Will Turkish ports be skipped due to terrorism?

[TourDeCruise]

I understand your disappointment. At the beginning of October 2001, we were set to go on our 1st cruise with Turkey, Egypt, and Italy on the itinerary. But then 9/11 occured. We were able to cancel after the itinerary changed. Fortunately, we have been back to Italy several times since then (and had been to Italy on a land tour before too) and to Turkey, but still not to Egypt yet.

 

Have you been to the Eastern Mediterranean ports on your itinerary? This itinerary was our favorite cruise. We were fortunate that we were able to go to Turkey, but we enjoyed the other ports immensely as well. If you decide to go, you will find that the ports are fantastic. Your replacements of Dubrovnik and Messina are good ones. Dubrovnik is a beautiful place, often being the favorite Mediterranean port among passengers. Messina has the lovely Taormina nearby; we haven't been to Messina yet but are looking forward to Messina and Taormina in a few weeks on our upcoming cruise.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise, if you decide to go, and that you get to wonderful Turkey someday soon.

 

(Hi Nejat!)

[4 cruisers]

A land tour might be a good option for you. We too picked our Symphony cruise because it was an overnight in Istanbul and my husband needed to visit customers there...killing two birds with one stone. We did take a chance about missing his meeting. But when you consider how many ships have docked there and how many times in the past year, the averages were pretty good that it was a go. Sorry it is looking like it won't work out for you this time (please allow me to respectfully distrust the agent you spoke with at Celebrity;) ). Pollyanna that I am, I wouldn't be surprised if Galaxy resumes its Turkish ports. Honestly, it was Princess (the Grand) last year who cancelled one week and the following week, they went back! I agree with the poster who said that you will still be cruising in wonderful area of the world no matter which ports you end up in!

[Magellan33]

I understand the dissapointment of those whom where looking forward to the Turkish ports, and I agree we shouldn't let the terrorists win. But I also have to respect Celebrity for making a difficult decision, money is the bottom line in any business, including Celebrity. So I know that any cruise line making the decision not to dock at Turkey in not one made lightly. I have to give Celebrity credit for putting their passenagers safety first over revenue. I have to respect that. But also know that I am probably better informed than the average citizen on current developments in that area, and trust me the acts of violence happening there is NOT to be taken lightly.

I am booked on a cruise that includes Turkey, if at the time of our cruise the line decides to dock in Turkey, I will carefully weigh my options, and may choose to stay on ship, just a personal choice. My family has seen to much of the war in the middle east up close and personal to take any threat lightly.

[greatam]

I called Celebrity and they said, in short, "No Turkey."

 

Here are the changes to the itinerary:

 

Sept 9: Athens 7am-5pm

Sept 10: At Sea

Sept 11: Dubrovnik 8am-5pm

Sept 12: At Sea

Sept 13: Messina 8am-5pm

Sept 14: Naples

 

I'm really depressed. These are very weak substitutions for those interested in Byzantine, classical, and Biblical history. It figures that I get on the ship with the one company that is cancelling Turkey.

 

 

Since Turkey is very important to you, why not get off the ship in Athens, fly to Turkey, see what you want to see and fly/train/bus back to the ship? Sure, it would cost you a few dollars, but probably not more than you would loose (25% of insurance coverage) if you cancelled and claimed on your insurance.

 

You can leave most of your luggage on the ship. It will not be easy getting tickets this late in the game, but it IS doable. I do global logistics planning for a living and my help is freely offered.

[AndyB1935]

I called Celebrity's Captain's club this morning and they said, "No changes to the Oct. 16 Galaxy cruise." However, they said changes might still take place. ????

[WooKeef]

I called Celebrity's Captain's club this morning and they said, "No changes to the Oct. 16 Galaxy cruise." However, they said changes might still take place. ????

 

Actually they aren't commiting to the Sept. 25th one either, but is is 23days out now. Hopefully they will decide in time for us to all plan what we wish to do and see. It took my DH and I forever to find the Itinerary we wanted for our first cruise and now we have this to deal with:mad: . But, I am determined to remain optomistic and roll with whatever happens even though I dreamed of seeing Turkey this trip.

Lora

[slobopolis]

Since Turkey is very important to you, why not get off the ship in Athens, fly to Turkey, see what you want to see and fly/train/bus back to the ship? Sure, it would cost you a few dollars, but probably not more than you would loose (25% of insurance coverage) if you cancelled and claimed on your insurance.

