Passengers due to fly from the U.K. to Barbados tomorrow to join Princess Cruises' Sea Princess are being advised to wait until later today for information; the next air traffic (NATS) update is due at 2:30 p.m. BST. All other Princess ships are operating as normal. Cunard is unaffected as both ships are mid-cruise. P&O Cruises is unaffected as no fly-cruises are operating, although passengers travelling to Southampton from around the U.K. will need to use road or rail rather than domestic flights to reach Southampton for this weekend's departures on Artemis, Oceana and Oriana. Ocean Village has been one of the worst affected. The April 15 'Groves and Gondolas' cruise from Heraklion, due to depart yesterday, has been cancelled. Passengers who had booked a 14-night cruise are being offered a seven-night cruise departing next Thursday with the appropriate refund, or a full refund. Those that had made it out to Crete will be taken to hotels while Ocean Village works with airlines to organise onward flights when the airspace reopens. A special hotline has been set up for passengers sailing on any of the above cruise lines who are affected by the current travel disruption: 0845 351 0350.
Fred. Olsen tells us that it is doing all it can to get passengers out to board Braemar in the Caribbean. Passengers who had been due to fly from Manchester yesterday are now being taken to Glasgow Airport in the hope aircraft can take off.A spokesperson for Fred. Olsen told Cruise Critic this morning that Braemar is expected to depart Barbados late tonight. As a result, the first port of call, Castries, has been cancelled, and instead the ship will now head straight to Roseau, Dominica to arrive there on schedule the following day.
Yesterday we reported that Thomson Cruises' Thomson Celebration would be delaying its Red Sea itinerary in Sharm el Sheikh in the hope of getting passengers out to the ship today. Thomson has now said the ship will depart Sharm el Sheikh this afternoon and head to Port Soknha, as some passengers due to cruise made it out of the UK before the airports closed yesterday morning.Disembarking passengers who had been due to fly home from Sharm el Sheikh are either staying a hotel until flight restrictions are lifted, or remaining onboard the ship.
A spokesperson tells us that if restrictions are lifted when the ship is close to Sharm el Sheikh, it will return to the port to disembark the remaining guests before carrying on its cruise.
In a statement, the cruise line said: "In the UK we dispatched special assistance teams to the airports to ensure our customers were kept up to date with the latest information. Our overseas teams have also been working hard to look after those customers who were due to return home."
As we reported last night, a spokesperson for Holland America Line tells us only a handful of guests are impacted. The line has made arrangements (rerouted flights) for approximately 20 air-sea guests; those who booked their own flights have been advised to keep in contact with the line, which will hold ships if possible. A spokeswoman for Crystal Cruises tells us Crystal Serenity will turn around on Saturday in Civitavecchia, for Rome, and that air-sea guests routed through London are protected on other flights in the event that the airport does not reopen. Viking River Cruises tell us they have been in touch with those scheduled to sail Saturday and Sunday. They are continuing to monitor the situation and will have customer service representatives available this weekend. If conditions do not improve by early Saturday, passengers will be advised against travel and will either be rebooked or will receive credit for a future sailing. Connections Elegant World Cruises, which sells Uniworld river sailings in the U.K., tells us that two itineraries have been affected -- a 15-day "Eastern European Explorer" voyage and an 11-day "Lisbon and the Beautiful Douro" voyage. The company has been in touch with all affected passengers and is currently assisting them in making other arrangements.
Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises and NCL all have statements on their websites about the disruption and what they are offering passengers. 
April is also the beginning of Europe's river cruise season but at the moment, it's a case of "wait and see." We're waiting for updates from AMAWATERWAYS and Uniworld. A spokeswoman for Avalon told us this morning: "The one departure we have this week is the Avalon Tulip Time due to depart Amsterdam on Sunday on board the Avalon Imagery. I'm told that it will be operating but we are of course waiting for an update from the airlines following advice from the Met Office and NATS when flights are likely to resume.
"In the event that our passengers won't be able to travel we will of course be offering to rebook them on an alternative departure or of course offering a full refund."
We'll keep you posted as more cruise lines announce their contingency plans -- and, of course, when the next NATS announcement is made at 2.30 p.m. BST.
--By Sue Bryant,Cruise Critic Contributing Editor and Kelly Ranson, U.K. Editor
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