Egypt Unrest: Several Cruise Lines Cancel Calls

[LauraS]

Cruise Critic has just posted the following news:

Egypt Unrest: Several Cruise Lines Cancel Calls

Read the entire news article...

[Goldryder]

You can add Costa Allegra & Costa Marina to the list of changes.

Last night a decision was made by Costa to cut all calls to Sokhna by both ships due to the problems in Egypt. The port of call is used primarily as a gateway to Cairo & surrounding area shorex.

The rest of the itineraries cruised by both ships remains unchanged but under close monitoring via local authorities & security personnel.

[Neesee1]

This is very sad to hear. My Mom and Uncle went on a cruise 30 years plus ago to the Greece, Egypt etc. They had a wonderful time. My dream was to do the same. My thoughts are with the people of Egypt and may their conflicts be solved....

[vrmdlm]

This company is horrible. I am fully paid for a trip to Cairo and the Nile cruise in February. Despite the United States government telling Americans to stay away, Uniworld is claiming they are still going to run their trips, and they refuse to refund my money. This is a lie. CNN just did a feature about Americans stranded on Nile River ships. The temples at Karnak, Abu Simbel, etc. are closed to the public by armed guards. Airlines are not even flying into Cairo. The people at Uniworld are dishonest scum. They should refund what people paid if the trips cannot be conducted!!!!!! i fell as though I am being robbed.

[2little time]

Egypt is a beautiful place filled with wonders like no other place. It made me sad to think of the looting and destruction that occured in the National Museum. There is a wealth of history there and I hope it is preserved.
My heart goes out to the Egyptian people and I pray they find a way to solve this unrest in the future. I am also sad for those of you that will have to cancel or postpone your trip.

[jocap]

So, if Thomson Celebration is cancelling Sokhna and Safaga, it will be back to Sharm for the rest of the week? I see that Thomson has almost 9, 000 people in the Sharm area, and almost 1,000 in Luxor. It might be as well for the ship to return to Jordan for a day....otherwise it will just be a non-moving cruise.
The president has a palace in Sharm, though he's in Cairo at present. Al-Jazira says there's a military presence in Sharm, though there's no reports of trouble.
Jo.

[Deloresgardella]

That is really a shame about Cairo. I cruised there a few years ago, We docked in Alexandria and toured Cairo. It is a beautiful city, we went to Greece, Turkey and Italy and Egypt. It was one of the highlights of our whole trip.

[bellebaby]

Originally Posted by vrmdlm

This company is horrible. I am fully paid for a trip to Cairo and the Nile cruise in February. Despite the United States government telling Americans to stay away, Uniworld is claiming they are still going to run their trips, and they refuse to refund my money. This is a lie. CNN just did a feature about Americans stranded on Nile River ships. The temples at Karnak, Abu Simbel, etc. are closed to the public by armed guards. Airlines are not even flying into Cairo. The people at Uniworld are dishonest scum. They should refund what people paid if the trips cannot be conducted!!!!!! i fell as though I am being robbed.

I am very sorry to hear about your troubles. By any chance did you purchase travel insurance that may possibly provide coverage?

B

[fancynurse]

Did you by any chance use a Travel Agent? Let them go to work for you.. I always use a Travel Agent!

[Judyumcer@aol.com]

I am sure all cruise tours, airlines and every one involved in the travel industry are scrambling to make their clients satisfied. It may take a while, but I am sure all of them will do the thing. i think this got so big so fast; it left many travelers wondering. We did that cruise on Oceania last Sept. It was an awesome itinerary. I feel very sorry the Egyptian people. It is a very poor country. So sad!

[cormike1]

Originally Posted by fancynurse

Did you by any chance use a Travel Agent? Let them go to work for you.. I always use a Travel Agent!

We were scheduled to leave on Feb. 21st. I am going to see my TA shortly to cancel. We took travel insurance with a separate company, not the tour company. It states that when the CDN gov't posts a "no travel" warning then we can get a full refund. I am relying on my TA to give us the proper paperwork, if need be, to get out money back. It is nice to use the internet and find deals but then you have to rely on yourself if anything happens. If you use a TA then you at least can get them involved.

[vrmdlm]

Please tell me which company provided your travel insurance. I took Travelex insurance, and they are saying that the unrest in Egypt is not covered. I purchased this policy through Insure My Trip.com, and they represent many different companies. They claim no company they represent would cover such a situation. Your feedback is appreciated.

[patseacruiser]

I emailed Travelex this morning to ask this question. Here is the response.

