Thread: Egypt riots disrupt cruise calls

From Captain Greybeard

Egypt riots disrupt cruise calls

By John Honeywell on Jan 28, 11 06:54 PM in Cruise destinations

Violent unrest in Egypt has forced Thomson Cruises to cancel shore excursions to Cairo and the Pyramids. Its ship, the Thomson Celebration will - for now at least - continue to call at Safaga and Port Sokhne on the Red Sea Magic cruise which starts and finishes in Sharm el Sheik.
But the trips to the Egyptian capital, a two-hour drive away down a new highway, are off because of escalating anti-government protests.
...
. . .
Other cruise lines have diverted their ships away from Egypt. Norwegian Jade, which was to have been in Alexandria for an overnight stay tomorrow and Sunday, is making for Istanbul instead.
MSC Magnifica will be in Limassol, Cyprus on Sunday instead of Alexandria, and MSC Splendida will divert to Izmir, Turkey on Monday.

Banks are now closed in Cairo,and the Pyramids are closed to tourists.

We have been to North Africa four times, three times to Morocco which we like very much and a Nile Cruise from Luxor in Egypt. Have been surprised these events have not happened sooner.

Begging is the natural trend, poverty is everywhere Morocco we have seen the Royal Palaces, and the ones for the Princes, they are pure luxurious. In Africa the poor are really poor and the rich are really rich. The West try to help them with financial donations, but it seems it only go to the rulers.

Donkeys are one of the main forms of transport, where in places mopeds have replaced animals.
Every time we go to Africa, we take coloured crayon and pencils, colouring books, and small packets of sweets (candy) the expressions on children’s faces is quite amazing. To give money to one means you are pestered by the many, so we just try to help the children.

World
Tourists Scrambling to Leave Egypt Amid Political Unrest


Jan 29, 2011 – 9:47 AM



Tarek El-Tablawy
AP
CAIRO (Jan. 29) -- Foreign tourists and Egyptians flocked to Cairo's main airport on Saturday, scrambling to find flights out of the country as days of often violent protests that forced the resignation of the government showed few signs of abating.

Israeli carrier El Al was trying to arrange a special flight Saturday to take roughly 200 Israeli tourists out of the country, a Cairo International Airport official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media. Israel's embassy in Egypt declined to comment.

The efforts came as between 1,500 and 2,000 travelers were at the airport's two main departure terminals, most without reservations and frantic to find any available seats of outbound flights. But the bid could prove difficult, if not futile, as some European and U.S. airlines began to announce cancelations or suspensions of service to Cairo and Egypt's national carrier was said to be experiencing lengthy delays.

EgyptAir had suspended overnight departures Friday because of a government-imposed curfew. The carrier had yet to take a similar step Saturday, though the expansion of that curfew to between 4 p.m. and 8 a.m. made it increasingly unlikely that travelers would be able to head to the airport for evening flights.

German carrier Lufthansa said it had canceled both of its two scheduled flights to Cairo on Saturday. Air Berlin canceled one flight to Cairo. U.S. carrier Delta Airlines, which flies direct to Cairo from the U.S., said service to and from Cairo would be "indefinitely suspended as a result of civil unrest."

The violence that gripped Cairo, the Egyptian capital, and several other cities over the past few days has presented President Hosni Mubarak with the biggest challenge of his nearly 30-year rule. The protesters are demanding his ouster and that measures be taken to address rampant poverty and corruption, the rising cost of living and the growing disparity in income distribution.

But the protests threaten to undercut one of Egypt's key foreign revenue generators - tourism, which accounts for about 11 percent of Egypt's gross domestic product. Tourism brought in over $9 billion for Egypt in the first nine months of 2010 and $10.8 billion the year before.

Egypt's military closed off access to the pyramids in Giza - with tanks and armored personnel carriers sealing off the site on the Giza Plateau. The area is normally packed with tourists and is a main draw for those who come to Cairo.

The move - aimed at ensuring the tourists' security - was likely to be seen as another worrying indicator in a nation that until earlier this week had been a pillar of stability in a trouble-prone region.

Officials said that about 40 percent of the throngs of travelers at the airport were Egyptians, with the rest Westerners and other Arabs. It remained unclear what options were available to them given the limited flights.

EgyptAir flights were running late, in some cases because crew were unable to reach the airport, or were worried about the drive to the facility, said the airport official.

