Celebrity Reflection 11 Night Eastern Mediterranean No Istanbul

No Istanbul - Celebrity just sent a notice that we are not going to Istanbul. They are adding an overnight in Athens, Rhodes, Greece and Chania (Souda), Crete, Greece.

Ugh. That is why we booked this trip.

Almost wish we could cancel the trip.

I hope this does not impact other cruises later.

Such is life. :(

Hal

Here is the new route.

Mon Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy

Tue At Sea

Wed Santorini, Greece

Thu Mykonos, Greece

Fri Athens (Piraeus), Greece

Sat Athens (Piraeus), Greece

Sun Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey

Mon Rhodes, Greece

Tue Chania (Souda), Crete, Greece

Wed At Sea

Thu Naples / Capri, Italy

Fri Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy

That sucks! Such an overreaction.

We did this cruise in June and it was wonderful. An overnight in Athens out of all the ports, ugh…in my opinion is the worst one they could have chosen. :( I understand it is most likely because it is a HUGE port and there was room, but what a bummer! So sorry. However… Rhodes and Crete sound amazing~ So that makes it a bit better.

Is this because of the US Consulate attack?

Is that a sailing past final or one for next summer? I'm curious because there is a potential change on our November cruise that may drop a port and add an overnight. They were originally not going to start this until next year, now I'm starting to wonder.

What is your sailing date? We are doing that cruise on 9/21/15 and haven't heard anything yet.

We did this cruise in June and it was wonderful. An overnight in Athens out of all the ports, ugh…in my opinion is the worst one they could have chosen. :( I understand it is most likely because it is a HUGE port and there was room, but what a bummer! So sorry. However… Rhodes and Crete sound amazing~ So that makes it a bit better.

Is this because of the US Consulate attack?

I agree that Rhodes and Crete sounds good but why the heck are we stuck in Athens of all places for 2 days? UGH double UGH. We have been there enough and don't like it. I assume money is the reason.

Like I said elsewhere, at least we have a beverage package to make it better. :)

What is your sailing date? We are doing that cruise on 9/21/15 and haven't heard anything yet.

We sail 8/31/15. Since this is not the only ship with the cancellation I hope you make it on 9/21/15.

Hi Hal,

We are on the 9/21 Eastern Med. cruise. I don't see you on our Roll Call but I would definitely like to know which cruise you are on so we can find out if this announcement applies to us.

I am so sorry that you are missing Istanbul. Were you also going to

Kusadasi? And if so, are you still going or has that also been replaced?

Thank you,

Is that a sailing past final or one for next summer? I'm curious because there is a potential change on our November cruise that may drop a port and add an overnight. They were originally not going to start this until next year, now I'm starting to wonder.

Ah, I forgot to put the sailing date. 8/31/15. Sorry.

No Istanbul - Celebrity just sent a notice that we are not going to Istanbul. They are adding an overnight in Athens, Rhodes, Greece and Chania (Souda), Crete, Greece.

 

Ugh. That is why we booked this trip.

 

Almost wish we could cancel the trip.

 

I hope this does not impact other cruises later.

 

Such is life. :(

 

Hal

 

Here is the new route.

 

Mon Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy

Tue At Sea

Wed Santorini, Greece

Thu Mykonos, Greece

Fri Athens (Piraeus), Greece

Sat Athens (Piraeus), Greece

Sun Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey

Mon Rhodes, Greece

Tue Chania (Souda), Crete, Greece

Wed At Sea

Thu Naples / Capri, Italy

Fri Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy

Can you please post times in port. We would appreciate it as we are on the Oct 12 Reflection cruise - same original itinerary.

I agree that Rhodes and Crete sounds good but why the heck are we stuck in Athens of all places for 2 days? UGH double UGH. We have been there enough and don't like it. I assume money is the reason.

 

Like I said elsewhere, at least we have a beverage package to make it better. :)

I can tell you what I would do..research an amazing place to eat…go out for that, and then get back on the ship…enjoy your beverage package and consider it a sea day the next! It is a busy itinerary…

We had such an amazing meal on our port day there, I just love Greek food. :D

We sail 8/31/15. Since this is not the only ship with the cancellation I hope you make it on 9/21/15.

That's what I was afraid of. Our 11/9 sailing has a second itinerary showing up now that drops Belize, reverses the entire cruise and does an overnight in Cartegena.

Worse, you JUST got the notification and you are sailing in less than a week. Extra fun rescheduling those excursions. Ugh!

Oh well, make lemonade with those lemons. Still on a cruise and not at work!

Can you please post times in port. We would appreciate it as we are on the Oct 12 Reflection cruise - same original itinerary.

I hope this is readable. :)

Arrive Depart

Mon Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 5:00 PM

Tue At Sea

Wed Santorini, Greece 2:00 PM 10:00 PM Tender

Thu Mykonos, Greece 7:00 AM 6:00 PM Tender

Fri Athens (Piraeus), Greece 6:00 AM Docked

Sat Athens (Piraeus), Greece 6:00 PM

Sun Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Docked

Mon Rhodes, Greece 6:30 AM 4:30 PM Docked

Tue Chania (Souda), Crete, Greece 8:00 AM 5:00 PM Docked

Wed At Sea

Thu Naples / Capri, Italy 7:00 AM 6:30 PM Docked

Fri Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy 5:00 AM Docked

That sucks! Such an overreaction.

