Unrest in Marsailles?

[MudderBear]

Someone on a Princess cruise posted on Facebook (their cruise is in April) that their Marsaille excursion  was cancelled and they don't know why.  They didn't say which one.

 

Someone responded that perhaps the city might be getting ready for the summer Olympics (?) and another said they heard there was unrest in Marsailles.  I know that it is a town that deals with alot of poverty and crime.

 

Does anyone know if anything negative is going on?

[edinburgher]

2 hours ago, MudderBear said:

 

Does anyone know if anything negative is going on?

Nothing current that I can find online in French or english, but perhaps it is somehow connected to preparations for the Olympic Games this summer, as Marseille will host 10 football matches and many sailing events and some essential preparations will need to be undertaken which will almost certainly cause some disruption.  As an example, this year, the Stade de France in Paris could not be the host stadium  for the Six Nations Rugby Championship in Feb and March as the stadium was undergoing preparation for the Games  in a few months time, and all three French based matches were instead played in Marseille, Lille and Lyon..

 

If their cancelled shorex was to be mid or  near the end of April, it could be connected to the planned major event taking place on May 8th around the Vieux Port when the Olympic flame will arrive from Greece. I recently posted an update on the event once timings were known. One CC member has had their port call moved from Marseille to Toulon as a result.

 

.This one;

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2973730-olympic-torch-route-2024-could-impact-french-port-calls/#comment-66420677

 

Edited April 2 by edinburgher

[edinburgher]

2 hours ago, MudderBear said:

I know that it is a town that deals with alot of poverty and crime.

i think you are worrying unnecessarily. Is there any major city anywhere in the world which has neither poverty nor crime?

Edited April 2 by edinburgher

[marazul]

Nothing negative right now.  I just checked the local newspaper and there are no news of unrest or closings in Marseille. A group of teachers staged a small protest in Avignon yesterday. They are expecting floodings this week from Avignon to the sea.

https://www.lamarseillaise.fr/

[MudderBear]

32 minutes ago, edinburgher said:

Nothing current that I can find online in French or english, but perhaps it is somehow connected to preparations for the Olympic Games this summer, as Marseille will host 10 football matches and many sailing events and some essential preparations will need to be undertaken which will almost certainly cause some disruption.  As an example, this year, the Stade de France in Paris could not be the host stadium  for the Six Nations Rugby Championship in Feb and March as the stadium was undergoing preparation for the Games  in a few months time, and all three French based matches were instead played in Marseille, Lille and Lyon..

 

If their cancelled shorex was to be mid or  near the end of April, it could be connected to the planned major event taking place on May 8th around the Vieux Port when the Olympic flame will arrive from Greece. I recently posted an update on the event once timings were known. One CC member has had their port call moved from Marseille to Toulon as a result.

 

.This one;

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2973730-olympic-torch-route-2024-could-impact-french-port-calls/#comment-66420677

 

This was probably it (The Olympic torch).  Thanks for the update.

[bookbabe]

We were in Marseille two days ago, did a cruise ship excursion.  No sign of anything negative other than rain.

[Hlitner]

If the OP is simply talking about a cancelled excursion, that is no biggie and all too common on many cruises.  A lot of the land tour companies (some of which contract with cruise lines to provide excursions) have had issues getting enough qualified guides.  COVID decimated the tour industry and lots of folks moved into other lines of work.

 

Hank

[RTMom]

Was in Marsaille yesterday. Lovely and no problems!

[onyx007]

of course it also might be that there are too few bookings on the Shorex; always a reason why it gets cancelled...

[edinburgher]

On 4/6/2024 at 9:13 AM, onyx007 said:

of course it also might be that there are too few bookings on the Shorex; always a reason why it gets cancelled...

And for most cruise passengers, no city tour is really needed as there are so many varied activities and sights in close proximity to the cruise shuttle drop off point.