Ever cruised somewhere you really looked forward to only to find a Major event taking place that might have an influence?

[1hotflyer]

Early November 2022. Viking Mars-Passage to India. Booked the cruise well in advance. About six months before departure, Viking announced the elimination of Sharm El Sheikh and the addition of an overnight in Aqba, Jordan.   The UN had scheduled some important international meeting either right before, right after or during our stay. Regardless, Viking was unable to make port there.

 

What a wonderful change! That allowed us to have an overnight in Petra, see the night show, hike the canyon and visit the Wadi Rum on a single visit. Absolutely fantastic. If I could schedule a cruise that had a change like that I would do it every time.

 

[DarrenM]

8 hours ago, 1hotflyer said:

Early November 2022. Viking Mars-Passage to India. Booked the cruise well in advance. About six months before departure, Viking announced the elimination of Sharm El Sheikh and the addition of an overnight in Aqba, Jordan.   The UN had scheduled some important international meeting either right before, right after or during our stay. Regardless, Viking was unable to make port there.

 

What a wonderful change! That allowed us to have an overnight in Petra, see the night show, hike the canyon and visit the Wadi Rum on a single visit. Absolutely fantastic. If I could schedule a cruise that had a change like that I would do it every time.

 

That sounds like a win

[John Bull]

9 hours ago, 1hotflyer said:

Early November 2022. Viking Mars-Passage to India. Booked the cruise well in advance. About six months before departure, Viking announced the elimination of Sharm El Sheikh and the addition of an overnight in Aqba, Jordan.   The UN had scheduled some important international meeting either right before, right after or during our stay. Regardless, Viking was unable to make port there.

 

What a wonderful change! That allowed us to have an overnight in Petra, see the night show, hike the canyon and visit the Wadi Rum on a single visit. Absolutely fantastic. If I could schedule a cruise that had a change like that I would do it every time.

 

 

We had a (Marella) cruise which had a scheduled overnite in Aqaba, so we too were able to visit Petra on Day One and Wadi Rum on Day Two.

 

That cruise also included Sharm El Sheikh - a resort town built specifically for vacationers, remote from anything except flat deserted desert. Seemed great for a cheap family winter vacation in the sun, but it wasn't "Egypt" 😟. Its saving grace was brilliant snorkelling, one of the best sites in the world. 🙂

 

Sometimes you luck in, sometimes you luck out.

 

JB 🙂

[GrannyJ]

You do NOT want to be in the middle of any kind of disturbance in Istanbul.  The police stop disturbances quickly and violently.  When I was last there, I was told that if I hear any kind of singing, clapping, shouting, etc., to turn straight around IMMEDIATELY and make tracks as fast as possible in the opposite direction.  

 

We came across a rather peaceful demonstration by students concerning a professor at the university who had been fired.   The police were gathering on one side of the square, with shields, riot guns, and armored vehicles mounted with guns.  Believe me, we made tracks.....

 

Istanbul is my favorite city on earth, but it's a place you have to be vigilant about your safety, just like any big city.  

[DarrenM]

I suspect a few, especially non british folk, dont quite understand how boisterous and volatile football supporters get, especially in large numbers, usually mixed with way too much alcohol.

 

Unfortunately, especially English football supporters.

[9tee2Sea]

had a cruise stop in Jerusalem once.  Turned out the shipped docked on the first night of Passover.  Everything was closing early for the first night, and then was closed the next day.  

[MBP&O2/O]

I once went to the USA ...many years ago ... and the ships agent was offering free tickets to the superbowl!  No one had the slightest inkling of what a Superbowl was.

Didn't affect our stay though people said it was somewhat busy ashore.

[Chocolatemom2]

We were sailing out of Amsterdam, little did I know when I booked the cruise that there was a HUGE convention in town the two days before we sailed. Not a hotel room in sight. We wound up a 30 minute train ride away from the city with a view of a sports arena. But the trains were efficient, clean and on time. We made it work, but it was disappointing to not get to stay In Amsterdam itself

[d9704011]

On a slightly different note... I was planning a big trip to Paris and other locations in France for the summer of 2024 until my wife reminded me where the Summer Olympics are being held next year.

