Istanbul - I'm confused

[thebsinmiss]

We booked the June Rome - Istanbul cruise late last year.  When the Gaza war started Oceania canceled the two ports in Turkey citing passenger safety as the primary reason.  Several other cruise lines did the same thing.  I thought it was a bit strange given the location of Istanbul relative to the areas of conflict but it made sense even if it was our disembarkation port. We really like the new selection of ports so it was actually a better itinerary for us 

 

Now I see Oceania scheduling ships to dock in Istanbul again.   I am confused as to why Istanbul is back on O's sailings.  

 

Anyone have information or ideas on this ?

[Tranquility Base]

......

Edited February 18 by Tranquility Base

[WildWanderers]

Hi @thebsinmiss,

 

It is not so much that Istanbul is "back on" Oceania's itineraries, as much as several cruises were left with Istanbul included.  We are on one such cruise that ends in Istanbul with an overnight there, before also ending there.

 

We were worried at the time that our itinerary would lose Istanbul, as were others on our roll call, but Istanbul survived on our cruise, when several other Mediterranean cruises were rejigged.  We also wondered at the time if they would change the name of the cruise from Turkish Ovation, if the Turkey portion was cut.

 

It is possible that Oceania said at the time that "Oceania canceled the two ports in Turkey citing passenger safety as the primary reason," but I don't recall that kind of clarity.

 

Maybe more changes to come?  Only time will tell.

 

Cheers,

Greg from the WildWanderers

[MEFIowa]

We were on Riviera 10-11/2023 for a B2B and we stopped in Istanbul over 2 consecutive weekends, for 2 nights and 4 days on 11/5-6 and 11/11-12. We were there when the Istanbul Marathon was happening. There were a couple of pro-Palestinian demonstrations but nothing to large or out of control. I'm not sure much ever happened in Istanbul, though Turkish security forces did arrest a large number of militants all across Turkey back in late Dec 2023: 

 

"Police in Turkey have arrested more than 300 people for suspected links to the Islamic State (ISIS) militant group during sweeping raids across the country, the Turkish Interior Minister has announced.

“304 individuals were arrested during the “Hero-34” operation carried out simultaneously in 32 cities against the terrorist organisation Daesh," Ali Yerlikaya wrote on X." (12/22/23)

 

[cruisemom42]

Right after the Palestinian attack, there was a lot of rhetoric from Turkish government (in the form of Erdogan) and a few demonstrations supporting Palestinian/Hamas actions. Everyone was a little nervous about what the future held. Some lines began canceling stops in Turkey -- in my opinion less out of fear that the actual Israel/Palestine conflict would impact Turkish ports of call than because of the possibility of ill-feeling toward American tourists who are perceived as supporting the Israeli POV for the most part.

 

While Turkish rhetoric seems to have been dialled back a bit, there was a large demonstration just yesterday showing continued support for Palestinians:

 

 

I would say, for anyone contemplating visiting Turkish ports on a cruise, that the jury is still out and that there is potential for changes depending on how the situation evolves.

 

[Tranquility Base]

16 hours ago, thebsinmiss said:

Anyone have information or ideas on this ?

As has been mentioned, Riviera visited Turkiye in Oct / Nov last year.

It visited Istanbul on 3 occasions with 4 overnights.

It's last stop was on 29th Nov before it departed for the Suez transit.

It also visited Izmir & Kusadasi  during this time.

Sirena also visited Turkiye during this time.

 

As has been mentioned it doesn't appear as if Vista's visits were cancelled.

They are still visiting in May this year, unchanged from their schedule.

 

Riviera is scheduled into Dubai on 14 May.

The next cruise advertised is 29 May out of Trieste.

 

 

Edited February 18 by Tranquility Base

[Vallesan]

10 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

As has been mentioned, Riviera visited Turkiye in Oct / Nov last year.

It visited Istanbul on 3 occasions with 4 overnights.

