I recently booked a Holy Land Cruise for 2024, and now with the unfortunate situation in Isreal I'm not sure what to do. Should I cancel? or will the ship just take a different route.

Well, 2024 is a few months away and don’t know when your cruise goes, so nobody knows what will happen by that time. We were on a cruise to Israel when Hamas bombed close to one of the ports. We docked further North. The cruise company will always change itineraries if need be, or (unfortunately) just cancel ports. We have had many ports cancelled for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes other ports are already booked and the ship can’t dock anywhere else. We circled at sea three days once, avoiding a hurricane. Do you have insurance to cover if you cancel or a deadline for cancelling? I probably would not, would just hope for the best, but will be interesting to see what others say.

Thank you so much for responding. We've booked the cruise for September 2024. Hopefully by then things are settled because I'm really hoping to go to Israel.

Good morning Marcia. Your trip is almost a year away so I would not cancel now.

Many years ago I booked a cruise which made several stops in Greece, Turkey and Egypt, but the stop I was most excited about was Israel. About a month before we sailed some trouble broke out in Israel. I called the cruise line and they said we were going to Cyprus instead.

I was so upset and I wanted to cancel, but my traveling companion put her foot down and insisted we still go. We went and it was still a fantastic trip. And the best part of all is that I really loved Cyprus. I eventually did visit Israel on a land trip.

The cruise line will not take you to any place that is unsafe. They will change the itinerary or cancel the cruise altogether. For now I think you should sit back and see how this plays out. For everyone's sake, I hope this ends a lot sooner than September.

Thank you, you're right I still have time to decide. I am hoping that things will settle down by September 2024. I'm sure I will enjoy the other ports, and hopefully get to Isreal another time. Praying for peace. Thanks, again.

Wait and see how things develop. Too soon to cancel now.

We are having the same questions. DH & I are booked on a cruise that starts in Haifa in June 2024. Per our contract, we can change/cancel without penalty 181 days prior (December 3rd), and final payment is due on January 3, 2024.

Right now we are in "wait & see" mode. We are looking at alternative cruise options, and possible bagging the cruise idea altogether. Our twist: we just bought our airline tickets...exactly 7 days before the chaos started. <sigh> Fortunately, we can change our tickets if we decide to.

Thank you. I think I will wait and see. Praying for all.

This is a very unfortunate situation. I am really hoping to go to Israel, if not next year, hopefully another time. I did call and spoke with a supervisor at the agency that I booked through, she also suggested that I wait. I did purchase insurance but there is still a 100. cancelation fee, plus the insurance is non refundable. I can transfer the travel insurance plan to a future cruise if I decide to cancel. Our final payment is due in May 2024. Praying for peace.

If your main purpose of the cruise to visit Israel, wait and see how it develops.
If not, I wouldn't worry, the ship captain will take you to different port(s) in case of emergency - just like they do in case of a hurricane.

Thank you. Yes, I will wait. I am hoping everything will settle down by September 2024