Costa Cruises Cancels Egypt and Red Sea Voyages

In view of the ongoing political and social instability in Egypt that is impacting security conditions in Cairo and other major cities, Costa Cruises is canceling all calls at Egyptian ports scheduled on Egypt and Red Sea cruises during the autumn and winter 2013-14 season.

Those calls will be replaced by alternate itineraries. Bookings on Costa Voyager's seven-day cruises in the Red Sea are canceled and protected on Costa Fortuna's seven-day cruises in the United Arab Emirates. The ''Thousand and One Nights'' itinerary sails roundtrip from Dubai, with calls at Muscat and Khasab, Oman and Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. 

Bookings on the Costa Voyager positioning cruise scheduled Nov. 11 in the Red Sea are protected on the Costa Fortuna positioning cruise to Dubai. 

In addition, planned calls at Port Said and Alexandria, Egypt, scheduled on cruises in the eastern Mediterranean on Costa Pacifica and Costa Serena, beginning Oct. 4 and Dec. 15, respectively, will be replaced with extended calls at Ashdod and Haifa, Israel. 

Costa Crociere will restore calls to Egyptian ports as soon as the social and political environment stabilizes and the cruise line can ensure the safety and security of its guests.

For more information, visit www.costacruise.com.

UPDATE: Buck Banks, a representative of Costa Cruises, confirmed that the aformentioned cruises were cancelled. "The line is definitely canceling its Egypt calls this fall and winter," Banks said,

Travel Agent is following up on when the cruises will be pulled from Costa Cruises' sales channels, and will post more information as it becomes available.