Cunard, P&O Cancel All Turkey Calls
by Daniel McCarthyCunard’s MS Queen Victoria. Photo: Joost J. Bakker
Carnival Corp.’s Cunard Line and P&O Cruises will not call at Turkish ports in 2017 because of ongoing concerns about the nation’s security.
The cruise lines released a joint statement this morning, saying that because of advice from various sources—including the U.K.’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office—ships originally scheduled for Turkey will instead call in Greece or Albania next year.
Concerns over safety in Turkey escalated after an attempted coup by the nation’s military in July. The U.S. Department of State issued a travel warning to all U.S. citizens to “avoid travel to southeast Turkey and carefully consider the risks of travel to and throughout the country.”
The U.K. has also warned its citizens about travel to certain areas of Turkey including Sirnak, Mardin, Sanliurfa, Gaziantep, Diyarbakir, Kilis and Hatay provinces, writing in a travel warning that while the situation has calmed after the attempted coup, “the security environment remains potentially volatile and a state of emergency is in place.”
Cunard and P&O joined other cruise lines that have already moved to ban calls to Turkish ports. Royal Caribbean International, Crystal Cruises, Disney Cruise Line and MSC Cruises cancelled all stops in the country for 2016 while Norwegian Cruise Line canceled calls for its Norwegian Cruise Lines, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas brands in January, affecting 61 itineraries.
Other segments of the industry were also affected by security concerns earlier in the year—the Federal Aviation Administration decided to ban all flights into and out of Turkey by U.S. aircraft in July.
