Oceania Cancelling All Turkey Ports 2016

[rallydave]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/cruiselog/2016/01/22/norwegian-regent-seven-seas-oceania-cruises-cancels-all-turkey-port-calls-2016/79130430/

[Toranut97]

So sad. So understandable, and yes, probably prudent. But how I hate that this had to happen.

 

Donna

[RJB]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/cruiselog/2016/01/22/norwegian-regent-seven-seas-oceania-cruises-cancels-all-turkey-port-calls-2016/79130430/

Too bad. We loved everything we saw in Turkey, but with the terrorist bombings targeting tourist sites it just is not safe enough to go there. It is the job of the cruise lines to keep their passengers as safe as they can. They have no choice. Hope for 2017 to be better. :):)

[cruisemom42]

I've followed the CC boards for a long time now, and I notice some lines are much more "reactive" than others when it comes to canceling ports.

 

Have other lines cancelled all calls to Turkey? I know Celebrity has changed some of their routes to either shorten their time in Istanbul (no overnights) or eliminate it all together. But I have not heard of any other lines completely cancelling calls in Turkey.

 

Does Oceania know something the others don't? Or is it an excess of caution?

[Toranut97]

I've followed the CC boards for a long time now, and I notice some lines are much more "reactive" than others when it comes to canceling ports.

 

 

 

Have other lines cancelled all calls to Turkey? I know Celebrity has changed some of their routes to either shorten their time in Istanbul (no overnights) or eliminate it all together. But I have not heard of any other lines completely cancelling calls in Turkey.

 

 

 

Does Oceania know something the others don't? Or is it an excess of caution?

 

 

If you read the article, it says that Costa Cruises and Celebrity Cruises cancelled some itineraries last fall, but that "Norwegian is the first major line to drop Turkey this year."

 

Donna

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[sammiedawg]

This is a wise safety decision, otherwise there will be uncertainty regarding every cruise calling in Turkey.

The last time we were in Turkey our private tour guide expressed her fears that tourism will be curtailed if the violence continued. Since then the situation has worsened.

It is a shame but necessary.

[Mura]

Considering what happened, I certainly wouldn't call the decision an "excess of caution".

[cruisemom42]

Some have a higher threshold than others when it comes to what is considered a risk, it seems.

 

I have mixed feelings about it all. Tourists are still heading to Paris despite the recent attack there in which more people were killed than in Istanbul.

 

My more recent cruises have mainly been on two British (small) lines that do not seem to cancel ports in a reactionary way but rather base decisions on the guidance of their foreign office. Perhaps their mainly British clientele are more intrepid....

 

Based on what I read here on many boards, I'm guessing larger cruise lines are also cancelling (or changing) ports out of a fear that they won't fill ships with passengers.

[LHT28]

When you have a very expensive ship full of passengers I would not consider it excessive caution

 

People going in small groups may be safer than a large target like a cruise ship

 

JMO

[RJB]

Some have a higher threshold than others when it comes to what is considered a risk, it seems.

 

I have mixed feelings about it all. Tourists are still heading to Paris despite the recent attack there in which more people were killed than in Istanbul.

 

My more recent cruises have mainly been on two British (small) lines that do not seem to cancel ports in a reactionary way but rather base decisions on the guidance of their foreign office. Perhaps their mainly British clientele are more intrepid....

 

Based on what I read here on many boards, I'm guessing larger cruise lines are also cancelling (or changing) ports out of a fear that they won't fill ships with passengers.

If they can't fill their ships with passengers they will be out of business pretty soon. Cruise lines must make a profit to be here for us next year. Seems to be a good call for the next year or so.

[kitty9]

Some have a higher threshold than others when it comes to what is considered a risk, it seems.

 

I have mixed feelings about it all. Tourists are still heading to Paris despite the recent attack there in which more people were killed than in Istanbul.

 

I don't think a cruise line makes a decision to cancel a port due to the number of persons killed in an attack. A life lost, is a life lost be it 1 or 100. Last summer, cruise lines canceled port stops in Israel when there were problems there, and while none of the attacks were focused on tourists, cruise lines still erred on the side of caution. I don't find their decision to cancel Turkish ports to be reactionary at all, but in addition to considering their bottom line knowing that people may not book a cruise that includes Turkey, their focus is to keep their passengers safe. If you read newspapers from that region, they emphatically state that Turkey, based on it's location alone, is going to stay a prime target for terrorist attacks.

[PaulMCO]

Waiting for my TA to get back to me. Looks like I will have to change my logo below to Hong Kong to Athens. Athens will be a very busy port. They have already updated the web site -- so this change has been in the works since NCL made their decision.

[cruisemom42]

I don't think a cruise line makes a decision to cancel a port due to the number of persons killed in an attack. A life lost, is a life lost be it 1 or 100. Last summer, cruise lines canceled port stops in Israel when there were problems there, and while none of the attacks were focused on tourists, cruise lines still erred on the side of caution. I don't find their decision to cancel Turkish ports to be reactionary at all, but in addition to considering their bottom line knowing that people may not book a cruise that includes Turkey, their focus is to keep their passengers safe. If you read newspapers from that region, they emphatically state that Turkey, based on it's location alone, is going to stay a prime target for terrorist attacks.

