Does the situation in Europe affect your future travel?

[SPacificbound]

We have some pretty extensive plans and reservations in place for Europe in 2016. We have no reason to change anything at this time.

 

We also don't have any plans to hide in our home and not go out over the holiday season, or not go to movies, restaurants, malls, etc. etc.

 

We will live our lives.

[norwegianwood57]

Nor do we. Unless of course our government needs us to stay home as governments in France and Belgium have asked their citizenry to do.

[Higgy64]

 From across the pond, it seems to me so many areas on are on a lock down of sorts. 

 

Other than the lockdown in Brussels over the weekend I don't know of anywhere else in Europe that is in anything other than a normal state with maybe some additional security evident. Life goes on as normal over here.

[villauk]

 

London was most definitely quieter than I would normally expect - particularly in the run up to Christmas.

 

Pity all the other shopping malls I visited weren't :rolleyes: :D. I was talking to someone that couldn't get a parking space last weekend and so had travelled again yesterday just to shop! So unsure where these comments are coming from about all of Europe being on lockdown :confused:? Think some must have been constantly watching the same news features over and over ;). Schools and metro stations have reopened today in Brussels, even the Pope has flown to Kenya :eek:.

[norwegianwood57]

Good to hear, that things are returning to normal.

 

Whatever normal means these days.

[cruisemom42]

Yes , Annie, there is something very macabre about getting lower rates because of the misfortune ...not the right word....lets call it murder of others. Horrible, just horrible.

 

 

How could anyone reach such a conclusion?

 

Any lower fares are not caused by the murder of others but by the blind panic of people canceling flights.

 

And I for one, would be happy to be able to fly MORE frequently to Europe to show my support and spend my tourist dollars there. Certainly more helpful to the economies of these places than staying home and wringing one's hands....

[Higgy64]

Agreed.

 

To put this into context. Paris is roughly the same size as Manhattan, Europe is about 1 million sq km bigger than the US. So if there were to be an attack in Mnahattan would you stop cruising the West Coast ? Because that is an almost exact comparison as to what is going on.

 

There is probably as much chance of a terror attack on the streets of a major US city right now than there is in Europe. The attack on Paris hasn't changed anything anywhere in Europe in terms of lockdowns with the exception of an even smaller city (Brussels) where there was intelligence relating to an imminent threat. As the threat didn't materialise you have to think that the Security services are on top of their game right now and Europe is probably safer now than it was during the summer just gone.

[Wiltonian]

Good to hear, that things are returning to normal.

 

Whatever normal means these days.

 

Outside Paris and Brussels (and perhaps other very large French cities), I don't think anywhere in Western Europe was ever other than "normal" in the past couple of weeks. I passed the London end of the Eurostar service last week, and spotted just one armed police officer, which is pretty "normal".

 

Stuart

[morbihan]

No lockdown here in France. Where does that come from?

 

Brussels was closed down whilst terrorists were caught. Which they were. Still searching for the one who left his explosive belt in the rubbish. I doubt he has gone to Syria though. Won't be welcome after running away.

 

It will be all back to normal in a flash. Memories are short.

 

I can understand people cancelling if they were arriving now but some people have cancelled trips a year away!

[ptrpanpens]

Shopping in Paris....sounds like an excellent idea to me! :D:D:D

[hillslife]

Yep...just off the Constellation for a 28 day B2B...Celebrity decided to alter our travel plans by eliminating an overnight in Istanbul and totally bypassing Israel and heading to the Greek Islands instead....so, yeah, like it or not, if you cruise, travel plans are affected:(

[Can'tstopcruising]

It is not a competition as to which country is more dangerous.

 

The truth is it can happen at any time and at any place.

 

I am going grocery shopping this afternoon, and it can happen in my local mall.

 

My vigilence will not make a difference, because it would be unexpected.

 

We have a trip to Europe planned for this winter, and we hope not to cancel it. We just cancelled our fall trip for health reasons and hopefully the next trip will be a go.

 

At this point in time, I see no reason to fear travelling to Europe. As a matter of fact, there will be very tight security.

 

Friends just returned from a cruise in the Middle East. There were Navy Seals on board and pax were restricted in certain places. That is a little scarrier.

 

Several years ago, friends were on the Oceania ship that was chased by pirates. Still, it was their best trip ever.

 

When we went through the Panama Canal, we were accomanied by gunboats.

 

There are many stories and most of us live to tell the tale.

Edited November 26, 2015 by Can'tstopcruising

[Host Walt]

We just removed another 28 posts that are not responsive to the OP. The subject of this thread is current and very appropriate for continued discussion but when the discussion veers off topic (gun control, crime rates, political areguments, etc.) it blocks the discussion of the original subject.

 

This thread will remain open because it is discussing a very current issue that is a concern of everyone planning a cruise later this year or next year. We don't want to close the thread but may need to if off topic posts continue to be made.

 

One last point. If you see apost on this thread (or any other thread for that matter) that appears to be not in conformity with our guidelines, please report the post by clicking on the red triangle that appears in the upper right corner of every post. Do not engage in a discussion by inserting a post in the thread which serves no practical purpose.

 

Thanks for your anticipated understanding and compliance.

[Wiltonian]

OK. To answer the OP succinctly: There is no "situation in Europe" any more than there is a situation in any other continent.

 

There is a "situation" in Paris, Brussels and perhaps one or two other cities. Some parts of south-east Europe have a different "situation" wth the refugee crisis.

 

But there is no "situation in Europe". Moreover, no-one knows if the existing localised "situations" will continue, or where in the world other "situations" will develop.

 

So, no, the non-existent "situation in Europe" will not affect my plans. Adriatic next year, perhaps the Baltic in 2017.

