kadey Posted May 29, 2016 #1 Share Posted May 29, 2016 We are scheduled to leave this Thursday with a change of planes at Heathrow Friday morning. Early afternoon on Friday (June 3) we are scheduled leave heathrow and fly into Marseilles and meet our ship. I see there a quite a few scheduled strikes set for France next week. Air traffic in France is supposed to strike from June3-5. Has anyone experienced this interfering with getting to the ship? We will be on Vantage (our flights booked through them) and I imagine this will effect a lot of the passengers. Can anyone share their experience .. Was your flight rerouted to still get you there? was your trip cancelled? was the trip shortened? Do you just not make it all. This is our first river cruise and I've been very excited counting down the days! I feel a little panic starting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrkstl Posted May 30, 2016 #2 Share Posted May 30, 2016 Oh no! We are scheduled to fly into Bordeaux via CDG Paris, arriving on Saturday the 4th :eek: Fingers crossed that all goes well for all of us! Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLWW Posted May 30, 2016 #3 Share Posted May 30, 2016 We are scheduled to leave this Thursday with a change of planes at Heathrow Friday morning. Early afternoon on Friday (June 3) we are scheduled leave heathrow and fly into Marseilles and meet our ship. I see there a quite a few scheduled strikes set for France next week. Air traffic in France is supposed to strike from June3-5. Has anyone experienced this interfering with getting to the ship? We will be on Vantage (our flights booked through them) and I imagine this will effect a lot of the passengers. Can anyone share their experience .. Was your flight rerouted to still get you there? was your trip cancelled? was the trip shortened? Do you just not make it all. This is our first river cruise and I've been very excited counting down the days! I feel a little panic starting! We are watching the situation also. We are scheduled to fly from Toronto to Heathrow overnight on Saturday, June 4th, and then to Paris on June 5th. Our travel agent was talking to both British Airways and Scenic on Friday, and they just keep saying so far it's business as usual. We are getting nervous too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Needzavacation Posted May 30, 2016 #4 Share Posted May 30, 2016 I feel for anyone worrying about this. We faced the rail strike on our river cruise a couple of years ago, and ended up renting a car and driving from Paris to Lyon. I always find it helpful to monitor news via media in-country. Here's one source: http://www.connexionfrance.com/Airport-port-ferries-strike-18106-view-article.html It looks like it's going to be bumpy in June. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrkstl Posted June 1, 2016 #5 Share Posted June 1, 2016 So, I am now breathing a big sigh of relief :) According the Reuters link below, the main French air traffic controllers union has now lifted the threat of the strike: http://www.reuters.com/article/france-union-strike-idUSL8N18T5M7 Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLWW Posted June 1, 2016 #6 Share Posted June 1, 2016 So, I am now breathing a big sigh of relief :) According the Reuters link below, the main French air traffic controllers union has now lifted the threat of the strike: http://www.reuters.com/article/france-union-strike-idUSL8N18T5M7 Jeff Thank you for posting this, that is very good news for us also. I had not heard they were not going to strike now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pully8 Posted June 2, 2016 #7 Share Posted June 2, 2016 enjoy France and your river cruise. we especially liked Normandy last spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrkstl Posted June 2, 2016 #8 Share Posted June 2, 2016 enjoy France and your river cruise. we especially liked Normandy last spring. Thank you! We are looking forward to experiencing the Bordeaux region! Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annadrc Posted June 2, 2016 #9 Share Posted June 2, 2016 (edited) http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-politics-protests-idUSKCN0YO0RYThis article says that French airline pilots are striking June 11-14--right when we are supposed to be on AirFrance to end up in Moscow for our cruise. I'm trying not to freak out. Edited June 2, 2016 by annadrc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare notamermaid Posted June 11, 2016 #10 Share Posted June 11, 2016 The latest news on the strike: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36506035 notamermaid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brittany C Posted June 11, 2016 #11 Share Posted June 11, 2016 One of our editors just returned from a Viking cruise through the South of France -- she left right as the strikes were announced. This is what she had to say: Just Back from Viking Buri: Cruising During the French Labor Strikes. Safe Travels! ~Brittany Chrusciel, Associate Editor, Cruise Critic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capriccio Posted June 11, 2016 #12 Share Posted June 11, 2016 (edited) One of our editors just returned from a Viking cruise through the South of France -- she left right as the strikes were announced. This is what she had to say: Just Back from Viking Buri: Cruising During the French Labor Strikes. Safe Travels! ~Brittany Chrusciel, Associate Editor, Cruise Critic We were in France from May 21 to June 5, on a Seine river cruise the first week and a Rhone river cruise the second week. As soon as the Seine cruise began our cruise director and various tour guides discussed the long lines at French gas