 

Seems more people share your viewpoint than mine. :cool:

 

Thank goodness there are other ways of travel. But it's a shame as cruising combines two things I enjoy -- visiting exotic places and being onboard ship.

 

I will keep traveling to Turkey (and other places) absent any specific government travel bans. After all, I want to see as many historic places as I can before they are all destroyed....

[pinotlover]

A lot of people without very good trip insurance may be screwed! Just consider all those folks that bought their own airfare, not through Oceania, that have plane tickets into, out of, or both from Istanbul! :eek:

 

We are inside of the full payment date for a several Spring and early Summer cruises going to Turkey, so everyone, by now has airfare! How are the airlines going to deal with this? Will they just automatically have enough seats, to say Athens, to just take all the passengers now getting diverted for cruises?

 

We were within a hair of booking a cruise out of Istanbul that includes Israel and my wife opted to wait until 2017 for that cruise. We would have already bought our plane tickets!:eek:

[no fuss travel]

Our tour guide while doing the land portion of Turkey was telling us that the people of Turkey were worried about attacks. Not only do they have to worry from outside Turkey, but within their own country. Those were his words, not mine. We left Ankara the day before the bomb went off there and that was from within Turkey. There are a lot of people very unhappy with the current government, but there are others who are happy with it. We found our Turkish guide to be excellent as he explained both sides to us and did not take sides as to which side was right. It certainly opened our eyes to the political mess that area of the world is in. I am glad that we got to see all of the ancient sites as our guide was worried that others may come in and destroy them as well.

[Cruise Critic Chris]

Here is our story, which gives the breakdown on Turkey cancellations for all the lines: http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6769

[buggins0402]

While it is sad to see the Turkish ports get cancelled, having some certainty with regard to itineraries earlier, rather than last minute, is a good thing for both cruisers and the cruise line. And, while the Turkish ports did make the itineraries a bit more interesting, they were not crucial to good Eastern Med itinerary, particularly given the current world situation.

[ano]

Some have a higher threshold than others when it comes to what is considered a risk, it seems.

 

I have mixed feelings about it all. Tourists are still heading to Paris despite the recent attack there in which more people were killed than in Istanbul.

 

Comparing Paris to Istanbul is not fair at all. You certainly could say that with 9/11, the U.S. by far had the most people killed by terrorists so maybe stay away from the U.S.

 

As I have said, I was in Paris a week after the attacks, and there is no doubt lots and lots of terrorists are still in France, as there are in the U.S. The real question is how these countries react to the threat. I'm not sure Turkey has the resources to react like they need to, and that is the real problem.

Edited January 22, 2016 by ano

[cruisemom42]

Comparing Paris to Istanbul is not fair at all. You certainly could say that with 9/11, the U.S. by far had the most people killed by terrorists so maybe stay away from the U.S.

 

As I have said, I was in Paris a week after the attacks, and there is no doubt lots and lots of terrorists are still in France, as there are in the U.S. The real question is how these countries react to the threat. I'm not sure Turkey has the resources to react like they need to, and that is the real problem.

 

I'm not so sure about that. Turkey has a strong central government and a strong military. (They are in the top 10 countries in terms of global firepower.) They are a NATO member. This is not a weak country at risk of being overrun by rebels, like a Libya or an Afghanistan.

 

Personally, I don't disagree at all with the idea (in your first paragraph) that the US may not be any safer than some other countries. That's the thing about terrorists -- you cannot predict where there next target will be.

[PaulMCO]

I have been going to Turkey on business for the last 15 years. The PKK has always been a terrorist threat with suicide attacks that have not reached the CNN media clowns. This time a Syrian that could also be PKK in Istanbul -- nothing different except some foreign tourists get killed. If only Turks had gotten killed there would be no issue.

Edited January 22, 2016 by PaulMCO

[buggins0402]

One way flights from Athens to IST run less than a price if an excursion ( as low as $69). Those who had Istanbul circled as a must do, could always book a flight after their cruise and spend a few days in the city and fly home from there. There is always more control for perceived hot spots if you do it as a land trip.

[bitob]

And add a few days in Cappadocia. That is a must do

[RJB]

While it is sad to see the Turkish ports get cancelled, having some certainty with regard to itineraries earlier, rather than last minute, is a good thing for both cruisers and the cruise line. And, while the Turkish ports did make the itineraries a bit more interesting, they were not crucial to good Eastern Med itinerary, particularly given the current world situation.

At least we know that Oceania did not wait to final pay to cancel these ports. I never believed that they only waited to cancel to keep people from canceling. They did the right thing as soon as they knew that was what they had to do.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

We were first in Istanbul and went in early on our first Oceania Cruise. The Oceania hotel was the Hilton in Taksim Square. The week we were there were several car bombings and security was very high coming and going to the hotel and then the ship. We were very concerned for our safety not speaking the language or knowing the lay of the land. We would have no problem having a port canceled for security reasons.

[wally_bushy]

There is no one stopping you from going and telling you what to do.

Equally Oceania and others are making their decision

Pretty simple.