Should we just cancel?

[Smartcookie]

Yeah cause the press is never sensational in it's reporting. Do you own research don't depend on the near lowest rated cable news network for valid information

 

 

I have some suggested reading for you from a very unsensational source. FWIW, I hope you're right. Perhaps you could provide a source for your information that the ash will dissipate once the glacier melts, which contradicts what I've posted here? Thanks!

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aWhdMivcLsNg&pos=8

 

Europe Cuts 77% of Flights; Relief May Come April 22 (Update5)

 

Share Business ExchangeTwitterFacebook| Email | Print | A A A

 

 

By Matthew Brown and Omar R. Valdimarsson

 

 

April 17 (Bloomberg) -- European airlines canceled more than 77 percent of their flights today as most of the continent’s northern and central nations remained closed to air traffic because of volcanic ash. Accuweather predicted little change until April 22.

No flights will operate out of the U.K. until at least 1 p.m. London time tomorrow, the National Air Traffic Service said today via e-mail. German airports will remain closed until 2 p.m. Berlin time, the DFS air traffic control agency said. The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, or Eurocontrol, expects about 5,000 flights across Europe today, compared with 22,000 on a “normal” Saturday, it said today in a statement.

“Expect ongoing interruptions for the next four or five days,” Teitur Atlason, at the Icelandic meteorological office, said in a telephone interview today. “The eruption is still in full swing, and the volcano is spewing pretty dark ashes as high into the air as 5 to 6 kilometers.”

Flights were grounded after April 14 when an eruption at the Eyjafjallajökull volcano spewed dust across thousands of miles of European airspace, closing terminals from Dublin to Moscow. The direction of winds high in the atmosphere mean the disruption may go on for the next few days.

‘No Signs of Change’

“The jet stream winds, which extend from 10,000 feet up to 40,000 feet, show no signs of change through Wednesday,” Accuweather said in a statement. “Any ash plume that is released from the Eyjafjall volcano in Iceland will continue to threaten northern Europe and the British isles.”

Canceled flights are costing carriers about $200 million a day, the International Air Transport Association estimates. Anyone hoping to travel should contact their airline before traveling to the airport, NATS said.

Flights have been halted because of concerns that the ash plume could damage engines and speed sensors. The finest material from the blast is formed of dust akin to glass, which can melt and congeal in a turbine, causing it to stop, said Sue Loughlin, head of vulcanology at the British Geological Survey.

“The (air) current in the height the ashes are reaching remains a strong northwesterly wind, which blows the ashes to Scotland and South Scandinavia,” Atlason of the Icelandic Met Office said. “Once the ashes reach those places other more complex wind systems take over, which spread the ashes across North and Central Europe. This will continue until Wednesday.”

Last for Months

Volcanic eruptions may continue for months, curtailing European air traffic when the ash reaches the region, said Sigrun Hreinsdottir, a geophysicist at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik. “From what we’ve seen, it could erupt, pause for a few weeks, and then possibly erupt again.”

The last eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in December 1821 continued until January 1823. The current blast has sent ash to as high as 7 kilometers (4.5 miles), according to Gudrun Larsen, a vulcanologist at the University of Iceland. The magma had to pierce 200 meters of ice before erupting, she said.

“We really don’t know if this eruption is going to last as long as the previous one, but we can’t say it’s not a possibility,” Larsen said by telephone.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG canceled all flights to and from German airports today. All long-distance flights to Germany with a scheduled arrival until 2 p.m. tomorrow also were canceled, the company said in a statement on its Web site today.

“This is the first time all our planes are grounded,” Lufthansa spokesman Wolfgang Weber said via telephone.

Canceled Flights

British Airways Plc, which halted flights from the U.K. beginning at midday on April 15, said no services to and from London will operate today or tomorrow. Its shares tumbled 3.1 percent in the U.K. capital yesterday, the most since Feb 12.

Denmark extended the shutdown of its airspace for all flights until 8 a.m. local time tomorrow, according to the Web site of Copenhagen-based Naviair, Denmark’s flight controller.

