Istanbul to Barcelona no more?

[mikewrit]

In 2008 we sailed on Norwegian Jade from Istanbul to Barcelona with stops at Athens, Izmir, Dubrovnik, Venice, Civitavecchia (Rome) and Naples. I cannot find any similar itinerary on NCL or any other line. Anyone here have an idea why this went away for NCL in particular or the industry in general? (I didn't find Cruise Critic until a couple of years later.)

[nezume]

Basically, they cut out Istanbul completely. Why I have no idea but they did! They do still call on all the other ports but not Istanbul, which is a treasure, and mostly the itineraries are round trip from the same port. Hope that helps

[mikewrit]

Thanks. I hope others with more information will respond. All the ships that call at Istanbul now seem to be in the luxury or premium class. Not that I wouldn't love to be able to afford a 14-day, 12-port cruise on Seabourne or Crystal.

[Dancer Bob]

I was just on the Costa Serena, sailing from Venice and calling at Izmir, Istanbul and Dubrovnik. Unfortunately, the ship has moved to South America for the season, I don't know next year's itineraries. Costa has excellent prices, although trhe port stops tend to be somewhat short.