Would a Longshoremen's strike affect cruise ships?

[farjar]

With a Longshoremen's strike possible on Oct. 1, would cruise ships be affected or only cargo vessels?  We're concerned about what may happen to an upcoming trip.  Thanks

[julia]

Most probably yes... what port are you talking about? If this were to happen, I would pack smaller luggage and carry it on the ship.  

[johnlcruise]

What port?

[farjar]

11 minutes ago, johnlcruise said:

What port?

Boston and Ft. Lauderdale

[1025cruise]

It doesn't appear HAL will be in either of those ports on October 1 so you have nothing to worry about.

[Moriah]

12 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

It doesn't appear HAL will be in either of those ports on October 1 so you have nothing to worry about.

I think the OP means that with a strike STARTING on October 1, it could very well extend to the rest of the month.  I had the same thought.  I am sailing from Boston on Oct. 19.  I never check luggage anyway - I make sure I can carry everything myself - so if that's the only concern, I guess we'll be fine.  However, what about food and other supplies - if these cannot be loaded it would cause the cruise to be canceled....

Edited Tuesday at 07:57 PM by Moriah

[Moriah]

I just found this thread, posted yesterday: 

 

[CruiserBruce]

38 minutes ago, farjar said:

Boston and Ft. Lauderdale

So, all the East Coast ports, I gather.

 

Yes, this would definitely affect cruise ships, unless the union made an exception.

[chengkp75]

It would not necessarily be all East Coast ports, it depends on the contracts in those ports, which are different for every port.  Perhaps only Boston and FLL are in dispute.  As noted, everything that travels across the dock is handled by the longshoremen, baggage, food, stores, etc.  Also, the line handlers that tie up and untie the ship are longshoremen.

[cccole]

I may have misunderstood @CruiserBruce in post #8 but the reference to all East Coast ports may refer to ports used by HAL.  Interesting thread.  Cherie

[fox02554]

5 minutes ago, cccole said:

I may have misunderstood @CruiserBruce in post #8 but the reference to all East Coast ports may refer to ports used by HAL.  Interesting thread.  Cherie

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3028352-potential-longshoreman-strike-impact-to-cruise-ships/#comment-67919608

link to post in ALL east coast departures , not any one cruise line 

[chengkp75]

It seems to be a contract negotiation with one port operator, and these typically operate public docks in several ports, so it may be just those ports involving this operator, not all east coast or gulf coast ports.  But, if some of the major ports shut down, it will ripple through the rest of the country, including the west coast ports causing delays.

[Ray4Fun]

 ILA ports. https://ilaunion.org/map/.  After looking I cannot guarantee this is an up to date list

Edited Wednesday at 01:57 PM by Ray4Fun

[fox02554]

we're on the Zuiderdam scheduled to sail out of Botson on the19th of October , hope this is solved quickly 

[ATC]

The Zuiderdam leaves BOS on Oct 5th as well.

[lx200gps]

4 hours ago, Ray4Fun said:

 ILA ports. https://ilaunion.org/map/.  After looking I cannot guarantee this is an up to date list

Interesting if this were true, as it indicates that Port Everglades would not be affected, only Miami.

[chengkp75]

10 minutes ago, lx200gps said:

Interesting if this were true, as it indicates that Port Everglades would not be affected, only Miami.

Local 1526 represents the longshoremen in Port Everglades/Fort Lauderdale, and have since the 1930's.

[lx200gps]

7 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Local 1526 represents the longshoremen in Port Everglades/Fort Lauderdale, and have since the 1930's.

Fair enough, makes perfect sense as the ports are only 100 ft apart ;o), I guess that map is not to be trusted. We're (hopefully) sailing out of PE on October 19, and just having survived a possible airline pilot strike up here I was hoping that this wouldn't affect us.

[FlaMariner]

If there is a strike by the longshoreman......

 

• We always bypass the longshoreman offering to grab our luggage and accept tips.....and carry our "carry on" bags on the ship ourselves...so ok there...
• I've watched them wait around to "drop the lines" and I think I can do that...but would need to jump on the ship fast..that may be difficult
• also, I'd want all the pallets of food, wine (and toilet paper) to be loaded on the ship before I sail

 

So this is a big deal.......glad our ship leaves from Singapore this fall.....

 

Good luck to those sailing soon from whatever the impacted ports........I say the ships should all head to Key West and embark/dis-embark....the locals would be so glad to see/welcome us cruisers....LOL.

 

What a mess....but I bet it gets resolved quickly if it happens......(and I will not bring up politics as that is not allowed)

[Moriah]

6 hours ago, fox02554 said:

we're on the Zuiderdam scheduled to sail out of Botson on the19th of October , hope this is solved quickly 

 

I'm on Zuiderdam on Oct. 19 as well.  Envisioning a quick and fair settlement!!  Really looking forward to Bermuda...

[fox02554]

9 hours ago, Moriah said:

 

I'm on Zuiderdam on Oct. 19 as well.  Envisioning a quick and fair settlement!!  Really looking forward to Bermuda...

Me too and welcome to the roll call , I know it's getting a bit intimidating in length 🤪 but great people and great information 

[TRLD]

When the west coast longshoremen went out on strike last year, the cargo side of ports were shutdown, but there was little to no impact on cruise ship operations. I would expect the same for the east coast. 

[ontheweb]

17 hours ago, fox02554 said:

we're on the Zuiderdam scheduled to sail out of Botson on the19th of October , hope this is solved quickly 

These types of situations rarely if ever get solved quickly. When it comes down to the pressures of the last minute, then they either get solved or sometimes a strike happens.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, TRLD said:

When the west coast longshoremen went out on strike last year, the cargo side of ports were shutdown, but there was little to no impact on cruise ship operations. I would expect the same for the east coast. 

Who loaded the food and other provisions on the cruise ships in that situation?

[chengkp75]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

Who loaded the food and other provisions on the cruise ships in that situation?

I believe the longshoremen decided not to take industrial action against the cruise terminal operators, so they continued to work those ships.  Just goes to show how valuable these cruise ship jobs are (high paying, easy work) to the highly paid longshoremen.