Switzerland and Belgium today extended closure of their respective airspaces to 8 p.m. local time, Agence France-Presse reported. Paris airports will remain shut until 8 a.m. on April 19, a government official said. Belarus closed airspace for passenger and cargo flights, Interfax reported. The ash may stay over the country for two or three days, it said.

Rome Open

Air France-KLM Group’s Dutch KLM unit canceled today’s flights into and out of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the company said in a statement on its Web site. Dutch airspace is closed until at least 8 a.m. tomorrow, the Netherlands’ Inspectorate for Transport, Public Works and Water Management said.

Italy will keep airspace in the north of the country closed until at least 8 a.m. on April 19 and may curtail flights in the south as a cloud of volcanic ash spreads across Europe from Iceland, ENAC, the nation’s civil aviation authority, said in an e-mailed statement today.

Airports in Rome remain open, though they’re experiencing delays and cancellations.

TUI AG, owner of Europe’s largest travel company, has canceled all flights until at least noon tomorrow German time. TUI will assume the costs for one more night at a hotel for all customers affected by the decision, the Hanover, Germany-based company said in an e-mailed statement today.

Carriers throughout the Asia-Pacific region canceled flights on routes to Europe, with Australia’s Qantas Airways Ltd. saying it didn’t know when service might resume. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., based in Hong Kong, scrapped departures to London, Paris, Frankfurt and Milan and said it wouldn’t accept new bookings for the next few days.

Delta, American

Europe-bound flights from Japan, South Korea, China and India were stopped because of danger from the ash. Air India and Singapore Airlines Ltd. canceled some routes to North America.

“At this stage it’s highly unlikely things are going to return to normal for several days at least,” David Epstein, a Qantas spokesman in Melbourne, said today at a press briefing. “It may well be a week.”

Delta Air Lines Inc., the world’s largest carrier, scrubbed 91 flights today to and from Europe because of the ash cloud, said spokesman Anthony Black. AMR Corp.’s American Airlines canceled 56 flights between the U.S. and Europe today, the company said in a recorded message. American was able to operate flights into and out of Spain and Italy, spokesman Tim Smith said.

Karen Pride, a spokeswoman for Chicago’s Department of Aviation, which operates O’Hare International Airport, Midway International Airport and Gary-Chicago International Airport, said 22 flights bound for Chicago from Europe were canceled.

From Italy to Kazakhstan

Telephone calls to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, Boston’s Logan International Airport and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the three New York-area airports, weren’t immediately returned.

The outlook this weekend is for westerly winds to pick up over northern Britain, shifting ash away from Scotland, while keeping it over England. The edge of the ash cloud was forecast to reach as far south as northern Italy and Romania and as far east as the borders of Kazakhstan, according to the Met office.

Because of the wind direction, Iceland’s Keflavik airport remains open, with North American flights operating on schedule.

The eruption began on March 20 with a lava flow on the eastern flank of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, according to the Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland. After a lull, it erupted again early on April 14, directly under the icecap that covers most of the mountain.

Magma and Ice

“The problem here is we have magma interacting with glacier ice, and that leads to explosions,” Hreinsdottir said. “That causes the material to go much higher in the air.”

Mike Burton, a researcher at the Italian National Vulcanology Institute who has studied the ash from the latest explosion, said it presents more of a threat to aircraft than would the dust from a typical eruption.

“It’s likely that ash production will continue long after all the ice is melted in the volcano as this kind of magma can produce ash without water,” Burton said by telephone. “Fine ash is easier to transport long distances and goes higher into the atmosphere. This is not good news for flights.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Matthew Brown in London at mbrown42@bloomberg.net; Omar R. Valdimarsson in Reykjavik valdimarsson@bloomberg.net

[bob278]

People say the cruise lines should do the "right thing", but what is that? It is no more their fault than the passenger's.

