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That voyage is a 14-night transatlantic cruise to Fort Lauderdale, visiting Alicante, Malaga, the Canary Islands, and Freeport in the Bahamas along the way. The 78,878-gross-ton, Vision-class Rhapsody of the Seas is currently homeported from Haifa, Israel, but the remainder of the ship’s Mediterranean season has been cancelled due to the regional violence. With no sailings for the next few weeks, the ship is available to assist in such emergency evacuation options. The US government, via the embassy in Israel, is assisting US citizens and their immediate family members to evacuate from Israel to Cyprus on Monday, October 16, 2023. The evacuation will be via Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas, which will take travelers from Haifa, Israel, to Limassol, Cyprus.
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Her husband was staying behind for the time being, but hoping to rejoin the family in Dallas by Wednesday, she told ABC News. Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. The Rhapsody of the Seas ship can accommodate more than 2,400 passengers, according to Royal Caribbean’s website. The line’s Rhapsody of the Seas vessel had been sailing in the region but canceled its itineraries in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war. In March, Royal Caribbean committed to "fully-vaccinated" for sailings on Odyssey of the Seas. "Due to the unrest in Israel and the region, Odyssey has not been able to complete the preparations required to operate from Haifa as planned," the cruise line said in a release provided by spokesperson Lyan Sierra-Caro.
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U.S. Evacuates Nationals from Israel on Chartered Royal Caribbean Ship - The Maritime Executive
U.S. Evacuates Nationals from Israel on Chartered Royal Caribbean Ship.
Posted: Mon, 16 Oct 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
It is unclear if the U.S. has plans for any further emergency evacuations from Israel. All the major cruise lines last week suspended their port calls, as did most commercial airlines. It was reported that MSC Cruises chartered an Israeli-owned cruise ship, Crown Iris (40,000 gross tons), and on Sunday the cruise ship spent about 10 hours in Haifa disembarking Israelis that had been on an MSC cruise when the war broke out. The US Embassy in Israel said Sunday the ship would leave Monday and spend about 10 to 12 hours at sea before arriving at the Limassol port in Cyprus, where citizens will be responsible for arranging their own accommodations and onward travel. The US embassy is providing the passage at a fee, but those boarding have yet to be given the bill. “Now, with enhanced safety precautions in place, our ship is providing free passage, including accommodation and food, for Americans in the region wishing to leave and find safer ground,” Liberty wrote.
Royal Caribbean Ship Helps Evacuate Americans from Israel
Cruise Radio prioritizes well-balanced cruise news coverage and accurate reporting, paired with ship reviews and tips. Under normal circumstances, Rhapsody of the Seas can accommodate 1,998 guests for a typical cruise at double occupancy, and up to 2,416 travelers when fully booked with all berths filled. This is not a typical situation, however, and the numbers of evacuees are yet unknown. Local time and was available on a first-come, first-served basis, according to embassy officials. Royal Caribbean has canceled a series of fully vaccinated cruises from Israel amid the surging Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Several foreigners in the country were stranded as airlines canceled service to the beleaguered country.
The cruise line has said that 100% of crew will be required to be fully vaccinated, Sierra-Caro told USA TODAY. However, Royal Caribbean has not yet announced vaccine protocol for passengers sailing from the United States. Michael Bayley, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, said in the release that while the decision was challenging to make that the safety of passengers, crew and the communities the cruise line visits remains priority. Royal Caribbean International is canceling its first-ever planned sailings from Haifa, Israel due to unrest, the cruise line announced Saturday. Royal Caribbean had been eyeing the chance to offer sailings from Israel "for quite some time," Michael Bayley, Royal Caribbean's president and CEO, said in a March press release. And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu initially called the cruise line's decision to sail from Israel an "important economic, touristic moment" for the country.
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And Palestinian officials said that Israel is still not supplying water to the densely populated enclave. The news comes as CNN reported over the weekend that discussions are underway for a possible visit to the Middle East after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu extended an invitation to Biden. With her Israel cruise season now cancelled, Rhapsody of the Seas is assisting in an emergency evacuation of US nationals out of Israel. The Gaza Health Ministry — which is controlled by Hamas — reported at least 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 12,500 injured since the war began. The US Embassy in Israel announced the evacuation plan Sunday, offering the 2,500 Americans and their immediate family members still in Israel a chance to leave by sea. The latest outburst of violence spread across the region over the past week, with Jewish-Arab clashes and rioting in mixed cities of Israel.
Israel-Hamas war: How we got here
The restrictions on movements have been imposed by the Israeli military after Hamas unleashed a terror attack on Israel from Gaza on October 7, killing 1,400 people and kidnapping scores of others. Every time Noor Barakat goes shopping for food, the prices are higher. Fruit and vegetables that are normally brought in from the north haven’t been coming. The White House said Sunday it had no new travel plans to announce at this time. The ship, "Rhapsody of the Seas," can take up to 2,400 passengers — but a CNN team on the ground saw that the ship was well below capacity. People, young, and old, were processed through a check-in system with American flags dotted along the route.
Blinken arrived back in Israel Monday morning to meet with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and opposition leader Yair Lapid, in addition to meetings with Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog, per a US official. A senior Turkish official told CNN last week that Turkey is actively taking part in trying to secure the hostages taken by Hamas. The Israeli government on Monday ordered the evacuation of 28 villages in northern Israel within two kilometers of the country's border with Lebanon. Although families are on the move, Sarah’s 14-year-old daughter, Ariella, had reservations about making the trip.
Royal Caribbean cruise ship evacuated Americans from Israel
Since Monday night, Hamas has fired hundreds of rockets into Israel, which has pounded the Gaza Strip with strikes. In Gaza, at least 139 people have been killed, including 39 children and 22 women; in Israel, eight people have been killed, including a man killed by a rocket that hit in Ramat Gan, a suburb of Tel Aviv, on Saturday. But now, the cruise giant will be halting its highly anticipated Israel-based sailings, which would have shuttled fully vaccinated Israelis on three- to seven-night trips to Greece and Cyprus from Haifa, Israel, and back. Royal Caribbean had planned for its new Odyssey of the Seas ship to begin sailing in June out of Haifa, Israel. The cruise series — unveiled in March — served as Royal Caribbean's first fully vaccinated cruise announcement, and would have been the cruise line's first voyage from Israel. Department of State to send a cruise ship to Israel to rescue Americans who have not been able to leave the country.
Department of State in the assisted departure of American citizens,” said a statement from Royal Caribbean. Travelers have been asked to sign an “Evacuee Manifest and Promissory Note” as an agreement to repay the US government for the cost of the evacuation travel, though the costs of the travel are not immediately available. In Cyprus, American evacuees will be able to board commercial flights to take them the rest of the way home. Evacuee Idella Schatzberg was leaving for Cyprus with her two tots in tow.
They advised the family members of U.S. government employees and some non-emergency personnel would also be authorized to depart. The U.S. State Department and the Embassy in Israel announced that it chartered a cruise ship to accelerate the departure of U.S. nationals and their immediate families from Israel. The move comes as fears mount of escalation as Israel stands poised for what government officials are saying will be the next phase of the war against Hamas with an all-out air, sea, and land invasion of Gaza.
Egypt supports the opening of the crossing and that aid vehicles were standing by for permission to cross, Shoukry said. In the south, all eyes are on the Rafah crossing into Egypt – the last available exit to Gazans. And in the north, all eyes are on the movements of Israel’s Defense Forces ahead of any potential developments on the ground.
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