. Aqaba for Petra/Wadi Rum is the star of that area.

Edited November 8, 2015 by bee-ess

[Florry]

I don't want to think too hard about risk of terrorism [emoji53]

[jeanlyon]

agree - Petra is absolutely wonderful. We chose the first leg of Balmoral worldie to see just that. They cancelled all Egypt ports and we called at a couple of other places which escape me at the moment.

[Host Sharon]

Sorry - getting my Ss confused - Safaga for Luxor of course. Well the Aurora 2017 worldie goes to Aquaba and Sharm so there must be something to do there - tours into Sinai, safaris, swimming with dolphins ...?

[BalkanCruiser]

We are on a Costa Cruise starting 26th November from Savona, Italy, to Dubai and this port plus Haifa and Port Said were removed from our itinerary months ago because of the 'problems'.