 

In my opinion, a good compromise would be to provide a credit for a future cruise (maybe 75% as the Cruise Care benefit of canceling for any reason would provide) if canceled before a certain date. If you take your chances and miss it, then you are out of luck. This gives the cruise line a chance to recover some of the cost for the canceled cruise by selling it to someone who won't have to fly and they still get you on board for another cruise and you aren't out all of your money.

 

I am in a slightly different situation. We are on an eastbound TA in early May. The cruise is safe, but I am wondering how/when we will get home. But if I were to choose to cancel, I can't see the cruise line being responsible.

 

On the original topic, as others have said, there is no solid advice to be had, only each person's opinion of what they would do in your case. Too many factors are involved such as the impact on your life of being delayed getting home should you be able to cruise. You have to do what feels right for you since you are the only one who knows the true impact.

 

In my opinion (based only on a business background and some knowledge of flying and technical capabilities), I think flights will resume soon and reach near normal levels within a month or so. I think they will do this by recognizing that they can detect the presence and short-term future position of ash clouds and devise alternate routes to avoid the hazardous areas. Some non-stop flights may have to become one-stop (for fueling) or schedules changed to allow longer flights at lower altitudes, but that is within the capabilities of the aircraft. The financial impact on the airlines and other businesses dependent on them for travel and cargo demands resumption of service in some fashion sooner rather than later. I do believe that there is the potential for some "impact" on flights for a long time, but I also believe that service will resume in some fashion as the economy cannot stand having it shut down indefinitely. There are ways to cope with it and I think they will find them. It just may not look like today's level of service.

[Starry Nights]

Dear Uktog,

Hi Uktog,

 

Are you saying that even if I purchased Cruise Care Insurance thru Celebrity (which I did)for the cruise only portion, I am totally out of luck for cost of the cruise if I can't get there because my flight is cancelled due to the Volcano? We have a Penthouse and AQ Spa Stateroom booked and paid close to $1500.00 for Cruise Care Insurance for both of these staterooms. We have saved for a very long time and are going to celebrate my father's 80 birthday. I can understand if I didn't purchase insurance at all, but I purchased it specifically thru Celebrity, thinking it was the better choice in case I need to make a claim. As I said, we are flying in two days early so I could allow enough time in case of delays, cancellations, etc. However, who could plan for a total shut down of airspace for days?

 

So sorry about your son's situation here in the United States. We fly Delta exclusively because it is the major carrier available to us in Tallahassee, Florida. I find their customer service extremely lacking, to say the least.

 

Nancy

 

Hi Nancy:

 

Celebrity has an excellent record for treating its clients well when things occur through no fault of their own.

 

In general, the blanket case << no air, no coverage >> probably applies, since the cruise itself is available, but because you have a PH and an AQ and have purchased Celebrity's cruise care, I expect they will work with you to sort things out.

 

If I were in your situation I would call Captain's Club to discuss your options, as the people in Captain's Club are usually better informed than the Cruise Vacation Planners that you get on an initial call to Celebrity. Ask to speak to a manager if you feel you need to.

 

Good luck, and keep positive!

[80sramfan]

I have some suggested reading for you from a very unsensational source. FWIW, I hope you're right. Perhaps you could provide a source for your information that the ash will dissipate once the glacier melts, which contradicts what I've posted here? Thanks!

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aWhdMivcLsNg&pos=8

 

Europe Cuts 77% of Flights; Relief May Come April 22 (Update5)

 

Share Business ExchangeTwitterFacebook| Email | Print | A A A

 

 

By Matthew Brown and Omar R. Valdimarsson

 

 

April 17 (Bloomberg) -- European airlines canceled more than 77 percent of their flights today as most of the continent’s northern and central nations remained closed to air traffic because of volcanic ash. Accuweather predicted little change until April 22.

No flights will operate out of the U.K. until at least 1 p.m. London time tomorrow, the National Air Traffic Service said today via e-mail. German airports will remain closed until 2 p.m. Berlin time, the DFS air traffic control agency said. The European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, or Eurocontrol, expects about 5,000 flights across Europe today, compared with 22,000 on a “normal” Saturday, it said today in a statement.

