British Airways and Fly-Cruise Passengers

The really bad news for cruise passengers is that the planned strike by British Airways cabin crew, should it go ahead, will almost certainly affect Christmas fly-cruise holidays. The strike, which has been voted for by ballot, will start on December 22nd this year and continue until 2nd January – in other words for twelve days.

The good news is that if you’ve booked with Thomson Cruises, Island Cruises or P&O cruises you are a lucky traveller because they have their own charter flights to meet their cruises. Less lucky passengers will have booked cruises with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity who rely on British Airways flights to connect passengers to non-UK cruise departure ports.

If you’ve booked with a cruise line, you can expect to be hearing from your cruise line – all of whom at rushing around making contingency plans to try and get their cruise passengers onto alternative carriers, although there are still hopes that the strike will be called off or that the legal opposition being mounted by British Airways to the legality of the ballot (because people who no longer worked for BA may have been balloted in error) will succeed.

The worst news is for passengers who’ve made their own flight arrangements because alternative airlines are filling up fast: whole planes being booked out to travel companies who have to get holidaymakers out to destinations served by BA – this is a good time to look at your travel insurance and to start trying to find an alternative route to your cruise port to meet your cruise ship.