Any Greece Cruise with NO Turkey Port --- any cruiseline?

[rose102798]

Does anyone know of an islands of Greece cruise that does not include a stop in Turkey?

[texasstar]

Windstar.

[edinburgher]

13 hours ago, rose102798 said:

Does anyone know of an islands of Greece cruise that does not include a stop in Turkey?

I have no idea if this is helpful or not, but it used to be (and I stress USED TO BE) the case that onboard purchses on an EU itinerary could only be made free of taxes if the ship visited a non EU port within that itinerary.  Without this, taxes were payable on all onboard purchases.  Geographically, a port call in Turkey offers the easiest non EU requirement from Greece.

 

Others may know if this requirement still stands or if it has changed in recent years.

Edited March 31 by edinburgher

[marazul]

13 hours ago, rose102798 said:

Does anyone know of an islands of Greece cruise that does not include a stop in Turkey?

Cabotage laws require ships that have their first and last ports in the same country to make a stop in another country during the trip. (It's complicated, search this forum or google "cabotage law.")  The exception is for ships flagged by that country.  So f you sail a Greek cruise line like Celestyal, they are allowed to vist only Greek ports. Any foreign flag cruise line, has to make a stop in another country.  The most common stops for Greek cruises are Turkey, Cyprus or Italy.

 

You have three options if you don't want to go to Turkey: Pick a cruise that stops in Cyprus or Italy. Pick a Greek cruise line that stays only on Greek ports.  Or pick a cruise that starts or ends in another country.

 

The on-board duty free issue mentioned by @edinburgher is a separate issue.  Cabotage laws go back centuries and are meant to protect the maritime industry of every country, not only the EU.

Edited March 31 by marazul

[alex_gregor]

9 hours ago, marazul said:

You have three options if you don't want to go to Turkey: Pick a cruise that stops in Cyprus or Italy. Pick a Greek cruise line that stays only on Greek ports.  Or pick a cruise that starts or ends in another country.

A 4th option:

Virgin Voyages offers their "Adriatic Sea & Greek Gems" itinerary which starts and ends in Athens but hits two ports in Croatia and one in Montenegro.

[edinburgher]

13 hours ago, alex_gregor said:

hits two ports in Croatia and one in Montenegro.

Croatia is a full member of the EU, but as Montenegro is not, a call there would meet the criteria to allow the sale of duty free onboard unless there has been a very recent rule change.

 

It is different from the cabotage laws explained by marazul, so yes, there are two issues,  not one..

Edited April 1 by edinburgher

[zdcatc12]

On 3/31/2024 at 10:10 AM, marazul said:

  So f you sail a Greek cruise line like Celestyal, they are allowed to vist only Greek ports.

Totally not true, as we are on Celestyal in two weeks and we stop in Turkey.

[marazul]

10 minutes ago, zdcatc12 said:

Totally not true, as we are on Celestyal in two weeks and we stop in Turkey.

Wrong. Greek ships can choose to make a stop in another country, but they are not required to do it. Non-Greek flag ships MUST make a stop in another country.  Greek ships are the only ones allowed to have only Greek ports in their itineraries.