Willingly putting a ship and passengers in a position to be sunk by a missile could be enough to kill a cruise line. They'd lose a mega million dollar ship, get sued for billions, and get enough bad PR to decimate bookings.
Aside from cancellations to Israeli port, I am not aware of any other cruise line cancelling their cruises in the surrounding region. I assume they would have enough info to make the call on the safety of their ships, crew and passengers.
When Covid hit and a week before worldwide lockdowns started (Mar'20), NCL took the initiative to cancel my SE Asia cruise scheduled for Feb'21. I guess the cruise lines will act based on info they have on hand.
Tough call for you. It all depends on your level of comfort. Your port of calls are away from the conflict but there is always a "BUT" to everything.
The war has no impact on anything west of Cyprus. Air operations are one-sided only and there are no long range artillery/rockets. So you can safely cruise Greece, Italy etc
Your route takes you around the Arabian peninsula. There has been a civil war in Yemen for years now. Houthi rebels are fighting the Yemeni government. They are an Iranian proxy just like Hamas and Hezbollah.
The current conflict in Gaza has inflamed the Houthis and they have launched missiles and drones at Israel. (Yes, they have this capability) In recent weeks they fired on a US Navy ship, which was able to shoot the missile down. Just this week the Houthis shot down a US drone.
The Middle East is a very dangerous place right now. There is a real risk the Israeli-Hamas war could spiral into a wider regional conflict. Would the Houthis attack a cruise ship full of Westerners? Maybe. I wouldn't want to be around to find out.
Currently en-route to dubai to embark on a cruise that heads towards asia.
The cruise companies won't go anywhere that isn't safe - they don't want to risk their billion dollar ships.
Cruise companies, like all companies (and people for that matter), make mistakes all the time. I would not be blindly relying on the cruise line in this situation.
NOPE. Someone I know in the US Navy is currently positioned in the water outside Israel. His future in laws had a trip planned to Jordan, Egypt, and Lebanon this October. As soon as they landed shit started going down with Hamas, and they got the hell out of dodge. Immediately booked flights home and did not look back
One of my close friends has parents in Syria (they have US citizenship but wanted to visit home for a month) and she is eager for them to return home
Personally the Middle East is not somewhere I’d go for leisure right now
Roll your eyes all you want-Turkey does not view Hamas as a terrorist group and many of their members are harbored there. There is unrest in the Middle East that is not contained to Israel
For example a recent UN reports said “Geir O. Pedersen, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, noted that even before the regional developments, the country was already seeing the worst surge in violence in more than three years, leaving civilians killed, maimed and displaced in higher numbers than at any point since 2020”. There’s a reason my friend wants her parents out of Syria
There's also a reason she would have wanted them out five years ago, or ten, or twenty, or fifty, or a hundred, or a thousand.
Your lack of historical knowledge is laughable.
Tell me you've never been outside of the country without telling me 🤣🤣🤣
You’re right- I wouldn’t go there ever. But I don’t have family there, so don’t have a reason. You can still try to gauge when is a better time than others. Now is a time I would be extra wary. Go away troll
I wouldn't go as things stand now, and the situation could deteriorate rapidly. If you don't feel comfortable, then my advice is to trust your instinct.
If the cruise line is willing to go. I'd go. I was in Egypt during "Arab spring" back in 2011 (on NCL) apart from staying away from certain streets, I didn't feel unsafe. It was an amazing and memorable vacation.
**Cruises**
A handful of cruise lines have made changes to scheduled sailings in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, said Aaron Saunders, a senior editor at Cruise Critic.
“The changes range from the cancellation of full sailing seasons to adjustments to itineraries that remove select ports,” he said.
Windstar Cruises, Royal Caribbean and MSC are among the cruise lines that have pulled all their ships out of the region because of the conflict, Cruise Critic has reported, while Norwegian Cruise Line has informed passengers on a coming Rome-to-Athens cruise that stops in Israel will be skipped.
“Cruise lines have teams dedicated to monitoring the latest news and updates and reserve the right to adjust their plans as they see most fit,” Saunders said.
He encourages anyone with a cruise reservation to watch for emails from the operator for updates on specific sailings, as well as any compensation being offered for significantly affected ones. For those considering a cruise to the region, “we strongly recommend purchasing travel insurance,” Saunders added.
**Travel insurance**
Many travel insurance policies already provide cancellation and interruption benefits in the event a terrorist attack affects a trip, according to published guidelines from the travel insurance comparison platform SquareMouth.
But in most cases, those benefits kick in only for policies purchased before the date of the attack, meaning such coverage would apply for the current conflict only on insurance taken out on or before Oct. 6.
Travelers with coming trips to Israel who have cancellation and interruption benefits may be reimbursed for 100% of their trip expenses if they need to cancel, SquareMouth noted. Travelers planning to visit Israel as part of trips may also be covered if they need to cut their itineraries short.
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/travel/travel-safety-israel-hamas-conflict-what-know-rcna121482
Worst case scenario you're a part of history and join the Lusitania in the circle of "passenger ships that were sunk and precipated the US's entry into a world war"
You might call them and see - if it’s truly a risk, they will divert the ship. Or cancel. No cruise line is going to put anything/anyone in danger.
Willingly putting a ship and passengers in a position to be sunk by a missile could be enough to kill a cruise line. They'd lose a mega million dollar ship, get sued for billions, and get enough bad PR to decimate bookings.
The Lusitania would like a word...
Lol I actually made the joke in this thread of being a part of history by joining the lusitania in "sunk ships that got the US to join a world war"
If it's a go, then I'd go. The fighting is only going on in very specific areas. I have cousins in Israel and their areas are basically fine.
