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.

Protests in Athens Greece

A Peaceful Athens, Greece - 10 Days Earlier

Greece Protests in News Again

Timing is everything they say.   We have just returned from our 12-Night Mediterranean Cruise which included stops in several Greek ports of call, including Athens, Corfu, Mykonos, Olympia, and Santorini. During our stay in Greece, things were very calm and peaceful.    Not so, this week as protests once again have erupted.

According to AP, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou offers to resign in the wake of the protests. Thousands of Greek workers swarmed downtown Athens to protest a package of budget cuts and tax increases for the financially strapped nation.

The European Union (EU) is proposing stiff cuts in an attempt to bail out Greece and other countries that are experiencing financial difficulties. The current Greek parliament is seeking tax hikes, deep cuts in public-sector wages and a fire sale of state assets as part of the current bailout package. Protestors resist this and are seeking a new government and renegotiation of the package.

Ironically, the protests will hurt the one industry that is on the rise in Greece - tourism. Having just returned from the region, that would be a terrible shame as Greece has so much to offer to tourists.

We'll be featuring each of our ports of call in future articles with the hopes that things will calm down and tourism will continue. We are very grateful that our plans were not interrupted by the current outbreak of violence.

Cruise lines will be closely monitoring the situation in the Greek Isles and adjust itineraries as necessary. We'll bring you updates if changes are announced.