The Fall 1997 voyage was re-routed due to terrorism concerns . On November 12 , 1997 , Ramzi Yousef was convicted of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing . Consequently , the U.S. State Department issued a travel warning for Americans in the Middle East . On November 17 , 1997 , while the ship was docked in Port Said , Egypt , and the students were in country , the Luxor massacre occurred . Although no students were involved , fears of further terrorism resulted in the next two ports , Israel and Turkey , being skipped and the ship re-routed to Cyprus and Spain
Luxor massacre
Luxor massacre
Semester at Sea