It's last stop was on 29th Nov before it departed for the Suez transit.

It also visited Izmir & Kusadasi  during this time.

Sirena also visited Turkiye during this time.

 

As has been mentioned it doesn't appear as if Vista's visits were cancelled.

They are still visiting in May this year, unchanged from their schedule.

 

Riviera is scheduled into Dubai on 14 May.

The next cruise advertised is 29 May out of Trieste.

 

 

I somehow don’t see the Riviera going through Suez in May. But who knows?

[GeezerCouple]

55 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

Riviera is scheduled into Dubai on 14 May.

The next cruise advertised is 29 May out of Trieste.

 

55 minutes ago, Vallesan said:

I somehow don’t see the Riviera going through Suez in May. But who knows?

Right... the Riviera is scheduled to transit the Suez Canal in May?  2024?

???

 

GC

[Vallesan]

3 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

Right... the Riviera is scheduled to transit the Suez Canal in May?  2024?

???

 

GC

Supposedly? 

[Tranquility Base]

Looking at the website, it appears the next cruise advertised for Riviera following the 14 May Dubai visit is now 17th June out of Rome.

Edited February 20 by Tranquility Base

[cruiserchuck]

I suspect Riviera is taking the long way to Rome to avoid the Red Sea/Suez Canal.  Other cruise lines have made similar changes.

[ScottieM]

On 2/18/2024 at 4:12 PM, Tranquility Base said:

As has been mentioned it doesn't appear as if Vista's visits were cancelled.

They are still visiting in May this year, unchanged from their schedule.

Our Vista cruise in Nov. 2024 has had several port changes, including an overnight in Istanbul and another Turkish port cancelled.

Of course the cited safety to us, but when it happened, I assumed it was to make way for larger ships from the broader fleet who couldn't/shouldn't stop in the "holy-land".

[Tranquility Base]

1 hour ago, ScottieM said:

Our Vista cruise in Nov. 2024 has had several port changes, including an overnight in Istanbul and another Turkish port cancelled.

Of course the cited safety to us, but when it happened, I assumed it was to make way for larger ships from the broader fleet who couldn't/shouldn't stop in the "holy-land".

Hmmm....

So Vista can visit Istanbul every month from May through to September.

Riviera can visit in October.

But in November there is a safety concern .......... 

[thebsinmiss]

That's why I'm confused.   I can buy canceling Istanbul for our June cruise but how is it "safe" for other O ships to stop at Turkish ports before and after our scheduled overnight and disembarkation on June 27.

 

Something doesn't add up but we like the new ports so its all good. Just makes me think O is full of .... and safety is the new "weather conditions" in terms of corporate excuses.

 

 

[WildWanderers]

Hi All,

 

Does anyone have the actual language used by Oceania to suggest that Turkish ports specifically, including Istanbul, were cancelled because of security concerns?  The only thing I seem to recall at the time, was language around reconfiguring their Mediterranean offerings.

 

Cheers,

Greg from the WildWanderers.

 

 

[thebsinmiss]

Dear Valued Guests and Travel Advisors,

 

As the safety and security of our guests and crew are our top priorities, we have taken the decision to amend our published 2024 itineraries that were scheduled to sail in the Holy Land region. The itinerary changes reflect a thoughtful realignment of our sailings with a focus on the peace of mind of our guests and crew as well as presenting an amazing and enriching guest destination experience.

 

On your sailing, we are replacing calls in the Holy Land region as listed below with the new ports highlighted in bold. Your reservation number and accommodations remain unchanged and there is no action required on your part. The updated itinerary now features an additional selection of historically significant and culturally rich destinations in Croatia and Italy. A few featured highlights, emblematic of the destinations on the voyage, are below.

 

This is the wording in the Oceania email dated Nov/07/23 signed by Carlos Ortega

The ports removed were izmir Turkey and Istanbul Turkey which apparently are part of Holy Land region. 

