Does the situation in Europe affect your future travel?

[Hlitner]

On the new deployment thread, no one is saying there is anything new with the itineraries. That is disappointing, not only because there are issues with Europe but hey it is just time to get more creative. Why the same old , same old? Give us a break Celebrity come up with a few new places to see.

 

And Yes I would think it might be more difficult to fill their European Itineraries. If they dont come out with some different options they will lose their clients to other cruiselines that offer more variety.

 

Am wondering what you have in mind?

 

Hank

[norwegianwood57]

Ah you almost had me making up a huge list of all the new places for itineraries. But hey that is a new topic. Start it and I will join you on it...

[Rosethorn40]

I will be in Europe for a 13 day cruise out of Barcelona in July 2016. I plan to return to Europe in 2017 for another cruise. I will not be traveling to Turkey though. I love the time I spent there there in the last four years. At the same time I do not want to be vacationing where the effects of war are more and more apparent. It has nothing to do with safety but with trying to vacation as usual despite the changes the war has brought to that region.

I have never been to Paris, but I do want to go there in the next year for a week vacation on land.

 

BTW I will not go to Russia. So I am having hard time finding a Baltic Northern European curise without St. Peterburg as a port.:(

 

These are just my personal criteria for traveling these days.

 

Holland America had one this year that did not include St. Petersburg. However, I don't see it listed for next year. If they were to bring it back I would love to go on it. Not because I didn't care for St. Petersburg, but because I saw most of the highlights this past summer, but there was plenty left to do at the other ports.

[singlegrandma2]

Group of 12 seniors (all women) are planning on 3-4 days in Paris before our cruise in Oct. We will watch and wait a couple months before we buy airfare and then make the best decision we can. Question.... I think I am more worried about ISIS taking over a cruise ship as hostage... mass killing.... than I am of Paris. Is anyone else concerned at all about that? There really isn't any security to speak of on the ship.

[jd1966]

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?

We are on the same cruise and right now we still plan on going. However, I'll watch closely as we get closer to purchasing airline tickets. If I cancel, it will be for another cruise to someplace not quite as crazy! Canceled a cruise that included Tunisia that was to stop in the same month as the massacre! Because of things going on at that time in Tunisia, my gut said cancel. I'll listen to my gut this time too!

[Andy]

I think we need more than one ship released before making any decisions about same old same old.

 

Agreed Cruise Junky.

[goody1]

Sorry people, but this kind of post really winds me up!

Of course the events of last Friday and other previous atrocities perpetrated in the name some sick and twisted ideology is horrific and difficult for us normal human beings to comprehend.

However, you really do need to get some perspective. Europe is a very large and generally safe place. We were in Paris a few weeks after the previous atrocity. Did we think of cancelling/ certainly not!

We were in New York a few months after 9/11. We flew over for the weekend for a family wedding. Did we consider cancelling? certainly not. In fact, what we couldn't get over was how the Americans "battened down the hatches" and had stopped travelling WITHIN THE US, NEVER MIND OUTSIDE! We also couldn't get over the people who thanked us for having the courage to travel............really!!!!!!

Get a grip! Whilst you don't deliberately travel to a war zone, you can't allow these animals to stop you getting on with your lives.

"Europe" is a great place to visit. I'm sure there's far more gun crime on a daily basis in the US than anywhere in Europe.

Sorry, if anyone is offended by my observations. I'm British, so we have a different way of thinking when it comes to these things!

 

Couldn't agree more, however I do respect people's decisions not to travel. It won't affect our travel plans and we will continue to cruise as much as finances dictate.

[perditax]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/12004756/Paris-attacks-Abdelhamid-Abaaoud-police-France-terrorist-Islamic-State-flight-live.html

 

(Ringleader of Paris attacks killed.)

[4774Papa]

Group of 12 seniors (all women) are planning on 3-4 days in Paris before our cruise in Oct. We will watch and wait a couple months before we buy airfare and then make the best decision we can. Question.... I think I am more worried about ISIS taking over a cruise ship as hostage... mass killing.... than I am of Paris. Is anyone else concerned at all about that? There really isn't any security to speak of on the ship.

Actually, there is some security at Cruise Ports, for ocean cruises, but not much all for river cruises.

 

The last cruise ship that I remember being hijacked was by Palestinian terrorists in the early 80s, the Achile Lauro.

A terror attack on a cruise ship is possible, but the latest attacks in Paris seem to be in areas with high concentrations of people, like stadiums, concerts, restaurants.

 

An attack on a cruise ship would seem to be more complex, since the attackers would have to go through the cruise terminal, which is usually in a more secure location.

[Fouremco]

Actually, there is some security at Cruise Ports, for ocean cruises, but not much all for river cruises.

 

The last cruise ship that I remember being hijacked was by Palestinian terrorists in the early 80s, the Achile Lauro.

A terror attack on a cruise ship is possible, but the latest attacks in Paris seem to be in areas with high concentrations of people, like stadiums, concerts, restaurants.

