hapag lloyd turkey

last week i was informed HL did cancel Izmir by Athens - what was an embarkation and disembarkation port for ms EUROPA 2 in 2017

today i was informed HL did cancel Istanbul as well as embarkation and disembarkation port on Europa 2 for June 2017 and also replaced by Athens - long distance to airport :(

no problems - not a great fan of Istanbul airport - despite i must change my booked flight - causing 50 €

however sailing in Dardanelles is a far more great experience as the isle of Skopelos ;) as substitute

on first part there is still Marmaris as call ...

Hapag-Lloyd's German language website has yet to show a revised itinerary for the Europa 2's Istanbul -Venice 20/06/17 cruise.

In any event, I had already decided to cancel my booking as I suspected a change, and had no wish to repeat ports of call from my back to back cruises from last year.

feeling sorry for you

Hapag-Lloyd's German language website has yet to show a revised itinerary for the Europa 2's Istanbul -Venice 20/06/17 cruise.

 

In any event, I had already decided to cancel my booking as I suspected a change, and had no wish to repeat ports of call from my back to back cruises from last year.

The revised itinerary for the above mentioned cruise is now on line.

It now commences in Athens with an overnight on board, and has the addition of Santorini.

i am on the europa 2 until 17 th june - athens airport is not so "difficult" as Istanbul however it is a long ride from Piraeus

i am not crazy of santorini : crowded and the ship cannot use own tenders ( as in capri )

i am on the europa 2 until 17 th june - athens airport is not so "difficult" as Istanbul however it is a long ride from Piraeus

 

i am not crazy of santorini : crowded and the ship cannot use own tenders ( as in capri )

It is well over 14 years since I was in Santorini, and not only did the ship use it's own tenders but it was the only one there.

Although February is not an ideal time of the year for the Mediterranean, I received today a very attractive offer from Viking so I have now booked my first cruise with them.

i am going to do my first Mein Schiff 2 in February

one week Canaries and Madeira - suppose eventually it is not good , i will not being so upset as after my last not so good and far from "exclusive "Crystal and my rather bad Seabourn Sojourn

Viking is not on the belgian market yet ...i saw one of the ships in Copenhagen when i was on ms Europa 2.

i do not know their single policies - nothing is mentionned on the web at all about it .

i am going to do my first Mein Schiff 2 in February

one week Canaries and Madeira - suppose eventually it is not good , i will not being so upset as after my last not so good and far from "exclusive "Crystal and my rather bad Seabourn Sojourn

Viking is not on the belgian market yet ...i saw one of the ships in Copenhagen when i was on ms Europa 2.

i do not know their single policies - nothing is mentionned on the web at all about it .

In the mini brochure I received from Viking, the listed ocean cruises carried a single supplement of 100%.

However, because of the heavily discounted pp price, the total cost for a solo traveller was attractive for an eight day cruise.

In fact the total cost of my Azamara, and Viking cruises, totalling 16 days, is less than my now cancelled 10 day cruise on the Europa 2.

In the mini brochure I received from Viking, the listed ocean cruises carried a single supplement of 100%.

 

However, because of the heavily discounted pp price, the total cost for a solo traveller was attractive for an eight day cruise.

 

In fact the total cost of my Azamara, and Viking cruises, totalling 16 days, is less than my now cancelled 10 day cruise on the Europa 2.

Interested to hear how you enjoy Viking Ocean and Azamara in and of themselves and how they compare to Europa 2.

i am going to do my first Mein Schiff 2 in February

one week Canaries and Madeira - suppose eventually it is not good , i will not being so upset as after my last not so good and far from "exclusive "Crystal and my rather bad Seabourn Sojourn

Viking is not on the belgian market yet ...i saw one of the ships in Copenhagen when i was on ms Europa 2.

i do not know their single policies - nothing is mentionned on the web at all about it .

Mein Schiff is purely German speaking, correct?

Did you post about your Crystal trip? Would like to see why it was 'not so good'.

Have considered them in the past for itinerary but it sold out and how we discovered how much we loved Europa 2. Rather fortuitous I'd say!

it all started when Crystal decided to go "all inclusive" : it was great before !

and then the changes - especially in the F and B department began : from small even stupid items to quite heavy cutbacks

some of them : on welcome dinner the fresh lobsters are substituted by frozen tails , dishes served during lunch are transferred to dinner , mineral waters Perrier and San Pellegrino changed by something in a plastic bottle , charges for a second visit to speciality restaurant

the policy concerning gala buffet : 4 seadays - so on more expensive cruises with 2 or 3 seadays - like North Cape - : none

a minuscule serving of caviar ....

as cherry on the cake : no more chocolates on turn down

one of the crystal society hostesses does perform an extremely haughty line of conduct - paying only attention to PH and 50 + platinum pin guests ...

complete random of upgrades ...to PH and deck 10 on guarantee base ?

and i do blame in full the actual number 2 on Crystal for it!

i am the bad guy saying all the above - at the moment Crystal is still "good" with a better service but far from "exclusive "

Thanks vistaman.

Doesn't sound very luxurious.

I particularly don't care for the "open" conduct / guest snubbing you describe.

And like you find a good F&B experience very important.

We are totally satisfied with Europa2.

At this point it would take a lot to pry us away from Hapag-Lloyd.

Interested to hear how you enjoy Viking Ocean and Azamara in and of themselves and how they compare to Europa 2.

As a solo traveller, Hapag-Lloyd's policy of only making available 8-10 suites for solo occupancy for a cruise means that it is nigh on impossible to book a cruise long after the release of a new season's brochure.

Hence my trying Azamara, and Viking.

However I am 'keeping the faith' as I have booked the Europa's 2017 'Ocean Sun Music Festival' cruise.

try to find out when the preview for 2018 is out in january 2017 - and then you can point a cruise with no obligation to book if the fare does not suit you.

i did it for a caribbean - the fare was rather -too - high and the flights as well as Nassau was involved - and an extra airport hotel in miami :mad:

as i planned nassau miami and miami brussels on different airlines

(not so willing to do AA anymore )

try to find out when the preview for 2018 is out in january 2017 - and then you can point a cruise with no obligation to book if the fare does not suit you.

i did it for a caribbean - the fare was rather -too - high and the flights as well as Nassau was involved - and an extra airport hotel in miami :mad:

as i planned nassau miami and miami brussels on different airlines

(not so willing to do AA anymore )

Thank you for the advice.

I will contact Hapag-Lloyd towards the end of this year.