Big Change for Carnival Vista

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It looks as if some European ports continue to prove problematic for cruise lines, including Carnival, where the itineraries for sailings of their newest ship, Carnival Vista have been changed for the foreseeable future.

What’s Changing…and Why?

Carnival’s vice president of public relations, Jennifer De La Cruz, tells us that on “all upcoming voyages on Carnival Vista that featured a stop in Izmir, Turkey, that port is being replaced with Kusadasi, Turkey. It is a beautiful town on the western Aegean coast that not only provides a lovely seaside setting for exploring local sites and cuisine, but also provides convenient access to the ancient city of Ephesus.”

As to why the itinerary is being changed, De La Cruz explained that it was in response to “a U.S. State Department travel advisory that includes specific reference to Izmir. Kusadasi is not the subject of the advisory and several of our sister cruise lines have called there in recent weeks with very positive feedback!”

Trouble in Europe!

This development comes only days after Norwegian Cruise Line’s president and CEO, Frank Del Rio, admitted during a conference call that sales for some Mediterranean cruises had been impacted by terror attacks in France, Turkey and Belgium. Del Rio explained that the “cumulative impact of successive events across Europe in the past months have indeed affected booking patterns for sailings in the region, particularly among North American consumers.”

He added that people who had booked before the attacks “tend to stay” booked, adding that “what tends to happen is new bookings are harder to come by. That’s what happened after Paris, it’s what happened after the Istanbul situation… and it’s what happened after Brussels.” This accounted, in part, for Norwegian’s first quarter earnings being slightly lower than they’d originally hoped despite meeting expectations.

Have you ever cancelled or delayed a cruise because of unfolding world events?

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