Royal Caribbean, Norwegian cruise lines change 2024 itineraries as Israel-Hamas war continues

Royal Caribbean International and Norwegian Cruise Line have made changes to 2024 itineraries as the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East continues.

In an emailed statement Friday afternoon, Royal Caribbean International said all calls to Israel on the Celebrity Infinity are canceled through April 2024 while itineraries have been changed for three ships in summer and fall of 2024. Redeployments of two other ships sailing next summer and fall were also announced.

“The safety of our guests and crew is our top priority. Our global security team continues to closely monitor the evolving situation in the region, and due to the continued uncertainty in the area, we’re adjusting several itineraries in 2024. Impacted guests will be notified directly,” the cruise line’s statement said.

The itinerary modifications are for the following ships and dates:

•Odyssey of the Seas: May 5, 2024, Sept. 3, 2024, Oct. 10, 2024 and Oct. 22, 2024.

•Anthem of the Seas: Oct. 23, 2024.

•Voyager of the Seas: June 17, 2024, June 24, 2024 and Aug. 19, 2024.

•Jewel of the Seas: Redeployment from the city of Haifa in Israel to Boston from July to October 2024.

•Grandeur of the Seas: Redeployment from Boston to Tampa from August to November 2024.

•Celebrity Infinity: Calls to Israel canceled through April 2024.

The statement did not provide further details about what the changes are.

The Odyssey of the Seas sailings in May, September and October that have been affected are the line’s 12-day, round-trip Holy Land Cruises. All were scheduled to make two stops in Israel, in Ashdod and Haifa, according to CruiseMapper, which tracks ship locations and itineraries.

Anthem of the Seas’s trip in October is a 15-day, one-way sailing from Italy to Dubai that was previously scheduled to stop in Ashdod in Israel. The trips on Voyager of the Seas that are affected are the line’s 7-day, round-trip Israel Egypt Cruises, according to CruiseMapper.

In a conference call Wednesday to discuss third-quarter earnings, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings President and CEO Harry Sommer said all calls to Israel were canceled for the rest of 2023 when the Israel-Hamas conflict began to escalate. The line has since canceled all calls in Israel for 2024, Sommer said on the call.

Sommer said the company was seeing more cancelations and lower bookings for the region “as the conflict is ongoing and still front and center in the consumer psyche.” Later in the call, he said the company has no plans to “fully cancel or lay out any of our ships because of this disruption.”

“One of the main strengths and differentiators in our industry is our ability to reposition our assets, which is what we’ve done with the heightened tensions in the Middle East,” Sommer said.

Israel declared war on Hamas after its Oct. 7 attack, which killed more than 1,400 people. Hamas has been classified a terrorist group by the United States, Canada and the European Union. The Associated Press reported Friday that the Palestinian death toll since the war began last month has reached over 9,200.

Sommer said of the Israel-Hamas war that he is “hopeful that this will be a reasonably short-term event.” He said the sailings are a small percentage of their overall offerings and they “continue to be very, very well booked.”

“I think when we think about this a little bit longer term, I think it will be a while before people are comfortable going back to Israel … We are more bullish about the ability to return to places like Egypt and other places in the Middle East,” Sommer said.

MSC Cruises, the world’s third largest cruise brand based in Switzerland, said in a press release last week that it canceled the MSC Orchestra’s full winter schedule, which included sailing in the Red Sea from this November to April 2024, because some ports were close to Israel and because of restrictions in bordering countries.

The winter schedule for MSC Sinfonia was also canceled from November 2023 to April 2024. Its itinerary centered around Haifa, the statement said. Itineraries for MSC Virtuosa, MSC Opera, MSC Splendida and MSC Armonia have been modified.

Customers affected by those changes can change the trip to one of a similar length on a different ship or request a full refund, the line’s news release said.

Windstar Cruises, a small ship cruise line, offers Holy Lands cruises. Travel Weekly reported Wednesday that the line has suspended the launch of its itineraries in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf until November 2024.

Silversea Cruises, one of five brands owned by Royal Caribbean Group and based in Monaco, also offers trips to Israel in several Mediterranean itineraries, according to the cruise line’s website. It is not immediately clear whether Silversea Cruises has changed or will change upcoming itineraries.

The small, luxury brand Oceania Cruises’s next available trips with stops in Israel are in 2025, according to their website. The company said in a statement Thursday it “revamped” its 2024 schedule to replace ports of call in Israel, Egypt and Jordan.