Egypt Travel Poll: Given the Unrest, Will You Go Back?

[borntobecruising]

We are booked on Oceania's Nautica to sail April 20th Dubai to Athens.

The current itinerary includes stops in Safaga, Port Said and Alexandra, BUT yesterday we received word from Oceania of a proposed revised itinerary which will not include any ports in Egypt.

We hope that the current events taking place calm down and order is restored, Luxor, the valley of the Kings, Giza and the pyramids have long been on our list of places to visit.

More important than our selfish reasons is the peace and calm that the people of Egypt are entitled to. Let us hope that this will work out soon.

 

Colin & Kay

[Lynnees]

Absolutely. We were there in November on the Azamara Journey. We would go again when possible.

[Dowunder]

An overnight at Oberoi Mena House in rooms with Pyramid views are to be a highlight of our cruise. Well we hope! Still a while to go until September, but things are not promising and an itinerary change to overnight in Istanbul would be a satisfactory alternative. Cruise Critic News updates re cruises are most helpful and many thanks.

[Sqwii]

By the time I can afford to go to Egypt all this will probably be over. But I would still go, unless it breaks out into full out war.

[Goldryder]

Called into Safaga, Hurghada & Alexandria aboard Costa Allegra last April on her repositioning from Singapore. We also called into Aden too.

 

Would I go back...absolutely. Looking at a similar cruise for next spring.

 

I feel that a country should not be written off just cos a minority of its citizens mount riots or protests over their government.

 

Most Egyptians (and Yemeni's) are peace loving people who just want to get on with life as best they can, no-one has a right to paint everyone within that country with the same brush that they do the minority of 'troublemakers'.

 

As for arguments about personal safety, pickpockets etc...well most of that is down to leaving your common sense at home (if you had any beforehand anyway...which after seeing what some get up to when on holiday, I have serious doubts about).

 

The situation is Egypt is very fluid, no-one can say when it will calm down...it will do eventually but that should never stop anyone from considering a visit to the country.

 

Never say never.

[Ilya]

Our cruise is scheduled to overnight in Egypt in the end of April. As much as I would love to see the pyramids, etc., I don't see how the situation there can possibly become safe and stable before the next elections. So, at this point, I think Royal Caribbean should just pull the plug and change the itinerary. Safety first!

[ruecatt]

We did a land tour in Egypt in 2009 and I absolutely loved it. I would love to go back some day but I guess its all depends on what happens over there. If a new president takes over will it change the country's relationship and views of the US? This thing could go really well or really bad but I have high hopes.

[cormike1]

We had a scheduled 3 week trip planned leaving on Feb. 21st. It was cancelled once the CDN gov't posted a "no travel warning". It is my dream trip that is to remain a dream for awhile longer. I don't see the unrest dying down until after the elections in Sept. so our trip won't happen this year I would think. I hope we can rebook next year. I hope the Egyptian people end up getting a government they can be happy with. I will definitely rebook as soon as things settle back down again.

[shiftynj]

I sailed the Nile on Nabila's King of Thebes in 2007 and also visited Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Abu Simbel and Sharm. I have a million other places I want to see so I'm not in a hurry to return, but I believe if a representative government is put in place it will be as safe as anywhere else. What is happening there was 30 years in the making.

[1rocky]

I visited Egypt for the first time in December2010 and it is such a beautiful country and would love to return one day

[Cassie_Zuzu]

We are booked for the Princess Holy Land tour leaving Rome on 7 May. We are still hopeful that we will get to Egypt but are just going to wait and see. It might have to wait a little longer.

[BCHappyGal]

We are already booked on a cruise to Egypt in November so have my fingers crossed that everything quiets down by then.

 

I know the cruise line will be monitoring the situation and will substitute alternate ports of call if the situation is still unsafe in November and as we neither embark nor disembark in Egypt the actual cruise will be fine.

 

In the meantime I am praying for the citizens of Egypt.

[moniquet]

I would do a cruise that just included a port day but wouldn't consider a Nile cruise. We did one in the 80's and loved it. We were thinking of doing another this March but when I did some research it said some of the tours to overland sites included two armed guards (this was before the recent troubles). I am not sure if Egypt is safe at all. There were a lot of incidents over Christmas when Christian Churches were torched and I still remember the time when about 30 tourists were killed when terrorists opened fire in the Valley of the Kings.

