The change in itinerary is valid for the below cruises: The seven-night Three Continents cruise with departures on 21st and 28th October, and 4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th November 2023.
Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and other brands have notified guests of itinerary changes for sailings in the region amid other disruptions to travel, including flights.
Holland America Line’s Nieuw Statendam will replace a planned visit to Ashdod, Israel, with Alanya, Turkey, according to a spokesperson for the line. The ship will arrive early to planned stops in Limassol, Cyprus on Tuesday and Rhodes, Greece, on Wednesday, giving guests more time to explore. The ship’s 28-day cruise from Rome to Athens had featured the line’s last stop in Israel for the year.
Oceania Cruises‘s Nautica ship left Israel on Saturday, one day ahead of schedule. All guests and crew members were safe and accounted for, a spokesperson for the line said. The line’s Sirena vessel’s planned stops in Haifa and Ashdod during its Oct. 14 voyage from Piraeus to Istanbul will be replaced by Santorini, Heraklion and Mykonos in Greece.
The Oceania Nautica, which was on an 11-day sailing from Haifa to Rome that began Oct. 6, was still in Haifa the day fighting broke out. The ship departed Israel on Saturday, nixing its scheduled call in Ashdod. All guests and crew were accounted for. The Oceania Marina‘s Nov. 1 itinerary includes two days in Israel. The line is in the process of reviewing its itinerary options for those days.
Princess is not stopping in Israel at this time and is adjusting Island Princess’s “Mediterranean and Israel” sailings in November accordingly, a spokesperson said.
Norwegian’s Norwegian Gem ship skipped a planned visit to Ashdod on Sunday, spending the day at sea instead, according to a spokesperson for the line. The ship continued to Limassol as scheduled Monday. The vessel is on an 11-day sailing from Rome to Istanbul. Norwegian Jade will replace planned visits to Ashdod and Haifa on Wednesday and Thursday with stops in Bodrum, Turkey, on Tuesday and Marmaris on Wednesday. The ship, which is on a weeklong round-trip sailing from Athens, will spend a day at sea Thursday.
Regent Seven Seas Cruises decided to amend Seven Seas Voyager’s October 3 and October 15, 2023, itineraries and replace the previously scheduled calls to Israel. The ship will skip its planned stop in Haifa on Oct. 14 and 15, instead sailing to Istanbul. The Oct. 15 sailing will begin in Istanbul rather than Haifa and sail directly to Cairo.
Celestyal will temporarily suspend calls to Israel
Celestyal cruise company will temporarily suspend calling to Israel on its award winning Three Continents cruise, until the end of November 2023, and the situation will be monitored for any itineraries departing after this date.
Following the recent events in Israel, Celestyal is closely monitoring the situation and maintains constant communication with the Israeli authorities. Our top priority is the health, safety, and comfort of our guests, and after careful consideration we have made the necessary updates to our itineraries by temporarily cancelling our call into Israel.
CEO of Celestyal, Chris Theophilides, said, “Firstly, as a business, our thoughts are with those impacted by the events in Israel. We wish for the safety of all the souls affected and a rapid return of peace to the country. We are in close coordination with the authorities, and the safety, security, and comfort of our guests remains our upmost priority. On the advice of our internal teams and the relevant authorities we have decided to temporarily remove Israel from our Three Continents itinerary until the end of November this year. Our teams will be contacting any affected customers to advise them of the updates to their itineraries and the additional provisions that have been made to ensure their continued enjoyment.”
Celestyal has committed to updating all our guests and partners about the evolution of the situation and will contact all affected customers and agents directly in the coming days.
Vicky is the co-founder of TravelDailyNews Media Network where she is the Editor-in Chief. She is also responsible for the daily operation and the financial policy. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Business Administration from the Technical University of Athens and a Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales.
She has many years of both academic and industrial experience within the travel industry. She has written/edited numerous articles in various tourism magazines.
