Costa cancel all Turkey ports for 2015

[davidcraig2003]

Costa Cruises have cancelled all Turkey ports of all (for them this is Istanbul and Izmir) for the remainder of 2015. Do we think Royal will do the same? I'm on the Rhapsody embarking Sunday, we visit Kusadasi and Bodrum. Whilst I believe they will be safe, I suspect once one company makes the call, others will follow suit, otherwise they risk the perception of not being as safety conscious?

 

Costa say they will substitute with Greece and Malta. The Rhapsody alternates a 7 night Greece cruise, calling at Mykonos and Katokolon, so these might be an option for Royal.

[Keith1010]

I don't see you having a problem since your voyage is embarking so soon.

 

Keith

[davidcraig2003]

I'm not worried :) Great part of the world and not overly bothered which ports we stop - just interested in the possible outcome

[abo]

I'm not worried :) Great part of the world and not overly bothered which ports we stop - just interested in the possible outcome

 

True, great part of the world, but might be worth keeping in mind that if the cruise doesn't stop at a non-EU port (e.g. switching Turkey ports to Greece), it becomes an EU closed loop which brings the likelihood of VAT being charged throughout the cruise, bumping up the cost of drinks, etc by 20%+ throughout (unless on a package of course). I believe the regulations are quite complicated, so I'm most likely over-simplfying the situations.

 

Of course if there are real risks the application of VAT would be very much a secondary consideration for the cruise and passengers!

[davidcraig2003]

Good point - I had forgot about that! Not many other Non-EU choices in that area other than Kotor, which would be too far up the Adriatic.

[nelblu]

I read on this board, that if you pre-book certain packages, eg: drinks, restaurants, you avoid the VAT.