Cairo Cruise

[Responder]

Although it's many months away, we are booked on the Nov 12-2011 Voyager from Luxor to Barcelona with a 3 day pre-cruise stay in Cairo.

 

I wonder if the situation will be settled before then.

I read today where the rioters were damaging works in the Egyptian museum.

 

If they have to cancel the Egypt part, I can't possibly see any other ports in that area that they could substitute and still make up an interesting route. They already canceled Syria and Crete. We've looked at the other cruises around that time, but have been to most of the other places too many times already.

[mrlevin]

They already canceled Syria and Crete

 

I don't remember Syria being on any Regent itinerary; which port?

 

Egypt should settle down long before the fall. I cannot imagine the country not working hard to restore tourism as soon as possible.

 

Marc

 

PS I heard that the Army was successfully protection Egyptian Museum; of course, my info could be old.

[turtlemichael]

I don't remember Syria being on any Regent itinerary; which port?

 

Egypt should settle down long before the fall. I cannot imagine the country not working hard to restore tourism as soon as possible.

 

Marc

 

PS I heard that the Army was successfully protection Egyptian Museum; of course, my info could be old.

 

Syria( Tartous), Crete and Tunisia were dropped from the itinerary in the last few months. Dropping Egypt is impossible without fundamental rejigging of the cruise and the one before. It would require mammoth changes to the whole of Voyager's winter schedule.

 

The cruise is still more than 9 months away and there is a lot of water to flow under the bridge (or through the Suez Canal :D) before then. I will not be reconsidering my plans for a long while yet, if at all, and I remain confident that Regent will as always put safetly before anything else.

[Responder]

I don't remember Syria being on any Regent itinerary; which port?

 

Egypt should settle down long before the fall. I cannot imagine the country not working hard to restore tourism as soon as possible.

 

Marc

 

PS I heard that the Army was successfully protection Egyptian Museum; of course, my info could be old.

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110130/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt_protest_antiquities

[Travelcat2]

There are also concerns about the June cruise that is scheduled to stop in Cairo.

[grapejuice]

Why did they drop Crete and Tunisia from the iteniary?

[Paint Horse]

The government was just overthrown in Tunisia. This is what precipitated the same thing in Egypt.

[ptiprof]

We are on the Mariner 4/17 and assumed that we weren't going to Tunisia, given the current situation there. Does anyone know whether Regent customarily tells passengers in advance (significantly ahead of time) what the alternative arrangements are? If so, has anyone heard what Regent has planned in lieu of Tunisia? I had originally thought that perhaps we might be able to go to Egypt instead (another place on my "bucket list") but I guess that's not in the cards this time either.

[mariners]

Our letter from Regent said that Syria was dropped due to international trade restrictions and it meant they had to rework the itinerary. This rework of the itinerary resulted in the removal of Crete and Tunisia. It took place before before the current situation in Tunisia.

ptiprof, If Tunisia is removed from your itinerary, I think that the passengers will be notified shortly after Regent makes a firm decision and has alternative plans in place. That has been my experience over the past couple of years.

[alexandra cruiser]

you feel like canceling cruise,,,if Regent goes to Cairo,,,and you don t feel comfortable ,,,we tried to cancel a river cruise,,,after the Cole bombing,,and travel advisory put out,,,but our ins.co..told us,,,THEY determined if travel dangerous,,,not US Gov...so just double check wording....we ended up going,,,only 6 US citizens on Nile cruise...haha,,got great service,armed escorts,,and in end,,,glad we went,,but was a worry,,,better to know details ahead of time....loved it....regardless......hope it all works out....;)

[cruisealert]

There are also concerns about the June cruise that is scheduled to stop in Cairo.

We are on that cruise, but find it hard to believe they would make a decision 4.5months away. But we will find out.

[wripro]

Of course Regent. like all cruise lines, will put safety first. There are two questions in my mind as of this moment regarding the situation in Egypt since no one can predict what will happen there. First, if they should have to change the itinerary for safety's sake, will the resulting itinerary be worth taking the cruise? And second, when things finally settle down what kind of Egypt will we see? I doubt it will be the same country as it has been. Hopefully better for its people but this is the Middle East and I'd hesitate to make predictions.

[Travelcat2]

We are on that cruise, but find it hard to believe they would make a decision 4.5months away. But we will find out.

 

It is in the future. . . but, final payment is due in 2-3 weeks. Unless Regent makes some special concession, those of you on that cruise will be entering the higher penalty phase for cancelling. My guess is that Regent will change those two ports -- last minute if necessary if Egypt is not safe enough to receive tourists.

[Emdee]

I totally agree with Wripro.

I heard that antiquities that couldnt be protected were also damaged. I am booked for the November cruise which has about 6 days in Egypt and Suez including pre cruise. Since I have been before and am not interested in substitutions I am inclined to cancel. I will wait a couple of months and decide.

[StrandVillas]

We are booked on the Nov. Cruise from Barcelona to Dubai (Nov. 28) which visits two Egyptians ports for a total of four and a half days. We may be the only passengers on this sailing..no other roll call responses have been posted. We are hoping that the situation is resolved long before we depart, but elections are scheduled for late Sept, and we will watch and wait. Are there any other cruisers considering options?

