Odyssey may not go to to Ashdod Israel tomorrow

[sandebeach]

We are currently still docked in Limassol Cyprus. Captain has announced that he is in communication with Miami and will let us know in an hour what we will be doing. Rumor has it that we will skip our two scheduled days in Ashdod and instead spent all three of our Israeli days in Haifa. 

[sandebeach]

Captain has just announced that, due to the geopolitical situation in Gaza, we will go to Haifa instead of Ashdod. They are working to see if they can reschedule our tours because he said it is safe to go to Jerusalem and Bethlehem. My fingers are crossed!

[Jkaczanowski]

Hi everyone!  We’re currently on Odyssey Holy Land.  We were supposed to dock Ashdod yesterday but they sent us to Haifa instead.  They just announced we’re leaving in next 30 minutes as a “red alert” has been announced.  We’re now heading to Santorini on Friday the 12th and Chania on Saturday the 13th.  I know nothing about these ports and would appreciate any help with suggestions.  
 

thank you in advance

[moposh]

Can the Shore Excursions desk help you?

 

Did people get off the ship in Haifia?  I hope everyone is onboard.

[Jkaczanowski]

We just arrived and they started immigration at 1:30.  Everyone was told to do immigration and get back on ship.  Now 5PM.  Captain came on 4:15 and said we were leaving ASAP rerouting to Santorini and Chania.  
 

shore excursions is supposed to start posting tours in next 2 hours but prefer private.  I’m also worried with everyone booking at once, things will sell out

[sandebeach]

So disappointed. We had to leave the ship and go through the terminal to clear Immigration in Haifa. Got our visa “gate pass” and returned to the ship. Everyone had to clear Immigration before the ship could reposition and move over to the regular dock. Suddenly they stopped calling group numbers to proceed to Immigration. My husband was wondering what was going on when the Captain announced that, due to the increasing geopolitical situation, Royal did not feel we were safe in Israel. We are leaving in an hour, having a sea day while we head over to Santorini and Crete. I am so disappointed. 

[firefly333]

On 5/9/2023 at 9:03 AM, sandebeach said:

We are currently still docked in Limassol Cyprus. Captain has announced that he is in communication with Miami and will let us know in an hour what we will be doing. Rumor has it that we will skip our two scheduled days in Ashdod and instead spent all three of our Israeli days in Haifa. 

Already a thread, maybe the 2 of you can get together ...I think you are on the same ship.

 

 

 

[c-leg5]

1 minute ago, firefly333 said:

Already a thread, maybe the 2 of you can get together ...I think you are on the same ship.

 

 

 

This was actually the original thread but I agree they should be combined.

 

We were supposed to be on the Rhapsody TA, which is currently en route, but cancelled when they change the homeport from Cyprus to Haifa. I wonder if they are still planning to homeport there if the situation can change that fast.

[sgmn]

Santorini is easy to DIY.  Take the tender as early as possible to the island and there should be ferry boats to shuttle you to Oia. The price includes a bus back to Fira.

Lots of info on the port pages for Greece on cruise critic. 

You need to be reasonable fit to walk up a steep hill after fitting off the ferry. 

 

[scottw3]

Did Royal offer any credit for the itinerary change?

[bigmoose7563]

9 minutes ago, scottw3 said:

Did Royal offer any credit for the itinerary change?

Always the automatic response smdh. Maybe they should just stay in the warzone and watch the missiles flying by so no one is inconvenienced.  

[sandebeach]

Thanks everybody. Santorini is my favorite Greek island but I am still disappointed in missing Jerusalem. 

[ILCTCRUISER]

If you go to RCL website and search Rhapsody cruises for this June, you will currently find 7N Greek Island cruises with Haifa as home port as well as 7N Greek Island cruises with Limassol as home port.  Sail dates are essentially the same.  It will be interesting to see how RCL handles the change of port given that most who have booked the cruises also booked air to Haifa and possibly pre-cruise hotel.  

Edited May 10, 2023 by ILCTCRUISER

[jwlane]

2 hours ago, Jkaczanowski said:

 

Chania on Saturday the 13th.  

 

 

We did a stand up paddling excursion in 2021 booked thru shore excursions group that was fantastic!

[c-leg5]

1 minute ago, ILCTCRUISER said:

If you go to RCL website and search Rhapsody cruises for this June, you will currently find 7N Greek Island cruises with Haifa as home port as well as 7N Greek Island cruises with Limassol as home port.  It will be interesting to see how RCL handles the change of port given that most who have booked the cruises also booked air to Haifa and possibly pre-cruise hotel.  

Many on the TA already had to change air and hotel arrangements. It is due to arrive next week.

 

Looks like for June they are interporting but that wasn’t an option for TA, or even the rest of May as far as I know. 

[juanrod]

Lots of good options for both stops with viator for wine tasting and private tours.  The ship should also offer catamaran tours depending on what time you are there 

Edited May 10, 2023 by juanrod

[sandebeach]

Waiting to see what the Excursion desk is able to arrange, since Odyssey does Greek Isles next cruise, they at least already have contacts in place. And I commend Shore Excursion staff, they have been great when faced with all these changes. 

