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Norwegian strikes cancelled – itineraries reinstated

2 June, 2012 by Tom

I’ve received a couple of comments from Tricia Huggins, as follows:

Just had a text from P & O that strike is lifted and original itinerary back on. Tjhere is a god!!

and

Just had another text from P & O to say that departure delayed until 8pm to allow for people to travel to Southampton

Thank you, Tricia. I also heard from ‘Sara’ who had heard but who was having trouble contacting P&O.

I checked the P&O Facebook page earlier this morning and there was no update then. However, there is now, as follows:

Good Morning

As many have you have seen the Norwegian Pilot strike has been called off overnight. As a result the Azura and Adonia will now revert back to their original itineraries.

If you were booked and cancelled yesterday but still wish to sail then please contact our Reservations team who will reactivate your booking.

We are sorry for the inconvenience this has caused.

I don’t like to think of the logistical complexities this will have caused. What about passengers who cancelled yesterday and would now like to get their cruise reinstated? I’d love to hear from any passengers in that position – what success have you had?

Update: I’ve now seen that P&O have posted the following message on Facebook:

We are reinstating the itineraries for Azura and Adonia.

Passengers who cancelled yesterday but still wish to travel can reactivate their bookings by calling our Reservations team. Please make your way to Southampton if you can travel as our call centre is busy.

We will be able to reinstate your booking at the terminal also.

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Norwegian strike – what’s it about?

1 June, 2012 by Tom

So what’s the strike about, given that it’s causing so much trouble to the UK cruising public?

Well, it seems to be a public-sector dispute over wages. Unlike almost every other european country Norway has continued to grow in recent years, and the government there is worried about their economy overheating. So they’ve asked for wage restraint. Which means that for the private sector they can ask for restraint, but for the public sector they can take a hard line (or try to) on wage negotiations. And that’s what has happened. Sound familiar?

Actually, for Norway it’s very unfamiliar – I gather that this is the first major public sector strike for 28 years. There were about 30,000 public sector employees called out about a week ago, but the numbers have been growing ever since. The strikers are from many different parts of the Norwegian public sector, it’s just a very small part that’s affecting cruises. And I ought to make it clear that it isn’t in fact the pilots who are striking, it’s the drivers (if that’s the right word) of the pilot boats which ferry the pilots to and from the ships, and which we all enjoy seeing bouncing around alongside a cruise ship,  endeavouring to get close enough to allow the pilot to make the crossing either onto or off it. This also explains why some ports in remote parts of Norway are still able to accept ships: in these ports there are no public-sector pilot boat drivers, instead this job has been contracted out to private companies rather then being done by public sector employees. Do I sense a policy change on the way?

The difference between the two sides is actually quite small. Private sector wages have increased by about 4.5% in the last year, and what’s on the table for the public sector is about 3.5%, and that doesn’t seem like a very big gap to me. It will all depend on the negotiating stance taken by the two sides – the dispute could drag on for quite a while, or could be resolved within a couple of hours. Hence the uncertainty on the part of the cruise lines over the best thing to do .

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Norwegian Pilots strike – P&O changing itineraries

1 June, 2012 by Tom

P&O are changing the itineraries for cruises A212 on Azura and D206 on Adonia. I first got this information from a passenger who was contacted by P&O. He was offered the chance to cancel his cruise and he has done so, with a full refund. Since then P&O have posted a link to a page on their website that gives the changed details for both A212 and D206. Continue Reading »

Posted in Norway, P&O | Tagged | 23 Comments »

Norwegian Ports and Liverpool Cruise Terminal – where are the affected ships?

1 June, 2012 by Tom

I’ve been having a quick check and this is where various ships seem to have got to this morning (1 June):

  • Cunard’s Queen Victoria is at Andalsnes, which is where she’s supposed to be. Andalsnes may be one of those ports that isn’t affected by the strike because the pilot boats are hired from the private sector. I believe the same is true of Olden where QV is due tomorrow, so she ought to be OK there as well. But on Sunday she’s due in Bergen and we already know that ships aren’t getting into that port;
  • Indeed, P&O’s Arcadia ought to be there today but isn’t. Instead she’s somewhere in the North Sea, heading south. A call at Zeebrugge has been inserted into her schedule for tomorrow (Saturday); I’m sure her passengers are thrilled….
  • I can’t see Balmoral anywhere – no sign of her (on AIS) in either Warnemunde or Copenhagen. That said, the Fred Olsen ship locator page shows her in Warnemunde, so perhaps she’s just got her AIS beacon turned off, or something.
  • TUI’s Mein Schiff 2 seems to be following a rather zig-zag course just off Stavanger. I wondered if she tried to get in there this morning, wasn’t able to, and has now headed further north to the smaller ports (e.g. Andalsnes) that are open?

There don’t seem to have been updates to P&O’s Facebook page so far this morning.

Good news regarding Ocean Countess which had to divert to Holyhead after losing all power for a few hours on Wednesday night thanks to an electrical problem. (This was just a few hours after sailing from Liverpool to fanfares because she was the first ship to start a voyage from the Pier Head in many years.) She’s currently steaming north through the Irish Sea headed for Invergordon, so she obviously made good repairs in Holyhead and was able to proceed at some time late yesterday. Let’s hope that the rest of her cruise passes without further drama.