“Expect ongoing interruptions for the next four or five days,” Teitur Atlason, at the Icelandic meteorological office, said in a telephone interview today. “The eruption is still in full swing, and the volcano is spewing pretty dark ashes as high into the air as 5 to 6 kilometers.”

Flights were grounded after April 14 when an eruption at the Eyjafjallajökull volcano spewed dust across thousands of miles of European airspace, closing terminals from Dublin to Moscow. The direction of winds high in the atmosphere mean the disruption may go on for the next few days.

‘No Signs of Change’

“The jet stream winds, which extend from 10,000 feet up to 40,000 feet, show no signs of change through Wednesday,” Accuweather said in a statement. “Any ash plume that is released from the Eyjafjall volcano in Iceland will continue to threaten northern Europe and the British isles.”

Canceled flights are costing carriers about $200 million a day, the International Air Transport Association estimates. Anyone hoping to travel should contact their airline before traveling to the airport, NATS said.

Flights have been halted because of concerns that the ash plume could damage engines and speed sensors. The finest material from the blast is formed of dust akin to glass, which can melt and congeal in a turbine, causing it to stop, said Sue Loughlin, head of vulcanology at the British Geological Survey.

“The (air) current in the height the ashes are reaching remains a strong northwesterly wind, which blows the ashes to Scotland and South Scandinavia,” Atlason of the Icelandic Met Office said. “Once the ashes reach those places other more complex wind systems take over, which spread the ashes across North and Central Europe. This will continue until Wednesday.”

Last for Months

Volcanic eruptions may continue for months, curtailing European air traffic when the ash reaches the region, said Sigrun Hreinsdottir, a geophysicist at the University of Iceland in Reykjavik. “From what we’ve seen, it could erupt, pause for a few weeks, and then possibly erupt again.”

The last eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in December 1821 continued until January 1823. The current blast has sent ash to as high as 7 kilometers (4.5 miles), according to Gudrun Larsen, a vulcanologist at the University of Iceland. The magma had to pierce 200 meters of ice before erupting, she said.

“We really don’t know if this eruption is going to last as long as the previous one, but we can’t say it’s not a possibility,” Larsen said by telephone.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG canceled all flights to and from German airports today. All long-distance flights to Germany with a scheduled arrival until 2 p.m. tomorrow also were canceled, the company said in a statement on its Web site today.

“This is the first time all our planes are grounded,” Lufthansa spokesman Wolfgang Weber said via telephone.

Canceled Flights

British Airways Plc, which halted flights from the U.K. beginning at midday on April 15, said no services to and from London will operate today or tomorrow. Its shares tumbled 3.1 percent in the U.K. capital yesterday, the most since Feb 12.

Denmark extended the shutdown of its airspace for all flights until 8 a.m. local time tomorrow, according to the Web site of Copenhagen-based Naviair, Denmark’s flight controller.

Switzerland and Belgium today extended closure of their respective airspaces to 8 p.m. local time, Agence France-Presse reported. Paris airports will remain shut until 8 a.m. on April 19, a government official said. Belarus closed airspace for passenger and cargo flights, Interfax reported. The ash may stay over the country for two or three days, it said.

Rome Open

Air France-KLM Group’s Dutch KLM unit canceled today’s flights into and out of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the company said in a statement on its Web site. Dutch airspace is closed until at least 8 a.m. tomorrow, the Netherlands’ Inspectorate for Transport, Public Works and Water Management said.

Italy will keep airspace in the north of the country closed until at least 8 a.m. on April 19 and may curtail flights in the south as a cloud of volcanic ash spreads across Europe from Iceland, ENAC, the nation’s civil aviation authority, said in an e-mailed statement today.

Airports in Rome remain open, though they’re experiencing delays and cancellations.

TUI AG, owner of Europe’s largest travel company, has canceled all flights until at least noon tomorrow German time. TUI will assume the costs for one more night at a hotel for all customers affected by the decision, the Hanover, Germany-based company said in an e-mailed statement today.

