Should One Cruise to Greece During the Financial Crisis?

We have a cruise booked with four ports in Greece for mid-September. Should we be concerned? We are nearing the deadline for final payment and am thinking about bailing.

I have heard reports of tourists who can't get money out of ATMs and one could only get 100 Euros from the hotel. This along with taxis and restaurants wanting cash only, caused them to yearn for the Greek vacation to end.

For those with plans for cruises to Greece in the next few months, there does seem to be uncertainty. Will there be unrest? Will Greece leave the Eurozone so what happens to deposits on independent excursions etc.? Gas will be in short supply so how will that effect everything? And what about the general mood of the destination?

Any thoughts on this?

We have a cruise booked next year that visits three stops in Greece. Just bring U.S. dollars. If you have private tours booked, ask what currency they would like. If you have Celebrity tours booked, it doesn't matter.

We just go back from a cruise on Connie a week ago. I had brought 1000 Euro's with me. We had 1 restaurant that was unable to take a credit card. Cash is king. At some of the ATM's in Turkey you can get Euro's.

I'm cruising in August with multiple stops in Greece and am not concerned. I would error on the side of caution and book ship excursions or through third party sites that are reputable and offer a fixed rate for the excursion that is refundable if cancelled.

Yes taking out cash prior to arriving in Greece is the best plan.

I'm cruising in August with multiple stops in Greece and am not concerned. I would error on the side of caution and book ship excursions or through third party sites that are reputable and offer a fixed rate for the excursion that is refundable if cancelled.

 

Yes taking out cash prior to arriving in Greece is the best plan.

Very good advice.

Go on your cruise and enjoy the beautiful parts of Greece, the wonderful food and excellent tour guides.

My friends are doing a 15 day land tour of Greece, one week at a resort on Crete beforehand and a weekend on Santorini, all in September.

Life goes on and Greece still welcomes tourism.

Maybe you will be using Drachma in September.

http://time.com/money/3940791/greece-travel-american-tourists/

Good info

Cruise insurance may be your best friend in this case, the proper coverage as well.... bon voyage

I wouldn't panic just yet, we haven't reached the stroke of midnight, so to speak, a possible deal is still on the cards.

But the advice above is good, cash is King, so some Euro or Dollar or Pounds will probably be more than welcomed.

Anyway on a cruise you're just there for the day, and in reality you don't need to purchase anything locally to survive

We agree, the most likely scenario is that Greece will go back to the Drachma.

As for travel to Greece in the next few months, it's anyone's guess as to how this will play out. Hopefully by September the Greek government will have a plan in order. We have an upcoming cruise this October with stops in Greece, but aren't going to change our plans because of this unfortunate scenario.

My real concern about going to Greece at this time is civil unrest that can be created by all of this. We did the med with 3 stops in Greece a few years ago and two days after we were then we watched rioting in front of the national assembly in the same plaza we had watched the changing of the guard....pretty scary. Money issues aside, think twice about going....

If I was planning a trip to Greece at this time of uncertainty ,I personally would not do the trip & side on the side of personal safety;) .By the same token the ship would not port if they was disturbances in the area .Thus ,the call to go or not go is a personal decision:)

Just spoke to a friend, whose parents are from Greece, and she said her niece was over there now and that she has been unable to use her credit card in some places, ATMs have no money, etc. Thankfully her niece is staying with relatives, as she really won't have to worry about spending much of the little cash she brought.

At this point we have no plans to change and I think we have 5 Greek ports. The only place you may see unrest is Athens and as we've been there three times treating it as a sea day is no issue. We'll just make sure we have cash.

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I wouldn't panic just yet, we haven't reached the stroke of midnight, so to speak, a possible deal is still on the cards.

 

But the advice above is good, cash is King, so some Euro or Dollar or Pounds will probably be more than welcomed.

 

Anyway on a cruise you're just there for the day, and in reality you don't need to purchase anything locally to survive

I agree with these comments.

I am guessing most of your ports of call will be the islands and tourism is BIG part of their economy as such I am sure they will greet you with open arms especially if you have dollars or pounds in your hand.

As for civil unrest I don't think X would consider docking if there was any risk. It's there name at risk.

We are leaving in a couple of weeks on the Reflection to three places in Greece. I checked all of our private tours and all but one of them will take USD or credit cards. Even our tour operator in Istanbul said he would take whatever currency we wanted to give him. :) We are taking extra USD and will withdraw extra Euros from ATM's in Rome just to be safe.

We were in Barcelona four years ago during an unrest and it didn't affect our trip at all. The cruise lines won't stop at a port if they think it is dangerous.

Happy travels

We have 3 Greek port calls on our upcoming sailing and have no intention of cancelling.

Taking the advice of taking cash in Euros which I would anyway for port stops as we depart from Italy also have stops in Italy and Turkey.

However, if you are considering taking cash in place of credit/debit cards, please check your travel insurance limit for loss of cash.

Our insurance covers us for £500 (approximately €700) per person which will be sufficient for port expenses.

We have a B2B2B series scheduled for this October, with one leg including three Greek ports. We have absolutely no intention to cancel.

On the plus side you may get some great buys in Greece by paying in cash.:D

We will be in four Greek ports in the next three weeks. I will let you know how it goes.

On the plus side you may get some great buys in Greece by paying in cash.:D

According to tonight's news, the unemployment is 25% in Greece. The conditions were described as like the Great Depression in the United States in the 30's.

Maybe you will be using Drachma in September.

That is certainly a possibility. And if Greece defaults, it may not even be a hard currency which means you would need to get wads of this junk money that you may not be able to exchange once you've left the country.

I wouldn't panic just yet, we haven't reached the stroke of midnight, so to speak, a possible deal is still on the cards.

 

But the advice above is good, cash is King, so some Euro or Dollar or Pounds will probably be more than welcomed.

 

Anyway on a cruise you're just there for the day, and in reality you don't need to purchase anything locally to survive

I would tend to wait and see what currency you actually need. There is a chance that it will not be the Euro but almost certainly you will be able to exchange Euros into drachmas or whatever they call the replacement to the euro if there is a new currency.

They will take your money in whatever fashion you have it.

I am not worried about cruising in Greece, I am booked on a B2B in April. However, we were planning on doing a coach tour in Greece, followed by a few days in Athens, before flying to Rome to board to Constellation.

I am not sure whether we should go ahead with the tour. I guess we will know more in coming weeks, so I will wait and see what happens. But I am worried about it.

Cheers

Rosie

You can get EUR in any other EU country if you have stops there.

The problem with the ATM is that all greece people ran to them and took all the cash inside and banks didn't fill it up as they should...

Now they changed it to let the people only take 60 EUR per day - but if you have a non-greece credit card you should be able to get more. Of course, only if the ATM has been "refilled" properly. So that might be a problem.