 

An attack on a cruise ship would seem to be more complex, since the attackers would have to go through the cruise terminal, which is usually in a more secure location.

The USS Cole is a perfect example of how easily a cruise ship could be attacked, particularly in a smaller port where there are no armed patrol vessels providing any form of on-water security.

Edited November 19, 2015 by Fouremco

[norwegianwood57]

Agreed Cruise Junky.

 

We will see when the rest of the deployment comes out. I am looking forward to being wrong.

[mcrcruiser]

What is your opinion about Celebrity & other cruise lines moving some more of their ships through the Panama Canal & the bigger ships through the new wider & longer Panama Canal locks in 2016 (Canal completion), in light of the expanding ISIS & other terrorist into more countries in Europe ,the mid east & Africa ?

 

Here we are on the West Coast of the USA & the only Celebrity ships sailing are for the Alaska Season ,occasional Panama Canal transit & once in a while south America . The only solstice class ship currently is the solstice .However ,no Celebrity ships sail regularly from West Coast ports .,other than those mentioned & they are sporadic at best .Perhaps that will change ? .The West coast has many interesting ports for cruise ships including R/Ts to Hawaii ie :D

 

What say you ?

[Fouremco]

While there may be a slow change in the fullness of time, I don't foresee Celebrity or any of the other major lines leaving what they obviously find to be a lucrative area unless they determine that the hostilities are having a negative and potentially long-lasting negative impact on their bottom line.

[Cruise Junky]

We will see when the rest of the deployment comes out. I am looking forward to being wrong.

 

I've noticed Reflection shows up on gibralters schedule a few times so that's definitely something new for her.

[Cruising-Snowbird]

As long as people continue booking cabins on cruises to the Near East, the ships will go. That is assuming that the nuts over there do not start hijacking cruise ships.....

[iancal]

It is unclear to me what you mean by the east. We were in Greek mainland (Athens, Peloponnese) and the islands of Sifnos, Santorini, Naxos, Paros, and Crete. Never saw one refugee. They have been landing on Kos and other islands closer to the mainland. Perhaps Rhodes is impacted, I really do not know as this was not on our destination list.

 

Do not understand why a ship would be more at risk there than anywhere else! Terrorism is international. It can strike in San Diego, New York, Boston, LA just as easily as it can strike in Paris, London or in any of the Med ports-eastern or western.

 

We do not view these ports as any less safe than an American port or American city.

Edited November 19, 2015 by iancal

[az_tchr]

What is your opinion about Celebrity & other cruise lines moving some more of their ships through the Panama Canal & the bigger ships through the new wider & longer Panama Canal locks in 2016 (Canal completion), in light of the expanding ISIS & other terrorist into more countries in Europe ,the mid east & Africa ?

 

Here we are on the West Coast of the USA & the only Celebrity ships sailing are for the Alaska Season ,occasional Panama Canal transit & once in a while south America . The only solstice class ship currently is the solstice .However ,no Celebrity ships sail regularly from West Coast ports .,other than those mentioned & they are sporadic at best .Perhaps that will change ? .The West coast has many interesting ports for cruise ships including R/Ts to Hawaii ie :D

 

What say you ?

 

Agree the West Coast has lots of great ports. One problem is one simply cannot cruise to many Mexican ports - ie. Acapulco - because of violence there. This makes cruising on the West coast difficult. Combine that with a very lucrative Alaska market and the round trip from San Diego to Vancouver and return before heading to Alaska for the season has gone away. Alaska season used to start two or three weeks later.

 

I too miss west coast cruises!

[norwegianwood57]

We are on the same cruise and right now we still plan on going. However, I'll watch closely as we get closer to purchasing airline tickets. If I cancel, it will be for another cruise to someplace not quite as crazy! Canceled a cruise that included Tunisia that was to stop in the same month as the massacre! Because of things going on at that time in Tunisia, my gut said cancel. I'll listen to my gut this time too!

 

Yes we are thinking as you are. The european situation is not just France as we are seeing, it really is all of europe. They need to clean house big time. We are also hoping to go on this cruise and as you know I have organized some amazing tours. We are also waiting to book air to Rome. Today Rome is on high alert. Who knows where it will be tomorrow....

[Christine Frances]

Yes we are thinking as you are. The european situation is not just France as we are seeing, it really is all of europe. They need to clean house big time. We are also hoping to go on this cruise and as you know I have organized some amazing tours. We are also waiting to book air to Rome. Today Rome is on high alert. Who knows where it will be tomorrow....

 

 

We are on the same cruise and are not worrying. We have our air booked to London for 4 days and then flying to Rome for 4 days pre cruise. Celebrity will pull ports if they think there is an issue ( which would be sad but understandable if it came to that) so for all 8 of us it is a "big h-ll yes" We are not letting those thugs dictate our travel or anything else.

