London Violence Concern to Cruisers

Riots in London

"We needed a fightback and a fightback is under way"

BBC News is quoting the prime minister saying "We needed a fightback and a fightback is under way"  after four days of riots in London and surrounding areas.

The violence broke out over the weekend following a police shooting death of Mark Duggan, a 29-year-old father of four who was gunned down in Tottenham on Thursday under disputed circumstances.

Prime Minister David Cameron said every action would be taken to restore order, with contingency plans for water cannon to be available at 24 hours' notice.   On Tuesday night London was quiet amid the increased police presence, but unrest spread to cities including Manchester, Salford, Liverpool, Nottingham and Birmingham, with shops being looted and fires set.

Update:  Saturday 13 August:

London and surrounding areas are trying to get back to normal following the past week's riots.  Courts stayed open on the weekend to process more than 1,000 cases related to the violent spree.  The PM and others speak out about what's wrong and what's right in Britain.   Events like this tend to bring out the best and worst in people.   We hope that things will remain calm and that a rebuilding can take place.

For latest information on the Riots, see BBC News: 

• England riots: Fightback under way, says PM
• England riots Live
• England riots: Map and timeline 

From other news sites

• Telegraph David Cameron: It's time for a zero tolerance approach to street crime

• Daily Express PM forced to deny rift with police 

• Guardian.co.uk UK riots aftermath: live updates 

• Mirror.co.uk Parliament to debate disturbances 

• Financial Times* Focus of rioting moves beyond UK capital  

Concern to Cruisers

London is in proximity to three cruise ports: Dover, Harwich, and Southampton, with cruise passengers often extending their cruise vacations with pre-cruise or post-cruise stays in London.  In our post, London - A Favorite Pre-Cruise Destination, we talked about some of our adventures in London prior to our cruise vacations.

August is the height of European cruise vacation season with several ships embarking from one of those ports of calls or stopping there during their journeys to the British Isles, Norwegian Fjords, or Mediterranean.   If violence continues, there will be an impact on cruise vacations to this area.

Ships, such as Holland America Line Maasdam, offer shore excursions to London while docked in Dover. It isn't known at this time whether shore excursions were impacted on its current voyage. Cruise lines monitor situations like this and adjust their schedules as needed.

The U.S. Department of State has not posted any travel warnings at this time but is monitoring the situation.  The following resources should be monitored by anyone planning on visiting the London area at this time.

Tips for Traveling Abroad 

Travel Warnings, Country Specific Information & Travel Alerts

This is yet another reason for travelers to purchase Travel Insurance. What would happen if you were in London, and the riots broke out, and you were injured?  What if you couldn't get to the port because the streets were blocked by the police in response to the violence?   Our advice is to plan for the unexpected.

Common travel problems like flight delays, travel injuries and illnesses, unpredictable weather, and lost or stolen luggage are some reasons why we recommend you travel with the Travel Companion plan.  Consult your policy for specific coverages.    

We hope that the violence will stop soon without any additional loss or injury, so that cruise vacationers' plans won't be impacted.   We will monitor the situation and bring you any significant developments.

Azamara Quest Skips Osaka Call

Azamara Quest

Japan Closes

Ports of Call 

Impacts Azamara Quest

The devastating earthquake and the resulting tsunami that struck off the coast of Honshu, Japan yesterday, caused widespread death, injury, and damage leaving the country in a state of emergency. 

Related Blog Posts: 

Cruise Lines Return to Japan  (six months later, some cruise lines have returned)

Strong Quakes Continue to Rattle Japan

Another Strong Quake Hits Japan

After the Tohoku Earthquake

Severe Tsunami Impacting Japan & Hawaii 

Azamara Quest Skips Osaka Call

QM2 Skips Nagasaki Sails to China

 

[NOTICE] For overseas visitors traveling Northeastern Japan and the surrounding areas including Tokyo

 

U.S. State Dept. Travel Alert - Japan (issued March 11, 2011)

 

Azamara Quest was in Nagasaki, Japan at the time of the earthquake and resulting tsunami. It was on the Northeast side of Japan, in a protected bay far away from danger. The ship sailed into deep waters about an hour after the earthquake and was in no danger. The next scheduled port of call was Osaka, which is 38 hours sailing time from Nagasaki.

Azamara Club Cruises released the following statement today, as it cancelled the Quest's next port of call:

"The entire country of Japan is still assessing the extent of the damage caused by the earthquake and tsunami. While initial reports suggest that Kyoto (Osaka) did not sustain major damage, we feel that the recent events and continuing aftershocks have the potential to seriously disrupt Azamara Quest's experience and our operations in port."

Cruise lines that have upcoming calls in Japan will be monitoring the situation and making itinerary changes as necessary.   We will provide updates as we learn of any changes.

Several cruise lines issued statements in the wake of the disaster  (read more here)

Cruise Lines Plan for Libya Calls

Poor Timing?  

Political unrest continues to plague the world as Libya becomes the latest country with political demonstrations against the existing government. On Friday opposition forces and government troops clashed causing several deaths and injuries.

Azamara Quest

Azamara Club Cruises

Azamara Quest, one of the line's two 694-passenger ships, will visit Libya's Al Khums and Tripoli during a Mediterranean voyage that begins on Oct. 16, 2012.  This will be the only voyage with Libya ports of call.