Currently, there is no coverage for Trip Cancellation due to a Terrorist Incident (no recent Terrorist Incidents have been documented, only protesting), but there are benefits listed below if flights are delayed/cancelled due to the rioting. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
xx

For travelers who purchased a protection plan on or before January 24, 2011,
please review the below for an overview of applicable benefits. Coverage is subject to the terms and conditions
of the policy and applies in the following areas:
Trip Cancellation / Trip Interruption Coverage
• Delayed arrival due to a covered reason such as delay due to civil commotion or riot causing 50% or more
of the covered trip to be missed.
• If the Travel Supplier cancels the trip due to these conditions, the traveler may be reimbursed for the
reissue fee charged by the airline, up to the maximum benefit amount as stated in the Certificate of
Insurance.
• If purchased, Cancel for Any Reason can provide a portion of their trip cost back provided they meet the
individual requirements of this benefit. (Applies to Travel Select, Travel Select Advantage and Travel Max)
Trip Delay Coverage
• Delay while en route to or from final destination for at least 5 hours or more due to a covered reason, such
as civil commotion or riot.
Emergency Medical Coverage
• For travelers affected by the rioting while traveling in these areas, coverage is provided for expenses
incurred as a result of emergency medical treatment and/or emergency medical evacuation, if necessary.
24 Hour Travel Assistance Services
• Travelers may receive assistance ranging from emergency travel arrangements and money transfers to
message relay services. Simply call the travel assistance phone number listed on your Confirmation of
Coverage.

[cruisemom42]

Originally Posted by vrmdlm

This company is horrible. I am fully paid for a trip to Cairo and the Nile cruise in February. Despite the United States government telling Americans to stay away, Uniworld is claiming they are still going to run their trips, and they refuse to refund my money. This is a lie. CNN just did a feature about Americans stranded on Nile River ships. The temples at Karnak, Abu Simbel, etc. are closed to the public by armed guards. Airlines are not even flying into Cairo. The people at Uniworld are dishonest scum. They should refund what people paid if the trips cannot be conducted!!!!!! i fell as though I am being robbed.

Did you see this post from Uniworld on the River Cruising board: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showp...3&postcount=51

It seems they have cancelled all trips through February 12 and are offering a full refund. They are monitoring the situation. I'm sure if necessary they will cancel further trips, but you can't blame them for not wanting to cancel too far ahead in a situation as unclear as the one in Egypt.

[flashdog_1]

Originally Posted by vrmdlm

If anyone has a great travel agent, I would love a referral. Times like this make me appreciate how important a good agent is.

Hi,
I see that you have only posted a few times on cruise critic, so you may not have read the terms and conditions. One of those terms is that we may not advertise, whether it is for a travel agency, a tour guide etc. (because we members may work for one of them and it would be free ads). So as much as we'd like to provide you with names of agents and/or agencies that have been helpful to us, we may not do so.

[patseacruiser]

Glad to see Uniworld is not maintaining that hardline stance and doing the right thing. I can certainly understand not cancelling too far in advance in case this does settle down.

[RockOracle]

My TA called today to tell me that the MSC Splendida will be diverting to Izmir, Turkey, instead of Alexandria, Egypt, in all sailings through the end of February.

[bellebaby]

Originally Posted by vrmdlm

This company is horrible. I am fully paid for a trip to Cairo and the Nile cruise in February. Despite the United States government telling Americans to stay away, Uniworld is claiming they are still going to run their trips, and they refuse to refund my money. This is a lie. CNN just did a feature about Americans stranded on Nile River ships. The temples at Karnak, Abu Simbel, etc. are closed to the public by armed guards. Airlines are not even flying into Cairo. The people at Uniworld are dishonest scum. They should refund what people paid if the trips cannot be conducted!!!!!! i fell as though I am being robbed.

From the Cruise Critic News Section:

Important Update Regarding Egypt Cruise/Tours


At this time Uniworld is cancelling upcoming cruise/tours due to arrive in Egypt up to and including February 28, 2011, and customers may choose alternative cruise/tours or a full refund.

It appears you can choose to cancel and receive a full refund... that's good news for you!

B

[boomerchick]

Given how important seeing the Pyramids is to just about everyone who visits the Middle East, this is going to be a disaster for cruise lines....I was eyeing several fall Middle East cruises but will absolutely not venture that far if Egypt is off the itinerary....I wonder what compensation, if any, will be offered to those passengers currently on cruises being diverted...I'm sure the fine print in their cruise contracts will confirm that they shouldn't expect anything, but what a disappointment this will be to many, many cruisers.

[DKNYC]

I am booked on a Nile River cruise between Luxor and Aswan(not going to Cairo). I booked through a UK company (Red Sea Holidays LTD) They have not yet cancelled my cruise ( Feb 7) They have cancelled the Jan 31 one and offered refunds to their pax. I hope they do the right thing and cancel my cruise. I am not going regardless. I bought CSA insurance thru Insure my trip. They( CSA) say I am not covered for civil unrest ( but would be for terrorism & some other reasons) because I do not have cancel for any reason coverage ( I would have had to buy that within 24 hrs of booking cruise). Which I will do next time. It is better to lose $200 of insurance than $3000 trip.