[Eager2Travel]

We are scheduled for the October 23rd sailing Safaga to Barcelona. I am growing more reluctant every day but my husband is still eager to go. My concern is that Regent will wait to make changes after the penalty phase starts. I can understand their need to wait but we have visited many ports in that area previously. The revised ports may not be as intersting to us. We will probably wait to cancel but it would be great to know what Regent would do if they changed things. It would make our decision easier. Also, since we booked so long ago there was a price advantage back then that would not be the same with the current prices.

[vakamalua]

We are scheduled for the October 23rd sailing Safaga to Barcelona. I am growing more reluctant every day but my husband is still eager to go. My concern is that Regent will wait to make changes after the penalty phase starts. I can understand their need to wait but we have visited many ports in that area previously. The revised ports may not be as intersting to us. We will probably wait to cancel but it would be great to know what Regent would do if they changed things. It would make our decision easier. Also, since we booked so long ago there was a price advantage back then that would not be the same with the current prices.

 

Our thinking is very similar. We are on the October 29th cruise--Istanbul to Safaga. We booked this cruise last spring because it was the perfect itinerary at just the right time for us. We have already visited most of the areas that would be substituted if changes need to be made.

 

With the situation escalating and the Egyptian elections set for September, with regret, we're leaning toward canceling. We will then feel financially and psychologically free to work on other travel plans now for the fall in another part of the world without worry that we could lose money or the chance to visit the very ports for which we booked.

[Eager2Travel]

Vakamalua, your thinking makes a great deal of sense. I just have to convince my husband and let go of the trip myself. We are on the same cruise. I don't know what I was thinking of when I posted October 23rd ending in Barcelona. It must be jet lag. We just flew in from Honolulu last night.

[safcruiser]

We are also on the Oct. 29 trip from Istanbul to Safaga.

 

Shrinkann - our feelings are like yours. We booked so long ago that we got a great price and the addition of the three day overland in Egypt was a bonus.

 

I can understand a change of itinerary, but what about the overland excursion that was included? Right now, we will take a wait and see position but we will make a final decision before the penalty phase kicks in.

[Kane]

We are on that cruise, but find it hard to believe they would make a decision 4.5months away. But we will find out.

 

We are also on the June 17 Antiquities cruise and have some concerns.

 

Basically, we have about 6 weeks to decide whether to hang-in or cancel to stay within the period of the $200 "admin fee", which can be applied to a future cruise. Beyond 16 March, the penalties for cancellation begin to escalate.

 

I'm sure that Regent would not send us into a dangerous situation. The so-called "elections" are scheduled for September, if they are ever held. I suspect that the competition in the run-up to the "elections" may not be a civilized development.

 

If we just wait for a modification, the problem is that there are no other ports not already on the cruise that are comparable to Egypt except possibly Petra, which would involve sailing through some possibly contested Egyptian waters. Tunisia? ... I think not. Greek isles? ... not quite a good replacement.

 

We are going to have to discuss this with our TA.

[wripro]

If you decide to cancel I would have your 'TA check to see if Regent will waive the $200 administration fee for cancellation. Under these circumstances they certainly should imo.

[Harveycat]

I am booked on the Nov Safaga-Barcelona cruise as well. I intend to follow the situation for a couple of months before deciding whether to cancel or not. I agree that Regent should tell us now what they plan if Egypt is out.

[cruiseluv]

We are also on the June 17 Antiquities cruise and have some concerns.

 

Basically, we have about 6 weeks to decide whether to hang-in or cancel to stay within the period of the $200 "admin fee", which can be applied to a future cruise. Beyond 16 March, the penalties for cancellation begin to escalate.

 

I'm sure that Regent would not send us into a dangerous situation. The so-called "elections" are scheduled for September, if they are ever held. I suspect that the competition in the run-up to the "elections" may not be a civilized development.

 

If we just wait for a modification, the problem is that there are no other ports not already on the cruise that are comparable to Egypt except possibly Petra, which would involve sailing through some possibly contested Egyptian waters. Tunisia? ... I think not. Greek isles? ... not quite a good replacement.

 

We are going to have to discuss this with our TA.

 

Kane,

 

My understanding is that at 4 months before the cruise date (ie around 2/17) you'll incur 15% cancelation fee. It used to be just $400 but it went up for cruises this year.

[Kane]

Kane,

 

My understanding is that at 4 months before the cruise date (ie around 2/17) you'll incur 15% cancelation fee. It used to be just $400 but it went up for cruises this year.

 

I did make a bad calculation ... the cancellation date is prior to Feb 16. Glad this got clarified.

[Responder]

As I mentioned in the opening post in this thread, we are concerned, even though we don't go till Nov9 into Cairo for 3 days and then on the ship in Luxor.

 

Not only is there unrest in Egypt, but also in Yemen...Tunisia..Jordan, etc.

 

We have begun looking elsewhere...Since the real penalty period doesn't begin until 121 days before and the hit now is only $100 pp, this is not a big issue. I'm sure we can get our trip insurance company to move the dates around..