The global grounding of the
Qantas fleet caused hundreds
of people to miss cruises
around the world.
QANTAS may be back in the air but many
people are not on the ocean after failing to
arrive at their departure ports.
International travellers missed cruises
departing from Australia yesterday, and
Australians were left stranded in airports on
their way to voyages overseas.
CW was waiting for a flight in Brisbane on
Saturday afternoon when the airline announced
the immediate cancellation of all services.
“We are trying to get to our first cruise but it
looks like that dream is over,” one guest said.
Princess Cruises’ Sea Princess set sail from
Sydney on Sunday, at 4pm as scheduled,
without 59 booked passengers who were
affected by the Qantas dispute.
Carnival Australia is currently assisting some
of these passengers to join the ship in
Dunedin, New Zealand, on Thursday.
Royal Caribbean decided to alter the
schedule of Radiance of the Seas’ 18-night
voyage from Fremantle to Sydney, delaying its
departure from yesterday to today to allow
passengers more time to reach the ship.
Passengers who cannot reach the ship in
Fremantle have been offered the choice to
board in Adelaide on Saturday (5 November).
As a result of the change, Radiance will now
skip its call at Esperance and will visit Albany
one day later than scheduled.
P&O Australia cruises were not affected as all
ships are at sea.
Adelaide resident “Izabelle” posted on
OzCruiseClub’s forum that she was “shattered”
to miss her Sea Princess holiday as all Virgin
and Jetstar flights had also sold out.
“Unfortunately no transfer could be done
with Princess, but I have fixed up the Qantas
refund with Flight Centre and [travel]
insurance will cover the cruise,” she said.