[cruisemom42]

I would do a cruise that just included a port day but wouldn't consider a Nile cruise. We did one in the 80's and loved it. We were thinking of doing another this March but when I did some research it said some of the tours to overland sites included two armed guards (this was before the recent troubles). I am not sure if Egypt is safe at all. There were a lot of incidents over Christmas when Christian Churches were torched and I still remember the time when about 30 tourists were killed when terrorists opened fire in the Valley of the Kings.

 

I'm not trying to change your mind, of course, but the armed guards have been a fixture on Egyptian tours ever since that Valley of the Kings incident you mention (which occurred in 1997). And the issues between Muslims and Copts resulting in the church bombings/fires aren't really anywhere that tourists are likely to be.

 

Is anywhere really safe anymore? I notice you are from Spain, where the Madrid train bombings in 2004 killed 190 people and wounded nearly 10 times that many. And of course, most recently the Moscow airport bombing claimed the lives of 35 people.....

[munkegodes]

We're scheduled to sail RCCL Mariner OTS in April which is the first time they call in Alexandria/Cairo for the season. I definitely booked this trip for Egypt and it has been my dream cruise for the past 2 years. I really hope that it becomes safe soon because I'd like to see the dream come to reality but agree that it's safety first.

 

PS: RCCL if you're listening - If you MUST pull Egypt from the itinerary for safety reasons my top substitution picks would be (in no particular order) Istanbul, Israel, Dubrokvic, Santorini, or Sicily!

[MonocacyCruiser]

I think that CruiseCritic should have another survey where the responses are:

a. I'm booked for a cruise to Egypt and eager to go

b. I'm booked for a cruise to Egypt and I'd rather not go there.

 

I'm booked on RCI and it's too late to cancel my cruise. I booked this cruise because I wanted to go to Egypt, now, I'd rather go somewhere else.

 

Just because the U.S. State Department says that it is safe to go it doesn't mean that it is a place that I would want to go to. It's going to take a while to tidy up Cairo.

[munkegodes]

Wow RCCL...you must have read my request because that was a fast response. Looks like we're heading to Istanbul (overnight) instead of Alexandria/Cairo. I'm sorta/kinda crushed that I won't see pyramids but was mentally prepared for that as an option. I know the cruise will still be fantastic (and at $799pp for an 11 nt cruise on Mariner the value can't be beat!)! Some day when it's safe again I will still go!! It remains an elusive dream for me.

 

Full article here: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/contentPage.do?pagename=important_updates

[WeBeGone]

We're lucky enough to have been there twice and I'd not hesitate to go again as soon as travel restrictions are lifted. Egypt is an amazing country, the Nile cruise was devine, and we loved Cairo. Our hopes and prayers are with the Egyptian people and we hope a new governement can be established without resulting to a situation like in Iran.

[slotl]

We are scheduled to be in Alexandria and Port Said on April 19/20 on the HAL Grand Africa/Med cruise on the Prinsendam beginning March 12 from Ft. Lauderdale.

 

I went to Captn Albert's blog site: http://www.hollandamericablog.com/al...1#comment-2058 he will be the Captain of the Prinsendam for our cruise.

 

 

On the blog, I asked Captn Albert if there was any information about a change of itinerary and where the Prinsendam may take us in April. Here is his answer:

 

[i]"Good morning,

 

at the moment the cruise is as per brochure. What will happen once the cruise starts and gets in the middle East is another story. As long time travellers know, in that area the political situation is always a factor to take into consideration and no doubt HAL will monitor the situation very carefully. If adjustments have to be made it will be closer to date and where we might go then is a totally different story.

 

Best regards

Capt. Albert [/i]

 

It would be nice if HAL could tell us NOW that we are not going, but I am sure at this time HAL is trying to make other arrangements. We will be in Ravenna, Italy then two days at sea before reaching Alexandria. That gives HAL plenty of time to re-arrange port visits and associated ship tours. Our stop on April 21st is Tel Aviv, Israel.