Posted in Liverpool cruise terminal, Norway | Tagged , , | 2 Comments »

Norwegian Pilots strike – impact next week

31 May, 2012 by Tom

(Update: I have now learned that Balmoral’s revised itinerary has her calling at Warnemunde, Copenhagen, Gothenburg and Zeebrugge.)

The strike does seem to have spread into some other port areas at least: it seems that P&O’s Aurora wasn’t able to get into Bergen yesterday as a result. However, it’s not comprehensive: P&O’s Arcadia has apparently got into Geiranger which is actually dozens of miles inland, up Geirangerfjord - and this must surely have required pilotage  went to Olden instead of Geiranger, along with AIDALuna and Ocean Nova – pilot boats to Olden are driven by private sector drivers not affected by the strike. Cunard’s Queen Victoria is in Trondheim, which is also not affected (for the same reason). So today’s picture is mixed.

Now attention is turning to cruises due to leave next week. Here’s a list as far as I can work out at the moment.

Continue Reading »

Posted in Norway | Tagged | 1 Comment »

Norwegian ports pilots’ strike

30 May, 2012 by Tom

Further update 31 May: According to AIS, the cruiseships Brilliance of the Seas (Royal Caribbean) and Ryndam (Holland-America) are both berthed in Bergen today. However I can’t see any cruiseships at Oslo.

Update 31 May: Here’s a link to a statement by the Norwegian Coastal Administration about the extent of the strike. In particular, click on the  ’Overview of the affected pilot station’ link on that page and look at the webpage that opens as a result. It’s in two pages: the first shows pilot stations that are affected and probably closed, while the second show pile stations that are not affected.

Update 30 May: I gather that the strike has escalated and that many other Norwegian ports will have been affected during Wednesday. I also understand that the dispute actually involves the drivers (?) of the pilot boats, not the pilots themselves, and that over 100 of these drivers will be on strike from today (Wednesday). I haven’t got any information yet as to whether, or how, port calls by the ships I mentioned below were affected.

The port pilots in Oslo have been on strike this week, and as a result some cruises have been affected. These include cruises on Royal Caribbean and Princess. Some ships have found alternative ports while others have apparently cancelled their call altogether.

So far only the port of Oslo has been affected, but the strike is due to go national today, and this will affect other cruises. For example, P&O’s Arcadia and Aurora are on cruises among the fjords, and Cunard’s Queen Victoria is on a voyage to North Cape, with calls at several ports in norther Norway scheduled. And the impact of the strike extends beyond cruise ships: Oslo is apparently Norway’s main oil port, and tankers have not been able to dock since the strike began. As a result southern Norway at least is in some danger of running short of fuel.

Here’s a link to the ‘News’ page of the Port of Oslo website.

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First cruise starting from Liverpool Cruise Terminal

29 May, 2012 by Tom

Update 31 May: I gather that Cruise & Maritime Voyages, Ocean Countess’ operator, are hoping that she will be able to sail from Holyhead  early this afternoon. In the meantime passengers have been enjoying complimentary tours of the Welsh countryside and of of course experiencing the bright lights of Holyhead. Well, they’re probably brighter than the lights were on board during the power outage! As regards the itinerary it seems that calls at Aberdeen and Leith have been cancelled, but that the rest of the cruise will happen as scheduled.

Update 30 May: Unfortunately, just hours after being centre stage in Liverpool, Ocean Countess suffered an electrical failure which resulted in a total loss of power for some three hours during the night. Power was restored, but she diverted to Holyhead, Anglesey, for checks today. I understand that the 700 or so passengers have been advised of a revised itinerary.

The rather blurry image on the left is Ocean Countess, moored at the Liverpool Cruise Terminal, preparing to start her first cruise from Liverpool of 2012. The significance is that this is the first cruise to start from the new cruise terminal. It follows last weeks decision by the DfT to allow Liver pool to use the cruise terminals for turnarounds instead of just day visits, in return for a repayment of £8.8m or thereabouts of public money that Liverpool received to fund the construction of the landing stage. (I ought to say that I grabbed the image from the ‘WirralCam’ webcam, and it remains their copyright.)

Commentators in other parts of the country are arguing that Liverpool is acting prematurely. Even though they’re received permission from the UK government that isn’t enough, is their view: there was a lot of money received from the EU and that ought to be repaid as well. Daniel Hannan, Conservative Euro MP for Hampshire has been quoted (here) as saying that if Liverpool go ahead with its first turnaround (i.e. the one that’s happening today…) without a Fair Competition ruling from the EU “it will be breaking the law”. And Southampton’s Labour MP John Denham said (in his WordPress blog) “I think Liverpool may be jumping the gun starting new sailings so quickly and taking EU approval for granted. It’s important that the laws on fair competition are upheld“.

I’ve also read a report that MEPs from the south-east and north of England have set up a meeting with the EU’s competition commissioner.

This one is going to rumble on….

Posted in Liverpool cruise terminal, Ocean Countess | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

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