A Summer of Cruising in Europe: Beyond Terrorism and Coups
by James Shillinglaw /Celestyal Cruises continues to offer cruises to Kusadasi and other Turkish ports.
For the past four weeks I’ve been cruising in Europe, not just on one ship but on three different vessels. And despite all the gloom and doom about travel to Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean, I came away marveling at the diverse itineraries and breadth of product available today.
I took a pre-inaugural cruise on the newly christened Seven Seas Explorer from Barcelona to Monte Carlo. Indeed, I was in the audience when Princess Charlene of Monte Carlo named the ship. I flew out of Nice early in the morning on July 14, just hours before the terrorist attack in that city.
Next I sailed on a Baltic cruise from Stockholm to Copenhagen on Seabourn Quest. It’s the first Seabourn ship to feature The Grill by Thomas Keller, the new restaurant that will roll out across the fleet in the coming months, as well as on the new Seabourn Encore this December. The Seabourn Quest cruise ported in Tallinn (Estonia), St. Petersburg and Helsinki.
Finally, I flew to Athens to take the Celestyal Crystal for a cruise of the Greek islands, which included two stops in Turkey—Cesme and Kusadasi (gateway to the Roman city of Ephesus).
If you notice a pattern, I seemed to have been cruising in several areas of unrest or potential unrest—but I never felt any danger or concern. Indeed, it’s been an extraordinarily good time to visit Europe. The dollar is strong against the euro and other currencies; there are few crowds (with some exceptions); and people are extraordinarily friendly and accommodating.
I was fortunate to have missed the tragedy in Nice. When I heard the news in Stockholm that night, I thought back to my own strolls along the spectacular Promenade des Anglais. It seemed unimaginable that such a tranquil and beautiful place could be the setting for terrorism and death. I remain confident, though, that Nice and France itself once again will survive, conquer fear, and expose the fraudulent thinking of such terrorists.
Certainly less threatening was my second cruise on Seabourn Quest, where we spent three wonderful nights in St. Petersburg. Tensions between the United States and Russia seem to be never-ending these days, including the dispute over China Sea boundaries, the possible interference by Russia in the U.S. presidential election, and the potential banning of Russian Olympic athletes, just to name the most recent controversies.
During my time in St. Petersburg, however, I felt nothing but warmth from the Russian people, including the tour guides, the border and security guards, and those on the street. They didn’t even seem concerned about criticizing their own government when I asked about their views.
That’s a far cry from the last time I visited St. Petersburg, more than 20 years ago, just as Russia was emerging from the Soviet Union. Russians today drive around in the same German, Japanese and Korean cars that we do (it was hard to find a Russian Lada). The shops that line the streets of the city are quite familiar brands (Starbucks!) and the Russians themselves seem indistinguishable in their dress from Americans. But Russia’s history, culture and art are essential attractions that every American should at least try to experience once.
I ended my cruise odyssey in the Eastern Mediterranean, which has suffered the Syrian refugee crisis in Greece and Turkey, a number of terrorist bombings in Ankara and Istanbul, and the recent unsuccessful military coup in Turkey. Given the latter incident, the U.S. State Department has issued a travel warning for Turkey, and all major U.S. brands have pulled out of the country entirely. Celestyal Cruises has been one of the only companies to continue sailing to the destination.
We were on the first cruise to visit Cesme and Kusadasi after the country allowed cruise ships to return to those ports following the failed military coup. In fact, Celestyal Cruises had two ships in Kusadasi at the same time while we were there. In Cesme, we spend several hours at a high-end Sole & Mare beach club. Cesme is a luxury resort town designed for wealthy Turks, but it seemed largely empty, though the club did attract a few patrons after we arrived.
Our guide, Lufti Baydar, told us that people were understandably anxious during the coup, talking online with friends in Istanbul and Ankara, where most of the uprising occurred. He described long lines the first day at ATMs and gas stations, and a remarkable absence of police. Cruise ships scheduled to stop in Turkey diverted to such Greek islands as Samos for the first six days following the coup.
At the same time, Baydar said people in Turkey “are getting used to coups,” even though there hasn’t been one in a while. As for us, we passed an uneventful day at the beach club swimming, lying on giant white beach pillows, and getting burned by the sun.
A few days later we returned to Kusadasi to tour Ephesus, the famed Roman port town, which continues to be one of the essential archaeological sites of the Eastern Med. In a surprise, Baydar showed up to guide us at Ephesus, too! We greeted him like a long lost friend.
Ephesus continues to be an essential Roman archeological site that is even more interesting without the crowds.
It was perhaps the best tour of Ephesus I’ve ever had (I was there once before), because it was a bit cooler, there were no crowds, and Baydar gave a concise but full explanation of the Roman town. The only tour groups on the site seemed to be from the Celestyal ships in port. Again, I felt safe and completely satisfied with the experience. Later on we visited the nearly empty bazaar in Kusadasi, where merchants seemed to have lost the desire to aggressively tout their goods.
Our cruise also visited the Greek islands of Syros, Kos, Ios, Santorini, Mykonos, Samos and Milos. The popular islands of Santorini and Mykonos seemed full of tourists and cruise ship guests, but the other islands, many of which other lines do not visit, did not seem to have as many visitors.
Our guides on Kos, Ios and Samos said they expected to benefit somewhat from the Turkish coup, thinking many tourists would change their plans and visit Greece instead of Turkey. But so far that hasn’t happened, even though July and August are high-season months.
As I walked around the small but picturesque seaside town of Kohari in Samos, I met Spyros, the owner of Poseidon, a small oceanfront hotel and restaurant. He told me this season has been difficult, dating from the misperception that the Greek islands were awash with refugees from Middle East unrest. In fact, refugee camps were not evident on any of the islands we visited.
Restaurants line the oceanfront in the village of Kokari on the green Greek island of Samos.
For Greece and Turkey, this tourism season may be a lost cause, though the people I spoke with remained hopeful that things would pick up this month and in September. On the other hand, it’s a shame that the misperception exists that these destinations are not safe when they remain great places to visit at any time.
Despite the U.S. State Department warning on Turkey, despite the cancelling of port calls by major U.S. lines, and despite the refugee and economic crisis in Greece, I highly recommend travel to the region this year. Suppliers like Celestyal and others are offering cruises even to Turkey, while major U.S. brands continue to visit Greek ports. There are few crowds, the dollar goes a long way, and the people are friendly and eager to welcome travelers.