In Italy Port on a Transportation Strike Day?

[kadedid]

I would love comments on what happens when your ship is planned to port on a day that has been announced for a nationwide transportation strike of trains, taxi & bus.  Our ship is scheduled to visit Civitaveccia on Oct. 20, 2023.  A general nationwide public & private transportation strike has been announced/posted for that day.  Anyone experienced this recently?  I know there have been numerous transportation strikes lately in Italy.  I do not belive this is a strike of the port authority workers, just bus/train/taxi.  

 

https://www.commissionegaranziasciopero.it/calendario-scioperi/dettaglio-sciopero/331360

[cruisemom42]

Is there a chance that your cruise line would offer a bus transfer to Rome (not free, but at a cost)?

[kadedid]

My thought is that the cruise ships hire local buses/shuttles or contract through existing agencies, all of whom are affiliated with the striking unions.  I may be wrong with this thought.  

[euro cruiser]

The good news is that you are wrong, private companies rarely participate in the strikes, as they are not unionized.  It's the public transportation companies only, most of the time.  One exception to that is Italotreno, they occasionally participate in strikes.

 

A strike does make it more challenging, I would do my best on the roll call for your sailing to impress upon people the impact of a strike, in order to get a group together to share private transport into town and back.  Once in town almost everything is pretty walkable.  You may need to scale back what you try to accomplish, but you'll still have a great day.

[bons]

We will be in La Spezia that day. Are the Cinque Terre trains affected too? I read the ferries are private but worry they will be too crowded if the trains are not running. Wanted to do this port on our own but seems difficult if no trains are running. Any private tour recommendations to visit the towns not involving train travel??

[Vineyard View]

We were in Venice on a public transportation strike in May pre cruise. It affected some of the water taxis that are public, but not the ACTV water taxis. So there was transport available, just a greatly reduced amount. So it was doable, but not necessarily convenient. 
Then once on the cruise, a public transportation holiday was in effect while in Crotone. The ship sponsored shuttle busses and excursion busses went as planned, so I think this probably points more to what you might expect with your question. The cruise lines passenger transportation ran as scheduled.
I might call my cruise line, or better have my TA do that, and arrange cruise provided transportation in this situation, even if normally I would not, to be on the safe side. 

[Haljo1935]

Is this a planned 1 day only strike or could it go longer?

We arrive Rome Oct 24, cruise out of Civitavecchia Oct 26.

[taymiss2]

On 8/1/2023 at 2:46 PM, kadedid said:

I would love comments on what happens when your ship is planned to port on a day that has been announced for a nationwide transportation strike of trains, taxi & bus.  Our ship is scheduled to visit Civitaveccia on Oct. 20, 2023.  A general nationwide public & private transportation strike has been announced/posted for that day.  Anyone experienced this recently?  I know there have been numerous transportation strikes lately in Italy.  I do not belive this is a strike of the port authority workers, just bus/train/taxi.  

 

https://www.commissionegaranziasciopero.it/calendario-scioperi/dettaglio-sciopero/331360

Is there a way to change that page to English? Trying to see if there are other dates. We are in Italy earlier in the month.

[euro cruiser]

8 hours ago, bons said:

We will be in La Spezia that day. Are the Cinque Terre trains affected too? I read the ferries are private but worry they will be too crowded if the trains are not running.

Ferries are capacity controlled, they can only sell the number of tickets that they have seats for, so purchase your ferry tickets in advance to avoid getting shut out.

[euro cruiser]

7 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

Is this a planned 1 day only strike or could it go longer?

We arrive Rome Oct 24, cruise out of Civitavecchia Oct 26.

This is a one-day strike, with firm starting and ending times by sector.  There will be no impact on transportation the next day, much less several days later.

[euro cruiser]

1 hour ago, taymiss2 said:

Is there a way to change that page to English? Trying to see if there are other dates. We are in Italy earlier in the month.

It wouldn't help you even if you could translate it, as the "word" fields tend to be abbreviations and lists of trade unions, which wouldn't mean much to you.

 

Right now I only see one other planned transport strike in October, on the 2nd, and as it's cleaners it won't stop the trains.  Remember when you look at the list that dates are styled day-month-year.

