Shipyard strikes delay Riviera debut

Striking shipyard workers in Genoa have forced Oceania Cruises to delay the maiden voyage of their newest ship, the 1,250-passenger Riviera. The debut, scheduled for April 24, has been pushed back to May 14. Plans for the elaborate naming ceremony, originally scheduled to take place in Monte Carlo, are still unclear.
Two cruises have been cancelled; a 12-night sailing from Athens to Istanbul, and a 10-nighter from Istanbul to Venice. The new maiden voyage is a 10-night Pearls of the Adriatic cruise beginning in Venice and visiting Dubrovnik, Kotor, Corfu, Monemvasia, Crete, Santorini, Kusadasi, Mykonos and Athens.
“We sincerely regret any inconvenience that this may cause our guests,” said Oceania’s president Kunal S. Kamlani. “We are working very closely with the shipyard to ensure Riviera is completed to meet Oceania’s high standards of quality and service.”
Shipyard CEO Guiseppe Bono added: “All of us at Fincantieri are committed to producing a superior quality ship and we will deliver a truly magnificent vessel to Oceania Cruises without further delays.”
Passengers booked on the cancelled cruises have the option of re-booking on future voyages, with discounts of between $250 and $1,000, or taking a full refund.
The announcement marks the second delay for the debut of Riviera, a sister ship to last year’s highly-acclaimed Marina. Last August, Oceania announced a 10-day postponement, saying they needed extra time for the crew to familiarize themselves with the ship’s facilities and fine-tune the “countless details required to deliver” the Oceania experience.
►Fincantieri’s Palermo yard, which is carrying out the multi-million pound refit to convert the Bleu de France into Saga Sapphire, has also been affected by strikes among workers fearing redundancies.
A Saga spokesman said today: “We have carefully planned the Saga Sapphire refit and our plans for the launch on March 26 remain on schedule.”