Royal Caribbean has canceled two scheduled voyages aboard Rhapsody of the Seas departing from Haifa, Israel, on October 9 and October 13, 2023, on account of security issues following a sequence of land, sea, and air assaults in Israel on Saturday, October 8.
The measure has been taken to be able to guarantee the security of passengers and keep away from the warfare zone. Haifa is situated roughly 50 miles away from Tel Aviv, which was one of many principal targets of the assaults.
Passengers can count on a full refund for his or her fare, taxes, charges, gratuities, and different prices that they’ve already paid for, together with flights and journey insurance coverage purchased via the cruise line. Refunded funds might be remitted inside 14 enterprise days. Any credit that had been used for the sailings may also be reinstated.
This isn’t the primary time that Royal Caribbean has needed to cancel cruises from Haifa on account of security issues. In 2021, the cruise line was compelled to cancel a sequence of cruises scheduled to start from Haifa after a whole lot of rockets from Hamas had been fired into Israel.
On the time, Odyssey of the Seas had simply entered service and there have been plans that it might homeport in Haifa. Nonetheless, the Israeli army responded with airstrikes in Gaza, and Royal Caribbean determined to cancel the sailings and pull Odyssey out of Israel.
In August 2022, Royal Caribbean resumed homeporting in Israel with the older and smaller Rhapsody of the Seas. Till the latest battle, Rhapsody of the Seas had been working closed-loop cruises from Haifa to Limassol in Cyprus, Rhodes Island, and Santorini in Greece.
Different ships within the space from all three main cruise corporations needed to make alternate plans after Saturday’s assault on Israel. Carnival Company and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings ships had been docked in Haifa on the time of the assault, however they had been capable of depart safely. Holland America Line’s Nieuw Statendam and Oceania Cruises’ Nautica had been additionally docked in Haifa on the time of the assault, however they had been capable of depart after company returned from shore excursions.
Royal Caribbean’s determination to cancel the 2 cruises from Haifa is comprehensible, given the present security issues. The cruise line has a accountability to guard its passengers and crew, and canceling the cruises is one of the best ways to do this.