 

You are a man after my own heart and I appreciate the offer, but we're 12hrs from leaving so I will pass. However, once I get there I am going to check check and see if it's ok if you get off for a few days, leaving most of your luggage in your cabin, and then rejoin them a few days later. (I had thought of this but wasn't sure if it was allowed). I know a good tour company in Turkey... The one-way flight from Athens to Istanbul is about $200. The problem is twofold: a) finding a suitable place to return where the airfare isn't abysmally expensive and b) having what I think but am not 100% sure is the itinerary. Anyway, this is something I'm going to look at once we get on the ship- thanks for reenergizing an idea...

[slobopolis]

Btw, we decided to go on the cruise. It was just too late to do anything else...

[C 2 C]

Since Turkey is very important to you, why not get off the ship in Athens, fly to Turkey, see what you want to see and fly/train/bus back to the ship?

 

Don't you have to prearrange for a visa before flying to Turkey? With a cruise you don't have to.

[hoover5000]

Don't you have to prearrange for a visa before flying to Turkey? With a cruise you don't have to.

 

This is the requirement shown on the US Dept of State site (for US citizens)

 

TURKEY - *Passport and visa required. Visas can be obtained at Turkish border crossing points for tourist/business visits of up to 3 months or through a Turkish consular office in the U.S. Visa requires a completed application form and a passport with a minimum validity of 3 months. Visa fee is $20 for single entry and $65 for multiple entry (cash or money order only). Visa must be obtained in advance for longer stays and for study, research, or employment purposes. Visa requires your valid passport, 1 completed application form, and SASE. For further information, contact the Consular Office of the Embassy of the Republic of Turkey, 2525 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20008 (202/612-6740/41) or nearest Consulate: CA (323/937-0118), IL (312/263-0644), NY (212/949-0160), or TX (713/622-5849).

[Phil&Doris]

This pertains to the 9/4 sail only, who knows what the future will bring.

 

September 1, 2006

DearTravel Partners,

I'm writing to inform you of a modification to the itinerary for your clients booked on the September 4 sailing of Celebrity'£> Galaxy,

As you may be aware, two weeks ago, there was some political unrest in Turkey, including several bombings. These events, of course, called into question the safety of visiting that area, and as a result, Celebrity's Galaxy will not be making its scheduled visits to Istanbul and Kusadasi, Turkey, on this particular cruise.

The safety of our guests and crew members is always our top priority, and while we certainly apologize for this unexpected modification to our Quests' itinerary, aU of us at Celebrity feel this decision is in the best interests of all our guests and crew members.

We have replaced the canceled port calls with visits to the stunningly beautiful seaside cities of

Dubrovnik, Croatia, and Messina, Italy, as reflected in our new itinerary below:

 

4 Sept. Civitavecchia - departing 7 pm

5 Sept At sea

6 Sept. Mykonos, Greece - 2 pm - 11 pm

7 Sept Rhodes, Greece - 9 am - 6 pm

8 Sept. Santorini, Greece - 8 am - 6 pm

9 Sept. Athens, Greece - 7 am - 5 pm

10 Sept. At sea

11 Sept. Dubrovnik, Croatia - 8 am - 5 pm

12 Sept. At sea

13 Sept. Messina, Italy - 8 am - 5 pm

14 Sept. Naple5. Italy - 7 am - 6 pm

15 Sept. Civitavecchia

 

Every guest on this sailing will be informed of the itinerary change as they board via a printed letter from the Captain of the Galaxy. All guests with prepaid shore excursions in Istanbul and/or Kusadasi will automatically receive the appropriate credits for those excursions, and Galaxy's Shore Excursions team is fully prepared to assist all guests in booking tours in Dubrovnik and Sicily.

Thank you for your understanding. I can assure you everyone onboard the Galaxy will do everything possible to ensure your clients have a fantastic cruise vacation in the magnificent Mediterranean.

 

Sincerely,

Dondra Ritzenthaler

Vice President, Sales

 

PHUN 2 all,

Phil

[C 2 C]

What a bummer. This happened to us in 2004 but we had enough warning to cancel the cruise. Istanbul and Kusadasi are the highlights of this cruise. I'm glad we got there in May.