[donaldsc]

11 hours ago, 9tee2Sea said:

had a cruise stop in Jerusalem once.  Turned out the shipped docked on the first night of Passover.  Everything was closing early for the first night, and then was closed the next day.  

 

I guess that the cruise line did not realize that some religious holidays are really important in Israel - even though they should have them on their calendars.  You were lucky that you did not dock on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur.

 

DON

[9tee2Sea]

10 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

I guess that the cruise line did not realize that some religious holidays are really important in Israel - even though they should have them on their calendars.  You were lucky that you did not dock on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur.

 

DON

I don't blame the cruise ship line.  I could have done some research to find out if the arrival co-incided with any Holidays ( after all, I am Jewish..obviously not very strict).  I now look up national holidays of the countries when looking at cruises.

[donaldsc]

2 hours ago, 9tee2Sea said:

I don't blame the cruise ship line.  I could have done some research to find out if the arrival co-incided with any Holidays ( after all, I am Jewish..obviously not very strict).  I now look up national holidays of the countries when looking at cruises.

 

I do blame the cruise lines.  Don't you think that the cruise lines have calendars of the major religious holidays of all the countries that they are visiting so they know where they maybe should not stop at that time.  People visit Israel to see both Jewish, Christian and historic sites.  If they get to Israel and everything is closed they will not be happy.  If might not have been possible for the cruise line to switch ports just for the one cruise but they should have tried.   I realize that this  is a bad analogy but imagine if you were going on a cruise which stopped at New York City for was your first and maybe only visit to NYC and you arrived on Christmas day.  What is open.  Would you be happy about that?

 

DON

[9tee2Sea]

32 minutes ago, donaldsc said:

 

I do blame the cruise lines.  Don't you think that the cruise lines have calendars of the major religious holidays of all the countries that they are visiting so they know where they maybe should not stop at that time.  People visit Israel to see both Jewish, Christian and historic sites.  If they get to Israel and everything is closed they will not be happy.  If might not have been possible for the cruise line to switch ports just for the one cruise but they should have tried.   I realize that this  is a bad analogy but imagine if you were going on a cruise which stopped at New York City for was your first and maybe only visit to NYC and you arrived on Christmas day.  What is open.  Would you be happy about that?

 

DON

in your analogy, things may be closed, but I would get to see the City all dressed up for Christmas.  I have looked at cruises that spend Holiday times in ports ( Christmas), but I do realize that most everything will be closed.  If I do travel during a Religious/National Holiday, I try to make the certain day a Sea Day.  The most pressing issue when on a cruise, is that many port days fall on Sundays.  In in Latin America countries, almost nothing is open on Sundays.  But, Its all part of cruising.

[ColeThornton]

2 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

I do blame the cruise lines.  Don't you think that the cruise lines have calendars of the major religious holidays of all the countries that they are visiting so they know where they maybe should not stop at that time.  People visit Israel to see both Jewish, Christian and historic sites.  If they get to Israel and everything is closed they will not be happy.  If might not have been possible for the cruise line to switch ports just for the one cruise but they should have tried.   I realize that this  is a bad analogy but imagine if you were going on a cruise which stopped at New York City for was your first and maybe only visit to NYC and you arrived on Christmas day.  What is open.  Would you be happy about that?

 

DON

 

 

As the old saying goes:  "Caveat Emptor".  

[Reina del Mar]

Arrived in Santiago for a South America cruise the day before the Pope arrived. Many places closed or roped off. Lots of Police and Security Officers patrolling and guarding area where he was due to visit. We couldn’t see as much of the city as we would have liked.

 

Didn’t affect our cruise as we used cruiseline transfer to port.

