Royal in Istanbul

[vman54]

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!

 

They replaced Istanbul and Kusadasi with Kotor and Corfu for our Med cruise that leaves tomorrow, and they didn't even bother to add any shore excursions for Kotor.

[r&rlovescruising]

When were you informed of the changes? We're on the Sept 10 cruise which still shows Kusadasi

 

 

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[vman54]

We were sent an email about the change on July 22, so just about 4 weeks out.

Edited August 20, 2016 by vman54

[RedEarth]

They replaced Istanbul and Kusadasi with Kotor and Corfu for our Med cruise that leaves tomorrow, and they didn't even bother to add any shore excursions for Kotor.

Did these substitutions have any impact on the rest of your itinerary? Corfu and Kotor look quite a long way from Turkey. We'll be calling at Kotor in the second week anyway, and as it was one of the main draws for choosing this cruise I wouldn't be totally against calling there twice and Corfu isn't on the itinerary at all, but I'd be worried about a switch like this causing other changes too, and other ports potentially being missed. I understand this is something one has to be prepared to accept when cruising,

 

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[vman54]

No other changes were made, these two just replaced the two original Turkey stops. We just boarded and interestingly it says in our onboard documents that we are losing a Rhodes stop also, but I don't remember Rhodes ever being included. And on board they do have the Kotor excursions.

[r&rlovescruising]

We were sent an email about the change on July 22, so just about 4 weeks out.

 

Thanks! 3 weeks out and no change yet to Kusadasi but we will see! Makes it all interesting and we are so excited wherever we go 😀

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks! 3 weeks out and no change yet to Kusadasi but we will see! Makes it all interesting and we are so excited wherever we go 😀

 

I have mentioned before we received the correction about 3 days into the cruise. Judging from the recent changes you will probably hear before you leave home. :)

[cowgrrl]

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.

 

I find it quite fishy that within 24 hours the Turkish government had declared that the US was involved & so was Gulen. I hope the US doesn't extradite Gulen. Erdogan is a bully who is closing schools & universities. Anyone who doesn't want an educated populace is a threat IMO.

[spiceyxi]

I find it quite fishy that within 24 hours the Turkish government had declared that the US was involved & so was Gulen. I hope the US doesn't extradite Gulen. Erdogan is a bully who is closing schools & universities. Anyone who doesn't want an educated populace is a threat IMO.

 

I can't imagine that Erodgan didn't either know before hand the coup was going to happen or had a hand in planning it. He was too eager to use it to push his agenda and his legacy. Anyway that calls the death of 250+ of his citizens a gift of God should not be trusted. I guess statements like these means I really shouldn't get off the boat in Kusadasi...

[neverprincess]

we were supposed to stop at Kusadasi on Athens to Rome Sept 17 but Princess cancelled and we doing Kotor instead, oh and Elba (yes where Napolean was exiled first time) instead of Naples and Corfu instead of Malta and just for good measure we get less time in Messina due to stop at Elba, just hope Napolean in to make it all worthwhile :o)

[RedEarth]

Well the inevitable has happened, we received this email from Princess yesterday:

 

ITINERARY CHANGE

Please be advised that due to operational considerations, we will no longer call to Istanbul on August 28 and 29, 2017. Instead, we will call to Katakolon (for Olympia) on Sunday, August 27, and to Kusadasi (for Ephesus) on Wednesday, August 30. Both of the newly added ports provide access to UNESCO World Heritage Sites -- the Archeological Ruins of Ancient Olympia from Katakolon, and the Ancient City of Ephesus from Kusadasi.

 

As a result of these changes, we will now call to Volos on Tuesday, August 29, and to Khios on Friday, September 1, and some call times have been adjusted.

 

While I'm obviously very disappointed that a decision's been taken so early that we won't be going to Istanbul (rather than waiting to see what the political climate is like nearer the time), I'm happy with the port substitutions.

 

I wonder what the 'operational considerations' actually are - they've obviously kept the reason as vague and generic as possible!!

[GoProCruiser]

Well the inevitable has happened, we received this email from Princess yesterday:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While I'm obviously very disappointed that a decision's been taken so early that we won't be going to Istanbul (rather than waiting to see what the political climate is like nearer the time), I'm happy with the port substitutions.

 

 

 

I wonder what the 'operational considerations' actually are - they've obviously kept the reason as vague and generic as possible!!

 

 

Got the same email from Princess yesterday but for my 15 day Mediterranean cruise on the Royal Princess in June! And same reasoning...

 

 

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[eclue]

Itinerary on the Majestic Princess has also changed for the sailing April 23 - no longer doing an overnite in Istanbul - substituring Katakolon and Volos, Greece and having two stops in Kusadasi .

eclue:rolleyes:

[dickinson]

So far my May 6 cruise shows Istanbul. I am guessing they are slowly changing itineraries. I checked Princess'website for next summer and at this time very few cruises show Istanbul.

[Colo Cruiser]

This news just coming in.......

 

 

ISTANBUL - An explosion outside an Istanbul football stadium that wounded around 20 people on Saturday 12/10/2016 was a terrorist attack, Turkish Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan said on Twitter. Updated 13 dead.

Edited December 10, 2016 by Colo Cruiser

[Woobstr112G]

This news just coming in.......

 

 

ISTANBUL - An explosion outside an Istanbul football stadium that wounded around 20 people on Saturday 12/10/2016 was a terrorist attack, Turkish Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan said on Twitter. Updated 13 dead.

 

Looks like Eastern Med itineraries will be changing.....

 

Bob

[GoProCruiser]

I'm on the Royal for 15 days in June doing the Med and all of our stops in Turkey have been cancelled. Got the email yesterday saying they cancelled our overnight in Istanbul and the two stops in Kusadasi.

 

 

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[OzKiwiJJ]

The itinerary has also been changed for the Grand Mediterrean Collection cruise departing 9th September 2017.

 

Istanbul and Kusadasi have been replaced by Katakolon and a second stop at Kotor. So we now go to Kotor twice, once on the first half of the cruise (the replacement port stop) and again on the second half of the cruise. It's a bit annoying, I'd rather have gone to a different port than repeat one but that cruise is also sold as two separate sectors - Barcelona to Civitavecchia and Civitavecchia to Barcelona. :(

[GoProCruiser]

The itinerary has also been changed for the Grand Mediterrean Collection cruise departing 9th September 2017.

 

 

 

Istanbul and Kusadasi have been replaced by Katakolon and a second stop at Kotor. So we now go to Kotor twice, once on the first half of the cruise (the replacement port stop) and again on the second half of the cruise. It's a bit annoying, I'd rather have gone to a different port than repeat one but that cruise is also sold as two separate sectors - Barcelona to Civitavecchia and Civitavecchia to Barcelona. :(

 

 

We're doing Rome to Athens (like yours a back to back but bought it as a two week cruise) and now we're going to Corfu and Mykonos twice. They cancelled Valletta and Volos to go to those ports the other week as well. Not quite sure why they're repeating so many ports when there are a lot of ports in the area. Hopefully they will change it again soon!

 

 

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[Woobstr112G]

This news just coming in.......

 

 

ISTANBUL - An explosion outside an Istanbul football stadium that wounded around 20 people on Saturday 12/10/2016 was a terrorist attack, Turkish Transport Minister Ahmet Arslan said on Twitter. Updated 13 dead.

 

Up to 29 with 166 injured.....:(:(:(

 

Bob

[Colo Cruiser]

Up to 29 with 166 injured.....:(:(:(

 

Bob

 

 

Thanks Bob. :(