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The crimea and ukraine

mytchettmart

By mytchettmart,
in MSC Cruises

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two sheds

two sheds

Posted
Posted

The current advice is:

 

"The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advise against all travel to Crimea. British nationals in Crimea should leave now"

 

This includes Yalta

 

It goes on:

 

"You should take great care and remain vigilant throughout Ukraine, but particularly in the south and east of the country where violent clashes, including some fatalities, between demonstrators have taken place in the cities of Donetsk, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Mykolaiyv."

 

https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/ukraine

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JoPublic

JoPublic

Posted
Posted
yes, i've seen the advice from the FO, but MSC so far are saying there are no plans to change at present. We sail in THREE weeks ! Do we go against foreign office advice or jump ship!!!

 

Hi Mytchettmart

We too are in the same boat as you, pardon the pun.

I called lastweek and MSC did give anything away about changing route.

Perhaps the question can be placed to the MD when he is fielding questions on the 3rd April on CC.

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AmoMondo

AmoMondo

Posted
Posted

You can be sure they will make alternative arrangements if it's unsafe. They won't risk the safety of the ship, never mind the lives of the passengers and crew.

 

They're not great though at communicating changes in advance. You may get an itinerary change by email close to sailing date, or it just may be announced onboard. Suspect they're holding off switching ports in the hope things will stabilise soon, although it really isn't looking very hopeful just now.

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sidari

sidari

Posted
Posted

I wonder if canceling all calls to Russia will be made as part of the sanctions called for by the USA and other countries?

 

As AmoMondo has pointed out MSC are not good at telling customers about changes to ports etc.

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sidari

sidari

Posted
Posted

We had a Costa itinerary changed at least 4 times before sailing one Christmas with them, they added Libya about 3 days after the trouble began there and then had to remove it and add Corsica which was a nice move.

 

They also added an extra day for Free after we had booked and paid ... :D

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American Bear

American Bear

Posted
Posted
Has anyone heard of any change of itinery for MSC Sinfonia, in light of recent activity in the Crimea.Is it still safe to travel there and also Odesa on the same itinery??

 

It would be hard to believe that a cruise line would risk going to the Crimea right now with whats going on!

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MSC Cruises USA

MSC Cruises USA

Posted
Posted

The safety and peace of mind of all our travelers and crew remains our utmost priority at all times. Therefore, following the recent developments in Ukraine, MSC Cruises decided to amend MSC Sinfonia’s itinerary and change the calls in the Black Sea scheduled in April and May 2014.

 

The calls at the ports of Odessa and Yalta will be cancelled and replaced with calls in Volos, Greece and Varna, Bulgaria. Volos is the perfect gateway to see the famous monasteries of Meteora – these world renowned monasteries perched on seemingly inaccessible rock pinnacles. The second additional port of call, Varna, Bulgaria, is a seaside resort boasting beautiful sandy beaches and centuries of history, adding an entirely new country to discover during this MSC voyage.

 

These changes will be implemented on two 13 day-12 night cruises. The first one starting from Tuesday 8 April, as MSC Sinfonia will depart from Genoa on an itinerary that will bring her to Civitavecchia, Istanbul, Varna, Constanta, Volos, Piraeus and Naples before coming back to Genoa. MSC Sinfonia’s second cruise that will be affected will depart on Friday 02 May from Genoa as well and will follow the same itinerary as previously mentioned.

 

Please contact your local MSC Cruises office or travel agent if you have any additional questions.

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sidari

sidari

Posted
Posted

Boycott SPB. You dont want to support a country financially that annex other countries' territory do you?

Going to Russia as a tourist now is the same as travelling to Germany in 1939 IMHO.

 

All countries involved in sanctions on Russia where cruise ships are owned should make sure that no ships stop at any Russian port in the future.

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scampi

scampi

Posted
Posted
The safety and peace of mind of all our travelers and crew remains our utmost priority at all times. Therefore, following the recent developments in Ukraine, MSC Cruises decided to amend MSC Sinfonia’s itinerary and change the calls in the Black Sea scheduled in April and May 2014.

 

The calls at the ports of Odessa and Yalta will be cancelled and replaced with calls in Volos, Greece and Varna, Bulgaria. Volos is the perfect gateway to see the famous monasteries of Meteora – these world renowned monasteries perched on seemingly inaccessible rock pinnacles. The second additional port of call, Varna, Bulgaria, is a seaside resort boasting beautiful sandy beaches and centuries of history, adding an entirely new country to discover during this MSC voyage.

 

These changes will be implemented on two 13 day-12 night cruises. The first one starting from Tuesday 8 April, as MSC Sinfonia will depart from Genoa on an itinerary that will bring her to Civitavecchia, Istanbul, Varna, Constanta, Volos, Piraeus and Naples before coming back to Genoa. MSC Sinfonia’s second cruise that will be affected will depart on Friday 02 May from Genoa as well and will follow the same itinerary as previously mentioned.

 

Please contact your local MSC Cruises office or travel agent if you have any additional questions.

 

What about the upcoming MSC Orchestra Black Sea cruises in October? We are booked already on the Oct. 3rd cruise. We purposely cancelled our ship tour to Yalta. We do not feel comfortable planning anything for Odessa. We would appreciate being given a new itinerary in advance.

 

scampi

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scampi

scampi

Posted
Posted
What about the upcoming MSC Orchestra Black Sea cruises in October? We are booked already on the Oct. 3rd cruise. We purposely cancelled our ship tour to Yalta. We do not feel comfortable planning anything for Odessa. We would appreciate being given a new itinerary in advance.

 

scampi

 

Still waiting for a reply from 2 e-mails sent to MSC US Offices. Other cruisers on Cruise Critic have also voiced their concerns regarding these escalating events. The August - October cruises are still showing stops in the Ukraine including Crimean Peninsula Yalta which is now under Russian control. Hopefully MSC will notify us soon of substitute ports (ex. Varna, Bulgaria; Volos, Greece or similar ports) so those of us on these sailings can begin to pre plan for our days in those ports.

Santa "scampi"

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Glenageary

Glenageary

Posted
Posted
Has anyone heard of any change of itinery for MSC Sinfonia, in light of recent activity in the Crimea.Is it still safe to travel there and also Odesa on the same itinery??

 

Both Odessa and Yalta are dropped

They have substitute Varna (Bulgaria) and Volvos (Greece)

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GOLDENBONNY

GOLDENBONNY

Posted
Posted
What about the upcoming MSC Orchestra Black Sea cruises in October? We are booked already on the Oct. 3rd cruise. We purposely cancelled our ship tour to Yalta. We do not feel comfortable planning anything for Odessa. We would appreciate being given a new itinerary in advance.

 

scampi

 

 

May I ask why you not comfartable with Odessa?

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scampi

scampi

Posted
Posted
May I ask why you not comfartable with Odessa?

 

I mentioned Odessa to some crew members who were from the Ukraine on our cruise a week ago & they each recommended avoiding Odessa, also. That was enough for me...They were visibly upset with what was happening in their country, the turmoil, being far away from their family, feeling helpless,, the uncertainty of recent events that appeared to be escalating with Russia's actions and various factions in their country.

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