The Astoria Grande liner arrived in Sochi after refusing to dock in Istanbul.

The Astoria Grande cruise ship, which was refused mooring in the port of Istanbul, has successfully arrived in Sochi. The passengers of the flight told Izvestia about this on November 22.

"The Astoria Grande services were just great. They entertained people, restaurants were constantly open, and we have no complaints about the Astoria Grande at all," passenger Tatiana shared her impressions.

According to her, the ship arrived in Istanbul on schedule on November 20, but local authorities did not grant permission for passengers to disembark, citing security concerns.

Another passenger of the liner, Galina Vaulina, noted that the lack of a call to Istanbul did not spoil the impressions of the cruise.

"I didn't see any problems with Istanbul at all. It's not a problem <...> the captain of our ship. This was something that was decided from above, so we accepted it quite calmly," the woman said.

Vaulina added that as compensation, passengers received €25 each for changing the program and for cancelled excursions in Istanbul. The ship's crew also organized an additional entertainment program on board.

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The ban on the Astoria Grande mooring in Istanbul was announced on November 20. Then the company's press service stated that the ship would go to the port of Sochi if Turkey did not give permission for mooring. In addition, due to the incident, the call to Istanbul was canceled. This solution provides for a full refund for the paid excursions.

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