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Major cruise lines have cancelled or indefinitely postponed several trips to the Middle East as the Israel-Gaza war continues to escalate.
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings stated that as a result of the escalation of the conflict in Israel, the company had cancelled and redirected all calls to Israel as well as certain calls to the surrounding region for the remainder of 2023.
The Nasdaq-listed company said the ongoing conflict could impact its earnings for 2023. Norwegian added that it was also in the process of cancelling all calls to Israel in 2024 as well and would continue to closely monitor and evaluate future sailings and adjust as needed.
Prior to the conflict, approximately 7% of capacity in the fourth quarter of 2023 and 4% of capacity for the full year 2024 visited the Middle East.
In a statement, Harry Sommer, president and chief executive officer of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd, said: “Looking ahead, while we are prudently moderating short-term expectations and keeping a close eye on rapidly evolving global macroeconomic and geopolitical events….”
The Miami-based Royal Caribbean Group also removed Israel from its 2024 itineraries, with Reuters confirming the development, citing an email sent to travel agents on Thursday informing them of the development. The email stated itineraries were modified until October 2024 for its Royal Caribbean International unit that stops in Israel.
Royal Caribbean told investors last week that itineraries that included Israel account for less than 1.5% of its capacity for 2024.
“We don’t know how long this conflict is going to go on for, which could very much inform where the consumer wants to go next year,” Jason Liberty, Royal Caribbean Group chief executive officer, said on the company’s October 26 earnings call.
Earlier, the company had announced it was cancelling the Middle East season for its Rhapsody of the Seas cruise, which was scheduled to run through November 12, 2023. Of the affected itineraries includes the Serenade of the Seas which was scheduled to sail from Dubai in May, headed to Athens via the Suez Canal.
Meanwhile, the company plans to redeploy its Jewel of the Seas ship from Haifa, Israel, to Boston, while the Grandeur of the Seas ship will be relocated from Haifa to Tampa, Florida. Additionally, Celebrity Cruises, a brand under Royal Caribbean, has cancelled all scheduled 2024 calls to Israel for its Celebrity Infinity ship.
Sailings affected
The Israel-Hamas war, which erupted on October 7, has resulted in the deaths of at least 9,770 Palestinians, according to official numbers, with more than 1,400 people killed in Hamas’s attack on Israel.
With violence escalating in the month since the start of the conflict, most cruise companies have revised their itineraries to avoid the Red Sea and surrounding region with sailings affected until 2024.
Windstar Cruises is one of the companies that was forced to re-direct its Star Legend ship from the Middle East due to the conflict in the region. “The ship was originally scheduled to sail in the Middle East. We’ve postponed our launch in that region to begin in November 2024,” said Windstar Cruises President Christopher Prelog.
The Miami-based company’s inaugural cruise event on the 10-day Sparkling Sands itinerary sailing between Dubai and Muscat on November 23, 2023, has also been affected, according to its website.
Swiss-headquartered Viking Cruises has also altered its sailings to Israel, with the company stating: “We are carefully monitoring the situation in Israel. We have modified the 2023 departures of our Cities of Antiquities & the Holy Land itinerary, replacing their calls to Israel. Our top priority is the safety and wellbeing of our guests, crew and partners on the ground….”
Celestyal Cruises has also confirmed it has suspended calls to Israel on its sailings until the end of November.
“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 the call into Israel,” the Greece-based company said, adding: “This will be in place until the end of November this year, and under constant review, due to the circumstances beyond our control. In the meantime, our teams will be updating all our affected customers and agents directly in the coming days.”
(Reporting by Bindu Rai, editing by Seban Scaria)
