HAL to cancel all port calls to Istanbul for 2016

[Windy56]

I feel so sorry for all of you missing Istanbul.

But I do understand HAL's reasoning for this.

Such a shame that our world is a mess right now.

 

I feel much sadder for the people of Turkey than for those of us who will miss the port. I can't imagine what life will be like for them in the decade ahead.

[Copper10-8]

I feel much sadder for the people of Turkey than for those of us who will miss the port. I can't imagine what life will be like for them in the decade ahead.

Agree 100% They could be looking at another Hugo Chavez

Edited July 22, 2016 by Copper10-8

[take us away]

It's not just Istanbul that has been cancelled, our August 4th trip on the Oosterdam was supposed to go to Kusadasi and that has been cancelled as well.

 

"As a result of the ongoing unrest in the region and out of an abundance of caution, Holland America Line has decided to cancel a number of our upcoming port calls to Turkey. For your sailing, this means our port call to Kusadasi has been replaced by a call to Rhodes, Greece. To accommodate this change, we’ve rearranged some of our other port calls."

 

Wow - Istanbul and Kusadasi are both on the Grand Med itinerary for 2017. No notice of any changes so maybe they are waiting to see what will be happening later in the year - which is probably also true for the WC.

 

Hopefully the people of Turkey will survive, all will settle and they will prosper.

Edited July 23, 2016 by take us away

[Harry1954]

I feel so sorry for all of you missing Istanbul.

But I do understand HAL's reasoning for this.

Such a shame that our world is a mess right now.

 

I agree with all your points. We were looking forward to another 'evening dining on the Bosphorus on next year's GV cruise .. oh well, there are lots of other wonderful places to experience.

 

I just feel for those who will be persecuted in Turkey for their views. Until recently, it had been a wonderful country that a brilliant man that Ataturk was created.

 

harry

[ger_77]

My heart goes out to all the people of Turkey - what a terrible time for them. We were fortunate to have visited Istanbul and Kusadasi 3 times and will cherish the memories we made in that beautiful country.

 

Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :)

[CRUZBUDS]

Celebrity has pulled the Equinox from Europe for next year, she will be in the Caribbean for the summer.

 

The reference to Hugo reminds us of the wonderful time we had on the very old Regent Sun with a port call to Caracas. (bus ride from the actual port)

 

It was a wonderful day in a lovely city -- not so much now :(

 

People tend to stay closer to home when things are bad

[Himself]

Just received this email from HAL regarding our October Konigsdam cruise.

 

"As a result of ongoing unrest in the region and after a thorough review, Holland America Line has decided to cancel all port calls to Istanbul for the remainder of 2016. For your sailing, this means we have replaced our overnight port call to Istanbul with an additional day in Athens, and added port calls to Mykonos and Santorini."

 

I am disappointed but I really cannot complain about the Athens, Mykonos and Santorini substitutes.

 

HAL has to watch out for the safety of the passengers and crew. This was a prudent decision.