Portugal pilot strikes

[lovetocruise1953]

Has your cruise been affected by the upcoming strikes? We may be having to change some ports but will not know until we actually leave Southampton not ideal for trip planning........

Edited September 9 by lovetocruise1953

[CruiserBruce]

Airline pilots,  like TAP Air, or port pilots?

[chengkp75]

Maritime pilots will be staging 2 day strikes each week in November.

 

From 7:00 am on 6 November to 7:00 am on 8 November

From 7:00 am on 14 November to 7:00 am on 16 November

From 7:00 am on 22 November to 7:00 am on 24 November

From 7:00 am on 29 November to 7:00 am on 30 November

 

this applies to all ports in Portugal.

[edinburgher]

7 hours ago, lovetocruise1953 said:

We may be having to change some ports but will not know until we actually leave Southampton not ideal for trip planning........

In these circumstances, it may be prudent to plan either official shorex or DIY exploration rather than private tours if cancellation Tcs and Cs with private tour operators would mean anything less than a full refund.  Of course, that assumes you know which would be your substitute ports!

 

love2cruise1953, As this is important news for members with Portugese port calls in November, please consider cross posting it on the Spain and Portugal forum where members would be more likely to see it. (although the Mods may themselves move it)

 

This one

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/465-spain-and-portugal-ports/

 

 

 

Edited September 9 by edinburgher

[lovetocruise1953]

16 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

Airline pilots,  like TAP Air, or port pilots?

We have been advised by the local authorities in Portugal that there is to be Portuguese pilot strikes on three dates in September. A cruise ship must have a local pilot onboard in order to meet maritime requirements and for the vessel to be permitted to dock safely. Should the strikes go ahead as planned, it will affect the cruise itinerary, impacting the calls into the Azores and Leixões.

The first strike is planned between 16^th to 18^th September, with the second on 23^rd to 25^th September and the third on 30^th September to 2^nd October. There is a possibility that the strikes may be called off in which case your cruise itinerary will not be affected.

[jennjess]

12 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Maritime pilots will be staging 2 day strikes each week in November.

 

From 7:00 am on 6 November to 7:00 am on 8 November

From 7:00 am on 14 November to 7:00 am on 16 November

From 7:00 am on 22 November to 7:00 am on 24 November

From 7:00 am on 29 November to 7:00 am on 30 November

 

this applies to all ports in Portugal.

Since we are booked on a cruise that leaves Lisbon on November 22, this is not great news.  Hopefully the dispute will be over by then.

[Izengolf]

12 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Maritime pilots will be staging 2 day strikes each week in November.

 

From 7:00 am on 6 November to 7:00 am on 8 November

From 7:00 am on 14 November to 7:00 am on 16 November

From 7:00 am on 22 November to 7:00 am on 24 November

From 7:00 am on 29 November to 7:00 am on 30 November

 

this applies to all ports in Portugal.

If you have a link for this I would really appreciate it to send to our group. Thank you!

[jennjess]

34 minutes ago, Izengolf said:

If you have a link for this I would really appreciate it to send to our group. Thank you!

Googling I can only find those dates in regard to 2023? 

[Izengolf]

Same which would be good news for our cruise on November 22. 

[tony s]

We had the same strikes last year . This resulted in loss of overnight in Oporto

[kitkat343]

I found this article:  https://www.madeiraislanddirect.com/blog/2024/07/port-pilots-threaten-new-strike-in-september-and-october/

 

Am scheduled to sail to Lisbon (our only real port, its the Disney transatlantic) on October 23rd.

[FionaMG]

Below is the link to the Union's article about the strikes from 5 days ago. It's in Portuguese; I couldn't find anything in English. Google should be able to translate it but, to summarise for you, it only mentions the dates that @lovetocruise1953 stated in post #5. I can’t find any information about strike dates beyond that although that doesn't necessarily mean there aren't any.

 

https://www.cgtp.pt/accao-e-luta/20536-greve-dos-pilotos-de-barra-e-portos-a-partir-de-16-de-setembro

[kitkat343]

Ambassador cruise rerouted: https://www.travelgossip.co.uk/latestnews/port-pilot-strikes-in-portugal-cause-itinerary-change-for-ambassador/

[Middleager]

On 9/9/2024 at 4:00 PM, chengkp75 said:

Maritime pilots will be staging 2 day strikes each week in November.

 

From 7:00 am on 6 November to 7:00 am on 8 November

From 7:00 am on 14 November to 7:00 am on 16 November

From 7:00 am on 22 November to 7:00 am on 24 November

From 7:00 am on 29 November to 7:00 am on 30 November

 

this applies to all ports in Portugal.

That's not good news.  We sail from Lisbon on Dec. 5.  Hope it's not affected.

 

Two years ago we had a cruise ending in Lisbon.  Due to port pilot strike, and maybe also a possible TAP airline strike,  the cruise cut a port (or was it 2) stop, and got to Lisbon one day early.  NCL rescheduled a lot of people to fly out one day early.

 

I ended having to cancel a shore excursion for the cancelled port, and search to book for excursion for the one day we got to Lisbon early.  With awful ship wifi, it was difficult and slow, and the ship didn't give us any extra wifi minutes.

 

If those pilots strike often, Portugal will lose tourism business.  I'll have to think again, before having more cruises involving Portugal ports.

[FionaMG]

The strike has been called off as of last Sunday.

 

The article below is in Portuguese but you can take my word for it. I did try running it through Google translate to see if it would be helpful but as a professional translator myself I can tell you that it botched the job! 😂

 

https://www.portugal.gov.pt/pt/gc24/comunicacao/comunicado?i=ministro-das-infraestruturas-congratula-se-com-suspensao-da-greve-dos-pilotos-de-barra-e-portos

[jennjess]

10 hours ago, FionaMG said:

The strike has been called off as of last Sunday.

 

The article below is in Portuguese but you can take my word for it. I did try running it through Google translate to see if it would be helpful but as a professional translator myself I can tell you that it botched the job! 😂

 

https://www.portugal.gov.pt/pt/gc24/comunicacao/comunicado?i=ministro-das-infraestruturas-congratula-se-com-suspensao-da-greve-dos-pilotos-de-barra-e-portos

Good news for any that might be affected.

[kitkat343]

here's another source in English (I totally believed Fiona but here it is anyway) https://www.portseurope.com/portuguese-port-pilots-call-off-strike/