Who Remembers The Volcanic Ash Cloud of April 2010, When For A Time There Were No Flights Across The Atlantic?

This Is One Of The Regular Reports We Sent To Intending Clients:

SEA TRAVEL SITUATION REPORT FOR THE NORTH ATLANTIC 19.04.10

Herewith is the latest update on the possibilities of sea travel between Europe and North America. If you wish to take up any of these options please contact us as soon as possible as reservations will be made on a first come first served basis.

The 1,986-berth Norwegian Sun carried stranded passengers from Miami to Dover

EASTBOUND PASSENGER SHIPS – NORTH AMERICA TO EUROPE

Apart from two ships that are leaving Fort Lauderdale today, these are sailings for the rest of April. Queen Mary 2 and the bigger cruise ships are all now sold out and on waitlist, but there is still space today on three sailings by all-inclusive ships from New York, Barbados and San Juan:

22 April-06 May – Silver Spirit – New York to Southampton (1st European call Cork) (space available). Verandah suites £4,183 per person double, £6,262 for singles (all inclusive with bar and port charges)

24 April-12 May – Star Princess – Fort Lauderdale to Copenhagen (1st European call Lisbon) **W/L**

25 April-07 May – SeaDream II – Barbados to Malaga (space available). Suite rooms from $2,800 per person, no single supplement (all inclusive with bar and port charges)

26 April-11 May – Norwegian Sun – Miami to Dover (1st European call Lisbon) ** W/L **

27 April-15 May – MSC Poesia – Fort Lauderdale to Hamburg (1st European call Lisbon) ** W/L **

29 April-08 May – Queen Mary 2 – New York to Southampton (1st call Hamburg) **W/L**

30 April-13 May – SeaDream I – San Juan to Malaga (space available). Suite rooms from $2,845 per person, no single supplement (all inclusive with bar and port charges)

01 May-15 May – Crown Princess – Fort Lauderdale to Rome (1st European port Gibraltar)

**W/L** = Waitlist.

We are now checking early May cruise ship sailings but Queen Mary 2’s May sailing is already sold out.

And Queen Mary 2 did well for a while

EASTBOUND CARGO/PASSENGER SHIPS – NORTH AMERICA TO EUROPE

Hurry if you want space on cargo ships as this is all that is left on sailings from Philadelphia to Antwerp:

mv Rickmers Jakarta, planned for 02.05.at the moment – Double 513 available now

mv Rickmers Shanghai, planned for 11.05 .at the moment – Single 612 and 604 and Owners cabin available now

mv Rickmers Seoul, planned for 13.05. at the moment – Double 513 available now

mv Rickmers Singapore, planned for 07.06. at the moment – Owners available now

Fares are € 960 per person in Single and Owners Double use, € 840 pp in Double 513/double use, € 1020 pp in Double 513/solo use and € 1170 pp in Owners/solo use + 195 in dues and charges in each case.

The Rickmers Shanghai carried 7 passengers from Philadelphia to Antwerp

We may also have some availability on grain ships from the Great Lakes but port of disembarkation in Europe is only known at the last minute.

WESTBOUND PASSENGER SHIPS – EUROPE TO NORTH AMERICA

22-27 April – Queen Mary 2 – Southampton to New York **W/L**

15-21 May – Queen Mary 2 –  Southampton to New York ** W/L **

No other ships scheduled until June 25 (Ocean Princess, Dover to New York)

WESTBOUND CARGO/PASSENGER SHIPS – EUROPE TO NORTH AMERICA

Polish Steamship Co – planned for 27 April – last cabins just booked – next sailing in about 14 days.

The weekly Antwerp-Liverpool-Philadelphia service advises as follows: “Unfortunately there are only a few places left because in some cases the shipping company will transport their own crew because they have no flights either. If you have any requests please send them and we have to see what we can do.”

We are also now checking with one other owner who has sailings scheduled for April 21 and 28 from Antwerp and/or Bremen, but do not yet have a response.

Generally speaking, those in North America are in a better position as there are several cruise ships positioning to Europe for the summer cruise season but nothing but the Queen Mary 2 and only occasional cargo ships offering space from Europe to North America. We would advise those in Europe to seek out other alternatives although we do have some cabins available to the Caribbean as there is a weekly service by 12-passenger ships to Martinique and Guadeloupe.

Best regards,
Kevin Griffin
—
The Cruise People Ltd, 88 York Street, London W1H 1QT, England

http://twitter.com/CruisePeopleLtd
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A note from the time: Have been extremely busy with the volcano clouds – these are the visitors to our Transatlantic page:-

14 Apr, Wed	63
15 Apr, Thu	166
16 Apr, Fri	495
17 Apr, Sat	2056
18 Apr, Sun	3159
19 Apr, Mon	1805
20 Apr, Tue	1514
21 Apr, Wed	257

And feedback from one of the families we booked at the time:

“Thank you thank you … we are off … you did it for us … Brilliant!” – Mrs Victoria M and family of four, who were among the many passengers we booked home by sea during the Volcanic Ash flight shutdown, April 2010.