 

Stuart

[1SGCruiser]

Good to hear, that things are returning to normal.

 

Whatever normal means these days.

 

I'm unsure what you mean, "returning to normal". From 8 October through 30 October, my wife were in Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria ad finally Spain to board our Transatlantic cruise back to the US. There was no lockdowns anywhere. Travel was as normal as I remember it. Even now, the more recent single lockdown in Brussels due to specific intel for that location, does not indicate that Europe is locked down.

[Higgy64]

other cruise lines are available

[Cruise Junky]

This is not a "hysterical" thread by any measure.

 

We'll have to agree to disagree. I call cancelling a cruise for late next year "hysterical"

[morbihan]

I think that you will find that the gangs of pickpockets in Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Venice etc, are not from that country.

 

Moved there for the rich pickings.

[cruisemom42]

When I asked this question before, I actually had a couple of people ask me what situation I was referring to. Unfortunately perhaps it is clearer now.

 

As many of you, we have a European itinerary booked in the future. We are very concerned.

 

And just like before , some will say, if you cancel, you are letting the enemy win.

 

Will some of you say something different?

 

I'll say something different. ;)

 

I am not necessarily a proponent of the "If you cancel, you let the enemy win" mentality. But I am a very logical person, and the odds of having any sort of incident affect me while traveling are heavily in my favor.

 

But from other posts you've made in this thread, your concern doesn't seem to primarily stem from a fear of being in any terrorist incident but from not having the same sort of "European" travel experience you've had in the past.

 

The world is ever evolving -- whatever European experience someone may have had 30 years ago (or even 5 years ago) will be different now. But that's not really different from cruising: how many people have said cruising is not the same now as it was 15 years ago -- and yet most of us still enjoy it.

 

Some people don't like cities and don't feel comfortable in them. Partly, it's an issue of familiarity. Some want to only see "scenic" Europe (which isn't necessarily "real" Europe).

 

I personally enjoy cities. I have strayed beyond the port area of Marseille (stayed there three nights a couple of years ago) and made some interesting discoveries. I have spent two weeks living in the heart of Naples -- a city many compare with Marseille -- and enjoyed it immensely. And of course, I would go at any time to Rome, Paris, Istanbul, London, Lisbon, to name a few favorites.

 

Whatever you decide, hopefully you'll find your own comfort zone. If Europe isn't for you any longer, then find other places to travel that still excite and interest you.

 

As for me, I still feel the truth of what Samuel Johnson said: "When a man is tired of London (or Paris or Rome or.....), he is tired of life."

[goody1]

I can see Host Walt removing this Thread altogether as the discussion has moved back to gun crime in the USA. He removed a lot of posts yesterday as they were off topic, although we were only replying to the OPs statements.

As for our Cruise on the Eclipse to the Baltic in July, I hope to see a lot of North Americans on the cruise as we have always got on well with them and hope that past events don't cloud their judgement.

[Suzy Smith]

Any concerns that travellers may have at the moment apply to most countries in the world and not specifically to Europe. There is certainly a "situation" in the Middle East that has resulted in atrocities being carried out all over the world - in Europe, Asia, Africa, North America and Australia. I wonder if the TV news the OP watches does not give full coverage to current events world wide and s/he is only aware of what is happening in certain countries and does not have the full picture. The last terror attack was in Paris, and sadly there are almost certain to be others, but no-one can predict when or in which part of the world the next attack will take place. Everyone has to make their own decision about where they travel, but hopefully most of us are making well-informed choices based on a reasonable knowledge of what is happening in the world as a whole. The US Government has issued a global travel warning (which presumably includes travel within the US), so they clearly think there are risks in every part of the world at the moment. Life is for living and, in my experience, the world is mainly full of good people, who want to do the right thing. I refuse to curtail my enjoyment of life because of an outside chance that I might be in the wrong place at a time when one of the small minority of "baddies" is on the loose.

[Wiltonian]

The statistical chances of getting killed by a stranger in most places being discussed (via gun, terrorism, etc) are all extremely small. We're all more likely to be killed by someone we know. Bringing up the U.S. and guns is needlessly inflammatory and doesn't promote clear thinking on the topic. I understand why people keep having the urge but it really doesn't help.

 

It is relevant, because the issue is all about risk. Cruising tourists who visit NYC and stay in the tourist areas are statistically very safe.

 

However, statistically, there is a greater risk of a US citizen staying at home being killed by a family member in any given year than going on a cruise to Europe and being killed by a terrorist.

 

So, if you think you should take evasive action about Europe. . . .

 

Stuart

[drarill]

Don't have time to read the whole thread. We are not planning to cancel our next cruise on the Oasis but our good friends decided to cancel their NYE cruise departing from Dubai. They made their decision after final payment and RCCL is letting them use the money within a year on another cruise.

[Host Walt]

We just removed another 28 posts that are not responsive to the OP. The subject of this thread is current and very appropriate for continued discussion but when the discussion veers off topic (gun control, crime rates, political areguments, etc.) it blocks the discussion of the original subject.

 

This thread will remain open because it is discussing a very current issue that is a concern of everyone planning a cruise later this year or next year. We don't want to close the thread but may need to if off topic posts continue to be made.

 

One last point. If you see apost on this thread (or any other thread for that matter) that appears to be not in conformity with our guidelines, please report the post by clicking on the red triangle that appears in the upper right corner of every post. Do not engage in a discussion by inserting a post in the thread which serves no practical purpose.

 

Thanks for your anticipated understanding and compliance.

Sorry. Had to delete a bunch more off topic posts that were made since I posted this yesterday.

Edited November 28, 2015 by Host Walt