While I share the OP's disappointment, I respectfully disagree that this is an overreaction, on the part of Celebrity. Things have been getting scary in Istanbul, for a while now.

In Canada, you may not have seen the news report, a few months ago, about American Naval personnel being attacked in that city. I think it was a group of four or five American sailors, on shore leave -- in civilian dress -- who were standing in line to buy tickets for something. Out of the blue, they found themselves attacked by a group of anti-American dissidents. They tried to grab the young men, and put bags over their heads -- but the sailors managed to get away from them. The perpetrators were arrested, but the Turkish government refused to prosecute them, and they were immediately released.

I found this report very disturbing, not only because my son is in the US Navy, but because cruise ship passengers could easily find themselves targets of political violence, as well. I trust my cruise line not to deliberately take me into harm's way, whether it's political unrest, or a hurricane.

The nervous could stay on the ship. If it were seriously dangerous our governments would be advising against travel there. Could there be an incident? Sure. But there are incidents all over the world now.

Guess you won't be going on any cruises with port stops in France, Belgium, Denmark, New York, London...

P.S. We get the same news here and no, we heard nothing of that incident. I suspect if it were true, CNN would have had it on an endless loop, just like all Trump all the the time at the moment.

Well I have a different point of view myself. I am also on the 9/21 sailing and I have visited Istanbul a couple times. I hope we can still visit and spend the day. I am not worried about safety there.... BUT I do not think the cruise line can protect us or the ship staying there on an overnight. The terrorists would love to grab a ship full of passengers. The crew could not protect us so I feel no overnights where there is unrest.

P.S. We get the same news here and no, we heard nothing of that incident. I suspect if it were true, CNN would have had it on an endless loop, just like all Trump all the the time at the moment.

It was on CNN (and all the other major news providers):

http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/12/politics/turkey-navy-sailors-bags-over-heards/

Good move on Celebrity's part to cancel Istanbul. Too much "stuff" going on out there that most folks are unaware of. I applaud them for that decision to protect the ship and their passengers.

The nervous could stay on the ship.

I think Celebrity is just as if not more worried about the ship being attacked. Ships dock right in the heart of the city in Istanbul, so I assume Celebrity does not want to put its ships and passengers in harms way.

Ideas for those not thrilled with an overnight in Athens:

There is a lovely small archaeological museum in Piraeus. It has some fantastic, world-class bronze statues that were discovered in Piraeus in what was once an ancient warehouse that was later destroyed by fire. I'm not kidding when I say these statues rival anything I've seen anywhere -- and it's a short walk from the ship.

Go into Athens and have dinner somewhere nice that overlooks the Acropolis. Or have a drink on the rooftop terrace at the Grande Bretagne hotel. I find Athens to be a totally different (and very pleasant) place in the evening hours.

Visit some of Athens' lesser known museums: The Benaki, the Museum of Cycladic Art, the Numismatic Museum (in what was once Heinrich Schliemann's mansion, decorated with mosaics and murals based on the Trojan war).

Take a day cruise to Hydra, Poros, and/or Aegina from Piraeus.

I am also on the October 12 sailing and while I understand safety has to come first, I am very disappointed with the revisions. I hope that perhaps things will stay the same for our cruise.

Istanbul was a major reason I booked this cruise and I know that no port is guaranteed and sometimes things don't work out the way we hope.

But I have to echo some of earlier posts on WHY there is an overnight in Athens? I have been there previously and I have no interest in spending an extra day there. I didn't enjoy it all that much the first time I was there. UGH!

Celebrity, are you listening? Please reconsider this for future cruises if necessary!

It is an unfortunate situation, but sometimes life gets in the way of our fun.

I would expect that the decision of what other ports to visit had ore to do with available space, not money. It's not like they can just show up at a port, & expect to be admitted.

I have to wonder what the reaction of those who think Celebrity is over reacting would be if a Celebrity excursion they were on was attacked.

I wonder if this is due to the Equinox docking there today and them assessing things/sorting out things in Port? The Atlantis chartered cruise was due to let everyone off today (Pretty sure it was a 10 day cruise) and let new cruisers on.

I got an email from my friend working in Istanbul last week and his assessment is most the Westerners he knows there feel pretty safe but I understand the concerns. Hes coming home in a week as his contract has ended.

Turkey is stunning but there are plenty of great places around Athens and an overnight is always quite a nice change on a cruise.

Having never done a Mediterranean itinerary myself, I am curious as to why some don't like Athens as a port? I would have figured that, being such a historical city, it would be full of beauty, architecture, art, and history. Maybe that's just wishful dreamer thinking on my part?

Interesting. We had a conference planned for Istanbul in October 2016, but the organizers decided to change the location to Portugal, because of the potential unrest. Since we no longer had a week planned, i was quite excited to book the cruise with an overnight next August. Will be interested to see what happens. I have never been to Greece or turkey, so cant comment on best place for an overnighter, but will make the most of any changes that may happen, whether in port or on the ship. The kids may actually appreciate an extra sea day, one more day that mom and dad are not rushing them off early in the morning. Lol