Carriers throughout the Asia-Pacific region canceled flights on routes to Europe, with Australia’s Qantas Airways Ltd. saying it didn’t know when service might resume. Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., based in Hong Kong, scrapped departures to London, Paris, Frankfurt and Milan and said it wouldn’t accept new bookings for the next few days.

Delta, American

Europe-bound flights from Japan, South Korea, China and India were stopped because of danger from the ash. Air India and Singapore Airlines Ltd. canceled some routes to North America.

“At this stage it’s highly unlikely things are going to return to normal for several days at least,” David Epstein, a Qantas spokesman in Melbourne, said today at a press briefing. “It may well be a week.”

Delta Air Lines Inc., the world’s largest carrier, scrubbed 91 flights today to and from Europe because of the ash cloud, said spokesman Anthony Black. AMR Corp.’s American Airlines canceled 56 flights between the U.S. and Europe today, the company said in a recorded message. American was able to operate flights into and out of Spain and Italy, spokesman Tim Smith said.

Karen Pride, a spokeswoman for Chicago’s Department of Aviation, which operates O’Hare International Airport, Midway International Airport and Gary-Chicago International Airport, said 22 flights bound for Chicago from Europe were canceled.

From Italy to Kazakhstan

Telephone calls to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, Boston’s Logan International Airport and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the three New York-area airports, weren’t immediately returned.

The outlook this weekend is for westerly winds to pick up over northern Britain, shifting ash away from Scotland, while keeping it over England. The edge of the ash cloud was forecast to reach as far south as northern Italy and Romania and as far east as the borders of Kazakhstan, according to the Met office.

Because of the wind direction, Iceland’s Keflavik airport remains open, with North American flights operating on schedule.

The eruption began on March 20 with a lava flow on the eastern flank of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, according to the Institute of Earth Sciences at the University of Iceland. After a lull, it erupted again early on April 14, directly under the icecap that covers most of the mountain.

Magma and Ice

“The problem here is we have magma interacting with glacier ice, and that leads to explosions,” Hreinsdottir said. “That causes the material to go much higher in the air.”

Mike Burton, a researcher at the Italian National Vulcanology Institute who has studied the ash from the latest explosion, said it presents more of a threat to aircraft than would the dust from a typical eruption.

“It’s likely that ash production will continue long after all the ice is melted in the volcano as this kind of magma can produce ash without water,” Burton said by telephone. “Fine ash is easier to transport long distances and goes higher into the atmosphere. This is not good news for flights.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Matthew Brown in London at mbrown42@bloomberg.net; Omar R. Valdimarsson in Reykjavik valdimarsson@bloomberg.net

 

Yike, you know how the press works right? They angle for the quotes that fit their need etc.....It really wouldn't get much hits to their site or attention in the news if they just said. This is all unwinding and in a week or so everyone will have forgotten about this unfortunate incident. Think swine flu sensationalism. This is on par with that joke.

[DavidJrandRichard]

As usual more incorrect imormation being posted on this topic. The volcano could erupt for years and it will have little or no impact on flying. What is causing the issues right now is the glacier melt pouring into the crater not the eruption itself. The part of the glacier that is doing this is now 2/3 melted so we are only a few days away from when this should no longer be an issue.

Also what makes this an issue is the upper wind flow. The jet stream is taking the cloud of ash over Europe. A northward shift in the pattern would help as well.

 

The melting glacier creates alot of steam, the spewing ash comes from inside the volcanoe. Anytime the volcanoe is active, there will ash clouds...and when the jet stream is positioned like it is now, the ash will effect flights.

[80sramfan]

Also what makes this an issue is the upper wind flow. The jet stream is taking the cloud of ash over Europe. A northward shift in the pattern would help as well.

 

The melting glacier creates alot of steam, the spewing ash comes from inside the volcanoe. Anytime the volcanoe is active, there will ash clouds...and when the jet stream is positioned like it is now, the ash will effect flights.

