Thursday, June 30, 2016

More Cruise Lines Cancel Turkey Calls Following Istanbul Attack - June 30, 2016

Cruise lines have cancels calls in Istanbul in the wake of Tuesdays terrorist attack on Ataturk International Airport, USA Today reports. Celebrity Cruises has said that two vessels that were scheduled to use Istanbul as a base will instead be based out of Piraeus, Greece (Athens). Windstar Cruises will sail the Wind Star out of Piraeus instead of Istanbul, as well as cancel calls at Kusadasi (Ephesus), while Cunard Line has cancelled all calls in Istanbul for the rest of the year. Seabourn has moved Seabourn Odyssey Saturday sailing, which was set to depart from Istanbul, to depart from Piraeus instead. The line has not changed for other Istanbul departures over the rest of the summer and fall, and the line will still continue other Turkey calls. Neither the UKs Foreign Office nor the U.S. State Department have changed their travel device for the country. This is important because new travel alerts or warnings generally trigger companies to change their travel plans. 

Holland America Line and Princess Cruises  still have calls in Turkey that are going ahead as scheduled. 
Other cruise lines have already cancelled or altered Turkey calls over the past year. Crystal Cruises has cancelled calls in Turkey. In January, MSC Cruises suspended all calls in the country, and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NCLH) has suspended Turkey calls for all three of its brands: Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises. 

Terrorists opened fire on Istanbuls Ataturk International Airport late Tuesday, exchanging fire with police and then detonating a suicide bomb. The attack is the second in an Istanbul tourist area this summer, following a car bomb in the historic Beyazit Square neighborhood earlier this month.

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