Kosovo Peace Moves Bring More Bookings

Moves toward peace in Kosovo last week came as good news for at least one cruise line, one of many that had seen bookings drop for Mediteranean and Aegean itineraries, including some hundreds of miles away from the conflict.

“We’re starting to see a pickup in bookings, especially with signs of the peace process moving forward,” said Cy Hopkins, vice president for North America for Royal Olympic Cruises, whose entire fleet of six scheduled ships is based in Athens.

In a move that affected “several thousand passengers,” Royal Olympic had canceled 10 cruises of its Stella Solaris to Turkish and Greek ports May 14 to July 16 and transferred passengers to the Olympic Countess, which sailed the same itinerary, Hopkins said. He said the move was made because bookings were low but declined to give a figure.

At the Travel section press time on Wednesday, Royal Olympic was planning to resume its normal Greek-Turkish schedule July 23.

There have been anti-NATO demonstrations in Greece, and in April there was a hotel bombing in Athens. But no Americans have been killed, and the State Department, citing the absence of threats aimed at U.S. tourists, had not issued any warning against travel to Greece.