Turkish Ports At Risk

We are getting ready to join the Mariner next week in Rome for our cruise ending in Istanbul. Wondering if Regent will follow. Not sure if this link will work, but here goes!

Costa Cruises cancels port calls in Turkey

http://usat.ly/1NERTjB

interesting thread. We are doing an Istanbul to Istanbul cruise on September 16th. We have been following the news on the ports that we will be visiting (will also visit Egypt and Israel). I'm sure that Regent is following this as well. If we were scheduled for Bangkok, I'd be more concerned than Istanbul but they certainly have had issues recently.

We would be pretty much up a creek without a paddle if they cancelled all the Turkish ports on our upcoming trip, especially since it begins and ends in Istanbul.

Ports around the world that pose no risk seem to be getting harder and harder to find.

Just checked the government website again and the strongest warnings seem to be for travel to Bangkok or Chang Mai, Thailand, followed by Cairo, the West Bank and Gaza in Israel (which may affect our cruise next month that goes both to Cairo and has some excursions in and near Gaza). The site makes note of what has been happening in Istanbul but there do not seem to be any warning that I could see recommending against travel to that area.

Ports around the world that pose no risk seem to be getting harder and harder to find.

I agree, the crime wave in New York City has been getting worse.

Near term I think most cruise lines will hold to their schedules and particularly if the cruises begin or end in say Istanbul. Longer term if demand is down for those cruises they will make adjustments to cruises for next year.

Henry is right. In fact, it is the port or City with no issues today that has a great chance of being the problem tomorrow.

Nowadays just one person can cause major problems and then if you have a handful of them it makes it even worse.

Keith

It's not just ships. Are we all going to stay off trains now after the incident on the Amsterdam/Paris TGV?

Totally agree. And there is no security check for getting on most trains or subways.

One of my friends told me that the island of Lesvos is being overrun by refugees from Syria. Wondering how hints are there as that is our first port.

Totally agree. And there is no security check for getting on most trains or subways.

 

One of my friends told me that the island of Lesvos is being overrun by refugees from Syria. Wondering how hints are there as that is our first port.

IMO, this is one port that could change. Just Googled the subject and there are apparently thousands of refugees there as you noted. While not necessarily dangerous to tourists, the port seems to be a bit of a mess and it is certainly possible that a boatload of people could arrive when we are due to tender. I feel so badly for the refugees but also understand how difficult it is for cities to accommodate them. I also heard that France has closed at least one of their border to prevent refugees from entering.

I also suspect that the excursion that goes to the West Bank will be cancelled. We have taken the excursion previously and it is only 2 miles from Syria. Despite everything, we are still looking forward to this cruise (and we leave for Istanbul 3 weeks from tomorrow):)

Just wanted to say that of the places we know in that wonderful itinerary, Lesbos was our least favorite. I'd been looking forward to visiting, since one of my focuses is Greek philosophy and literature, but we found the port uninteresting-- scarcely remember anything of it, whereas I have some terrific memories of other places round and about. (We've never been to Egypt, but everywhere else.)

Sad to have things like this weighing on everyone-- especially, of course, on the good people most closely involved.

TC2, maybe this map will help:

 

 

Nothing is really close to Syria except for the Golan Heights. I was there last year, on a land tour, and we did drive up to the Golan Heights - not a whole lot to see there. But a scary thing happened to us - the bus broke down on the way back, miles from town, and it was getting near dark. We were kind of spooked, but the tour guide handled it well.

 

This is a panorama from the Heights looking over Syria in an area called the Valley of Tears:

 

 

As for the West Bank, it's very, very complicated! I suspect some areas of it are safe, and others not so much.

 

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There is enough to do at the Sea of Galilee such that a cruise tour can just not go to the Golan Heights. So I suspect they will not cancel that tour - they just might play it by ear as to whether to ascend the Golan Heights.

Thanks so much for posting that map -- it helps me understand what is where. When we went to a kibbutz on our last Middle East cruise, we could see Syria. The name of the excursion (copied from the website) is: "Safed, Kibbutz Visit and the Golan Heights". While I initially had no desire to visit a kibbutz, it was truly amazing and well worth the visit (and in our case, a return visit). It will be interesting to see if Regent will do this excursion.

We definitely would have been spooked if our bus had broken down in that area. Thankfully you had a good tour guide:)

and I checked with them. They are not cancelling anything in Istanbul or Kusadasi this year, but are cancelling them next year. I believe that applies to Israel as well.

