Israel dropped from all 2025 itineraries

[cruisemom42]

I've been on these boards since 2005 and Israel is often dropped from itineraries, often for far less reason than the current conflict. This new cancellation doesn't surprise me at all. I'd be more surprised if it didn't happen.

[asebastian]

6 hours ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

2026

Oops, yes! I was a year ahead 😃 Juggling 5 future cruise bookings at the moment!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

10 hours ago, asebastian said:

Oops, yes! I was a year ahead 😃 Juggling 5 future cruise bookings at the moment!

Welcome to the club.

[Mike B Landlubber]

I’m on Nieuw Statendam and our stops in Egypt went largely as scheduled. Apparently there were some issues with Egyptian port officials and we did not get to leave the ship until approximately two hours late. I was on an overnight HAL excursion to Cairo and Alexandria. We had a guard accompanying us the first day, though he kept very low profile. As part of the excursion, there was an evening outing to the bazaar and I was told that there were two guards on that trip, but I didn’t go along. The next day, I don’t believe there were any guards accompanying us. However, wherever we went, there were numerous armed guards at tourist sites, many prominently carrying assault rifles. There were metal detectors set up at the entrance to many tourist attractions, though I didn’t see them taken too seriously, they would alarm as a guest walked through and nothing would happen. Before we made port in Egypt, we received a memo from HAL urging common sense precautions, such as only leaving the ship in escorted organized groups, and staying away from demonstrations. my impression was that security concerns were more about street demonstrations where travelers might get swept up possibly unintentionally, than about the terrorist attacks we tend to worry about. I certainly hope matters improve, I would love to go back to Israel, and I never did make it through the Suez Canal, which is on my bucket list!

[CNSJ]

On 10/2/2024 at 6:42 AM, StLouisCruisers said:

We missed Yalta due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia's first invasion.

[CNSJ]

Last year we were on Nieuw Statendam inport Haifa when the war broke out. On tour at the Jordan River when our guide said we need to go back to the ship due to a "security situation."  

 

After a very thorough security check we made it back to ship.  Watched the Israeli Navy load up for battle across the harbor and sortie one after the other until we sailed that evening for an unplanned stop in Alanya, Turkey. (Didn't leave for many hours as they recalled all back to ship - one couple was on independent travel, had no cell phones connected and had to be tracked down.  In their defense, we were not supposed to sail from Haifa until the next day.)  

 

We are waiting a while before booking anything with stops in Israel or Egypt.  I hope one day to convince DW to take a Nile River journey. 

[HappyInVan]

26 minutes ago, CNSJ said:

We are waiting a while before booking anything with stops in Israel or Egypt. 

 

Very wise. The belligerents are currently in an escalation phrase. Each side matching the other's initiative and upping the ante. 

 

It is possible that once enough blood has been spilled, extremists will attack westerners again. All the standard securities measures will not stop a single person with a backpack bomb. Nor a single driver with a truck.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Nice_truck_attack

 

[StLouisCruisers]

5 hours ago, CNSJ said:

Russia's first invasion.

 

Exactly.  Sad, isn't it?

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

 

Exactly.  Sad, isn't it?

Tragic would be an even more descriptive word than sad.

[Btimmer]

On 10/2/2024 at 6:42 AM, StLouisCruisers said:

 

We went to the Black Sea in 2014 on Prinsendam.  It was a wonderful cruise.  We visited Burgas, Bulgaria; Constanta, Romania; Batumi, Georgia; Trabzon and Sinop, Turkey.  We missed Yalta due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

We were on that cruise and I agree that it was a wonderful cruise.

[CNSJ]

4 hours ago, StLouisCruisers said:

 

Exactly.  Sad, isn't it?

yes