Thomson Ports Of Call

[triona]

We are on the Dream sailing 6th May 2016, I've been reading on some of the other roll calls and cruise lines that they are giving advice to stay on ship in Kusadasi, has anyone heard of this with Thomson ? I will be phoning our TA in the morning but thought I would ask on here. Thanks for any help.

[shot2bits]

Had a glance at the Thomson website regarding Kusadasi, their advice.....We recommend you visit the FCO website for the most up-to-date information - http://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/turkey.

[Ska man]

We are on the Dream sailing 6th May 2016, I've been reading on some of the other roll calls and cruise lines that they are giving advice to stay on ship in Kusadasi, has anyone heard of this with Thomson ? I will be phoning our TA in the morning but thought I would ask on here. Thanks for any help.

 

Some friends have just returned and said its like a ghost town and shop owners are worried about their livelihood

[dronnygirl]

Hi Triona, we are on the Dream 20th May and should be visiting Istanbul and Cesme as part of our cruise. We booked months ago before the current troubles but have become more concerned since the weekend. On Friday Israel told all Jews to leave Istanbul and on Saturday the US foreign office advised: 'The U.S. Mission in Turkey would like to inform U.S. citizens that there are credible threats to tourist areas, in particular to public squares and docks in Istanbul and Antalya. Please exercise extreme caution if you are in the vicinity of such areas. For your personal safety, we urge you to monitor local media'. Up until this we were prepared to go ashore in Istanbul and be careful but now we are not so sure. I rang Thomson on Sunday as I have been reading that most of the US cruise lines have cancelled Istanbul and HAL only stopped for 4 hours to let staff on and off the ship and would not allow passengers ashore. Thomson advised that they work to the UK foreign office advice and will be monitoring the situation. My thoughts are that they will change the itinerary but if the worse comes to the worse we will have 3 sea days instead of 1!:( Not ideal as we loved this itinerary but we will wait and see

[dronnygirl]

Sorry I meant to say 3 days on the ship, not 3 sea days. Thomson did say that if they make any changes to the itinerary they would email to advise

[thommoscotland]

Hi Triona, we are on the Dream 20th May and should be visiting Istanbul and Cesme as part of our cruise. We booked months ago before the current troubles but have become more concerned since the weekend. On Friday Israel told all Jews to leave Istanbul and on Saturday the US foreign office advised: 'The U.S. Mission in Turkey would like to inform U.S. citizens that there are credible threats to tourist areas, in particular to public squares and docks in Istanbul and Antalya. Please exercise extreme caution if you are in the vicinity of such areas. For your personal safety, we urge you to monitor local media'. Up until this we were prepared to go ashore in Istanbul and be careful but now we are not so sure. I rang Thomson on Sunday as I have been reading that most of the US cruise lines have cancelled Istanbul and HAL only stopped for 4 hours to let staff on and off the ship and would not allow passengers ashore. Thomson advised that they work to the UK foreign office advice and will be monitoring the situation. My thoughts are that they will change the itinerary but if the worse comes to the worse we will have 3 sea days instead of 1!:( Not ideal as we loved this itinerary but we will wait and see

 

There is no way the ships will call at the Turkish ports then not allow passengers off the ship. They will either carry on as normal allowing passengers to make their own mind up or new ports will be substituted (presumably in Greece) for this ittineray (we are on the back-to-back Aegean and Adriatic in July so hopefully a decision is made soon)

[dronnygirl]

We are hoping Thomsons will change the itinerary and that will take the decision of whether or not to go ashore from our hands. However, if they go to Greece only and not to a non EU country, I believe there is an implication with the VAT. They have to charge 20% on items bought in the shop if they do not visit a non EU country. Not that it would bother us as we don't buy much anyway.

[thommoscotland]

We are hoping Thomsons will change the itinerary and that will take the decision of whether or not to go ashore from our hands. However, if they go to Greece only and not to a non EU country, I believe there is an implication with the VAT. They have to charge 20% on items bought in the shop if they do not visit a non EU country. Not that it would bother us as we don't buy much anyway.

How does that work in Western Med whan all ports are EU - I do not think for a minute that would have a bearing on calling at a port or not when security is the issue. If the FCO advice doesn't change (and it hasn't despite recent Istanbul terror attacks) then I don't see Thomson changing their schedule - pretty much FCO advice is what they follow. If every tour operator pulled out of every country / city affected by terrorism then no one would leave their own shores. Paris is a classic example no operators I know of have pulled out of Paris so unless things change in Turkey I fully expect to visit their in July. I will then make a decision at that time if I feel it is safe to go ashore or not. If you are honestly that concerned that you want a decision taken out your hands I would seriously consider cancelling / changing holidays. It's really up to you not the tour operator. They won't go if they feel it isn't safe but if you don't feel safe you need to take control and make a decision.

[triona]

Hello to all , thank you for all of your help and advice . I have spoken to Thomson today, at the moment they have not changed anything. I have been told that if any changes are made we will be emailed from HQ and also our TA. So at this time no change but if we hear anything I'll let you know.

[WeeCountyMan]

They have to charge 20% on items bought in the shop if they do not visit a non EU country.

 

How would the UK rate of VAT apply to a Maltese registered vessel sailing to EU countries in that region from a "home" port in the Med ?

 

Genuine question.

Edited April 14, 2016 by WeeCountyMan

[okavango]

How would the UK rate of VAT apply to a Maltese registered vessel sailing to EU countries in that region from a "home" port in the Med ?

 

Genuine question.

 

It would not be UK vat, not sure of the answer as to why vat could be charged, i have heard of other companies charging vat, usually spanish vat,maybe if the ship only sails to ports in the same country as the start/finish port vat is chargable as it it not much different to providing a service on land in that country, never known vat on thoms even on totally eu itineries but have never had a single country itinary.

[Malch_uk]

It's "duty" that's the problem, not "VAT".

 

They can't sell "duty free" if the ship only calls at EU ports.

[mtt]

The spirit was in kusadasi last week, and trips went ahead my mum was onboard and went off the ship

[okavango]

It's "duty" that's the problem, not "VAT".

 

They can't sell "duty free" if the ship only calls at EU ports.

 

Yes but that is not the scenerio here, if the ship only sails/docks in the same EU country i could see that VAT implications could come in to play.