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Last stop Gibraltar?


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Just been looking at some Med cruises for June and July and the last port of call is Gibraltar for nearly all of them, the two that don't stop there stop at Cartagena and Cadiz. What happened to Vigo or La Corona?

 

That's 3 days back to Southampton, making sure we spend on the ship?

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I believe that a stop in Gibraltar is required in order to allow P&O to sell products at Duty Free prices. I may be wrong but have read something to this effect elsewhere.

Yes, that is the case as Gibraltar is outside the EU duty area. Same for Guernsey, which is why you get lots of ships stopping there. It's not just duty free, as it also means that the shops on board dont have to charge VAT.

Brian

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Just been looking at some Med cruises for June and July and the last port of call is Gibraltar for nearly all of them, the two that don't stop there stop at Cartagena and Cadiz. What happened to Vigo or La Corona?

 

That's 3 days back to Southampton, making sure we spend on the ship?

 

All Med cruises where Gibraltar is the last port of call it is then followed by 2 full days at sea before arrival into Southampton which has always been the case so your facts and theory is wrong.

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All Med cruises where Gibraltar is the last port of call it is then followed by 2 full days at sea before arrival into Southampton which has always been the case so your facts and theory is wrong.

I think what the OP was alluding to is the lack of ports on a typical 14 day P&O cruise, 7 at the most and sometimes only 6. Compare this to Royal Caribbean who almost always have 8 ports and sometimes even 9. On our Canaries cruise this Sept there are 9, a similar itinerary on P&O has only 6.

Not sure why this is but it sure does make the RCI cruise seem better value.

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It will be interesting to see if the pattern of cruise port visits change post Brexit. It could well hit places like Gib or Guernsey as there are nicer ports to visit and the advantage they have now may be lost.

There are far more interesting ports than Civitavecchia and Livorno once you have had your fill of Rome and Florence, but that does not stop a heck of a lot of cruises stopping there.

Incidentally does anyone know if the need to visit ports like Gib. to avoid on board VAT charges is purely an EU rule or would it still apply to avoid UK VAT?

Of course it could change if Spain annex Gibraltar.

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All Med cruises where Gibraltar is the last port of call it is then followed by 2 full days at sea before arrival into Southampton which has always been the case so your facts and theory is wrong.
Perhaps theyve decided to go back the pretty way this time,lol.
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The lack of ports is due to all that distance to and from Southampton. If you fly cruise it is port intensive with up to 11 ports on a 14 nighter depending on the cruiseline.

 

Has the number of sea days increased because the ships have been slowed to save fuel costs?

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The lack of ports is due to all that distance to and from Southampton. If you fly cruise it is port intensive with up to 11 ports on a 14 nighter depending on the cruiseline.

 

Has the number of sea days increased because the ships have been slowed to save fuel costs?

If so does that imply RCI ships are more economic, or is RCI just more customer orientated?

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I think what the OP was alluding to is the lack of ports on a typical 14 day P&O cruise, 7 at the most and sometimes only 6. Compare this to Royal Caribbean who almost always have 8 ports and sometimes even 9. On our Canaries cruise this Sept there are 9, a similar itinerary on P&O has only 6.

Not sure why this is but it sure does make the RCI cruise seem better value.

 

Lack of ports was indeed what I was alluding to.

 

I should have said two and a half days as Gibraltar is usually a half day.

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I think what the OP was alluding to is the lack of ports on a typical 14 day P&O cruise, 7 at the most and sometimes only 6. Compare this to Royal Caribbean who almost always have 8 ports and sometimes even 9. On our Canaries cruise this Sept there are 9, a similar itinerary on P&O has only 6.

 

Not sure why this is but it sure does make the RCI cruise seem better value.

 

 

That's why I go with P&O 9 ports is far too many.

 

 

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The lack of ports is due to all that distance to and from Southampton. If you fly cruise it is port intensive with up to 11 ports on a 14 nighter depending on the cruiseline.

 

Has the number of sea days increased because the ships have been slowed to save fuel costs?

 

 

Dave that finished within 9 month of the dictate from Carnival. It was only in existence about a short time when oil went through the roof.

 

 

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There are far more interesting ports than Civitavecchia and Livorno once you have had your fill of Rome and Florence, but that does not stop a heck of a lot of cruises stopping there.

