MSC Cruises has pulled two ships’ Red Sea programmes, while Royal Caribbean International has scrapped all remaining 2023 itineraries departing from Israel’s Haifa. Royal said it was continuing to “monitor the ever-evolving situation” amid the war between Israel and Hamas.
MSC said it took the decision to axe MSC Orchestra’s winter sailings due to the proximity of “some of the ship’s ports of call to Israel”. MSC Sinfonia’s sailings, meanwhile, were cancelled, as their main highlight was a call in Haifa.
Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is amending its Middle East itineraries after cancelling all calls to Israel this year. NCL said: “As always, the safety and security of our guests, crew and communities we visit is our top priority. We have made the decision to cancel all calls to Israel for the remainder of 2023.”
Oceania Cruises has also pulled all calls in Israel for the rest of the year. “Our thoughts are with all of our friends and family who have been impacted,” an Oceania spokesperson said. “Our sales and guest services teams are here to assist our guests and travel partners in any way we can.”
Silversea confirmed it had changed one itinerary in the region following the start of the Hamas-Israel conflict. It added affected guests had been notified.
Windstar Cruises has postponed its 2023/24 Middle East programme on 312-passenger Star Legend and replaced it with a European season, with calls in Barcelona, Nice, Livorno, Marseille and Civitavecchia, this winter.
Celestyal has replaced calls to Israel on its Three Continents cruise until the end of November with an additional call in Crete. The line too said it was “closely monitoring the situation”.