 

Steam ash will stay at a lower altitude and not affect much. The truth is it's been safe to fly this whole time and the EU's reaction to this was totally wrong. This will not be an issue or in the news anymore a week from now.

[okimot]

Should have been on the Eclipse on 22nd April for a two night cruise. This has been cancelled as Celebrity is taking the ship to Santander in northern Spain to pick up people who can't fly back to the UK.

We may be offered staterooms for the Naming ceremony on Saturday 24th April.

Willlet you know what happens

[80sramfan]

Should have been on the Eclipse on 22nd April for a two night cruise. This has been cancelled as Celebrity is taking the ship to Santander in northern Spain to pick up people who can't fly back to the UK.

We may be offered staterooms for the Naming ceremony on Saturday 24th April.

Willlet you know what happens

 

 

Good luck! I feel bad that Celebrity cast you aside in the manner they did.

[uktog]

Dear Uktog,

Hi Uktog,

 

Are you saying that even if I purchased Cruise Care Insurance thru Celebrity (which I did)for the cruise only portion, I am totally out of luck for cost of the cruise if I can't get there because my flight is cancelled due to the Volcano? We have a Penthouse and AQ Spa Stateroom booked and paid close to $1500.00 for Cruise Care Insurance for both of these staterooms. We have saved for a very long time and are going to celebrate my father's 80 birthday. I can understand if I didn't purchase insurance at all, but I purchased it specifically thru Celebrity, thinking it was the better choice in case I need to make a claim. As I said, we are flying in two days early so I could allow enough time in case of delays, cancellations, etc. However, who could plan for a total shut down of airspace for days?

 

So sorry about your son's situation here in the United States. We fly Delta exclusively because it is the major carrier available to us in Tallahassee, Florida. I find their customer service extremely lacking, to say the least.

 

Nancy

 

Sorry Nancy

I had the boy online so was distracted by him - he is fine thanks, staying in some cheap motel three of them in a room and being very stoical. Thanks for asking - our issue remains with KLM who issued tickets with KLM flight codes so his Uni not unreasonably believed they were covered by EU protection. I gather they had a great example of customer care from Delta in Wichita and the lady there battled for them as they were initially offered flights in mid May!! She was told when they come into MSP send them to Customer Services where of course the response was off you go see you on 27th!

 

As I understand it, you will not lose your money but you will need to claim through Cruisecare for a refund so you might be out of pocket for a short time. This should only be of concern if you need to fund the purchase of another replacement trip in the meantime.

 

There is a lot of hot air as well as ash floating around re the airline position and I think the answer is, none of us know, but I do so hope mother nature lets things quieten down so you can enjoy your special family holiday.

 

A

[uktog]

Should have been on the Eclipse on 22nd April for a two night cruise. This has been cancelled as Celebrity is taking the ship to Santander in northern Spain to pick up people who can't fly back to the UK.

We may be offered staterooms for the Naming ceremony on Saturday 24th April.

Willlet you know what happens

 

I have my fingers crossed you and LBackwith that you get your rooms for Saturday night. My guess is you probably will, because they are probably holding back to see how many coming flying in for this indicate they are going to be no shows - I suspect they are checking everyones travel plans on that trip and that will give them a fix on the available rooms

 

Good luck I am sure you will be looked after one way or the other and you have not been "cast aside" ;)

[sasset]

No one is going to be able to give you any advise on this because there are just no garantees.

 

This is probably the best advice on this thread.

 

Although there is that one poster that pulls all of his facts out of his ash.

[cruie4ever]

People say the cruise lines should do the "right thing", but what is that? It is no more their fault than the passenger's.

 

In my opinion, a good compromise would be to provide a credit for a future cruise (maybe 75% as the Cruise Care benefit of canceling for any reason would provide) if canceled before a certain date. If you take your chances and miss it, then you are out of luck. This gives the cruise line a chance to recover some of the cost for the canceled cruise by selling it to someone who won't have to fly and they still get you on board for another cruise and you aren't out all of your money.

