UPDATED with Viking River Cruises statement
Following the devastating truck attack that killed 84 people in Nice, France on Bastille Day, Cruise Critic is reporting that lines featuring the French Riviera city along the Cote d'Azur are modifying their plans.
Corporately, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. is halting shore excursions in Nice and upping its security protocols in French ports as it applies to its Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands.
The company is quoted as saying, "We are providing support and assistance to our corporate team members, shipboard staff and guests with loved ones in and around Nice. Ships from the NCLH fleet were not operating tours to Nice at the time of the incident."
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Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is altogether cancelling port calls on Nice, sending Royal Caribbean International's Navigator of the Seas on a day at sea last Friday and Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Constellation to Livorno, Italy for an overnight stay this past Saturday. Regarding those changes, the company said, "After reviewing all of the available information and along with discussions with our Global Security team in Miami, we have decided to cancel our next two calls to Nice," and it will "continue to monitor the situation" beyond.
Individual cruise lines are also responding as Holland America Line stated, "Holland America Line operates five tours to the Nice area from the port of Monte Carlo, where our next scheduled call is on July 21. We are carefully reviewing and monitoring the situation and should tours to Nice change, booked guests will be notified."
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Meanwhile, MSC Cruises added that the line is "providing [passengers] with the option to either cancel for a full refund or change their shore excursion plans…there is currently no restriction in place by the local security forces that would make this mandatory."
Additionally, while P&O Cruises' Britannia was in Cannes, the line said, "All shore excursions to Nice have been canceled and passengers have been advised to avoid Nice centre."
Also operating in the affected region are various river cruise lines that showcase Nice as a pre/post-cruise extension to sailings along the Rhone like Viking River Cruises and Grand Circle Cruise Line. For now, the latter company says on its website, "We are operating all of our departures as scheduled. All of our travelers and associates in France are safe-we will continue to monitor the situation."
Viking adds, "Our hearts go out to the city of Nice, France and the families of those affected by the incident there on July 14, 2016. No Viking guests or crew were directly impacted; all Viking guests currently in Nice on the post-cruise extension (July 6th departure of Lyon & Provence aboard Viking Delling) are accounted for and safe, and our itineraries in France are operating as scheduled. The safety and security of our guests and crew is always our top priority, and we will continue to work with our local partners and monitor the situation closely as the investigation develops." One current pre-cruise extension has replaced Nice with Aix en Provence. "Should any additional itinerary modifications become necessary for upcoming cruises or extensions featuring Nice we will notify those guests directly."
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