[cruisemom42]

On 4/14/2023 at 1:42 AM, donaldsc said:

 

I do blame the cruise lines.  Don't you think that the cruise lines have calendars of the major religious holidays of all the countries that they are visiting so they know where they maybe should not stop at that time.  People visit Israel to see both Jewish, Christian and historic sites.  If they get to Israel and everything is closed they will not be happy.  If might not have been possible for the cruise line to switch ports just for the one cruise but they should have tried.   I realize that this  is a bad analogy but imagine if you were going on a cruise which stopped at New York City for was your first and maybe only visit to NYC and you arrived on Christmas day.  What is open.  Would you be happy about that?

 

DON

People often get tripped up over Orthodox Easter in Athens. It is at the start of the Med cruising season but not something on most peoples’ radar. Just about every tourist site and restaurant is closed. About the best you can do is attend one of the celebratory church services - on the actual morning or even better one of the midnight services before. 

[cruisemom42]

I guess if you travel long enough or often enough you’re bound to run into a few of these snafus. Another one I was just reminded of by an earlier post was being in Seville and booking a tour that included the  Alcazar. Apparently our guide did not realize it was scheduled to close for shooting scenes from “Game of Thrones”. We arrived and even though we couldn’t really do a full tour, they let us inside briefly. We saw lots of extras in fancy dress but no stars…. 
 

[Tapi]

November 2018, our ship stopped in Marseille, France. Little did we know that the Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) protests had started erupting all over the country a few days prior with hundreds of thousands of people protesting and blocking roadways. 
 

No word from the cruise line except for a revised “all aboard” time that had been changed to 2 hours earlier than scheduled. We made it to Vieux Port without issues, but that’s when we noticed a big police presence who informed us about the ongoing protests and the potential for violence. We were encouraged to return to the ship at once since protesters were expected to swarm the area in the next few hours (which explained the earlier “all aboard” time). 
 

We cut our day short and hailed a taxi back to the ship. That’s when the fun began. Protesters had already started congregating and blocking major roads. We couldn’t make it back to the ship the same way we came. Our taxi driver started speeding down backroads and alleyways trying to evade the protesters, only to find another road block. He started flagging down other taxi drivers to ask which way to go. 
 

Our hearts were racing for a bit because it felt as if we were in a chase scene from a movie, trying to evade the protesters, not knowing if we’d make it back in time (or safely), but we breathed a sigh of relief when we finally made it back to the ship. 
 

Definitely a somewhat different day in port for sure. 

Edited April 18, 2023 by Tapi

[MWarren3549]

Our Med Cruise in 2013 ... I was SO EXCITED to go to Turkey / Istanbul / Bazaar ... only to find out it was Ramadan .... !!!!  Very disappointing. 

[John Bull]

14 hours ago, MWarren3549 said:

Our Med Cruise in 2013 ... I was SO EXCITED to go to Turkey / Istanbul / Bazaar ... only to find out it was Ramadan .... !!!!  Very disappointing. 

 

We were in Istanbul for a few days over Ramadan.

Bazaars, shops, trams, ferries all up-and-running as usual - the only thing we noticed was free tid-bits & drink at sundown 🙂

 

JB 🙂

[DarrenM]

On 3/21/2023 at 2:59 PM, DarrenM said:

Been looking forward to the overnight stay in Istanbul this June for nearly a year now.

 

To find out yesterday that the biggest, most huge football (Soccer) Match, in the whole of Europe is taking place the same night, in Istanbul.

 

This will undoubtedly mean somewhere approaching 250,000 fans from both countries, Likely to be team from Germany/Spain/England v Team from Italy.

 

AS well as literally thousands of media outlets there too, with cameras all over the place.

 

And with their reputation for violence, if its an English team, I cant say I am overjoyed at the prospect any more.

 

Only good thing is the stadium is approx 20km from the port and main tourist area. 

 

But many fans will not have tickets and will swarm the bars to watch on TV.

So now we know.