 

I am in a slightly different situation. We are on an eastbound TA in early May. The cruise is safe, but I am wondering how/when we will get home. But if I were to choose to cancel, I can't see the cruise line being responsible.

 

On the original topic, as others have said, there is no solid advice to be had, only each person's opinion of what they would do in your case. Too many factors are involved such as the impact on your life of being delayed getting home should you be able to cruise. You have to do what feels right for you since you are the only one who knows the true impact.

 

In my opinion (based only on a business background and some knowledge of flying and technical capabilities), I think flights will resume soon and reach near normal levels within a month or so. I think they will do this by recognizing that they can detect the presence and short-term future position of ash clouds and devise alternate routes to avoid the hazardous areas. Some non-stop flights may have to become one-stop (for fueling) or schedules changed to allow longer flights at lower altitudes, but that is within the capabilities of the aircraft. The financial impact on the airlines and other businesses dependent on them for travel and cargo demands resumption of service in some fashion sooner rather than later. I do believe that there is the potential for some "impact" on flights for a long time, but I also believe that service will resume in some fashion as the economy cannot stand having it shut down indefinitely. There are ways to cope with it and I think they will find them. It just may not look like today's level of service.

 

Bob I agree & hope that you don't have any problems flying back home

 

Cliff

[alanwexford]

Hopefully folks ash should be pushed away by winds from ireland and uk by friday night/saturday morning.

 

Thats what they have been saying here in ireland for the last few days.

[tally10]

Where are you flying into?

 

If it's an airport that's still open, you're probably okay, but if it's closed now you should look into seeing if you can get on a flight further south then take a train to your port.

 

BTW, trains are filling up FAST.

 

We are booked with Continental into Heathrow. We will look into getting into an airport further south and the train system. Thanks for the advice.

[Cruisenewbie85]

I would check and see if there is a "force mejure" clause in your cruise contract's fine print. If so, you might be in luck and here's why.

 

A week ago, I heard an interview with Tom Parsons who runs www.bestfares.com. He talked about travelers who were being affected by the volcano and other "natural" disasters. According to Tom, airline tickets have a "force mejure" clause that means customers are entitled to a full refund if an airline cannot get them to where they are going due to acts of nature. I have no idea if this would apply to airline tickets that are part of a cruise vacation but not tied to one another.

 

As for cruise lines and their contracts, I'm not sure how this works and if they are included under this umbrella or not, or whether or not they have force mejure language. But since the cruise is leaving on time, I doubt this would have any application to your situation. With that said, I think it's worth a look and inquiry.

 

To be honest, I know very little about this, except from what I heard in Tom's interview. Here is a link to a story about force mejure from their website:

 

http://www.bestfares.com/news.php?newsID=2733

 

I hope this helps.

[Lsimon]

...Are you saying that even if I purchased Cruise Care Insurance thru Celebrity (which I did)for the cruise only portion, I am totally out of luck for cost of the cruise if I can't get there because my flight is cancelled due to the Volcano?...

 

Celebrity's site says only that cruise only guests should contact there cruise insurance provider. click here It doesn't' say what coverage their own insurance will provide. However I think the worst possible outcome for you would be a 75% future cruise credit as this is the benefit Celebrity provides if you cancel for any reason not otherwise covered by the policy. I don't know what the policy says about this type of coverage. I do know some of the other independent companies were covering in full for any policies taken out before the eruption started - but their language might be different.

[Project_gal]

We are booked with Continental into Heathrow. We will look into getting into an airport further south and the train system. Thanks for the advice.

 

 

Please be aware that the French rail workers are on strike!

 

Sue

[*twinkle*]

Just out of interest, how long is the train journey from Rome to Southampton? How many changes in train?

[Smartcookie]

Steam ash will stay at a lower altitude and not affect much. The truth is it's been safe to fly this whole time and the EU's reaction to this was totally wrong. This will not be an issue or in the news anymore a week from now.

