Received this today from Ludlow's office.
Thank you for your email. I am sorry for the delay in my response.As you may be aware, we plan itineraries up to two years in advance. The logistics of scheduling for cruise lines is very complex, compliance with local port authorities, itinerary schedules, as well as weather and tidal conditions all control the choice and duration of our stay in any particular port. Port authorities usually accept our request, and then assign berths as we get closer to sailing. In the space of two years, it is inevitable that on occasions as we get closer to sailing certain conditions may change which results having to make amendments to the itinerary. However, I do wish to stress that we naturally avoid doing this and ensure we look for alternatives first before removing any port from an itinerary.Regrettably, the port authorities in both Rhodes and Heraklion have advised that they are unable to accommodate Aurora on the date originally scheduled. We initially intended to replace with Greek ports, however, these also proved unavailable on the required dates. As such, we replaced with Mediterranean ports to follow the theme of the cruise. We are again, very sorry for the change to your itinerary.Thank you for bringing it to my attention that Rhodes is still showing on the map on our website for this cruise. This has been flagged with our IT and Digital teams for their review.Please be assured your feedback has been noted. I do hope that despite this matter, you go on to have an enjoyable time on board Aurora in October.