Martin Wheatley

Still happy I cancelled our cruise.  Iran accidentally killed 176 passengers on a 737 they thought was a missile.  That's the fog of war.  It is inevitable that things will flare up again & who is to say they won't accidentally target a cruise ship instead of an oil tanker or a warship.  Their military seems quite incompetent at accurately identifying the enemy.  A great sense of relief is the overriding emotion amongst our family now we are not going.  And RC is in no position to guarantee the safety of their passengers or hide behind 'we haven't had any threats'.  I'm sure Ukrainian Airlines didn't perceive any threats either.  In a war zone there is always collateral damage and I don't want to be in the Straight of Hormuz when the shooting starts again. 

As a family we have decided not to go on the cruise, however we still have return BA flights London to Dubai over a ten day period which cost us a fortune.  We are still happy to visit central Dubai so have decided to spend a night in Dubai,  have purchased new onward flights to Kerala in India for £160 return with Air India and will spend 8 nights touring the Backwaters and Tea Plantation country of that part of the world.  Then we'll fly back to Dubai, spend another night there and then fly back to London.  As India is so cheap (5* hotels are £70 are night), with the 50% refund on the cruise & full refund on excursions we have just about broke even.  Plus Kerala looks so beautiful, we are now excited again about our holiday.

4 hours ago, Tim B. said:

Ghassem Soleimani was responsible for hundreds of U.S. service members deaths as the leader of Qods Force during Operation Iraqi Freedom of which I deployed five times so if he met his very untimely death I won’t miss a night of sleep. If this situation  wrecks some cruises because of larger global issues than so be it. I personally lost people because of this guy so forgive me if I don’t blame the U.S president.  This is a raw subject for me so excuse me if I come off too strong. 

I agree, I am not sorry to see the end of Ghassem Soleimani as he was a horrible human being & am not blaming Trump for taking this difficult decision.  The timing isn't great for those of us visiting the Persian Gulf soon and we'll work round it, but I'm certainly not going to put myself on a boat sailing anywhere near Iran with all the threats they are making.  It's just not worth the risk. 

12 minutes ago, John W said:

Just booked the Canary Island Martin . Hopping they cancel this next cruise.  

Yes, same here. I had a hotel booked in Dubai for 3 nights at the end of the cruise, am cancelling that at no cost & I hope they cancel the cruise but will be able to get 50% refund up to 28 days before if they don't. The £700+ costs of the BA flights will be a loss though apart from a refund of Air Passenger Duty.  Those savings should pay for a cheapy holiday in northern Tenerife.  We've gone from being really excited at the beginning of the year about visiting the middle east for the first time to being completely turned off the idea.  And anyone who says it's safe doesn't understand the volatility of the situation.

5 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

As long as the final payment date has not passed, you can cancel or transfer the booking without penalty.  If the final payment date has passed, there will be a cancellation penalty that is not recoverable.  If Royal cancels then all of these cancellation fees are waived but in the absence of official cancellation, the penalties are in effect.  This is for North American booking rules.  Other regions have different rules.

I booked in the UK and the final payment date has passed so my only choice is cancelling and get a refund of 50% up to 28 days before.  

I just saw a Sky News story which said that the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has identified 35 American targets in the Persian Gulf for retaliatory action including "ships" in the Strait of Hormuz !!!  He also said that Tehran would punish Americans and its allies “wherever they are in reach”.  Good Lord.  How RC can still be sending cruise ships just miles from the Iranian coast beggars belief.

5 minutes ago, mworkman said:

There has alway been issues/tension between Iran and the U.S.  If you feel uneasy about going, why not transfer your sailing to another sailing, the most that you will lose would be $100 per person, unless you're in a suit.  I don't know what that would entail.

 

 

But the tension has got significantly worse since the President's action this week.  When we booked in November the situation was stable and Iran was not threatening to take revenge on America and the West.  I might look into transferring the booking, I didn't realise you could do that - thanks for the advice.  

17 hours ago, Mandy lemon said:

We are also due to be travelling out Dubai on the 12th for our cruise on the 13th. I called Royal Caribbean today and they said no change and they wouldn’t sail if it wasn’t safe. She said nothing has happened yet .....REALLY! Ok so let’s wait until they retaliate and cause loss of life before we cancel They have a lot of money to refund if the cruise is cancelled so unfortunately I don’t think they will despite the warnings. Personally I’m going to take the loss my life is worth more. 

They told me our safety is their number one priority.  Sure.  That they are still considering sending ships within miles of Iran when Iran has vowed retaliation against American assets & experts have advised all Westerners to leave the UAE for their own safety says to me that RC's bottom line is their #1 priority.  Even if the ship is safe, I am not confident about getting off at ports of call as there may be be Iranians or local pro-Iranians who will be happy to vent their anger at any Westerners they see milling about.    To show how close shipping gets to Iran I've attached an image of the Strait of Hormuz, at its narrowest it is only 21 miles across. The Jewel of the Seas passes through this twice on the cruise I'm on.

3 hours ago, J_Keeble said:

If you're worried then don't go.

Unless there is a thawing in relations between Iran & the USA then it is highly unlikely that me and my family will now go on the cruise.  However that thawing is very unlikely so we will want to go elsewhere.  Unfortunately unless RC cancels the sailings then I will only get a fraction of my money back and won't be able to afford to go anywhere else.  That's why I'm keen on them cancelling. I think we'd go to the Canary Islands instead.

I did tweet RC a second time emphasising how volatile the situation now is, they replied "We appreciate your feedback and understand your concerns. We'll make sure to contact you right away if any changes are made."  A bit of a fob-off but I guess they can't say much more unless someone up the food chain makes a decision.

I tweeted RC & they gave the following response:  "We’re aware of current events in the region and we’re closely monitoring the situation along with our Global Security Team. Should the situation change we’ll update you immediately. Thank you for your understanding." 

Although I can't imagine Iran to be so stupid to target a cruise ship, in the last year in the very waters the ship is sailing the Iranian Revolutionary Guard have attached limpet mines to foreign vessels and have also diverted a British oil tanker into Iranian waters for bogus reasons and then held it captive for weeks. 

The General the Americans assassinated is described as an immensely powerful Dick Cheney/Darth Vader 'power behind the throne' type figure and the Iranians are absolutely seething about this, this is probably the most serious action the USA has taken in the Gulf since the 2003 Iraq invasion.  You can guarantee the Iranians are plotting revenge for this.  The defenceless Jewel of the Seas, which would be a floating prize, travels just miles from Iranian waters and can easily be intercepted by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Out of 'an abundance of caution' RC should cancel.    

With the actions of President Trump in assassinating a top Iranian General in Iraq & Iran vowing retaliation, is it wise for Royal Caribbean to still be sailing American owned cruise ships through the Straits of Hormuz, just miles from Iran?  I am due to be cruising from Dubai in February and am now very, very nervous about going.  I want to cancel but the cost is 75% at this point, I am hoping they will cancel.  I notice P&O cancelled their Dubai cruises last year when Iran were targeting British tankers, may RC do the same?  I hope so!