Safety in Istanbul
 

We are considering a cruise from Istanbul to Athens. How safe is Istanbul for American visitors now? There appear to be increased cautions and alerts because of a rise in anti-American sentiment, especially related to the Mid-East crisis. Has anyone been recently (or currently lives there)? Thank you for your input.(This is not a political post…please don’t make it one.)

No first-hand info but I'd pay attention to Dept. of State alerts.

Political and interest-based relations between states and countries always result in positive or negative results. The best part of tourism is that it is not affected by such political events.
because people and civilians think differently from the state or government. let me give you a simple example, I currently live near the syrian border of turkey. this year alone I have guided tourists from about 30 different countries in the southeastern region of turkey. about 40% of them are americans. This region is a region that is always excluded from travel insurance coverage by travel agencies...although America and all western countries constantly warn against travelling to this region...that is, the warnings and suggestions made by the countries due to their political interests are generally political and purely interest-based.

My own concern would not be about being in Turkey but on a cruise liner in the eastern Med, hence a perfect target for a cheap drone with maximum publicity