River cruise operators suspend sailings in Middle East

Luxury river cruise operators have suspended sailings across parts of the Middle East amid the ongoing conflict.

 

Tauck has cancelled all March classic and small-group tour departures on its Jordan & Egypt: Petra to the Pyramids itinerary due to “ongoing disruptions to air service” in and out of Ammam. The line has also suspended its Egypt: Jewels of the Nile sailings until March 15.

 

A travel update from the company said: “Due to a recent advisory from the US State Department and continued air disruptions in the region, we have unfortunately made the difficult decision to cancel these departures.

 

“Impacted guests and travel advisors are being contacted directly on a rolling basis; we sincerely appreciate your patience as we work through these notifications.”

Future Tauck departures will be evaluated at a later date, also “on a rolling basis”.

 

Avalon Waterways, part of the Globus family of brands which has one ship on the Nile River, also said it was “closely monitoring the evolving situation” and had made the “proactive decision” to cancel March departures to Qatar, Jordan, Dubai and Egypt “out of an abundance of caution”.

 

In a statement, a spokesperson said: “Guests and travel advisors on affected departures are being contacted directly and personally.

 

“Impacted travellers are being offered flexible options, including the opportunity to rebook to a future departure or receive a full refund.”

 

AmaWaterways’ land extension programmes in Jordan and Dubai have been suspended until March 31. Guests with plans to travel to these destinations “are being supported with all the necessary arrangements”.

 

The line said its operations in Egypt remained "supported and stable”.

 

“Guests currently in destination have expressed a strong desire to continue their journey and our March 5 and March 7 Nile River cruises will proceed as planned,” a statement said.

 

All additional AmaWaterways Nile River cruises scheduled for March will continue as planned, though “any guest or travel advisor with a March reservation who prefers to adjust their travel plans may rebook to another 2026 itinerary without penalties”.

 

Uniworld Boutique River Cruises’ Splendours of Egypt & the Nile programme will also operate "as usual”, with its team on the ground ready to welcome passengers arriving in Cairo for March 7 departures. No changes to the itinerary are expected for passengers currently sailing in the area.

 

The line’s extension tours in Jordan are also “operating as normal”, although the temporary closure of airspace over the country has impacted flights for guests booked for a March 2 departure.

 

Uniworld said any passengers rebooking flights to arrive in Egypt for March 7 should contact the team with new flight details.

 

Itineraries are “operating as scheduled” for the many lines without ships in the region, with accommodations being made for guests unable to reach their departure destination due to global flight disruption.