[C 2 C]

I think Turkey will be off the tourist destinations for a while:

 

Cafe bomb blast kills two in southeast Turkey

03 Sep 2006 21:33:37 GMT

Source: Reuters

 

 

 

By Daren Butler ISTANBUL, Sept 3 (Reuters) - A bomb explosion ripped through a cafe in southeast Turkey on Sunday evening, killing two people including a police officer, and injuring nine others, police said. The bombing was the latest in a string of bomb attacks which have rocked Turkey over the last week, killing a total of five people. Dozens have also been wounded in the blasts.

[Compass Rose Monica]

This information is current as of today, document.write(Date()+".") Fri Sep 01 11:54:54 2006.

Turkey

 

August 29, 2006

This Public Announcement alerts Americans to the continuing potential for terrorist actions against civilians in Turkey and notes recent incidents in areas frequented by tourists. This Public Announcement expires on November 1, 2006.

Between August 25th and August 28th, seven bombings occurred in the principal tourist areas of Turkey, injuring as many as 60 or more persons, including foreign tourists, and killing three Turkish nationals. These explosions occurred in Istanbul, Adana, and in Marmaris and Antalya in southwestern Turkey. The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons, also known by the Kurdish acronym TAK, have claimed responsibility for many of the explosions. The TAK, believed to be an affiliate of the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), a terror organization, also reiterated a public warning to foreign tourists not to visit Turkey.

The Department of State advises U.S. citizens traveling or residing in Turkey to exercise caution, and to closely follow media reports. Terrorists do not distinguish between official and civilian targets. These may include facilities where Americans and other foreigners are known to live, congregate, shop, or visit, especially hotels, clubs, restaurants, shopping centers, housing compounds, transportation systems, places of worship, schools, outdoor recreation events, or resorts and beaches. U.S. citizens should remain in a heightened state of personal security awareness when attendance at such locations is unavoidable. U.S. citizens also should avoid areas where crowds are expected to gather, as even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and possibly escalate into violence.

U.S. citizens living or traveling in Turkey are encouraged to register with the Embassy or nearest consulate through the State Department's travel registration website, https://travelregistration.state.gov, and to obtain updated information on travel and security within Turkey. U.S. citizens without Internet access may register at the Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, at the Consulate General in Istanbul, at the Consulate in Adana, or with the Consular Agent in Izmir to obtain updated information on travel and security in Turkey. Embassy communications with the resident American citizen community, or "Warden Messages," can be found on the Embassy's website at http://ankara.usembassy.gov.

For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet web site at http://travel.state.gov, where the current Worldwide Cautions, Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings can be found. Travelers should also consult the Department of State’s latest Consular information Sheet for Turkey. Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S., or, for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

The U.S. Embassy in Ankara is located at 110 Ataturk Boulevard, tel: (90) (312) 455-5555, fax (90)(312) 468-6131. The Internet address is http://ankara.usembassy.gov.

The U.S. Consulate General in Istanbul is located at Kaplicalar Mevkii Sokak No. 2, 34460, Istinye, Sariyer, tel: (90) (212) 335-9000, fax (90) (212) 335-9102. Istanbul-specific information can also be accessed via the Consulate's web site at http://istanbul.usconsulate.gov/.

The U.S. Consulate in Adana is located at Girne Bulvari No. 212, Guzelevler Mahallesi, Yuregir, Adana, Turkey. tel: (90)(322) 346-6262, fax (90)(322) 346-7916, web site: http://adana.usconsulate.gov.

The Consular Agent in Izmir can be contacted at (90) (232) 464-8755.

[iuac1]

We sail on the Galaxy on Sept. 25. Has anyone heard an update on the Celebrity plan for this upcoming cruise? We were wondering if Turkey was still part of the itinerary?

[m steve]

we are looking at several cruises in the Med and all have at least Kudasai as a port. I really don't care if they stop there or not. Another Greek island or Italian city would be fine. If the crazies want to blow each other up I for one don't want to watch it. If the cruise lines stopped going there and it affected the economy, I am sure the goverment would crack down on these bombers.

I look forward to a relaxing vacation and don't want to visit a war zone.

[WooKeef]

We sail on the Galaxy on Sept. 25. Has anyone heard an update on the Celebrity plan for this upcoming cruise? We were wondering if Turkey was still part of the itinerary?