The United States on Friday had cautioned its citizens to avoid nonessential travel to Egypt and urged those already in the country to remain at home or in their hotels. The calls were echoed by other Western government, with Germany's foreign office on Saturday calling on its citizens to avoid traveling to Cairo, Alexandria and Suez - the three cities hardest hit by the protests.

So far, the protests appear to have mainly affected travel plans to Cairo, while the Red Sea resorts favored by the Europeans and Russians who make up the majority of foreign tourists to Egypt.

Two of the biggest German tourism agencies, TUI and Thomas Cook, gave their customers the option to either cancel their trips to Egypt or to chose a different destination without incurring penalties.

A spokeswoman for Thomas Cook, Nina Kreke, said that so far there had not been any requests for cancelations.

Anja Braun, a spokeswoman for TUI, said that most German tourists were vacationing in resorts along the Red Sea where the situation was calm.

"Nobody has asked to return early to Germany," Braun said, adding that while there had been a few cancelations and customers changing their travel destinations to other countries instead of Egypt, one could not say that there was a "wave of cancelations."

Both TUI and Thomas Cook could not say how many tourists travel to Egypt every week with their agencies, but according to the German Travel Association some 1.2 million Germans vacation in Egypt every year.

Rene-Marc Chikli, president of the CETO association of French tour operators, said the group was suspending all departures this weekend for Egypt. Many travelers who are already in Egypt are being routed away from Cairo to see other destinations, such as Luxor, Aswan or the Red Sea, he told France Info radio.

France's Foreign Ministry updated its website to advise travelers to Egypt to "postpone all non-urgent travel." French citizens already in Egypt are advised to "limit their movements to what is strictly necessary and stay far away from crowds."

Associated Press writers Kirsten Grieshaber in Berlin and Angela Doland in Paris contributed.

The situation is getting more serious in Egypt, it is spreading to other regions.

Latest BBC report:

BBC News - Egypt protests: curfew defied in Cairo and other cities

Latest report from Egypt.

BBC News - Egypt protests: Hosni Mubarak under world pressure

More from Egypt:

BBC News - Egypt protests: Anti-Mubarak protesters dominate Cairo

Must be terrible for those on vacation, that are confined to their hotels.

Received an email from our friend who is in Bahrain on business ... where it really is quite safe. (The US Navy 5th fleet is based in Bahrain.)

When the trouble was just beginning in Egypt, about 40 or so Brits were able to get a flight out to Bahrain. Many are staying at the same hotel as he. He says all of them are so glad they got out when they did.

US set to fly thousands of Americans from Egypt


Posted: Jan 30, 2011 4:08 PM EST Updated: Jan 30, 2011 5:48 PM EST

By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - The State Department is prepared to evacuate thousands of U.S. citizens from Egypt on chartered planes, but is relying largely on friends and families in the U.S. to relay that information to stranded Americans.
Assistant Secretary of State Janice Jacobs told reporters Sunday that she expects it will take several flights over the coming days to handle the number of Americans who want to leave Egypt.
Jacobs acknowledged that Internet interruptions in Egypt are making it difficult for Americans there to get information about the evacuations. But she said they have been able to get information from people in the United States who do have access to State Department and embassy websites.
The charters will begin Monday from Cairo and will fly to Europe. Jacobs said the U.S. is looking at Athens, Greece; Istanbul, Turkey; and Nicosia, Cyprus as destinations. So far, she said, Americans have been able to get taxis, but she said people should wait until tomorrow before they try to go to the airport to get one of the charter flights.
Jacobs, who's in charge of consular affairs, said the U.S. will have enough flights to take out all American citizens and dependents who want to leave. And the U.S. may also send charter planes to other cities in Egypt, such as Luxor, if there are a number of Americans stranded there. She said Americans with tickets on commercial airlines should first contact those carriers about getting out.
Americans taking the charter will be billed for the cost of the flight and will need to make their own travel arrangements home after arriving in Europe.
According to the State Department there are about 52,000 Americans registered with the embassy in Cairo. Officials noted, however, that many people don't register (or de-register when they leave) and some Americans in Egypt may not want to leave.
Americans looking for information on the flights should monitor the State Department and embassy websites or send an e-mail to egyptemergencyusc(at)state.gov. They can also call toll-free, 1-888-407-4747, from within the U.S. and Canada. From outside the U.S. and Canada people can call 1-202-501-4444.

An update on the situation in Egypt.


BBC News - Egypt standoff continues as protesters defy curfew


Britons returning from Cairo speak of their relief:


BBC News - Britons returning from Cairo speak of their relief