Chnge of itinery

My wife and Iare cruising on the Celebrity Equinox in May from Rome to Barcelona. Subsequent to booking in October the overnight stay in Istanbull was cancelled and we were advised it was for security reasons. Whilst we understand things are potentially dangerous in Turkey at the moment we were sold the ticketand itinery in October and Celebrity Equinox had cancelled overnight stays in Auust and September and to sell this itinery in October without notice of potential change would seem to be a little misleading. in my enquiries subsequent to the change I was told that the fine print allows them to do whatever they like. Whilst this may be legally correct it doesn't seem morally right.

My wife and Iare cruising on the Celebrity Equinox in May from Rome to Barcelona. Subsequent to booking in October the overnight stay in Istanbull was cancelled and we were advised it was for security reasons. Whilst we understand things are potentially dangerous in Turkey at the moment we were sold the ticketand itinery in October and Celebrity Equinox had cancelled overnight stays in Auust and September and to sell this itinery in October without notice of potential change would seem to be a little misleading. in my enquiries subsequent to the change I was told that the fine print allows them to do whatever they like. Whilst this may be legally correct it doesn't seem morally right.

whlist I sympathise, they really couldn't go there is it was dangerous could they? They were probably hoping that things would improve.

I take the view if the captain or the line don't think it's safe to go somewhere, I don't want to go.

And missing Ports is so common, it has happened to us on half of our cruises and I suspect it will continue to happen.

Please do understand they only did this for a reason and that was a concern about safety and security.

To me it would be immoral to not make a change if the driver was the well being of the guest.

I know how disappointing this is but I do understand that cruise lines do not change itineraries for the sake of doing so and they do understand that it will disappoint some. By the way some would applaud this and not be disappointed if they did that.

But in the end the cruise line has to do what puts safety first.

Keith

I agree that It is a dangerous place to go, interestingly they and other cruises still go there. Celebrity is picking up passengers from Istanbul the very next cruise, they just don't stay overnight. The replacemennt stopover is an extra night in Athens...not in the same class. A warning at the time of booking that they may not go to that Port is all we suggest should have been given as they already had cancelled stopovers prior to our booking We could have considered alternatives. We still love Celebrity and the Mediterranean,

My wife and Iare cruising on the Celebrity Equinox in May from Rome to Barcelona. Subsequent to booking in October the overnight stay in Istanbull was cancelled and we were advised it was for security reasons. Whilst we understand things are potentially dangerous in Turkey at the moment we were sold the ticketand itinery in October and Celebrity Equinox had cancelled overnight stays in Auust and September and to sell this itinery in October without notice of potential change would seem to be a little misleading. in my enquiries subsequent to the change I was told that the fine print allows them to do whatever they like. Whilst this may be legally correct it doesn't seem morally right.

no moral ambiguity whatsoever.

so you would rather they kept the itinerary as is and dealt with the aftermath of a terror attack or major disruption in port?! doubtful. you probably would have been the first to jump in and criticize the line for not doing more to protect it's passengers.

you may be new to cruising, so i will only offer this: NEVER cruise SOLELY for a particular port. if you want to see a certain spot that badly, then book a vacation directly to that spot.

nor m

I agree that It is a dangerous place to go, interestingly they and other cruises still go there. Celebrity is picking up passengers from Istanbul the very next cruise, they just don't stay overnight. The replacemennt stopover is an extra night in Athens...not in the same class. A warning at the time of booking that they may not go to that Port is all we suggest should have been given as they already had cancelled stopovers prior to our booking We could have considered alternatives. We still love Celebrity and the Mediterranean,

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Changes to itineraries happen all the time. It maybe security, it maybe weather. It's just one of those things you have to accept about cruising.

I don't mind being sympathetic, but I won't be supportive. Neither legally nor morally is the cruise line at fault. Unless you live in a bubble, you should have been aware last October that Turkey was a little volatile and there had to be a chance of cancelling the stop in Istanbul. It was your choice whether or not to accept the risk.

You don't say whether you're booking from the UK or the USA. If it's the UK, and the cruise title was headlined "overnight in Istanbul" (ie. part of the actual title, not part of the smaller print), then you might have a case for saying it's a major change of itinerary and you want your money back.

