Have you heard anything re: greece from your cruise company?

[rachelfran]

My cruise leaves from Athens on July 18 and we have 5 port stops in Greece... I am not concerned but am surprised that my cruise line hasn't sent an email letting folks know that it's business as usual and that there is no reason for concern.

 

I'm just curious whether you've heard anything from your cruise line if you've got a cruise in the region soon?

 

Thanks!

[Deebs2]

Nope...we sail windstar 8/1. Very surprised we haven't received anything

[Sandy Beaches]

I would say you would only hear something if something has changed. Hopefully nothing has and you can enjoy all your stops! :D

[John Bull]

Any advice given by a cruise line would be out-of-date within 24 hours, which is probably why most haven't advised.

That even applies now - hopefully the hard-fought agreement reached over the weekend will go through, but there are still a few hoops to go though.

And the possibility of dissent even after that. Perhaps a public transport strike in Athens or some other disruption.

 

But the agreement should be done & dusted later this week.

Though I seem to recall saying the same thing last week. And the week before. And the week before that. :rolleyes::D

 

To date, the effect on cruisers seems to have been negligible. And likely to diminish. To play it safe, just take enough euros with you to Greek ports until things have settled down.

 

Just MHO as always.

 

JB :)

[TravelingActuary]

I just returned from my Med. cruise with 4 Greek ports of call, and everything was business as usual. My cruise started July 3, right after the banks closed, and I was in Greece during the referendum vote. You really wouldn't have known anything was going on. In Athens, we saw lines at every ATM (maybe 5 or 6 people) but that was it. Just be sure to have plenty of Euros with you.

[Hlitner]

Folks should not confuse a political situation with cruise and tourism policy. Greece has long been a fabulous country to visit and nothing happening now is going to change that with one possible exception. It does appear likely that Greece will soon have to increase their VAT tax which will make everything somewhat more expensive. And until the banking situation is stabilized it is probably wise to obtain Euros before coming to Greece as you might not want to wait in a queue to use an ATM.

 

So here is a question for the OP (or anyone else)? Why would you think that a cruise line would now avoid Greece? And why should cruise lines address political situations with their customers?

[paradiselivin1]

Good question, JB, but I do believe some of the lines modified their Black Sea cruises and dumped Ukraine in favor of Romania and Bulgaria. Perhaps safety concerns and, in the case of Athens, maybe concerns about strikes. We are planning full steam ahead for our cruise departing Athens & will adjust with whatever comes our way as it is out of our hands.

[Keith1010]

One cruise line RCI said it was business as usual.

 

Keith

[mek]

 

So here is a question for the OP (or anyone else)? Why would you think that a cruise line would now avoid Greece? And why should cruise lines address political situations with their customers?

 

As previously mentioned, cruise lines do change their itineraries based on political unrest. I've been to Greece and it's a wonderful place to visit, but based on what I'm seeing on the news, I personally wouldn't want to be in Athens today or any time soon until the financial situation has been resolved.

Edited July 15, 2015 by mek

[nick_arch]

I wouldn't very clearly agree. . . Athens and tourism center is a pretty big place and area affected was pretty small. It's the usual problems around Syndagma Sq., taking place 2 - 3 times a year in large demonstrations and way long after a cruise ship passenger has gone.

 

I walked around the area, up to 20 meters from the issues tonight. . . it was between 6pm - 9pm local time. Yeap, very very messy but area affected was small, a corner of Syndagma Sq. and an area in front of Temple of Zeus. Definitely an issue but in a city of 5 million people most locals and visitors could not get what was going on. Definitely smaller than tv make it look. . .

 

I have made an update of what was taking place during this time in posts #894 to 898 in Trip Advisor in this thread, including a map of the affected area: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g189398-i192-k8593900-o890-Greek_debt_deal_referendum_plz_start_from_here-Greece.html

 

After 21 days of updates and many functional issues for users of mobile devices and the TA app we had to move to a new thread which can be found here: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g189398-i192-k8657220-Local_updates_about_Greece_plz_start_from_here-Greece.html

Edited July 15, 2015 by nick_arch

[rachelfran]

My inquiry was not intended to suggest that cruise lines change anything or comment politically. I thought that based on posts here and on TA, that cruise lines might calm their customers in some way .. I'm traveling Seabourn and thought they'd issue some message by email but they have not. Full steam ahead for me.. No hesitation. I'm from NYC and have seen my share of political rallies.