[Jkaczanowski]

Shore excursions are supposed to be posted to the app once available.  Only 1 staff at Shore excursion desk at 6:30 when we walked by.  Expect they are all scrambling right now. 

[celoplyr]

1 hour ago, bigmoose7563 said:

Always the automatic response smdh. Maybe they should just stay in the warzone and watch the missiles flying by so no one is inconvenienced.  

Once in a lifetime cruise billed as going to ports that ended up cancelled... It sucks all the way around. I'm on this cruise in October, and I know it's a possibility, but I would be extremely bummed.  I'm taking my parents as a retirement trip, and I don't know if they will ever be able to go back. We are also paying a decent premium for this.

[gumshoe958]

14 minutes ago, celoplyr said:

Once in a lifetime cruise billed as going to ports that ended up cancelled... It sucks all the way around. I'm on this cruise in October, and I know it's a possibility, but I would be extremely bummed.  I'm taking my parents as a retirement trip, and I don't know if they will ever be able to go back. We are also paying a decent premium for this.

That’s the risk you take booking a cruise to a notoriously unstable part of the world. Make sure you have comprehensive insurance.

[bigmoose7563]

7 minutes ago, celoplyr said:

Once in a lifetime cruise billed as going to ports that ended up cancelled... It sucks all the way around. I'm on this cruise in October, and I know it's a possibility, but I would be extremely bummed.  I'm taking my parents as a retirement trip, and I don't know if they will ever be able to go back. We are also paying a decent premium for this.

Please explain to me what amount you paid has to do with Royal not wanting to put the ship or the passengers in harms way? 

[celoplyr]

2 minutes ago, gumshoe958 said:

That’s the risk you take booking a cruise to a notoriously unstable part of the world. Make sure you have comprehensive insurance.

We do.  And we know the risk.  But so should Royal, and they should be prepared for this as well (I was reading that the shore excursions aren't ready for the new ports, etc.)

[celoplyr]

Just now, bigmoose7563 said:

Please explain to me what amount you paid has to do with Royal not wanting to put the ship or the passengers in harms way? 

Sure, it's easy to me.  I could have paid less for a Greek Isles cruise.  If RCL is charging a premium for going to Israel, they should understand that if they decide not to put the ship or passengers in harm's way, they should have plans for undoing their premium.  Same way that the Cuba cruises that were scheduled to go, and people were on the ship, had some of that premium refunded. 

 

In a extreme view- why not put everyone on a premium port on a cruise (Havana, in the caribbean, israel in the med, etc) and then cancel that port, replace them with cheaper ports (Cozumel, Chania) and keep the money for every cruise?

 

I'm not suggesting that RCL should refund a lot, but let's say the passengers get back 50% of the premium they paid over an equivalent Greek Island cruise (which is what they got).  Then both parties are sharing in the risk. Heck, they're even homeporting in Haifa soon! Can you imagine them being like "oh sorry, you can't board the ship here, so you have to buy new flights, and we aren't refunding you"? That's insane. And other companies have run Holy Land cruises for years and this isn't a new thing that Israel is unpredictable.

[kitkat343]

I am very sorry about not being able to visit Israel, and understand that was a once in a lifetime destination for you.  We DIY in Santorini, which is quite beautiful and honestly my favorite Greek island.  The only tricky part is getting up the cable car/donkey ride/walk.  Walking - especially uphill on the donkey path was strongly discouraged, as there is a lot of donkey poop to navigate.  The cable car backed up so give yourself time to get back.  I rode the donkeys and got scraped up a bit when it pushed me against a concrete wall, and my brother lost one of his sandals.  There was (quite helpfully) a stall at the top that sells shoes (I guess he wasn't the first or the last).    

 

At times in the past, there were alternatives to the cable car/donkeys.  The cable car is a lovely ride but a 1 hour wait at peak times so if we can't find you an alternative leave time to get back.

 

I started this thread for you on the cruise critic greek forum:  

 and you can check or I'll let you know if anyone has any suggestions for better ways to get up the hill (it's gorgeous and amazing I promise once you get up there).  Some people choose a cruise tour that just drops them off at the main tourist city just for priority tendering and access to the cable car, so that's another possibility.

 

Or search for private tour guides on the cruise critic greece forum and tripadvisor and see if any of them can pick you up at the cruise terminal (not sure if this is possible but you can try contacting them.  

 

Or if the ship is in port for a long port day, choose non peak hours to disembark and return.  I was on an extended family cruise, and although I would never have wanted to leave Santorini early, they wanted to go back to the ship 2 hours early and there was no line for the cable car at that point, and it was quite lovely and empty.

 

Best of luck.

 

  

Edited May 10, 2023 by kitkat343

[kitkat343]

8 minutes ago, celoplyr said:

 

 

In a extreme view- why not put everyone on a premium port on a cruise (Havana, in the caribbean, israel in the med, etc) and then cancel that port, replace them with cheaper ports (Cozumel, Chania) and keep the money for every cruise?

 

I

It sounds like this cancellation had to happen, but with NCL things are a little concerning.  The DR was cancelled for months after they ran a ship aground, and the Spirit cancelled the inside passage after final payment:  

 

 

Edited May 10, 2023 by kitkat343