I think we will still go, the latest "incident" was approximately 600miles away and not likely to impact the cruise. I am of course being optomistic at this point. Hoping my positive attitude will make it easier to take:p

[DOUGLASH]

Spoke to Celebrity today and we are still going to Turkey as the State Dept. has not initated any new travel warnings.

[Sahaj]

We just returned from a 16 day Med. cruise on RCCL's Brillance of the Seas, from Barcelona to Athens and back...

all ports to Turkey were canceled!

We did get to Rhodes instead which was amazing! Someday we will get to Turkey!

[C 2 C]

I think the Pope stirred up a real hornets nest this week. He implied that Islam spreads through the power of the sword and that Jihad was evil. Those guys don't like to be told that the west sees Islam as a violent philosophy and might want to target some Christians to prove their point.

[HurricaneSally]

My husband spent a year in Turkey and will never return, if it's up to him. For those of you that want to go, have at it.

[slobopolis]

Celebrity isn't going to tell you ahead of time that they are cancelling Turkey. They'll wait until a day or two before you sail. I'd be surprised if they went to turkey on the 24th sail date.

 

I'm still hugely disappointed that the ship didn't go to Turkey and feel ripped off. It was especially hard to talk to people on other cruise ships who did. The one and only saving grace of the whole thing was that we got 5 add'l hours in Athens (which they didn't tell us til the day before). And so after all the tours left mid-afternoon, we had around 5 hours in the Plaka and the ancient Agora, crowd-free, and got to see the Parthenon lit up at night.

 

Here's what we learned on our first (and last) European cruise, and what it comes down to: If you want to cruise and eat fancy food and the destinations are a secondary interest, have at it. If you really want to see destinations, cruising is bad for several reasons: 1) The ship can just decide not to visit a port and you are the one who assume the risk (even with travel insurance you're out hundreds of dollars and have to scramble last minute to make other plans). Think about it if you want to visit places like Egypt or Turkey. 2) Even if you don't go at a busy time of year, you end up at sites at the same times of day as other huge tours and it's just a big huge mess of people and hard to move or think without running into someone else's camera. Capri was so full of cruise ship tourists that I'm surprised the island didn't sink into the ocean. I can't even imagine what it would have been like in August. (Likewise the Parthenon in the late morning... complete zoo).

[sarh]

Med cruisers, please don't be put off. I'm sorry but I have to disagree with slobopolis regarding cruising in Europe.

 

We live in Europe and so can easily get cheap flights to most places of interest in Europe, but I still consider that the Med cruise is a brilliant way to get a taste of these places. How else can you see some of the most important ancient sites in the world in a few days without the hassle of getting through numerous airports and packing and unpacking? One point is that it is important not to try to do too much at any single port. We identified the main places we wanted to see and stuck to that - we did see people who thought that they could cover the whole of an area in one day, which is obviously unrealistic. Unfortunately you have to accept that these places are busy - we visited Rome last year on a rainy day in February and it was busier than when we visited pre-cruise in August.

 

It is very sad that recent cruisers have missed out on Turkey (and interesting that there are still numerous package holidays and flights going out there every day from the UK without any worry-in fact Easyjet have just launched Istanbul as a new route from London). However even to be able to see Rome, Athens and Pompeii in one trip is a real privilege.

 

If you want a real understanding of a place, then a cruise is not the way to do it (we'll be returning to Istanbul for 5 days in due course), but it is a perfect way to see key places in a short time and establish which warrant a longer stay in due course. We found the Med cruise so interesting that we'll be doing the Baltics next.

[iandjm]

I am totally with you Sarh,

 

I have cruised in many places and the Med is the best so far. Every port is so varied and so many of the greatest places I have ever been are on the Med.

 

Happy cruising

 

Ian :D

[WooKeef]

We knew the risk we were taking when we booked our first cruise to the Med. But, we thought it would be a great opportunity to get a taste of things and return to stay at the places that held the most interest.

Slobopolis, I am sorry you feel cheated. I would be extremely dissapointed in the change if it happens. But, they aren't changing it unless the State Dept. issues a warning. I don't think they will. I live by the philosophy of carpe diem...I think it would be fantastic to be in Athens 5 more hours. The Parthenon is fantastic at night.

Woo