Napflion cancelled?

[sofietucker]

Does anyone know why stops in Napflion would be cancelled--in October? Our Greek-intensive cruise has just changed itinerary, to remove Turkey due to "regulations"...They added a sea day and replaced Kusadasi with Paphos, though Cyprus is still half Turkish with a porous border... But Napflion would have nothing to do with that! Thanks for any info.

[jas283a]

I'm not sure, but I think that's one of the areas that has been affected by wildfires.  Anyone else know?

[marazul]

The fires have not affected Nafplio other than smoke.  Besides it is 2 months before the OP's cruise.  The fire season will be over by then.  Most likely it happened because of the cancellation of Ephesus.  Paphos is in that part of the Eastern Med, however, it is farther away from Athens, so it requires a sea day to get back.   Both Paphos and Limassol are included in a lot of the Med cruises now.  They are interesting and I think the cruise lines are getting great port deals from the Cyprus government.

[GlobalMethod]

18 hours ago, marazul said:

The fires have not affected Nafplio other than smoke.  Besides it is 2 months before the OP's cruise.  The fire season will be over by then.  Most likely it happened because of the cancellation of Ephesus.  Paphos is in that part of the Eastern Med, however, it is farther away from Athens, so it requires a sea day to get back.   Both Paphos and Limassol are included in a lot of the Med cruises now.  They are interesting and I think the cruise lines are getting great port deals from the Cyprus government.

I love Nafplio so I follow the news from there ... Greece has a wildfire crisis and the Pelopannese (including my beloved Nafplio) is under threat ... more than smoke ... however your timeline may be correct as far as improvement ... the problem is the cruise lines often plan ahead based on today's news ...

 

https://www.ekathimerini.com/news/1165847/section-of-national-highway-closed-in-peloponnese/

 

 

Edited August 10, 2021 by GlobalMethod

[clairol]

On 8/9/2021 at 1:52 PM, sofietucker said:

 Our Greek-intensive cruise has just changed itinerary, to remove Turkey due to "regulations"...

I am just interested as to what cruise line you are on that canceled Turkey and do you know what the regulations are that caused them to do so... we are currently booked on an October cruise (Oceania) which is scheduled to leave from Istanbul...

[sofietucker]

2 hours ago, clairol said:

I am just interested as to what cruise line you are on that canceled Turkey and do you know what the regulations are that caused them to do so... we are currently booked on an October cruise (Oceania) which is scheduled to leave from Istanbul...

From Azamara Journey--it says "restrictions"..."while abiding by the local regulations":

Dear Travel Partner,

We're writing to inform you of some important changes regarding your clients 12-Greece Intensive Voyage scheduled to depart on October 13, 2021 on Azamara Journey®.

Due to current local restrictions in Turkey, we've had to make slight adjustments to your clients itinerary. We have done our best to keep the itinerary as planned while abiding by the local regulations. Unfortunately, this means we have had to remove Ephesus (Kusadasi), Turkey and Nafplio, Greece from the itinerary. Instead, we have added a day for your client to relax aboard your boutique hotel at sea followed by a stop in a new port on this itinerary: Paphos, Cyprus. Although the entire town of Paphos was named as a UNESCO World Heritage site, guests connect with more than its ancient fortresses and palaces. Wine with a history that dates back to the wedding of Richard the Lionheart, haloumi or "squeaky" cheese, and other Cypriot foodie favorites are equally as pleasing as the natural beauty of the beaches or the Roman mosaics, some of the best in the world. Would you expect anything less from the legendary birthplace of Aphrodite? Additionally, we have altered the dates your client will be in port in Patmos, Greece and Mykonos Greece. Your client will now visit Patmos, Greece right after they embark from Athens (Piraeus), Greece and before their final overnight in Athens (Piraeus), Greece your client will stop in the beautiful city of Mykonos, Greece. Your client will still embark out of Athens (Piraeus), Greece on October 13, 2021 and disembark out of Athens (Piraeus), Greece 12 nights later, as planned.

We apologize for any inconvenience that results from this change and hope you will understand that when planning so far in advance, sometimes circumstances may arise that require us to alter our sailing schedules."

Nothing more solid about what those Turkish " regulations" are...

[clairol]

Thank you, @sofietucker!

 

[sofietucker]

Clairol, I also poked around some on the boards whose ships should have stopped in Turkey lately & couldn't find much. But Celebrity Apex--which was supposed to sail out of Israel all summer but switched to Athens and an all-Greece itinerary--initially had Turkey among its ports and cut it. Also, very interestingly, the Greek line Celestyal which we've sailed and which *always* stops in one or more Turkish ports--has recently cut both the Istanbul overnight and Kusadasi, replacing it with Patmos. Things might change by October. But we just cancelled our October Azamara cruise, for FCCs good thru spring 2023... 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

I know this is  post from August, but I was wondering if anyone ever determined why these changes were made.  On Facebook I saw a letter to Viking passengers informing them that if a ship had recently stopped in any Turkish port other than Istanbul or Kusadasi (for Ephesus), it would not be allowed by Greece to stop at Greek ports.  But that was several weeks ago.  Yesterday the Seven Seas Splendor ship stopped on the Greek island of Lesbos after starting out in Istanbul.  I haven't seen any reports from people on board, but according to Marine Traffic, the tender boats made many passes back and forth between the ship and shore, so I'm thinking passengers were allowed on the island of Lesbos.  Then again, I know there could be other reasons for the tenders to be used for things other than taking passengers ashore.  For example, maybe Seven Seas Splendor is running test cruises, or staffing up, or training?  

 

Sophietucker, are you cruising now?  Do you know any more now?