stations attributing it to intentional slow downs in petrol delivery to protest new labor regulations and consumers' panicked reactions. There was fear that the buses might have trouble getting petrol but that never happened. Instead on the day we were to travel from Caudebec-en-Caux to Honfleur some group (I can't remember who) conducted an unannounced blockage of the 3 bridges over the Seine in western Normandy during the morning rush hour. The only 'open' bridge was in Caudebec-en-Caux and since we were moored in the town we could see the traffic (lots of trucks especially trying to get thru town) at a dead stop while up on the bridge we needed to cross (the only one of the three open) traffic was crawling. Our local bus drivers saved the day. They parked heading away from the bridge and then drove us through the countryside north of town and made an approach to the bridge from a much less trafficked route. We got over the bridge, slowed down and stopped for 30 seconds to let one of tour guides who had parked by the side of the road hop on and we were off through the Norman countryside on country roads some of the guides had never been on. It was absolutely beautiful and the ride ended up taking only 15 minutes longer than planned. As predicted by our guides and cruise director, once the morning rush hour was over the protesters disbanded and we were able to take a more direct route back in the afternoon. On the Rhone cruise many were worried about Air France and air traffic controller strikes but nothing came of those. Unfortunately the strikes and, even more frequently, threats thereof are a fact of life in France (and other countries in Europe to a lesser extent). Edited June 11, 2016 by capriccio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrkstl Posted June 11, 2016 #13 Share Posted June 11, 2016 Just landed in the states a few moments ago (currently at DTW awaiting flight home) from Paris via Air France. Our connecting flight from Bordeaux to Paris via Air France flew this morning as well. I gather there have been cancellations, but according to the Air France app, about 90% of flights are fine. Side note - kudos to Viking Air as those passengers that had canceled flights today were rerouted by them, and all seemed well. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPT Trips Posted June 12, 2016 #14 Share Posted June 12, 2016 We were in France from May 21 to June 5, on a Seine river cruise the first week and a Rhone river cruise the second week. As soon as the Seine cruise began our cruise director and various tour guides discussed the long lines at French gas stations attributing it to intentional slow downs in petrol delivery to protest new labor regulations and consumers' panicked reactions. There was fear that the buses might have trouble getting petrol but that never happened. Instead on the day we were to travel from Caudebec-en-Caux to Honfleur some group (I can't remember who) conducted an unannounced blockage of the 3 bridges over the Seine in western Normandy during the morning rush hour. The only 'open' bridge was in Caudebec-en-Caux and since we were moored in the town we could see the traffic (lots of trucks especially trying to get thru town) at a dead stop while up on the bridge we needed to cross (the only one of the three open) traffic was crawling. Our local bus drivers saved the day. They parked heading away from the bridge and then drove us through the countryside north of town and made an approach to the bridge from a much less trafficked route. We got over the bridge, slowed down and stopped for 30 seconds to let one of tour guides who had parked by the side of the road hop on and we were off through the Norman countryside on country roads some of the guides had never been on. It was absolutely beautiful and the ride ended up taking only 15 minutes longer than planned. As predicted by our guides and cruise director, once the morning rush hour was over the protesters disbanded and we were able to take a more direct route back in the afternoon. On the Rhone cruise many were worried about Air France and air traffic controller strikes but nothing came of those. Unfortunately the strikes and, even more frequently, threats thereof are a fact of life in France (and other countries in Europe to a lesser extent). Sounds like an infamous "59 minute strike." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xmaser Posted June 12, 2016 #15 Share Posted June 12, 2016 Transatlantic flights seem to always be least affected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbncsuvet Posted June 15, 2016 #16 Share Posted June 15, 2016 Unfortunately, it seems like strikes in France are cyclical and always on-going. We were there from May 25 through June 7 and experienced strikes at gas stations, rail strikes, and airport employee strikes. We were most impacted by the rail strikes as our TGV was canceled and we had to re-book on another train. The train was packed with a lot of people standing for 3 hours straight due to train cancellations. On the day we flew home, the airport workers were striking and would not allow any cars into the airport to drop passengers off. Luckily, our hotel was on the CDG tram so we took that straight into the airport but I am sure people missed their flights that day. The good news for air traffic control and pilot strikes is that they usually shift personnel so that international flights are not affected. After this visit, my best advice is to be flexible with all travel in France and to allow extra time. Also, always check train and flight status ahead of time. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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