 

 

Really? So this is all a big conspiracy? :eek:

 

Do you mean the airlines, hotels and businesses everywhere are losing BILLIONS of dollars and stranding millions when it's been safe to fly this whole time? And no one has revealed that it's all a hoax that the ash turns to glass, gunks up the engines and could cause the engines to fail mid-air?!?!?!?!??!?

 

It's been safe to fly this WHOLE TIME and no one knew it? :eek:

 

Why haven't you gone to the media, the FAA and the authorities with this information? Don't you feel you should?

 

Wow, that IS news. :rolleyes:

[gofish]

We used United frequent flyer miles to Heathrow. I can cancel and get the miles back for a fee, We could also postpone to a future date or we could wait to the last minute and if United cancels we would not have a cancellation fee.

We are elite and also have a Rome cruise in October that we have more time but I dont think i would make final payments with 100 % loss if we cant get there.

They are saying a million Brits are stuck elsewhere so I think if there were good alternatives to getting to Southampton they would have used them.

Celebrity is handling Air and cruise differently than cruise only.

We are on the hook for 100% if we dont cancel, the air & cruise are not.

[gofish]

Assuming your air ticket is not flexible you could cancel the cruise and re-book it once you know that the flights are going. You then loose your deposit now, but wont loose the entire cruise. And I doubt that the prices go up much...

Alternativey, just keep everything as it is. There will always be a way to get to Europe, even if it's to Spain or Italy.

 

3rd chance: Keep it as it is and eventually sell the cruise on ebay if you know you cant make it.

 

 

Good idea about cancel and rebook if things look good closer in.

Our group does have a penthouse a royal and 3 aqua class that probably would not be open after we cancel. We would probably end up with 7 inside rooms.

but it is an alternative.

Can you really sell a booked cruise on ebay?

[katiebeth]

Thanks to all who took time to post regarding our Cruise Care insurance. All of it sounds very re-assuring ...75% is a lot better than 0%.

 

Anyway, I feel fortunate that we are not leaving until the end of May. I feel bad for all my fellow cruisers whose cruisers are in the next couple of weeks and facing some uncertainty at this time. Hoping things will "blow over" very soon!! (pun intended)

 

UKtog ....Best of luck to your son; I hope he hears some good news soon. The idea of offering him a flight sometime in mid-May sounds like Delta!! Hopefully, he will be able to get home relatively soon. Any chance it will be before the 27th?

 

Hope all those whose 2 day cruise was cancelled on the Eclipse will be able to be re-scheduled and accommodated. So glad the stranded passengers are be picked up by the Eclipse and taken home ....a lot better than a cramped airplane; anytime!

 

Happy Sailings,

Nancy

[AWorldCruise4Me]

If we take a chance that there is a way to get to Southampton and fail to get there we are out the full amount of the cruise.

Our group has 7 rooms booked and none are with air.

I am inclined to simply cancel and take the small loss versus chancing the ash closing down England in June and losing it all.

What are others doing ?

 

And please don't hijack this into an insurance discussion there are enough of those already.

 

I'm not on your cruise but if I were in your situation and could recover most of my money by canceling I would. Not only do you have to get there but you also have to get back.

 

Then if things look good and you want to rebook, you can get insurance off of insuremytrip.com that has "cancel for any reason" protection just in case the flight situation deteriorates again. Personally I would hold off on this trip and book it again when things are completely clear just to avoid the potential hassle.

 

Best of luck,

Michelle

[Smartcookie]

No it's not news to anyone who can read the news. It's been all over the news regarding the flawed computer model by EU etc......... Not a hoax just bad planning by the nanny state that is the EU.

 

You should really work on reading more and become more educated on current events

 

You should really work on sounding semi believable.

 

There is NO WAY ON EARTH thousands of flights would be canceled for 5 days if there wasn't a valid safety concern.

 

BTW, I'm still waiting for you to cite even ONE reliable source to back up your claim that it was safe to fly the "whole time". Surely you can find something?

[80sramfan]

Oh btw UK airspace to be completely open at 5pm est. today