 

Ricerca Scioperi | Commissione Garanzia Sciopero

[Kricket73]

We just went to Italy in June-July 2023.  When we flew in there was a air transportation strike, which made us very nervous.  It ended up not affecting us at all as we got in before the scheduled four hour strike at our airport.  If you are only porting, I would go ahead and book an excursion through your ship.  I can't imagine you would be affected by the strike then as you will have private transportation.   Civitavecchia is an hour-ish away from Rome, so I would book an excursion anyway to be safe to be guaranteed to get back to your ship.  Have a fantastic time, Rome is AMAZING!

[taymiss2]

7 hours ago, euro cruiser said:

It wouldn't help you even if you could translate it, as the "word" fields tend to be abbreviations and lists of trade unions, which wouldn't mean much to you.

 

Right now I only see one other planned transport strike in October, on the 2nd, and as it's cleaners it won't stop the trains.  Remember when you look at the list that dates are styled day-month-year.

 

Ricerca Scioperi | Commissione Garanzia Sciopero

Awesome, thank you!

[kadedid]

Thank you Euro Cruiser & Kricket73!  I appreciate your input!

[kadedid]

On 8/2/2023 at 10:57 PM, Vineyard View said:

We were in Venice on a public transportation strike in May pre cruise. It affected some of the water taxis that are public, but not the ACTV water taxis. So there was transport available, just a greatly reduced amount. So it was doable, but not necessarily convenient. 
Then once on the cruise, a public transportation holiday was in effect while in Crotone. The ship sponsored shuttle busses and excursion busses went as planned, so I think this probably points more to what you might expect with your question. The cruise lines passenger transportation ran as scheduled.
I might call my cruise line, or better have my TA do that, and arrange cruise provided transportation in this situation, even if normally I would not, to be on the safe side. 

Thank you so much for posting your experience.  I will try that!

[ninjacat123]

On 8/3/2023 at 7:30 AM, euro cruiser said:

It wouldn't help you even if you could translate it, as the "word" fields tend to be abbreviations and lists of trade unions, which wouldn't mean much to you.

 

Right now I only see one other planned transport strike in October, on the 2nd, and as it's cleaners it won't stop the trains.  Remember when you look at the list that dates are styled day-month-year.

 

Ricerca Scioperi | Commissione Garanzia Sciopero

Hi euro cruiser!  Now I see Oct 20 as a strike day.  As far as you know, will there/could there be more strike days added in October?  TIA!

[euro cruiser]

It's possible, I think the requirement is at least 10 days in advance.  It's highly unlikely that there would be two national strikes in the same month, much less the same quarter.  Given that the 20th is a Friday, that ups the chances that it will actually happen, in my experience/opinion (I have not collected data to support this conclusion).

[leelaw]

All,  I too am returning on  Oct 20 from the celebrity cruise at the same port, I am confused as to whether this strike includes flights too.  On one page it says it does but the link above doesn't  say  planes...

 

I am very concerned what will happen when we get  to the airport and the BA avios flight is cancelled (which is at 15:10). How will they book us another flight, will it be automatic or do you have to wait at a desk at an airport that has everything shut as there is a strike? Will they put you up at a hotel or do they expect you to find your own accomodation and claim it back? I bet this will also be very hard to do on the same day...

 

Any advice would be much appreciated. Its ruining us looking forward to our cruise  at this point.

 

 

Ricerca Scioperi | Commissione Garanzia Sciopero

2023-10-20

National General

ALL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS

Proclaimer:
Adl, Cub, Sgb, Si Cobas
Member:
Cub Trasporti

from 00.01 to 23.59 including the first shift for shift workers, for motorways from 22.00 on 19/10 to 22.00 on 20/10, for railways from 21.00 on 19/10 to 21.00 on 20/10

 

[euro cruiser]

I'm not positive as I don't know the particulars of every union, but I don't think the 20 October strike impacts the air sector, just trains and motorways.  

 

This is an interesting one, it's half politcal and half economic.  The announcement talks about Ukraine, the arms race, inflation, the reactionary policies of the Meloni government, etc.

 

The announcement is here, for those interested.  It's a good example of how different strikes are in Italy vs. the States.  You can copy and paste the text into google translate to understand what it's all about.

