Getting a bit worried about our QE cruise

[alibabacruisers]

Hi everyone!  I just thought I would share our worry about our upcoming cruise on QE Barcelona to Melbourne October 30.  I am a worrier and try to try to think ahead a bit. I hope you will bear with me while I try to make some sense of the situation. 

 

We are due to begin the cruise in Barcelona, then on to Crete, then the Suez Canal to Egypt.  We are getting increasingly nervous about the current events in the world and hoping that things settle, but don't feel too confident.  We have not heard anything from Cunard, but I don't expect to at this point.

 

This started us thinking about possible scenarios.  We know that QE is working her way to Australia for the Australian season so we've been looking at the wall map and trying to think of possible ideas.  I sure hope they don't cancel outright, which I kind doubt they would do.  Maybe shorter jaunts around the Western Med, maybe Lisbon, Canary Islands down around the southern coast of Africa and then over to Australia; what do you think?  I am trying to prepare myself and hubby for alternatives just in case.  Does anyone have experience in these areas of travel or would you be willing to share some ideas?

 

We would just be happy to be on the ship (QE) for travel back home so that is something at least because it has been 4 years since we were last on Cunard and are missing it a lot.

 

Thank you so much for listening and any advice!

[NE John]

The Gaza Strip is 100+ miles from the Suez Canal. Plus, this war is more land based (or near coastal) vs an ocean/naval conflict. 

Keep all this in mind. 
We were in the Black Sea cruise on QE visiting Crimea and Ukraine before Putin invaded the Crimea Peninsula and understand how you feel about the uncertainty of this conflict. 

It would take a huge escalation of this crisis to affect the Suez Canal or close it down.  I would feel confident Cunard will take all steps to keep all out of harm’s way. 
 

Edited October 10, 2023 by NE John

[alibabacruisers]

Thank you so much John!  That is just the thing I needed to hear as I am not good on geographical on historical information.  That is some experience you offer with you being on QE before the Ukraine war!

 

Thank you again!  I really appreciate you taking the time to help me! 🙂

 

[sfred]

Another consideration is that Cunard intends to base QE in the Pacific full time for the next few years (at least), rotating between Aus/NZ, Japan, and Alaska.  So Cunard will likely do what it takes to safely get QE out from the Med and down to Australia.  Should worse come to worse and the Suez becomes an issue, she could get to Australia by going back out past Gibralter, around Africa, and across to Fremantle.  Different ports and probably more sea days, but the ship would likely get you home to Melbourne, maybe plus or minus a few days.

 

I hope some peaceful resolution can be found for the events in Israel, but it is hard to imagine what that might take.  Sympathies for all those affected.

[NE John]

1 hour ago, sfred said:

Another consideration is that Cunard intends to base QE in the Pacific full time for the next few years (at least), rotating between Aus/NZ, Japan, and Alaska.  So Cunard will likely do what it takes to safely get QE out from the Med and down to Australia.  Should worse come to worse and the Suez becomes an issue, she could get to Australia by going back out past Gibralter, around Africa, and across to Fremantle.  Different ports and probably more sea days, but the ship would likely get you home to Melbourne, maybe plus or minus a few days.

 

I hope some peaceful resolution can be found for the events in Israel, but it is hard to imagine what that might take.  Sympathies for all those affected.

 

Edited October 10, 2023 by NE John

[Victoria2]

Think practically. In today's litigious world,  Carnival would be sued to heaven and back if anything harmed a hair on their clients' heads so whatever the itinerary, the safety of the ship and 'contents', as always to be fair, will be paramount.

Edited October 10, 2023 by Victoria2

[Pushpit]

Below is an extract from Marine Traffic today. As you can see there is some emptiness near Gaza, but otherwise there are billions, if not trillions, of dollars of hardware going through Suez right now. Protected by a large number of navy vessels from multiple Western countries keen to protect a global economy so dependent on Suez.

 

Ultimately Carnival corporately down to the Master on the bridge will have the facts and figures necessary to do their job, and we can have confidence that they will make decisions based on what they know and from their considerable experience. This isn't the first time this sort of thing has happened. Clearly it's good to keep informed and have one's own plans and mitigations (e.g. list of telephone numbers) but personally I wouldn't be too concerned at this point.

 

[alibabacruisers]

Thanks sfred, victoria2 and pushpit! All valud points and I value you all.  Thanks again.

[NE John]

Here’s some news today regarding this subject. I wonder how Cunard World Cruises will be affected. Rockets are being fired from Yemen over the Red Sea towards Israel and US Navy ships are active in the Red Sea. 

From today:

MSC Cruises announced that is has cancelled all sailings scheduled to call at destinations in the Red Sea until April 17, 2024 due to the ongoing conflict in Israel.
 