If there is anything one needs to know to be a real cruiser, it is to be flexible.

Things can change in the blink of an eye, whether it be the weather, or the political or terroristic climate of a port.

I appreciate the cruise line's efforts to keep us safe, and would rather give up a port I really wanted to visit, just to be safe.

Nothing immoral about it, it's a standard part of cruising. Disappointing sometimes, yes, but not all that uncommon. A lesson learned I guess.

Have to agree with another poster, if seeing a location for more than a few hours is that important, consider a land visit, not a cruise.

Absolutely nothing immoral in it, read your cruise contract. I believe all cruiselines cover themselves in this manner and the passengers should know it can happen.

"... The cruiseline reserves the right to change the itinerary for weather, mechanical issues or for any reason whatsoever..." Or similar wording.

I have been exceptionally lucky in my 7 cruises, we have only missed one port in the Med. Mykonos was cancelled due to high winds and we slowly sailed on to Athens. Big disappointment for me as Mykonos was one port I really wanted to see.

When travelling (not just cruising) you have to be prepared to go with the flow when things happen. Have a Plan "A" and a Plan "B" for when "A" falls apart, and go with the flow when both "A" and "B" both fall apart. Take half the clothes you think you need, and twice the money.

If you don't think you can enjoy the cruise without a port, then don't cruise.

I agree that It is a dangerous place to go, interestingly they and other cruises still go there. Celebrity is picking up passengers from Istanbul the very next cruise...

If a Celebrity ship can pick up passengers in Istanbul they ought to be able to overnight there. It seems like an economic decision rather than a security decision. I would bet that many of your fellow cruisers are pleased with the itinerary change. I think you got the shaft, but Celebrity's cruise contract is one sided (contract may vary depending on where booked):

Carrier may for any reason, at any time and without prior notice, cancel, advance, postpone or deviate from any scheduled sailing or port of call, or substitute another vessel or port of call, and shall not be liable for any loss whatsoever to Passenger by reason of such cancellation, advancement, postponement, substitution or deviation.

If you are unhappy with the new itinerary then just cancel the cruise

Some lines will allow you to move to another sailing when the cancellations are for security reason

If you are in in the penalty phase just cancel for a refund

You do not have a location in your profile so this may not be possible if you are in the UK

You NEVER cruise for the ports...EVER! Yes..I know that's part of many folks decisions, but the cruise contract clearly states they don't have to actually take you anywhere!

Not sure if this link brings you to the most current version of the Celebrity contract but clause 6 basically spells things out.

http://media.celebritycruises.com/celebrity/content/en_US/pdf/Celebrity_CTC_Eff_08_01_10.pdf

If the change bothers you so much, cancel the cruise. If you are in North America you are within the cancellation penalty period but they may be willing to accommodate you anyway, never hurts to ask. If you are in the UK or other places with more restrictive cancellation rules you can still call and ask.

I have an August cruise with stops in Athens and Kusadasi (Turkey) and it wouldn't surprise me at all if these stops are removed/changed. Celebrity recently cancelled stops in Bali for similar reasons.

You NEVER cruise for the ports...EVER! Yes..I know that's part of many folks decisions, but the cruise contract clearly states they don't have to actually take you anywhere!

Isn't your statement a bit dramatic? We have cruised for the ports on nearly every one of our approx. 35 cruises and the number of times we have not been to a designated port for what ever reason is probably less than 5 times. Your statement, although technically true, in reality is absurd. What do you cruise for ? All the ships are fun and well-maintained and you can get a tan and have table mates and eat in the MDR for breakfast on all of them. :rolleyes:

At any given time a port call which was recently cancelled may be listed on a later itinerary - only to be cancelled a day later. It is absurd to expect the line to list all the ports - with a probability-of-cancellation-factor for each. It is clear that ports can be, and sometimes are, cancelled with little advance notice.

Given all the possibilities: political risk, weather problems - you name it - if losing a port is a matter of major concern, cruising is not for you. There is NO moral imperative involved in sticking to, or altering, an announced itinerary.

Eurodam (overnight), Royal Princess, Wind Star, Star Clipper, Seabourn Odyssey, and Silver Wind are all scheduled to stop in Istanbul in May. Let's see if they change their itineraries.