As tempers continue to flare in Greece over the impending austerity measures, some protests in the country have turned violent, forcing cruise lines to rethink their itineraries. According to local news reports, a minority of violent rioters have been attacking peaceful demonstrators, causing mayhem on the streets.
Although the protests are very much localised to small areas, obviously it is a risk which many cruise lines will not want to take and for this reason, some itineraries have changed. The following changes have been reported so far:
- Royal Caribbean‘s Vision of the Sea’s cruise in the area has had a slight change of itinerary. The two ports of call in Greece (Athens and Rhodes) will be flipped around to avoid any protests currently taking place.
- MSC Musica has modified its itinerary, calling in Heraklion instead of Piraeus. MSC Melody has also made some changes, similar to Royal Caribbean, the two ports of call in Greece have been flipped around (Heraklion and Piraeus).
- Oceania’s ship, Insignia called at Patmos instead of Rhodes on their most recent cruise to the region.
If you have a cruise booked which visits Greece, try not to worry too much as the situation is changing everyday and any disruption to your itinerary is likely to be very minor, and in your best interests!
