Passenger safety a priority…..

Cruise lines have again this week been put in a position to make alterations to Itineraries to ensure passenger safety comes first. Fred Olsen have been forced to substitute Port s on their ‘Black Watch World Cruise’  due to the recent terror attacks in Egypt. It is believed that P&O and Silversea who will also have ships in this area are set to follow suit.

It’s always frustrating when an itinerary change has to be made, and I do feel for passengers who book a specific sailing to include a certain Port that they may not have been to, or they may even be meeting friends or family there but sadly do not make it.

I remember working in Majorca for a Summer season with Thomson and my family, Nan, Grandad, Auntie’s and Uncles were all arriving on the Arcadia into Palma. I was so excited, I’d not seen my family for over seven months. I watched the ship arrive, had a fantastic afternoon showing them the sights, and had lunch basking in the sunshine outside the Cathedral, it was a great day. When it was time to go I kissed them all goodbye and stood at the end of the port waving till my arms nearly fell off with tears streaming down my cheeks whilst they sailed into the sunset. It’s a day I will never forget, I didn’t see my family again for another 6 months, so it was such so a huge pick me up for when you are working overseas. It was surreal, I remember getting in my car to drive back to my apartment thinking did that really just happen.

However in the world we now live in, we have to be realistic and Cruise lines have massive pressures on them to ensure passenger safety is paramount, no matter how important the Port of call may be.

Most passengers fully understand and brush these things off when they happen, however I do think twice when a passengers asks me who can they contact to claim back their missed port compensation…………………!!!!