 

An team from England versus a team from Italy.

 

I am expecting Istanbul to be rammed.

 

Spoke to a Manchester City fan at work who wasnt impressed that I already have a room booked for Istanbul that night.

 

Hopefully it goes ahead without incident of the type English football supporters are known for.

 

 

[edinburgher]

the only thing we noticed was free tid-bits & drink at sundown 🙂

and the long lines of hungry folks which began forming outside food outlets shortly before the fast could be broken.

 

 

Our Med Cruise in 2013 ... I was SO EXCITED to go to Turkey / Istanbul / Bazaar ... only to find out it was Ramadan .... !!!!  Very disappointing.

 

I dont  understand this statement at all. Like John Bull (post #45 above) we spent a week in Istanbul and our dates covered both the tail end of Ramazan (the Turkish name for Ramadan) and Eid.and when we discovered this only  after booking, we had concerns about potential disruption to our trip.

 

Acutually it was  the opposite. Everything was open as usual, (per JB above)and in the days leading up to the celebration of Eid  which marks the end of Ramazan, there was a really festive atmosphere in the city with long lines of locals outside stores lining up to buy their specialities for the feasting days to come. It was easy to tell at a glance which stores sold the best this or that as they had the longest lines waiting patiently outside.

 

In Sultanahmet where we were based, every evening was full of things to do and see. Around Sultanahmet Square and the Hippodrome there were stalls all around selling all sorts of goodies including Ottoman style candy being made right there.There were also many stands selling cooked corn and chestnuts, and  the individual  tea sellers in their wonderful costumes. There were tea tents furnished with traditional hangings, cushions, and rugs, with shishas and live music  with the audiences singing and clapping along, several cafes had live performances of Sufi  music, and whirling dervishes doing their whirling. We also caught  a couple of performances by the military bands(mehter) in the open air performance area and displays of folk dancing.

 

And there was a real party atmosphere with the crowds, as many were family groups of different generations with excited kids, and all of them were dressed in their newly bought (for Eid)  outfits.  As everyone was really friendly,polite and full of smiles, we had no safety concerns whatsoever.   Every evening we could not wait to head back there after dinner  in whichever nearby restaurant.  Far from having a negative effect on our trip, it actually made it really special and we felt really lucky to have been a part of this very unique time in Istanbul.

 

I would recommend anyone visit there towards the end of Ramazan, and especially in the lead up to Eid.  Having said that, I do not know if during the actual days of Eid,there are closures as we left on the day Eid began. so that would be adviseable to check and the dates vary each year.

 

 

 

Edited May 21, 2023 by edinburgher

[navybankerteacher]

Didn’t happen to me, but seemed to devastate a woman I overheard complaining to her companion.  We were staying in Rome a few years back when massive repairs were being made to the Trevi Fountain. Taking a look at the progress, we couldn’t help hearing a woman on a tour from her ship’s port call at Civita Vecchia loudly telling her companion how she wanted to sue her travel agent for not alerting her to the waterless condition of the fountain —seeing  which had been tops on her bucket list.

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

Didn’t happen to me, but seemed to devastate a woman I overheard complaining to her companion.  We were staying in Rome a few years back when massive repairs were being made to the Trevi Fountain. Taking a look at the progress, we couldn’t help hearing a woman on a tour from her ship’s port call at Civita Vecchia loudly telling her companion how she wanted to sue her travel agent for not alerting her to the waterless condition of the fountain —seeing  which had been tops on her bucket list.

 

Perhaps she was concerned that she wouldn't be able to toss her coin in the fountain and thus was not guaranteed a return to Rome. 🤣🤣

 

Actually, I loved visiting Trevi during that period because they had set up a walkway above the fountain basin where tourists could walk over and get closer to the sculptures than normal. (But then again, I am a frequent visitor so for me it was not a "once in a lifetime" event...

 

[edinburgher]

Perhaps she thought that if she could not coin toss into the water, she might never return to Rome.