Incidentally does anyone know if the need to visit ports like Gib. to avoid on board VAT charges is purely an EU rule or would it still apply to avoid UK VAT?

Of course it could change if Spain annex Gibraltar.

 

 

It is an EU rule. A ship must visit a non EU country. Or a part of an EU country with special tax status e.g. The Canaries.

 

When Brexit happens the need to visit Gib will go.

 

 

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If so does that imply RCI ships are more economic, or is RCI just more customer orientated?

 

 

No they just don't travel as far.

 

You can have ports or distance you cannot have both.

 

 

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It is an EU rule. A ship must visit a non EU country. Or a part of an EU country with special tax status e.g. The Canaries.

 

When Brexit happens the need to visit Gib will go.

 

 

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Maybe post 2019 Gib will be the only place we can go ;p

 

Or half a day to clear everyone through immigration :evilsmile:

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No they just don't travel as far.

 

You can have ports or distance you cannot have both.

 

 

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You are wrong again Dai, my RCI Canaries cruise goes via Vigo, Lisbon, Agadir, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Madeira, La Coruna and finally Le Havre.

Now I make that 9 ports and the and the total nautical miles travelled will be the equal of any P&O itinerary to the Canaries.

By the way you could also enjoy quiet sea days by staying on board in some ports, if you prefer them.

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Just been looking at some Med cruises for June and July and the last port of call is Gibraltar for nearly all of them, the two that don't stop there stop at Cartagena and Cadiz. What happened to Vigo or La Corona?

 

 

 

That's 3 days back to Southampton, making sure we spend on the ship?

 

 

 

I would take Cadiz over Vigo any time.

 

 

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You generally find American based cruise lines and those heavily used by Americans are more port intensive because Americans do not like sea days and prefer port intensive cruises. On our up and coming Princess cruise there are 9 ports of call in 14 days and their British Isles cruise that we have done had 9 ports in 12 days but they now do on occasional cruises an overnight in Dublin and drop a port so only 8 ports but still same amount of sea days.

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You generally find American based cruise lines and those heavily used by Americans are more port intensive because Americans do not like sea days and prefer port intensive cruises. On our up and coming Princess cruise there are 9 ports of call in 14 days and their British Isles cruise that we have done had 9 ports in 12 days but they now do on occasional cruises an overnight in Dublin and drop a port so only 8 ports but still same amount of sea days.

 

 

 

We have only 2 sea days on our Celebrity 14 night cruise in June. I think your theory is correct. Perhaps if they are flying over to 'see' Europe they want the see as much as possible.

 

 

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We have only 2 sea days on our Celebrity 14 night cruise in June. I think your theory is correct. Perhaps if they are flying over to 'see' Europe they want the see as much as possible.

 

 

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Bit concerned. I agree with both of you.

 

 

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Has the number of sea days increased because the ships have been slowed to save fuel costs?

 

 

P&O ships do seem to deliberately travel slower than the competitors' ships, namely RCI and Celebrity.

 

RCI frequently do Canary Islands (i.e. Lanzarote) to Northern Spain (i.e. Vigo) in 2 nights, when for P&O it would take 3 nights.

 

RCI and Celebrity also do Southampton to Funchal in 3 nights, when with P&O it takes 4 nights.

 

Celebrity Eclipse also sails from Southampton to Lisbon (and vice versa) in 2 nights whereas P&O take 3 nights for this sector of a journey.

 

Fuel economy is probably a factor, but more likely than not there's a lot of reasons P&O organise itineraries the way they do.

 

On the other hand, I have noticed that RCI occasionally seem to deliberately put sea days onto the itinerary when there is no need for one and the ship could be in port.

 

P&O sometimes do this, for example sailing straight to Madeira instead of to Northern Spain, then onto Madeira (they don't do this as much anymore by the looks of it), or by sailing straight to/from Lisbon instead of stopping off at Vigo/A Coruña/Oporto on the way to/from Lisbon.

 

This is possibly to stop the itineraries being too port intensive. If I was being cynical I would suggest that one reason is to ensure people stay on board, where they will pay for drinks and make the cruise line money.

 

Dan

 

 

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