Royal in Istanbul

[Summerprincess]

The Royal Princess was scheduled to stop in Kusadasi on July 28. Does anyone know if it did make this scheduled stop there? If anyone on that cruise has any other information for us, it would be wonderful to hear from you. We are scheduled to stop in Kusadasi on September 15 and are hoping we get to stop there!

[IECalCruiser]

The Royal Princess was scheduled to stop in Kusadasi on July 28. Does anyone know if it did make this scheduled stop there? If anyone on that cruise has any other information for us, it would be wonderful to hear from you. We are scheduled to stop in Kusadasi on September 15 and are hoping we get to stop there!

No. See post 117. Regarding your cruise, you should check with Princess or your TA. The itinerary for your cruise still shows Kusadasi but the map shows Kotor. You should have received an itinerary change from Princess if Kusadasi was dropped. Edited August 2, 2016 by IECalCruiser

[Living on a prayer]

The Royal Princess was scheduled to stop in Kusadasi on July 28. Does anyone know if it did make this scheduled stop there? If anyone on that cruise has any other information for us, it would be wonderful to hear from you. We are scheduled to stop in Kusadasi on September 15 and are hoping we get to stop there!

 

We were on the Royal for the past 2 weeks. We were meant to go to Rhodes instead of Istanbul.

Then when Kusadasi was cancelled during the cruise

Kotor and Corfu were put on the itinerary and Rhodes was dropped.

[r&rlovescruising]

We were on the Royal for the past 2 weeks. We were meant to go to Rhodes instead of Istanbul.

Then when Kusadasi was cancelled during the cruise

Kotor and Corfu were put on the itinerary and Rhodes was dropped.

 

So it looks like you didn't know about Kusadasi being cancelled until after you were on the ship? We're leaving on 9/10 and I'm wondering when they will let us know and if it rearranges the other ports on the itinerary again? When they substituted Corgy for Istsnbul a couple of other days switched too.

[spyro1952]

So it looks like you didn't know about Kusadasi being cancelled until after you were on the ship? We're leaving on 9/10 and I'm wondering when they will let us know and if it rearranges the other ports on the itinerary again? When they substituted Corgy for Istsnbul a couple of other days switched too.

 

Everything in Turkey has been cancelled by most of the cruise lines, as it should be. Since they are all scrambling to change ports, changes may not be available until boarding.

[Living on a prayer]

We set sail on the on Saturday 16th July and I received an e mail from my Travel Agent about the Istanbul / Rhodes swap the following day.

The itinerary change that included the 26th Kotor and 27th Corfu stops. Was received via an internal letter delivered to the stateroom on Friday 22nd.

Hope this helps.

[r&rlovescruising]

We set sail on the on Saturday 16th July and I received an e mail from my Travel Agent about the Istanbul / Rhodes swap the following day.

The itinerary change that included the 26th Kotor and 27th Corfu stops. Was received via an internal letter delivered to the stateroom on Friday 22nd.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks! We will be flexible:)

[RDC1]

Thanks for the first hand report Amelia.

I had been under the impression that the military (who I thought started the coup) was secular and Erdogan leaned towards the more religious. But from your friend's description it sounds like that was not the case.

 

In Turkey the military has been the counter force to religion since the days of Ataturk. In the religion has gotten to big in the government the military has taken over the government. Erdogan is very religious leaning. He had, even prior to the coup, had several military leaders replaced using various reasons.

 

Since the coup the government has been blaming the group mentioned in the letter and have been going after everything related to that group.

 

Erdogan has also accused the US of involvement and there have been major demonstrations outside of the major US airbase.

[caribill]

Regarding your cruise, you should check with Princess or your TA.

 

Or check the special notices section in your personalizer.

[RoadTripFanatic]

We have just received notification that the two stops in Kusadasi have now been removed from the itinerary on our 14 day cruise sailing on 23 July.

Rhodes and Valletta have also been remove sadly.

We will now visit Mykonos, Kotor and Corfu twice each.

Safety first I guess but I was looking forward to visiting Malta!

 

We were on the 7 day version with you out of Rome. I thought it was awful that you had to visit the same ports twice. Kotor was beautiful. Corfu? I wasn't that impressed. Small town to walk around. Regretfully we didn't have time to DIY research because I found out the morning we boarded the ship that we weren't going to Ephesus or Rhodes. (We had been in Italy/Hungary the week and a half before the cruise with limited access to e-mail) I felt Corfu was a weak replacement for Turkey. Istanbul is an amazing city and to go to this small town was a disappointment. Yes it is cute and quaint but not much else. While I am glad that Princess made safety a priority, I think I'd rather have a day at sea than Corfu.

[Jemnibabe]

Anyone cruising during Aug. and Sept.: what have your new ports been instead of anything in Turkey? I have a long time until we are over there but would like to check out the new ports in case they are a big last minute surprise. Thanks for any information.