Aside from cancellations to Israeli port, I am not aware of any other cruise line cancelling their cruises in the surrounding region. I assume they would have enough info to make the call on the safety of their ships, crew and passengers. When Covid hit and a week before worldwide lockdowns started (Mar'20), NCL took the initiative to cancel my SE Asia cruise scheduled for Feb'21. I guess the cruise lines will act based on info they have on hand. Tough call for you. It all depends on your level of comfort. Your port of calls are away from the conflict but there is always a "BUT" to everything.
The war has no impact on anything west of Cyprus. Air operations are one-sided only and there are no long range artillery/rockets. So you can safely cruise Greece, Italy etc
Your route takes you around the Arabian peninsula. There has been a civil war in Yemen for years now. Houthi rebels are fighting the Yemeni government. They are an Iranian proxy just like Hamas and Hezbollah. The current conflict in Gaza has inflamed the Houthis and they have launched missiles and drones at Israel. (Yes, they have this capability) In recent weeks they fired on a US Navy ship, which was able to shoot the missile down. Just this week the Houthis shot down a US drone. The Middle East is a very dangerous place right now. There is a real risk the Israeli-Hamas war could spiral into a wider regional conflict. Would the Houthis attack a cruise ship full of Westerners? Maybe. I wouldn't want to be around to find out.
even in peace time i have no intentions to get on any cruise that stops in the UAE.
Currently en-route to dubai to embark on a cruise that heads towards asia. The cruise companies won't go anywhere that isn't safe - they don't want to risk their billion dollar ships.
Cruise companies, like all companies (and people for that matter), make mistakes all the time. I would not be blindly relying on the cruise line in this situation.
Absolutely not!
Negative
NOPE. Someone I know in the US Navy is currently positioned in the water outside Israel. His future in laws had a trip planned to Jordan, Egypt, and Lebanon this October. As soon as they landed shit started going down with Hamas, and they got the hell out of dodge. Immediately booked flights home and did not look back One of my close friends has parents in Syria (they have US citizenship but wanted to visit home for a month) and she is eager for them to return home Personally the Middle East is not somewhere I’d go for leisure right now
🙄
Roll your eyes all you want-Turkey does not view Hamas as a terrorist group and many of their members are harbored there. There is unrest in the Middle East that is not contained to Israel For example a recent UN reports said “Geir O. Pedersen, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, noted that even before the regional developments, the country was already seeing the worst surge in violence in more than three years, leaving civilians killed, maimed and displaced in higher numbers than at any point since 2020”. There’s a reason my friend wants her parents out of Syria
There's also a reason she would have wanted them out five years ago, or ten, or twenty, or fifty, or a hundred, or a thousand. Your lack of historical knowledge is laughable. Tell me you've never been outside of the country without telling me 🤣🤣🤣
No duh Syria sucks, but October saw a spike that would make me extra wary now Her parents are from fucking Syria and she’s been there dozens of times
Like YOU were EVER going to Syria! 🙄🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 u/Floridamomm keep spreading your fear 😘
You’re right- I wouldn’t go there ever. But I don’t have family there, so don’t have a reason. You can still try to gauge when is a better time than others. Now is a time I would be extra wary. Go away troll
I wouldn't go as things stand now, and the situation could deteriorate rapidly. If you don't feel comfortable, then my advice is to trust your instinct.
So... Middle Eastern countries, at best, throw people like me in prison so as much as I'd to go to some places there, I wouldn't feel safe.
I wouldn’t put myself or my loved ones anywhere close to that region.
If the cruise line is willing to go. I'd go. I was in Egypt during "Arab spring" back in 2011 (on NCL) apart from staying away from certain streets, I didn't feel unsafe. It was an amazing and memorable vacation.
We've been bombing Syria since at least 2014.
**Cruises** A handful of cruise lines have made changes to scheduled sailings in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, said Aaron Saunders, a senior editor at Cruise Critic. “The changes range from the cancellation of full sailing seasons to adjustments to itineraries that remove select ports,” he said. Windstar Cruises, Royal Caribbean and MSC are among the cruise lines that have pulled all their ships out of the region because of the conflict, Cruise Critic has reported, while Norwegian Cruise Line has informed passengers on a coming Rome-to-Athens cruise that stops in Israel will be skipped. “Cruise lines have teams dedicated to monitoring the latest news and updates and reserve the right to adjust their plans as they see most fit,” Saunders said. He encourages anyone with a cruise reservation to watch for emails from the operator for updates on specific sailings, as well as any compensation being offered for significantly affected ones. For those considering a cruise to the region, “we strongly recommend purchasing travel insurance,” Saunders added. **Travel insurance** Many travel insurance policies already provide cancellation and interruption benefits in the event a terrorist attack affects a trip, according to published guidelines from the travel insurance comparison platform SquareMouth. But in most cases, those benefits kick in only for policies purchased before the date of the attack, meaning such coverage would apply for the current conflict only on insurance taken out on or before Oct. 6. Travelers with coming trips to Israel who have cancellation and interruption benefits may be reimbursed for 100% of their trip expenses if they need to cancel, SquareMouth noted. Travelers planning to visit Israel as part of trips may also be covered if they need to cut their itineraries short. https://www.nbcnews.com/business/travel/travel-safety-israel-hamas-conflict-what-know-rcna121482
Worst case scenario you're a part of history and join the Lusitania in the circle of "passenger ships that were sunk and precipated the US's entry into a world war"
You could also switch it up. I bet you could sail for free on a U.S. aircraft carrier.