Azamara Club Cruises announced changes in 2010 which include more immersive port visits. More than half of all their port calls in 2012 will feature late night and overnight stays. The overnight stays make it possible for guest to experience the vibrant nightlife in those ports of call.

Other destinations featured in the 2012 program include the Baltic and Scandinavia, British Isles, Western Europe, French and Italian Rivieras, Greek Isles, Croatia, Holy Land and Black Sea, as well as Asia,South America and lesser-traveled islands of the West Indies,

Crystal Serenity

Crystal Cruises


For the first time ever, Libya will be a port of call this Fall on one of the ships.

Crystal Cruises announced that the 1,080-passenger Crystal Serenity will visit the Libyan port of Tripoli during the vessel's 11-night "Italian Splendor" voyage from Venice to Barcelona that begins Nov. 16. The voyage also includes calls in several Italian ports including Naples, Civitavecchia (for Rome) and Livorno (for Florence) as well as Dubrovnik, Croatia.

The recent reversal of Libya's longtime ban on American tourists is behind the addition of a Libyan port to both cruise line's schedule.   We will want to continue watching Libya as the political unrest could jeopardize these plans.

Making Memories

"Taking pictures is making memories. Capture little pieces of time, making them yours making them mine." (words taken from a Disney song sung by Minnie Mouse).

In this column I'll explore several ways of making memories which can last well beyond your return home from the cruise vacation.

Photos - video clips

Photography is probably the most popular way to capture little pieces of time. In the age of digital photography, it is very easy for you to become a photo journalist using your cruise vacation as the subject matter.

My husband has always had a fascination with how the mind works. How is it that if just the right "trigger" is present, you will remember all about some past event? Photos make excellent "triggers" that unlock memories about past cruises and experiences.

Those of you that have been reading my column for awhile know that my husband and I take lots of pictures on our cruises (He takes more than I do). I don't always get time to write about our cruise just after we return. The photos we take help us to remember the various excursions we took. Video clips with sound are even better, but we don't take as many videos as we do photos.

Taking photos in the digital age is much easier than in the days of film. It's a lot easier to travel with several memory cards than it was to travel with several rolls of film. It's not uncommon for us to have thousands of digital images from a cruise vacation. We had to be more selective when you'd only get 36 pictures on a roll of film. Not to mention the fact you needed different film depending on the weather conditions. Perhaps that's a topic for another column.

There are many ways to store the photographs that you have taken. In our mind, we don't want to keep the memories to ourselves, so we share them. One of the easiest methods is to put photos in albums. Another is to share them online with one of the many services. Again, I could devote an entire column to this topic alone, so that's about all I'll say for now.

Scrapbooking

Taking photo albums a step futher, scrapbooking is a method for preserving personal and family history in the form of photographs, printed media, and memorabilia contained in decorated albums, or scrapbooks. This has become a very popular hobby recently and even the cruise lines are finally starting to capitalize on this new market.

When we were on Celebrity Solstice for the pre-inaugural, we purchased a scrapbook album and the accompanying scrapbook page kit which consisted of pages, stickers, and other complimentary decorations. These materials could only be purchased onboard.

Royal Caribbean was the first cruise line to recognize that passengers had an interest in scrapbooking, and they added scrapbook workshops to their daily activities. You supplied the photos (ideally purchased onboard) and they supplied paper and all the equipment to make your first scrapbook page for your trip. Other cruise lines have also started offering similar programs.

Scrapbooking takes some pre-planning. Since I knew that I'd create a scrapbook for our Galapagos trip, I collected some items to be incorporated in the pages.

Items that are good for this purpose include boarding passes, room keys, admission tickets, and stickers.

You'll want to keep the daily planners that are delivered to your cabin each night. They will help you remember various activities that you did as well as provide destination information which will help you when doing the journaling part of the scrapbook page.

Warning: Scrapbooking is addicting and can be expensive!

When we were in Alaska, many of the souvenir shops had scrapbooking supplies such as pages and stickers which were specific to the port of call. Your local hobby or arts and crafts store typically has materials to help you get started. They may even offer classes if you don't know where to begin. There is a wealth of information on the web as well as several scrapbook suppliers.

If you think you'll want to create a scrapbook for your cruise, take some pictures, purchase some onboard and at the excurisons that offer professional photos, and collect some memorabelia to embelish your album. We can talk more about scrapbooking in another column if there is interest.

Collecting Post Cards

Not everyone likes to take photographs while on vacation. That doesn't mean you can't make memories to take home with you. Souvenir shops and the ship have a selection of post cards which capture the highlights of the destination.

Post cards can be used to supplement your own pictures and memorabilia. You can put them in albums or use them in your scrapbook pages. They can be mailed home to add a postmark or packed in your luggage.

Another advantage to post cards is that they capture a moment in time that perhaps you weren't able to see personally. For example, if your ship sails before nightfall, consider adding a post card that depicts the city at night. While you might have experienced a sunset, it might not have been as intense as one of the ones captured on a post card.

"Our moments of inspiration are not lost though we have no particular poem to show for them; for those experiences have left an indelible impression, and we are ever and anon reminded of them. "

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) American naturalist, poet and philosopher.