[Hlitner]

Agree the West Coast has lots of great ports. One problem is one simply cannot cruise to many Mexican ports - ie. Acapulco - because of violence there. This makes cruising on the West coast difficult. Combine that with a very lucrative Alaska market and the round trip from San Diego to Vancouver and return before heading to Alaska for the season has gone away. Alaska season used to start two or three weeks later.

 

I too miss west coast cruises!

 

Lots of "great" ports? Where! Lets be honest. The Alaska market is only good for a few months a year (and there are only so many ports). As to Mexico (where we live part of the year) there are only a limited number of ports within reasonable distance of CA ports, and this market is not very lucrative for cruise lines. In order to consistently fill their ships it is often necessary to do heavy discounting. The West Coast could have some great cruises if there were no PVSA preventing cruises between US Ports. But this is not going to change....and the politicians in CA are part of the reason why it will not change.

 

Hank

[sylmack]

It is unclear to me what you mean by the east. We were in Greek mainland (Athens, Peloponnese) and the islands of Sifnos, Santorini, Naxos, Paros, and Crete. Never saw one refugee. They have been landing on Kos and other islands closer to the mainland. Perhaps Rhodes is impacted, I really do not know as this was not on our destination list.

 

Do not understand why a ship would be more at risk there than anywhere else! Terrorism is international. It can strike in San Diego, New York, Boston, LA just as easily as it can strike in Paris, London or in any of the Med ports-eastern or western.

 

We do not view these ports as any less safe than an American port or American city.

 

 

I agree 100%

 

Just got back from an Eastern Med cruise and didn't see any problems at all. (10 ports) I remember I saw soldiers somewhere in Greece but can't remember where.

 

We saw 3 refugee families while in a cafe in Turkey. We talked to them and gave them money. We saw no refugees in Greece at all, I'm sure there were some there but we didn't see them.

 

Turkey was the most beautiful, peaceful country of all of them.

[sleepless]

There will still be far more homicides in many US cities than in Paris in 2015.

 

Paris and London are far safer than most US cities.

 

And don't think that staying in the US keeps you safe from ISIS. Given the easy availability of firearms, the US is, sadly, an easy target for such terrorists.

 

Stuart

 

How true. I live outside of Detroit, Michigan. Daily, people are gunned down. Hardly a week goes by that the loc a l news is not reporting the death of a child fought in the cross fire.

[scifimonkey]

It would be interesting to see a statistic which compares deaths by terrorism and gun crime in Europe and the US in the last 20 years. I suspect that comparison might just see an exodus from the US if that was your only criteria.

If you are worried about the current situation in Paris ( note that that is the only location where there actually is an issue at the moment beyond actual war zones in the Far East of the continent and no one would suggest going there) then obviously do not travel as you may not enjoy yourself. There are however no real grounds to feel fully safe in any urban setting anywhere in the world and the focus of fear will continue to move around the world with each terrorist or murderous act. Let's face it every time you set foot out of your door you roll the dice however the odds are massively stacked in your favour.

[hobbsie65]

It would be interesting to see a statistic which compares deaths by terrorism and gun crime in Europe and the US in the last 20 years. I suspect that comparison might just see an exodus from the US if that was your only criteria.

If you are worried about the current situation in Paris ( note that that is the only location where there actually is an issue at the moment beyond actual war zones in the Far East of the continent and no one would suggest going there) then obviously do not travel as you may not enjoy yourself. There are however no real grounds to feel fully safe in any urban setting anywhere in the world and the focus of fear will continue to move around the world with each terrorist or murderous act. Let's face it every time you set foot out of your door you roll the dice however the odds are massively stacked in your favour.

 

I posted yesterday with the gun crime stats for 2015 from the US which was removed for some reason but it makes some scary reading with 9,956 people killed in gun incidents up until the beginning of October so that figure would already be higher as the stats are almost 2 months old.

Edited November 20, 2015 by hobbsie65

[angeleyes27]

I think it is a matter of your own comfort level with risk. I think that those who are afraid of going have just as valid a reason as those who do not cancel. I think concerns about terror attacks are as valid as gun violence. I wish we could be united against terrorism instead of dividing ourselves.

I mostly agree with ghstudio. Statistics about being more likely to die in a car or crossing the street do not comfort me. I think some places have a greater chance of terror attacks than others. It seems that almost daily there is a terror attack somewhere. It is almost the new norm. It is a different world than 2 years ago.

I will still travel, but will chose my destination based on my comfort level. I have always felt safe and Europe and the US but I am vigilant about my surroundings. I stay away from large gatherings. I am 2 hours from NY but have only been there 3 times briefly since the terror attacks. I am risk aversive. That is me. When I was younger, I was fearless and went all over. I went to Rome directly after a terror attack because I thought security would be much stronger. Now right after the Paris attacks, there is a bomb scare in Germany and a thwarted attack in France. Who knows where next?! Right now France, US and many others are basically in a war with ISIS. Because of the nature of my employment, I may be more targeted.

As far as letting the terrorists win, I think getting targets to kill is winning too. I don't have the answer. I do plan on traveling to Europe next year but thinking of Northern Norway and Iceland or Poland.