[WildWanderers]

Hi @thebsinmiss,

 

Thanks for this.

 

I was hoping

- that the actual language would be a clue as to why Oceania left Turkey ports in some of the itineraries, including Turkish Ovation, the one we are on;  and

- that I would be more confident that Turkey will not be dropped from our cruise as well.

 

Oceania didn't do themselves any favours by implying that Turkey ports are part of 

- the "safety and security" considerations, and 

- the "Holy Land" region 

when there are still cruises with Turkey ports included.

 

Is it possible that Turkey ports were dropped from cruises only when there were planned ports / stops in Israel?

 

And even if that were the case, the text in your letter does not help to clarify why we still have Turkey in our itinerary.

 

I'm confused too.

 

Cheers from Greg from the WildWanderers. 

 

 

 

 

[Humane]

I too am on the Turkish Ovation and following this topic closely. 

[Tranquility Base]

5 minutes ago, Humane said:

I too am on the Turkish Ovation and following this topic closely. 

I'm sure it will be a Delight (pun intended)

[Humane]

Just FYI There is also a roll call for Turkish Ovation with a B2B on it.

[dock]

We’re on Turkish Ovation as well and with soo many ports in Turkey, one would assume any changes would’ve occurred by now.
 

I am a bit concerned they’ll wait for after Final Payment before announcing any changes or worse still only after embarkation. 
 

Following closely as well. 

[Mareblu]

4 hours ago, thebsinmiss said:

Dear Valued Guests and Travel Advisors,

 

As the safety and security of our guests and crew are our top priorities, we have taken the decision to amend our published 2024 itineraries that were scheduled to sail in the Holy Land region. The itinerary changes reflect a thoughtful realignment of our sailings with a focus on the peace of mind of our guests and crew as well as presenting an amazing and enriching guest destination experience.

 

On your sailing, we are replacing calls in the Holy Land region as listed below with the new ports highlighted in bold. Your reservation number and accommodations remain unchanged and there is no action required on your part. The updated itinerary now features an additional selection of historically significant and culturally rich destinations in Croatia and Italy. A few featured highlights, emblematic of the destinations on the voyage, are below.

 

This is the wording in the Oceania email dated Nov/07/23 signed by Carlos Ortega

The ports removed were izmir Turkey and Istanbul Turkey which apparently are part of Holy Land region. 

Exactly the wording for the notification of replacing our Kusadasi stop, and our overnight in Istanbul on our Rome-Trieste Grand Mediterranean Tour on Vista in April.  We received the email in December, from memory.  Turkish stops are being replaced with Santorini, Crete and Kopor.  We've spent considerable time in Turkey, including the Cappadocia region, and would have loved to return.  Our friends travelling with us have never been, so are very disappointed to miss Ephesus (from Kusadasi) and of course, Istanbul.  They have also never been to the Greek Isles, so are thrilled with the replacements. We love the Turkish people, and their culture, but I must admit to a sense of relief, after reading many articles about unrest, particularly in Istanbul.  President Erdogan does seem to delight in inflammatory speech, and although I don't think he enjoys universal support, the fact that an American vessel is visiting, with its many western passengers strolling the streets, is enough for niggling concern during these terrible days.  

[Vallesan]

I really don’t think anything in the eastern Med can be ‘set in stone’ at the moment. I don’t believe the ‘random’ cancellation of some ports on some itineraries and not others is sinister.

 

My guess, and it is just a guess, is that so many ships are scrambling to re-route and change itineraries so that there is no consistent pattern as to when/if a port will be changed. It’s possible that some of the later cruises are easier to change because, for instance, November in Greece is not peak season, so maybe it’s easier to find replacement ports then than possibly in June/July/ August. 
 

At the end of the day none of us actually ‘know’ the reasons so the best thing is to not book a cruise with a ‘bucket list’ destination in Eastern Meditteranean, in the near future.