Flight chaos for cruise passengers

Iceland’s volcanic eruption might be a potential attraction for visitors to the island, as I reported yesterday, but right now it’s still causing chaos for cruise passengers hoping to fly to their ships.
Flight restrictions on Scottish airports are expected to be lifted this evening and passengers who were scheduled to fly from Manchester to join Fred Olsen’s Braemar in Barbados are travelling by bus to Glasgow.
A Fred Olsen spokesperson said: “Braemar has stayed in Barbados to wait for them, with the result that the first scheduled port – Castries – has been cancelled and instead the first port now will be Roseau in Dominica.”.
Less fortunate are passengers who should have been flying to Heraklion in Crete yesterday to board Ocean Village. Its seven-night Groves and Gondolas cruise to Dubrovnik, Venice and Corfu has been cancelled. Those who had booked a 14-night cruise onward to Cairo, Cyprus, Rhodes and Athens are being offered the second leg departing next Thursday, or a full refund. Passengers who had already arrived in Crete before the flight shutdown will be taken to hotels until they can be flown home.
Thomson Celebration remained in port at Sharm el Sheik for an extra day, hoping that flights could take off, but the ship has now sailed for Sokhna. Some disembarking passengers have remained on the ship; others are staying in hotels in Sharm.
P&O’s Artemis and Oceana are sailing from Southampton tomorrow, and Oriana departs on Sunday. The only passengers affected will be those who had planned to fly to Southampton. Both of Cunard’s ships are in mid-cruise.
Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises will are attempting to fly their passengers to intermediate ports on their cruises. They will also re-book – without charge – onto other cruises. Passengers will be offered refunds if the new voyage is cheaper, but will be required to pay the difference if the alternative is more expensive.
NCL’s website merely advises passengers to check with their airline.