 

Sindacato Generale di Base | Contro guerra, carovita e precarietà -Per aumenti salariali generalizzati e pari all'inflazione (sindacatosgb.it)

[euro cruiser]

Regarding what happens if there is a strike that impacts the airline industry, the EU consumer protection law says: "The EU considers air traffic management decisions, political instability, adverse weather, worker strikes, and security risks to be “extraordinary circumstances” that do not require the airlines to provide compensation."

 

Source here:  How to Get Your Money Back for Delayed or Canceled Europe Flights - AFAR

 

The airline wants to get you moving so they'll do their best to rebook you as soon as possible, but given how busy they are, there aren't a lot of open seats to put people in.  You could wind up cooling your heels for a day or two, or accepting a flight with a lot of connections.

[cruisemom42]

5 hours ago, leelaw said:

All,  I too am returning on  Oct 20 from the celebrity cruise at the same port, I am confused as to whether this strike includes flights too.  On one page it says it does but the link above doesn't  say  planes...

 

I am very concerned what will happen when we get  to the airport and the BA avios flight is cancelled (which is at 15:10). How will they book us another flight, will it be automatic or do you have to wait at a desk at an airport that has everything shut as there is a strike? Will they put you up at a hotel or do they expect you to find your own accomodation and claim it back? I bet this will also be very hard to do on the same day...

 

Any advice would be much appreciated. Its ruining us looking forward to our cruise  at this point.

 

 

Ricerca Scioperi | Commissione Garanzia Sciopero

2023-10-20

National General

ALL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTORS

Proclaimer:
Adl, Cub, Sgb, Si Cobas
Member:
Cub Trasporti

from 00.01 to 23.59 including the first shift for shift workers, for motorways from 22.00 on 19/10 to 22.00 on 20/10, for railways from 21.00 on 19/10 to 21.00 on 20/10

 

I would suggest you contact Avios and ask them what to expect. Not all airlines manage things the same way.

 

If you do ascertain that air travel is included in the strike, it might be a good idea to make a refundable/cancelable reservation at a hotel near the airport just in case.

[marazul]

On 8/2/2023 at 11:16 PM, bons said:

We will be in La Spezia that day. Are the Cinque Terre trains affected too? I read the ferries are private but worry they will be too crowded if the trains are not running. Wanted to do this port on our own but seems difficult if no trains are running. Any private tour recommendations to visit the towns not involving train travel??

We were spending a few days in CT a while back. There was a national strike like this one on one of those days. Neither the trains nor the ferries were operating. It turned out to be a beach day for us.

[marazul]

2 hours ago, euro cruiser said:

I'm not positive as I don't know the particulars of every union, but I don't think the 20 October strike impacts the air sector, just trains and motorways.  

 

This is an interesting one, it's half politcal and half economic.  The announcement talks about Ukraine, the arms race, inflation, the reactionary policies of the Meloni government, etc.

 

The announcement is here, for those interested.  It's a good example of how different strikes are in Italy vs. the States.  You can copy and paste the text into google translate to understand what it's all about.

 

Sindacato Generale di Base | Contro guerra, carovita e precarietà -Per aumenti salariali generalizzati e pari all'inflazione (sindacatosgb.it)

The announcement says that the strike starts early for train and motorways work shifts (10 pm or 9 pm, respectively)  that start before midnight on the 19th and will last for 24 hours each.  All other sectors will be on strike from midnight on the 19th to midnight on the 20th. No sectors are excluded in the announcement. So the air transport sector will also be on strike

 

Edited August 25, 2023 by marazul

[euro cruiser]

Okay.  Well, another source to keep an eye on is ENAC, the Italian Civil Aviation Authority.  The link below is to their statement on flights guaranteed to go even during a strike.  It says that flights taking off between 7 to 10 in the morning and from 6 to 9 in the evening will go.  Unfortunately, that doesn't help with your 15:00 flight.

 

Voli garantiti in caso di sciopero (enac.gov.it)

[leelaw]

9 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

I would suggest you contact Avios and ask them what to expect. Not all airlines manage things the same way.

 

If you do ascertain that air travel is included in the strike, it might be a good idea to make a refundable/cancelable reservation at a hotel near the airport just in case.

HI, I looked at some hotels that say pay at property,  but they say you have to cancel by the day before, I most probably wont know at that time. They will have the credit card details so I guess they just charge you?