Ncl cancels turkey ports

It seems NCL has cancelled all Turkey visits for 2016. Here's the article.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/cruiselog/2016/01/22/norwegian-regent-seven-seas-oceania-cruises-cancels-all-turkey-port-calls-2016/79130430/

It appears all of NCL's lines have cancelled all stops in Turkey for now. There is an article on Cruise Critic that gives current information on all lines' plans at the moment for this region:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6769

Thanks Cruisemom

Oh, what a disappointment. We have booked a cruise that ends in Istanbul (with an overnight) and had planned on spending another 5 days post cruise. It might be best for us to cancel our cruise before final payment because Istanbul (as well as Israel) are the only reasons (OK, the 5 days pre-cruise in Rome will also be nice but we can do this without benefit of a cruise) we found this itinerary attractive.

Bah. But it's better than being shot I suppose. Will apparently be going to Santorini twice instead.

Oh, what a disappointment. We have booked a cruise that ends in Istanbul (with an overnight) and had planned on spending another 5 days post cruise. It might be best for us to cancel our cruise before final payment because Istanbul (as well as Israel) are the only reasons (OK, the 5 days pre-cruise in Rome will also be nice but we can do this without benefit of a cruise) we found this itinerary attractive.

They've reduced the price of the cruise substantially, so you might have benefitted. Could you find a cheap flight from Athens to IST to finish off your trip?

They've reduced the price of the cruise substantially, so you might have benefitted. Could you find a cheap flight from Athens to IST to finish off your trip?

The prices have dropped substantially but I am more concerned about transatlantic airfare if we wait too long to book. We will wait to cancel the cruise but will definitely do it before final payment is due. Perhaps the situation in Istanbul will resolve itself (I rather doubt it).

Not sure which port will be substituted for Istanbul so it makes planning very difficult (r/t air tickets, ect.). Since I have visited all cities on the cruise itinerary multiple times (with exceptions of Sicily & Israel) I am not very excited about visiting these ports for the short time we will have in each - as I said, Israel & the cruise ending in Istanbul were the main reasons for booking.

If all else fails, we will ditch the cruise and do a land trip instead. Not a problem for me but my extended family loves the cruise experience.

The prices have dropped substantially but I am more concerned about transatlantic airfare if we wait too long to book. We will wait to cancel the cruise but will definitely do it before final payment is due. Perhaps the situation in Istanbul will resolve itself (I rather doubt it).

Not sure which port will be substituted for Istanbul so it makes planning very difficult (r/t air tickets, ect.). Since I have visited all cities on the cruise itinerary multiple times (with exceptions of Sicily & Israel) I am not very excited about visiting these ports for the short time we will have in each - as I said, Israel & the cruise ending in Istanbul were the main reasons for booking.

If all else fails, we will ditch the cruise and do a land trip instead. Not a problem for me but my extended family loves the cruise experience.

The new itineraries have even posted for each cruise ...they are on the website.

They haven't updated the grand Mediterranean cruises yet. Will be interesting to see what they substitute for turkey. Hopefully not two more stops in Greece. Pretty bummed about not getting to see Ephesus.

Yes, not surprising.

I am sure sales were down.

Keith

We went to Ephesus last May. I am glad we got to go when we did.

The new itineraries have even posted for each cruise ...they are on the website.

No, they are not. Per my countdown clock right beneath this post, we are sailing on the X Constellation - our itinerary still shows an overnight in Istanbul at the end of the cruise.

They haven't updated the grand Mediterranean cruises yet. Will be interesting to see what they substitute for turkey. Hopefully not two more stops in Greece. Pretty bummed about not getting to see Ephesus.

The problem is that, without Turkey, most of the other ports in the Eastern Med area are either in Greece or in countries that at the moment are either "no-go" (like Syria, Lebanon) or have potential for conflict that could also lead to cancellation (like Israel).

I'm on the Grand Mediterranean 13 day cruise and Turkey was replaced with Kotor and Montenegro. My vacation summary page is where I see the change - on the NCL website

I'm on the Grand Mediterranean 13 day cruise and Turkey was replaced with Kotor and Montenegro. My vacation summary page is where I see the change - on the NCL website

Yep they updated the cruise itinerary today. They moved our Athens date but was able to change days with our schedule tour.

I'm also on the grand Mediterranean in September and noticed our itinerary had been changed when i logged on today. Don't think the cost changed though. We are now stopping in dubrovnik croatia and kotor montenegro with athens being a different day than previously scheduled. Whilst i am disappointed to miss out on turkey i completely understand and am grateful that we still see other places as this is our first europe trip.

We were enjoyed Dubrovnik, a very clean and fun medieval walled city.

I'm also on the grand Mediterranean in September and noticed our itinerary had been changed when i logged on today. Don't think the cost changed though. We are now stopping in dubrovnik croatia and kotor montenegro with athens being a different day than previously scheduled. Whilst i am disappointed to miss out on turkey i completely understand and am grateful that we still see other places as this is our first europe trip.

The same with our Barcelona to Venice (Sept 30 departure) .......moved our Athens day, added Dubrovnik and Kotor which is great......the main negative, other than missing Turkey is instead of arriving in Venice at 2pm we now won't be arriving until 9:30pm.

They haven't updated the grand Mediterranean cruises yet. Will be interesting to see what they substitute for turkey. Hopefully not two more stops in Greece. Pretty bummed about not getting to see Ephesus.

That is a bummer. Ephesus is unexpected and amazing. My 2017 cruise has Naples as a substitution, and that's OK, I wanted to visit again to spend more time in Positano than the last time.

It seems NCL has cancelled all Turkey visits for 2016. Here's the article.

 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/cruiselog/2016/01/22/norwegian-regent-seven-seas-oceania-cruises-cancels-all-turkey-port-calls-2016/79130430/

We are interested in a river cruise that begins in Budapest and ends in Bucharest with an extension to Istanbul. It will be interesting to see if they alter their itinerary now that the big ships have pulled out. We were going to opt out of the extension to Istanbul, but would consider another alternative. Will be monitoring their website to see what happens.

Cole

The problem is that, without Turkey, most of the other ports in the Eastern Med area are either in Greece or in countries that at the moment are either "no-go" (like Syria, Lebanon) or have potential for conflict that could also lead to cancellation (like Israel).

there are a lot of other port that a cruise line can go toin the Med Sea. You have Croatia, Montenegro, Malta , Cyprus, Sardinia, Elba, South Italy and Sicily

I don't think those are "no-go" destinations.

there are a lot of other port that a cruise line can go toin the Med Sea. You have Croatia, Montenegro, Malta , Cyprus, Sardinia, Elba, South Italy and Sicily

I don't think those are "no-go" destinations.

Yes, but please notice that I said EASTERN Mediterranean. The replacement ports have to be close enough that the ship can reach them without disrupting the rest of the itinerary.

Just yesterday I booked an NCL Eastern Mediterranean May 2017 cruise and Alanya, Turkey is one of the ports.

I can't seem to find any recent information on CC regarding this port so I will start a new thread asking for information. Just wanted to post a reply in this thread that NCL is going to Turkey in 2017. I don't know if it's just Alanya or if they may start going back to other Turkey ports as well next year.