[John Bull]

Full steam ahead for me.. No hesitation. I'm from NYC and have seen my share of political rallies.

 

Good question, JB, but I do believe some of the lines modified their Black Sea cruises and dumped Ukraine in favor of Romania and Bulgaria. Perhaps safety concerns and, in the case of Athens, maybe concerns about strikes. We are planning full steam ahead for our cruise departing Athens & will adjust with whatever comes our way as it is out of our hands.

 

Yep, that's the attitude to take - it's nothing like what happened in the Crimea & Ukraine.

 

A couple of those hoops that I mentioned have now been hurdled (I love mixed metaphors :rolleyes:). There are still a few to overcome but all parties seem to have the will, if not the enthusiasm, to see it through.

I strongly suspect that either Tsipras or those ministers who opposed him will lose their jobs, but that's not for this forum.

 

The dissent in Athens? - not much different to protests in the UK, US, etc. I was in Syntagma Square for a pick-up (whoever arranged that was truly dumb) during a protest a couple of years back, no worries. Very different to France where the aim is often to disrupt life as well as making a protest.

 

When banks re-open, hopefully by Monday, the very few problems that visitors have had with ATMs, acceptance of plastic, etc. should evaporate.

 

Beyond that, a risk of strikes. Probably (hopefully) confined to Athens.

But the prospects of re-scheduled cruise itineraries are pretty slim unless things change massively.

 

Just MHO as always.

 

JB :)

[nick_arch]

<There are still a few to overcome but all parties seem to have the will, if not the enthusiasm, to see it through.>

 

. . .oh, i just wish they had the enthusiasm too, all of them together. . .:(

 

Banks open on Monday at last. Some limitations for locals there but all business can be made on web banking in the country with no limits. . . i 'd expect any atm queues that form in central spots in shop opening hours to get drastically minimised.

[Pennsylvania Dutch]

Yesterday it was reported the Greece VAT will increase from 8% to 13% on October 1st. Our cruises leave after this time. We've already paid for shore excursions on both cruises. Suggest you may want to make any purchases before the additional fees go into effect.

[paradiselivin1]

I would suggest that anyone going in the near future Google "Greece VAT" as it is true that changes are about to happen but the VAT rates are varied. Note the jump in the VAT for restaurants. :eek:

[Got2Cruise]

I would suggest that anyone going in the near future Google "Greece VAT" as it is true that changes are about to happen but the VAT rates are varied. Note the jump in the VAT for restaurants. :eek:

 

 

I've read articles that said the prices for tourists will relatively the same. They will lower the base price so with the tax it will come out the same price. No use worrying about it especially if you're on a cruise you don't need to eat many meals out.

[tring]

Well we are making the most of the good offers and just booked a cruise on Voyager, going out of Istanbul on 23rd Sept and returning to Piraeus on 6th Oct. Why worry, I think my main travel fear is of motorway travel in Britain.

 

We will probably stay on the ship packing in Piraeus, or perhaps just stroll around a bit, as we have done the main Athens sights previously.

 

We are also docking at Patmos, Kavala, Thessaloniki and Volvos in Greece, (as well as well as 5 days in port in Turkey where we will probably do trips to Troy and Ephesus), so we will probably just walk into the ports in Greece.

 

Does anyone know those Greek ports, they do not seem to be commonly visited? We were thinking of doing the Meteora trip from Volvos, but it is a two hour journey each way and we do not fancy that on a 13 night cruise with only 2 sea days and long days in port, including a few late nights.

 

I hope the situation in Greece does settle for their sake as well as ours. They must take a very large amount of their tourist revenue at this time of year, as it is not a winter holiday base.

Edited July 22, 2015 by tring