 

Judy from SW Florida

[thunderbaycruiser]

No. See post 117. Regarding your cruise, you should check with Princess or your TA. The itinerary for your cruise still shows Kusadasi but the map shows Kotor. You should have received an itinerary change from Princess if Kusadasi was dropped.

 

I think the problem is Princess's website cannot handle multiple maps for what is normally a static itinerary (usually repeated every couple of weeks). Ignore the map. The listed itinerary is the current planned itinerary for your cruise. When Istanbul was dropped and Rhodes added for the first time, the map showed that itinerary, yet the listed itinerary below still showed Istanbul for us.

 

We are also on the September 10th cruise. The only notification we received was when Instanbul was cancelled for our specific cruise (rightfully so). Princess said our Kusadasi stop would be evaluated as our cruise date gets closer. We are actually hopeful that Kusadasi is also cancelled. Would love to see it, but Turkey is no place for tourists right now.

 

I just wish Princess would make a decision before we board on the 10th. Would be nice to know our itinerary ahead of time!

[harfield]

Princess is so slow with any information with Turkey. We are booked doing the Med cruise May next year which includes Turkey and have contacted Princess but all they will say is "we will monitor the situation and advise) . Very poor Princess. We dont want to go to Turkey due to the unrest and may cancel if Princess doesnt hurry up and make up their minds.

Obviously they dont care about passengers concerns! :mad:

[caribill]

Princess is so slow with any information with Turkey. We are booked doing the Med cruise May next year which includes Turkey and have contacted Princess but all they will say is "we will monitor the situation and advise) . Very poor Princess. We dont want to go to Turkey due to the unrest and may cancel if Princess doesnt hurry up and make up their minds.

Obviously they dont care about passengers concerns! :mad:

 

They do care. They care because people who booked your cruise probably did so because they wanted to visit the Turkey port(s).

 

There are plenty of alternative cruises that do not have Turkey on the itinerary if you do not wish to possibly visit Turkey.

 

We were booked on a Princess cruise with Egypt on the itinerary when the Arab Spring uprising happened there three months before the cruise. We had booked this cruise because we had wanted to visit Egypt. (By the way, the itinerary also included Istanbul.)

 

A couple of weeks later Princess did change the itinerary to eliminate Eqypt. They substituted a 2nd day in Istanbul and a day in Malta. Although disappointed, we did not cancel because we had not been to either of these two ports before.

 

Three weeks before embarkation things had calmed down in Egypt and the original itinerary was reinstated. We were very happy that Egypt was back on the itinerary. It was a great cruise although the ship was only about 75% full and we greatly enjoyed our two days in Eqypt.

Edited August 19, 2016 by caribill

[Elitein85days]

Princess is so slow with any information with Turkey. We are booked doing the Med cruise May next year which includes Turkey and have contacted Princess but all they will say is "we will monitor the situation and advise) . Very poor Princess. We dont want to go to Turkey due to the unrest and may cancel if Princess doesnt hurry up and make up their minds.

Obviously they dont care about passengers concerns! :mad:

 

How the heck is Princess supposed to know what is going to be happening in Turkey in May of next year?

 

The itinerary could change the day you're supposed to arrive in a port if something happens.

 

If you don't want to go to Turkey, book a cruise that doesn't stop in Turkey. How hard is that to figure out?

 

You sound like a completely unreasonable person that won't be happy on the cruise you booked. I'd recommend cancelling.

[RedEarth]

I too booked a cruise that includes Istanbul next year because I really want to go there, so I'm also hoping they leave it as late as possible to properly evaluate the situation at the time, rather than trying to predict what will happen months in advance. Hopefully anyone else who is now booking a cruise that's advertised as including Istanbul or Kusadasi would have a similar view.

 

I can appreciate the situation is a bit different with this year's cruises to Turkey because most people would have booked them before things got bad, and I must admit that if I was on a ship sailing towards a country where a coup attempt was taking place then I would hope it diverts elsewhere.

 

I think I'd be prepared to accept Kusadasi as a substitute for Istanbul, but if all of Turkey is off the cards come next September then I'm not sure what they'd substitute instead because we're already going to Chios and Rhodes anyway. Extra sea days would be the worst case scenario - anyone who wants to just stay on the ship could do that in port anyway!

[dickinson]

How the heck is Princess supposed to know what is going to be happening in Turkey in May of next year?

 

The itinerary could change the day you're supposed to arrive in a port if something happens.

 

If you don't want to go to Turkey, book a cruise that doesn't stop in Turkey. How hard is that to figure out?

 

You sound like a completely unreasonable person that won't be happy on the cruise you booked. I'd recommend cancelling.