@alibabacruisers Any updates regarding your upcoming cruise?

Edited October 24, 2023 by NE John

[WantedOnVoyage]

Insurance premiums will dictate this in the end I suspect but if "they" decide to avoid Suez and Red Sea, which is not really really a "short cut" to Australia anyway... if needed, and on short notice, QE could easily be re-routed Barcelona-Las Palmas-Cape Town-Durban-Fremantle-Melbourne or some variation of the same.  A wonderful itinerary in its own right I might suggest. 

 

The nice thing about a ship rather than an hotel or resort... it can be readily moved.  And it might give Cunard's itinerary planners the kick in the trousers to come up with some new stuff, too....!

[Bmj276l]

We are due next April on qm2 to board at Dubai and come back to Southampton.

I am uncomfortable with this trip now as I have little knowledge on the Suez Canal and if likely to be affected by this dreadful conflict.

what are my options if I cancel. Will I lose my deposit or could I transfer the monies to a shorter mini breakt type cruise with Cunard .

I haven’t spoken to them yet as it’s still being discussed 

 

[Victoria2]

51 minutes ago, Bmj276l said:

We are due next April on qm2 to board at Dubai and come back to Southampton.

I am uncomfortable with this trip now as I have little knowledge on the Suez Canal and if likely to be affected by this dreadful conflict.

what are my options if I cancel. Will I lose my deposit or could I transfer the monies to a shorter mini breakt type cruise with Cunard .

I haven’t spoken to them yet as it’s still being discussed 

 

Depending on fare type and assuming you're a UK  booker, you can transfer your deposit to another cruise as long as it's the same or just £1 more in cost, time scale to be researched.

If you cancel, you lose your deposit under UK T&Cs.

 

However, I will repeat what I've already said, Cunard will most definitely not want to risk an enormous payout should anything happen to their passengers as a result of any conflict never mind their ship. I'd wait it out. if 'things' get to the point the FO advise against travel, you will get your money back. If they don't and Cunard aren't bothered about re routing, then I wouldn't be bothered either. If they re route, you might find you can claim deposit back because of significant itinerary change.

[Poole Boy]

3 hours ago, Bmj276l said:

We are due next April on qm2 to board at Dubai and come back to Southampton.

I am uncomfortable with this trip now as I have little knowledge on the Suez Canal and if likely to be affected by this dreadful conflict.

what are my options if I cancel. Will I lose my deposit or could I transfer the monies to a shorter mini breakt type cruise with Cunard .

I haven’t spoken to them yet as it’s still being discussed 

 

The Suez is a major shipping route, there would have to be a major escolation for the Suez to close.

 

 If Cunard decide to re route, then the ship will not call at Dubai and you will get a full refund, as they would have to re route by going round southern Africa, to get back to Europe from SE Asia. likely re route legs would be Singapore - Cape Town , Cape Town - Southampton

 

If you  decide you still don't want to travel, then you should have the option to transfer you booking or cancel and lose your deposit.

 

Due to the importance of the Suez Canal, western governments will do every thing that can to keep it open and safe for shipping to transit, as they already to with warship escorts and a big navel presence in the red sea due to the pirate threats.   FYI QE transited the Suez without incident about a week ago.

[exlondoner]

15 minutes ago, Poole Boy said:

The Suez is a major shipping route, there would have to be a major escolation for the Suez to close.

 

 If Cunard decide to re route, then the ship will not call at Dubai and you will get a full refund, as they would have to re route by going round southern Africa, to get back to Europe from SE Asia. likely re route legs would be Singapore - Cape Town , Cape Town - Southampton

 

If you  decide you still don't want to travel, then you should have the option to transfer you booking or cancel and lose your deposit.

 

Due to the importance of the Suez Canal, western governments will do every thing that can to keep it open and safe for shipping to transit, as they already to with warship escorts and a big navel presence in the red sea due to the pirate threats.   FYI QE transited the Suez without incident about a week ago.

I should think the Egyptian Government is pretty keen on it staying open too.

[NE John]

The issue from @Bmj276l is the Dubai call and since Dubai is on the Persian Gulf right across from Iran and the QE needs to pass the Straights of Hormuz, that’s a different and more serious concern over the Suez Canal if this conflict expands to include Iran. 
While I feel assured that Cunard will make the right decisions about pax safety, I believe every traveler should do what’s comfortable for one’s own. It’s a tough call. 

Our original plan earlier this year was to go to France then take the TA back but we canceled the France segment because of the pension related riots across France so we spent 10 great days in the UK before the TA. Ironically I booked the TA first then build the trip around that. 

Edited November 14, 2023 by NE John

[alibabacruisers]

We had no issues in the Suez Canal, Egypt or Oman.