It has just been announced that all calls into Turkey by P&O Cruises and Cunard ships have been cancelled for the whole of 2017.
The sister lines have confirmed that ports of call to Turkey have been replaced with Greece and Albania.
A joint statement from the Carnival UK brand have revealed their intentions: ‘After careful consideration, we have taken the decision to remove Turkey from all itineraries in 2017 for both Cunard and P&O Cruises, based upon various sources including advice given by the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
‘The Turkish ports have been replaced with either Greek ports of call or Sarande which is in Albania.’
Turkey has been a targeted destination for numerous terrorist attacks this past year, including at Istanbul airport in June which caused numerous deaths. After this, the country had been deemed arguably unsafe, resulting in certain cruise lines removing Turkey as a port of call as a mere precaution.
Additionally, Crystal Cruises, Disney Cruise Line and MSC Cruises dropped port calls in Turkey this year.
As well as this, Holland America also announced that they will be pulling out of Turkey in 2017. In a statement the line said: “Holland America Line has made the decision to cancel all scheduled port calls to Turkey through 2017 based on guest preferences for alternate ports.”
“Ten departures in 2017 are affected and booked guests and travel professionals on these sailings will be notified. Shore excursions booked in affected ports through Holland America Line will be refunded and taxes, fees and port expenses will be adjusted accordingly.”
In other news, Seabourn’s plans for 2018 have officially begun after the line celebrated the keel laying for Seabourn Ovation.
The ceremony was held at the Fincantieri shipyard in Sestri, Italy and marked a significant milestone in the construction of the line’s newest luxury cruise ship that is scheduled to debut in the spring of 2018.
Seabourn Ovation will be the sister ship to Seabourn Encore, which was delivered on November 30th this year. The all-suite ship will have one additional deck, newly expanded public areas and will carry around 600 guests. In addition, every suite will have a private veranda and all of these features will be a result of building upon Seabourn’s Odyssey class ships and will be designed by leading hospitality designer, Adam D. Tihany.
So, that is today’s news! Tell us about your reaction to P&O and Cunard removing Turkey as one of their ports of call. Is this a surprise to you or do you think this is a good decision from the lines? What about Seabourn’s news? Are you a fan of the luxury line? Which of their ships have you sailed on? Leave us your comments!
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