Got a few friends that that are trying to get out of Cape Town tonight. Air traffic is shut down in the UK because of the Iceland Volcano. That's the way back to the US from here. They are going to have a long wait. I can't remember in my lifetime when this has ever happened before. What the hell is going on with this world?

We flew from US to Cape Town and never went near UK. Some returning flights
stop in Senegal then on to JFK or Atlanta. Airlines were South African and Delta. Other airlines connect via Heathrow, Amsterdam and other European cities - that's where problems are now. Perhaps your friends can get rerouted to avoid Europe.

You don't remember volcanoes erupting????? What about Mt. St. Helens (and numerous others) all of which disrupted air traffic.

The same as what's been going on ever since the Earth was created.
Remember Karakatoa?
Have you ever cruised to Rabaul?
They live with ash and eruptions daily.
They also live with volcanic activity on the Big Island in Hawaii.
Stand by if that one ever blows big.
Mother Nature is just showing us that she has more power ,
than we could ever imagine. :eek:

Well it's taken me a few hours to think about how to respond to this. As my quick Irish temper tends to start fights but as I get older I get more mellow. Been to all those places, several times. Understand geology. I am concerned about the people that left the Voyager and at the last news reports they may have to wait for days to get home. The winds have to shift. This is the worst travel disaster since 9/11 at least for international travel.

There are many people here that are trying to get home. A lot more than that are on the Voyager. Some of them may have a long wait. Jamie has taken care of some of my buds on the entreatment staff, letting them back on ship and setting them up with hotels until this over. Even on a luxury line travel can be difficult. But Regent stands up when these things happens.

The longer this goes on the worse the situation is becoming.
Planes are still flying from down here in NZ and Australia, but the airlines will not guarantee that you will get past the hubs, (LA, HK, Dubai etc.)
One travel insurance co down here is advising anyone travelling up there in the next 6 months to cancel now, as the backlog will be horrific.

Lets hope and trust that it does not come to that.
I am picking the ferries in the English Channel will be very busy.

It sure is strange not hearing any planes. My coworkers were scrambling getting back to UK on Thursday. Most of the consultants travel back and forth Monday and Thursday. The ones booked on Eurostar were lucky. One coworker had to pay for a full business seat on Eurostar; another was not so lucky as trains were already sold out.

Now, it is appearing that airports may not be back open by Monday morning. Those that did make it to UK may wish that they had just spent the weekend in Brussels.

We are flying to Krakow in two weeks; I hope the volcano is finished by then. I really don't want to get stranded in Poland or have to spend an extra day getting home by train.

Flew out of LGW on Delta Thursday AM. Last plane to leave London?. Flight attendant's announcement:" Everyone please sit down as we are removing the jetway early. London Heathrow has closed and we want to leave before Gatwick closes!" We took off and turned sharp left,

Of course, my boss is stuck in London. She was supposed to fly to DUB Thursday morning, was already at LCY and ready to board the plane when they shut the airport down. From DUB she was supposed to go to Rome for vacation. It definitely doesn't look like she'll be going to Rome - we just want to get her back to Boston now!

Even worse - her wallet was just stolen. :(

Oh Andrea, your poor boss. I hope she can make all the necessary contacts to handle the added complications resulting from the theft of her wallet.

Thanks Kathy. It's been a crazy morning! Luckily I have access to some of her personal information so I could get her credit cards cancelled. She's been able to get a new personal Amex in London, and her hotel was nice enough to advance her some GBP. Her passport was back at the hotel, but a copy of it was in the wallet. Still trying to find out whether she will need to get a new passport, but no help from the Embassy until Monday.

My son and his wife are stuck in Bergen, Norway where he was speaking at a medical meeting. He called this morning to say his flight home was rescheduled for Wednesday. In the meantime I advised them to rent a car and enjoy the Norwegian fjords--might as well make lemonade. The other grandma is with their kids for the time being, but we may have to relieve her if this goes on any longer.

WOW...good wishes for your boss Andrea, what a shame and Peggy, you gave good advice...lots of beautiful country to explore as long as they're stuck anyway.

wonderful advice Peggy!!!! TV coverage is unsettling - great way to make lemonade - I'd always rather travel with lemondae makers vs lemon suckers :p :pass:

A question for you well traveled LCTer's - does the travel insurance from the major companies cover the extra expenses incurred when one is delayed for several days (or even weeks) due to situations such as this?

I know that the Travel Guard insurance which we have used would cover us if we could not leave home to get to our destination due to cancelled or delayed flight but I'm not sure about when this situation occurs on the other end of the trip.

Each insurance company may handle this differently. There is an "Act of God" statement in most insurance policies they could use as an excuse. However this is being covered by most insurance companies and probably in the end they will all cover the expenses. I know the ones we normally use are covering it. These are the reasons it is a good idea to have insurance you just never know what will happen.

Thanks, Ngaire. My sister has never purchased travel insurance but flies to Greece a few times a year because their daughter & her family live there.

Does "Act of God" apply to atheists?

ONLY YOU TED!!! LOVE it answer is no - :3smile: :3smile: :3smile: ;) ;) think they check your church participation, tithe, missed Sunday attendance etc and then make determination to pay???

I just saw two planes actually land at Zaventem (Brussels Airport)!!!

Maybe sanity is beginning to return. ;)

I know there have been some questions about insurance based on the flight cancellations and delays during this recent situation. CSA covered all concerns for those that had purchased insurance prior to April 14 but any policies purchased after the eruption on the 14th were not covered for a volcanic eruption. CSA now considers the volcanic event which happened on April 14, 2010 to have ended on April 22, 2010, when Eurocontrol announced that air traffic had returned to normal levels. CSA now confirms that any future volcanic events occurring after April 22, 2010 will be considered new events and as such will be covered. Not sure how other insurance companies are going to handle this going forward.

Thanks for the information Susan. I was certainly curious as to how this was all going to play out with the insurance companies. It is good to know that I should be covered with the CSA policy I purchased for my upcoming cruise.