Cruising to Israel, Tunisia, Turkey? The situation
Cruises in Israel, Turkey and Tunisia? A look at the situation
MSC Cruises has announced the return of Israel to its regular itinerary. This fascinating destination will be among the destinations of the 2019/20 winter cruises of MSC Opera which will board its passengers from the ports of Genoa and Civitavecchia. This “Lirica” class ship (built by the Chantiers de l’Atlantique and extended by Fincantieri) will offer two different 12-day itineraries; the first in the Western Mediterranean and the second in the Eastern Mediterranean.
The latter will offer a new stopover at Haifa, which will allow you to discover all the most mystical places in the Holy Land. In addition, on the occasion of the Christmas and New Year’s cruise, the trip will be longer than a day so as to allow an overnight ship in Israel, in order to experience more intensely the festivities in places sacred to the Christian religion. This destination had gradually left their itineraries because of the ongoing crises due to the unresolved Palestinian question (and also because of the high port fees).
The Mediterranean has suffered the loss of several destinations which have always been a source of great interest due to internal instability, such as Tunisia, Egypt and, above all, Turkey. The failed coup d’état of 2016 was a blow to tourism in Erdogan’s country and even cruise companies have left those shores that were considered unsafe.
The cruise ships had thus diverted their routes going to clog the ports of the Western Mediterranean and Greece. Today the situation in this country has improved and as a result cruiselines are considering reintroducing them gradually into their itineraries.
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Tunisia, on the other hand, is still in trouble: in fact, to date only Phoenix Reisen, a company dedicated to the German market with second-hand ships, has few planned trips to La Goulette. We remind you that this destination was a fixed stop for all companies operating in the Mediterranean until the attack of the Bardo Museum in March 2015. Immediately all the cruiselines removed this destination for safety reasons with serious damage to the economy of the African country where tourism was one of the main sources of income.
In Turkey, however, the situation is different: MSC and Costa have not yet scheduled cruises for this destination, but other brands have. We are talking about Azamara, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Silversea, TUI, Pullmantur; practically all the brands of the Royal Caribbean Corporation. NCL Holdings has also brought the ships of NCL, Oceania and Regent. Within Carnival Corporation, on the other hand, the situation is different with only a few brands that have proposed the destination again (Holland America, Princess and Seabourn): this means that the various crisis units of the individual companies operate more independently. It should also be noted that picturesque Istanbul is still penalized as it is the political centre of the country and therefore considered more unstable. The more tourism-oriented and quiet Kusadasi (Asia Minor) is therefore favoured as a port of call with the possibility of excursions into the historic Ephesus.
The situation is different in Israel, where MSC has also scheduled occasional visits with MSC Lirica, MSC Magnifica, while Costa Cruises has scheduled stops (especially during relocations) with Costa Firenze, Costa Diadema, Costa Magica, Costa Mediterranean and Costa Victoria.