 

As an experienced cruiser, we have been to Cairo and Alexandria, so missing the ports is not important to us. What we would like to know is where we will be going INSTEAD, so that the members of the CC Board can arrange "private" tours in those new locations.

 

I was thrilled to see the "common Egyptians" form a human barrior around the Alexandria Library to save it from looters and rioters. That library is a GEM!! It is doing unbelieveable work in putting all written material on the internet. It is a don't miss site for any visit to Alexandria.

[ccos]

We will be joining HAL's Amsterdam on a segment of the world cruise in a few weeks (boarding in Hong Kong) and have not heard whether or not the itinerary will change. If it does change, would prefer Israel stops in place of any other. Of course, we understand that the ship will do the best thing for it's clients.

[tiyana4]

We were there in November 2010 and cannot believe how fortunate we were to experience the Museum of Antiquities before the looters damaged some of the treasures. I understand being angry and discontent, but who destroys their own history?

 

It's a bit ironic looking back, given that elections were held the day we arrived. This quite possibly could have been the spark that ignited the fire and it has been downhill ever since. I hope things get better for those who live there as well as those who would like to visit. It truly is an amazing place.

 

For us it is not a question of if, but when we return. We will definitely return to Egypt to do a land vacation/Nile River cruise. Abu Simbel, Luxor, Sharm el Sheikh, and Valley of the Kings awaits.

[Karysa]

Personally I never was interested in going before but I was riveted by the goings on the last couple of weeks and now I would actually like to support the tourist industry in Egypt.

 

All the Best to the Egyptians going forward.

[wantocruisemore]

I will ABSOLUTELY go back! I was there years ago for a quick visit to Cairo and Luxor. I always planned to go back. Egypt is on the list of the must sees for my DD. I want to go in the not too distant future while I'm still young enough to do so.

 

We were actually looking into going next Nov. for DD's birthday. My plan was a few days in Cairo, fly to Luxor and take a 4 or 5 nt. Nile cruise and then fly to Abu Simbel before back to Cairo to come home. My DH was considering not going since it's so hard for him to get away.

 

Now those plans are on hold. But as soon as the country starts to stabalize I will start planning again. May have to wait til Nov. 2012 to go though. I was there before in the summer and want to go in early Nov. when the weather is better and nice for the Nile cruise.

 

My feeling is that there will likely be some bargains for tourists after things do settle down to encourage tourism. It breaks my heart to hear about the damage at the Cairo museum, but I know they will do their best to repair the damaged artifacts. Egypt will need the revenues from tourism to rebuild. I think they will be bending over backwards to make sure it will be safe for tourists, as well as bargain incentives.

 

Because of this, I will DEFINITELY visit this beautiful and ancient country again.

[Goldryder]

Called into Safaga, Hurghada & Alexandria aboard Costa Allegra last April on her repositioning from Singapore. We also called into Aden too.

 

Would I go back...absolutely. Looking at a similar cruise for next spring.

 

I feel that a country should not be written off just cos a minority of its citizens mount riots or protests over their government.

 

Most Egyptians (and Yemeni's) are peace loving people who just want to get on with life as best they can, no-one has a right to paint everyone within that country with the same brush that they do the minority of 'troublemakers'.

 

As for arguments about personal safety, pickpockets etc...well most of that is down to leaving your common sense at home (if you had any beforehand anyway...which after seeing what some get up to when on holiday, I have serious doubts about).

 

The situation is Egypt is very fluid, no-one can say when it will calm down...it will do eventually but that should never stop anyone from considering a visit to the country.

 

Never say never.

 

As you can see from my signature, I have indeed followed through on my decision and will be returning to Safaga, Sharm el Sheikh & Alexandria next spring. This time aboard Costa Classica on her long repositioning cruise from Singapore to Venice :)

[Wineart]

We were booked for a Nile cruise next week, which has been cancelled by the tour operator. Egypt was at the top of our list, and now has dropped way down. We will consider Egypt again once the current unrest there as well as in the surrounding countries settles down. As we've seen recently, the political unrest quickly moved throughout several countries in the Middle East, so we've moved the entire Middle East region down the list.