RCI advise passengers- Greece (mostly) business as usual

[MADflyer]

Royal Caribbean have issued a travel advisory for passengers booked this summer on sailings with ports of call in Greece.

 

I am assuming that other lines have or will provide similar advise to their passengers.

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/beforeyouboard/itineraryUpdates.do

 

Greece: For our guests, it's (mostly) business as usual

 

As you may be aware, Greece is currently experiencing financial hardship, which has led to many news headlines. For Royal Caribbean International guests who will be visiting Greek ports this summer, however, it's mostly business as usual. You can take your vacation with confidence.

 

We have made no changes to our itineraries. Our ships will call on Greek destinations as planned, and our Shore Excursions will take place as planned.

 

In fact, our Royal Caribbean International Shore Excursions come with an extra measure of security -- your transactions are handled through our company, so you need not be concerned about the financial circumstances of individual vendors.

 

One bit of advice, however: local companies in Greece are not always accepting credit card payments, and their decisions about whether to accept credit cards can change on short notice. So we have made sure to have an extra supply of Euro currency in our onboard ATMs, or you can stock up in port in Venice. Cash will almost always work.

And by all accounts, our Greek destinations remain as colorful, peaceful and scenic as ever.

 

We can't be sure when the financial situation in Greece will be resolved, and circumstances can always change. However, we have established communications with the appropriate port authorities and are receiving regular updates on the situation. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and bring you any updates if they are needed.

[Deebs2]

I think it's great they sent something. We are sailing Windstar in a couple weeks and have heard nothing

[MADflyer]

The head of a major port agent company also made reassuring remarks this week that should hold true for all agents serving the cruise market in Greece.

 

http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/stylianopoulos.html?nspPage=2

 

All necessary measures have been made way ahead of time so as to ensure ability to operate and execute cruise operations and services under such contingencies, he stated.

 

‘I know that every agency that serves cruise ships in Greece has acted in a similar fashion we have been expecting these controls for at least three months.’

 

It seems things are moving forward with the negotiations and hopefully a deeper current crisis might be averted.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for sharing.

 

Keith