Problems in Istanbul - possible impact?

[uktog]

I see from the BBc News that there have been disturbances in Istanbul and that there are issues between the Army and the Government. We are due to go there at the end of May on Galaxy - what do you think our chances are of this still happening?

[whatnot]

We are on the same cruise with you in late May. I was unaware of the issue until I saw your post. I then asked my husband if he was aware of the problems in Turkey, and he had read about them in the newspaper that morning. They did not make the TV News in our part of the US. I later read about the details of problems in the New York Times on line. We have been very concerned about the possibility of problems in Turkey ever since we booked this cruise.

 

I think at this point it is a wait and see. If there is a danger to passengers they will divert us somewhere else. We were scheduled for a certain Caribbean island in the 1980's and because of unrest we went to another island.

 

I certainly hope things calm down because I am so looking forward to Istanbul!

[kitty9]

The US State Department hasn't issued any travel warnings for Turkey, so it might not be all that dangerous. But, with that area being quite unstable for a couple of years, I would be very careful.

[dellas1000]

There are always problems of some sort in Turkey from time to time. No travel advice against going have been issued. I work in travel and all passengers are travelling as normal. You would have to be very un lucky for anything to happen on the day you were there. If something suddenly changed then they would re route the ship. My guess is that everything will be fine so dont worry. :)

[Rev22:17]

uktog,

 

I see from the BBc News that there have been disturbances in Istanbul and that there are issues between the Army and the Government. We are due to go there at the end of May on Galaxy - what do you think our chances are of this still happening?

 

All that's happening in Turkey is some political infighting, with the Army threatening to act to maintain a secular state if the government tries to impose Moslem rule. Turkey's Constitutional Court recently nullified the preliminary rounds of the election of a new President because the Parliament lacked a quorum due after minority parties refused to participate. There have also been some street demonstrations in Ankara, the capital, backing the secular state, but these have not turned violent.

 

Istanbul and all of the other ports of call in Turkey are a considerable distance from Ankara, so repercussions are not likely to spill over. Thus, I doubt that there will be much impact to cruise itinerearies.

 

Nonetheless, this highlights one advantage of a cruise vacation. If there's any sort of domestic disturbance that makes it unsafe to go to a scheduled port of call, the ship will simply go elsewhere -- even out to sea if necessary -- and you'll have a wonderful vacation without going in harm's way. If you had booked a land tour, by contrast, you would be completely at the mercy of the tour operator's ability to reschedule the trip.

 

Norm.

[uktog]

We are on the same cruise with you in late May. I was unaware of the issue until I saw your post. I then asked my husband if he was aware of the problems in Turkey, and he had read about them in the newspaper that morning. They did not make the TV News in our part of the US. I later read about the details of problems in the New York Times on line. We have been very concerned about the possibility of problems in Turkey ever since we booked this cruise.

 

I think at this point it is a wait and see. If there is a danger to passengers they will divert us somewhere else. We were scheduled for a certain Caribbean island in the 1980's and because of unrest we went to another island.

 

I certainly hope things calm down because I am so looking forward to Istanbul!

 

Hi Whatnot - hope to see you at the CC party - do check the thread re our Gift dip we are doing.

Last weekend there were very large demos in Istanbul. The next round of their elections is today and we will have to see what transpires but as other posters are saying, the big advantage of cruising is that if there do have to be any changes, someone else bothers about the logistics for you

Take care

A