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Another Cruise Line Abandons Turkey Over Growing Security Concerns

It was announced over the weekend that yet another cruise line has revealed its decision to scrap Turkey as a port of call for all their ships in 2016.

Crystal Cruises let their passengers know over the weekend that they will be cancelling two scheduled stops at Istanbul and Kusadasi which would have otherwise been visited by the Crystal Symphony this year.

The six star luxury cruise line has said that it would re-route the ship “in response to ongoing security concerns.” They are of course referring to the recent suicide bombings in Istanbul which targeted tourists (more details here).

Any Turkish stops planned for the Crystal Esprit in November will also be changed in light of this.

The Crystal Esprit is the latest innovation from Crystal Cruises and will be a state of the art, luxury cruise ship. Announced last July (full article here), the ship will only hold a maximum of 1,000 guests at a time and will have its own helipad and submarine

We previously reported that Celebrity cruises were dropping all ports in Turkey from their 2016 schedule (which you can read about here).

However, Celebrity’s Press Release said this was due to problems with limited port access rather than in reaction to terrorist threats and unease in the country.

Since then, other cruise lines such as Royal Caribbean have announced that they are “closely monitoring” the situation in Turkey but they have not so far cancelled sailings there. Similarly, Holland America have said that they will adjust itineraries travelling to Turkey nearer the time of sailing, if circumstances call for it.

Do you think the cruise lines should have cancelled all scheduled stops to Turkey?

Would you still be happy either flying to or cruising from Istanbul?

Let us know in the comments below.

Bulletin Editor

Editor and Creative Copywriter of Cruise.co.uk's bulletin blog, bringing you cruise news, tips and guides daily! - Contact: [email protected]

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