Impact of the war on international tourism

10-10-23

Cruise lines with scheduled calls in Israel are changing their itineraries after Hamas, a Palestinian militant group, launched a surprise attack on Israel over the weekend. The fighting quickly escalated to retaliatory attacks in the Gaza Strip.  

About a dozen cruise lines were scheduled to call in Israel over the next month. While several lines said they are closely monitoring the situation since fighting broke out Saturday morning, several have begun altering itineraries. 

On an 11-day sailing from Rome to Istanbul that departed Oct. 1, the Norwegian Gem did not call in Ashdod, Israel, on Oct. 8. The ship instead spent the day at sea before continuing its originally scheduled call to Limassol, Cypress, on Oct. 9. 

The Norwegian Jade, which departed Oct. 8 on a roundtrip cruise from Athens, has canceled calls at Israeli ports Ashdod and Haifa on Oct. 11 and Oct. 12. Instead, the ship will visit Turkish ports Bodrum and Marmaris on Oct. 10 and 11. It will spend a day at sea on Oct. 12.