I feel bad for the refugees, and for the people on Lesvos who are trying to deal with this. Patmos was originally on the itinerary, and I am unclear as to why they changed it as Patmos holds more interest for me being where the apostle John wrote Revelations. Wish they would change that back.

And wish they would go back to 3 days in Israel instead of two as there is plenty in Israel that is of interest, even staying away from the Golan Heights.

We visited the Golan Heights during the Gaza War last summer. We were also in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. My children and grandchildren were with us. We all felt very safe. Because there were so many cancelations during that summer, we had no crowds and were greeted as heroes by the Israelis.

Don't be afraid to travel in Israel!

Sheila

We visited the Golan Heights during the Gaza War last summer. We were also in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. My children and grandchildren were with us. We all felt very safe. Because there were so many cancelations during that summer, we had no crowds and were greeted as heroes by the Israelis.

Don't be afraid to travel in Israel!

Sheila

Hi Sheila -- we will leave for our Istanbul to Istanbul cruise two weeks from tomorrow (Monday) and will visit Israel as well as Egypt. We visited a Kibbutz 2 miles from Syria last time and have our fingers crossed that we can visit it again on this cruise. It was eye opening and amazing!

After that............... we'll see you in November:D

and I checked with them. They are not cancelling anything in Istanbul or Kusadasi this year, but are cancelling them next year. I believe that applies to Israel as well.

Carol,

Not sure who told you this, but there are many cruises in 2016 which still show Istanbul and Kusadasi on the Regent web site. I'd take it as official if and when those itineraries change.

We'll be on the Istanbul to Dubai cruise this Oct/Nov with stops in Kusadasi, Haifa, Aqaba and Safaga among others. Aware...yes; overly concerned...no.

I was speaking of Crystal. I am not interested in Regent until The Explorer. We have one booked on that and we will see.

I was speaking of Crystal. I am not interested in Regent until The Explorer. We have one booked on that and we will see.

Ah...missed the reference to Crystal in your title.

What does Crystal's cancellation of ports have to do with Regent? I seriously doubt if any of the aforementioned ports will be cancelled until/if they prove to be a danger to passengers. As of today, this is not the case. Wonder if Crystal will regret their decisions? Don't mean to sound harsh but I'm getting rather bored reading so much about Crystal on the Regent board. They are reportedly a wonderful cruise line but do not meet the needs of many Regent passengers (and visa versa).

TC my husband and I will be on the explorer next year that will go to many of the same ports that you will be visiting shortly. Please share any tips or comments that you encounter. I also really hope they don't stop going to these ports because we won't have much to visit in that case!

TC my husband and I will be on the explorer next year that will go to many of the same ports that you will be visiting shortly. Please share any tips or comments that you encounter. I also really hope they don't stop going to these ports because we won't have much to visit in that case!

Actually three CC'ers (RachaelG, Mr. Rumor and I) will be posting from our upcoming cruise on the Mariner so you'll have plenty of comments. We did most of these ports (plus some) 2 years ago and loved it. We leave for Istanbul two weeks from today -- can't wait!

We leave 2 weeks from today as well. So far, the only change is that our excursion to the Alexandria library is cancelled because of the "big Muslim holiday" which has resulted in the library being closed. Not sure what this means. Does it mean everything is closed because of a holiday or because it is dangerous? At any rate, we will proceed onward.

We are staying on the ship in Port Said. In Alexandria, we have rebooked for the El Alamein battlefield tour which interests my husband who is a student of WWII history and Winston Churchill.

We leave 2 weeks from today as well. So far, the only change is that our excursion to the Alexandria library is cancelled because of the "big Muslim holiday" which has resulted in the library being closed. Not sure what this means. Does it mean everything is closed because of a holiday or because it is dangerous? At any rate, we will proceed onward.

We are staying on the ship in Port Said. In Alexandria, we have rebooked for the El Alamein battlefield tour which interests my husband who is a student of WWII history and Winston Churchill.

Very interesting...... my DH could not be more into WWII than he is (he was one of the thousands of children evacuated out of London a couple of days before London was bombed). They will have plenty to discuss. In the meantime, we have no concerns whatsoever about Istanbul.

TC my husband and I will be on the explorer next year that will go to many of the same ports that you will be visiting shortly. Please share any tips or comments that you encounter. I also really hope they don't stop going to these ports because we won't have much to visit in that case!

We will also be on this cruise with Irishwitchy and look forward to all your posts in the coming weeks! TC I love how excited you are getting about the trip and hate that we don't leave for another 13 months :)