 

That is pretty harsh! We too are booked on a cruise next May that includes Turkey. Although I have heard wonderful things about the two stops there it greatly concerns us the unrest there. Even if it quiets down who is to say something won't happen the day we are in port? I know, things can happen anywhere but when it has happened there before then it becomes an issue. We do plan to stay on the ship if it stops there.

[magandy]

If you don't want to go to Turkey, don't book a cruise that goes too Turkey :confused:.....Simples:)

[Colo Cruiser]

As I have mentioned before. We did not find out until several days into our cruise. I knew something was up when I saw port charges credited to our onboard account the first day.

I just go with the flow. I know Princess will make the right decision.

[yamanid]

That is pretty harsh! We too are booked on a cruise next May that includes Turkey. Although I have heard wonderful things about the two stops there it greatly concerns us the unrest there. Even if it quiets down who is to say something won't happen the day we are in port? I know, things can happen anywhere but when it has happened there before then it becomes an issue. We do plan to stay on the ship if it stops there.

 

We were on Royal Princess this year in June when the Police van was bombed in Istanbul ( 2 days before we were due to go there - Captain kept us informed all the time and in the end we did go to Istanbul - we had a Fab time and everyone was so friendly and welcoming - there was quite a bit of Police presence but better that than not - I do know what you mean though as it is very unnerving - you have to still live your life and not let these people win - hope it all works out for you in the end

[spiceyxi]

We were on Royal Princess this year in June when the Police van was bombed in Istanbul ( 2 days before we were due to go there - Captain kept us informed all the time and in the end we did go to Istanbul - we had a Fab time and everyone was so friendly and welcoming - there was quite a bit of Police presence but better that than not - I do know what you mean though as it is very unnerving - you have to still live your life and not let these people win - hope it all works out for you in the end

 

One piece I am concerned about stopping in Turkey in September is if the mood changes towards Americans. It has already been floated by Turkey America potentially had a hand in the coup. If the US ends up not extraditing Gulen I could see a very antiamerican rhetoric being developed by the leaders which could make traveling their as an American tourist very undesirable even if no more terrorist actions occur.

 

I am still hoping our portion of the September cruise to Kusadasi is changed. It might mean that half of our cruise has changed since we first booked it, but the piece of mind would be worth it.

[Colo Cruiser]

One piece I am concerned about stopping in Turkey in September is if the mood changes towards Americans. It has already been floated by Turkey America potentially had a hand in the coup. If the US ends up not extraditing Gulen I could see a very antiamerican rhetoric being developed by the leaders which could make traveling their as an American tourist very undesirable even if no more terrorist actions occur.

 

I am still hoping our portion of the September cruise to Kusadasi is changed. It might mean that half of our cruise has changed since we first booked it, but the piece of mind would be worth it.

 

 

Its not the locals that are bombing things.

Yes I suppose some Turk's could be on Erdrogan's side and hold some sort of animosity toward the US.

I travel to Istanbul/Kusadasi regularly, the latest was in April/may this year.

IMO..........

Have always been welcomed warmly in both Kusadasi and Istanbul.

[spiceyxi]

Its not the locals that are bombing things.

Yes I suppose some Turk's could be on Erdrogan's side and hold some sort of animosity toward the US.

I travel to Istanbul/Kusadasi regularly, the latest was in April/may this year.

IMO..........

Have always been welcomed warmly in both Kusadasi and Istanbul.

 

Prior to the coup I would not have been concerend of locals and by all accounts they are fairly friendly and kind to tourists. However, a lot has occurred since May and the country appears to be swept up in a lot of nationalism at this point being driven from the top. My concern is IF the US doesn't give in to Erdrogans demands what his response and direction would be. He had a lot of influence before and it seems to keep growing by the day. People keep referencing to prior experiences that do not take into account the fundamental changes that have occurred in the past couple of months.

 

I am probably being overly paranoid at this point, but I prefer not to take any unnecessary risks when the stakes are so high.

[Montrealais]

Its not the locals that are bombing things.

Yes I suppose some Turk's could be on Erdrogan's side and hold some sort of animosity toward the US.

I travel to Istanbul/Kusadasi regularly, the latest was in April/may this year.

IMO..........

Have always been welcomed warmly in both Kusadasi and Istanbul.

 

The fact that "locals" will welcome you "warmly" does not mean that the "non-locals" will not "bomb things" like your excursion bus for instance :eek:

 

Erdogan is warming up with Putin these days. Animosity toward the US you say!

 

Glad I visited Turkey three times when things were "warm" and not "hot":rolleyes:

Edited August 19, 2016 by Montrealais

[Colo Cruiser]

The fact that "locals" will welcome you "warmly" does not mean that the "non-locals" will not "bomb things" like your excursion bus for instance :eek:

 

Erdogan is warming up with Putin these days. Animosity toward the US you say!

 

Glad I visited Turkey three times when things were "warm" and not "hot":rolleyes:

 

 

 

Never said that one cannot be a target when there.

Of course anything can happen.