stephen@stoneyard.co.uk

It allows them to meet the needs of different customers. 
 

There is a P&O customer who is often retired, books high grade cabins, longer duration cruises, likes to be comfortable, likes quiet, wants to know where they are going to be on the ship (may have mobility requirements), prefers traditional ships dining arrangements, must park with CPS (otherwise their expensive car will be damaged), only cruises P&O (and Cunard) and is not particular concerned by the price.  They are probably Caspian level in the Peninsular Club. Select is for them. 
 

There is a P&O customer who is possibly a working person, books lower grade cabins, shorter duration cruises, does not spend much time in the cabin, likes to be enjoying themselves with activities and entrainment, would consider a cabin next to the disco a convenient location, like a port every day, prefers eat quickly so often uses the buffet and would book MSC if it was cheaper for the same itinerary. They are probably North Sea level in the Peninsular club. Saver is for them. 
 

P&O tries to keep everybody happy.  The problem often arrises when the Select booker goes for the Saver fare. They complain about everything but forget they paid significantly less. I met a couple in an apparently small noisy basic inside cabin who had spent three days lying seasick on the bed. To add to their woes the TV was too small, not a good picture and a poor choice of programmes.  They had booked a last minute cheap deal. Never again on P&O they said. 
 

Best wishes, Stephen 

I much prefer La Spezia to Livorno.  We have taken the train (about 10 mins I remember) to Riomaggiore which is the first of the Cinque Terre villages. They are just wonderful.  Boat trips go from the marina up the same coast

Best wishes, Stephen. . 

On 10/9/2019 at 12:48 PM, emam said:

Info on the Gin distillery

 

https://www.pocruises.com/moments/meet-ionas-exclusive-new-partner

 

 

interesting.  I wonder what the paperwork will be like moving a distillery in and out of different territorial waters.  
 

Best wishes, Stephen. 

18 hours ago, daiB said:

Perhaps I am not explaining it well enough. If the contingency plan says there should be enough hotels to cover problems like this. Well I cannot see that that is true as he ports I have mentioned before could not deal with 500 passengers let alone 1000 in hotel rooms. As with all cases like this there are many different experiences of the same event. Some dealt with it themselves in a different way. As others have said I have never experienced or heard of a similar circumstance in my 18 years of cruising. I use a mobility scooter and have tendered on a number of occasions including Monaco twice.  I suspect I may think twice or thrice before I tendered again. In my next 12 cruises here is only one tender port so missing it will be only a minor inconvenience.

I am not commenting about 500 versus 1000 rooms, the ports you mentioned or the difficulty in tendering with a scooter. I have no experience of these matters.  I will take your word on these points. There is no need to explain them further for me.  Thank you, Stephen. 

3 hours ago, daiB said:

Did he say that was the plan for this port or all ports for if the latter it does not hold water.

I am only guessing but I would thought the port agent would have a plan for all ships that use their port. They have local knowledge, contacts and staff on the ground. 
 

Best wishes, Stephen. 

I have done one cruise with MSC and several with P and O.  I cannot think of one thing I preferred about MSC.  I did not dislike MSC though.  

To me they are like NCL, nothing bad but just not that good.  MSC are very US and or international. This apparently is part of a plan for world domination (of the cruise business).  I was hoping for a more Italian experience.  I have enjoyed French and Spanish cruise lines in the past. MSC will match status with other cruise lines and hotel Loyalty schemes which is a plus. 

With a non UK based line I am always tempted to book with an agent. They can deal with the language difficulties with head office. I learnt this with Ponant. There UK phone number goes to Marseille and I had to ring several times until I got by chance a superb English speaker. 

Best wishes, Stephen. 
 

I did a dark blue suit last cruise on Oriana.  I went with a light blue shirt. I really like blue.
 

When I go for the traditional dinner jacket then I do keep with the traditional white formal shirt. 
 

Best wishes, Stephen.  

5 hours ago, vsgnorwich said:

At the Q&A session with some of the affected passengers and in the letter that was placed in the cabin of those affected, the Captain "wished to apologise for the disruption you suffered during our call in Monte Carlo". At the meeting they defended the decision to anchor and tender, by the weather and sea forecast being good. As detailed in the review, the Captain also volunteered that 3 years ago he had warned P&O / Carnival not to tender during the yacht show and also 2 weeks before, they had tried to secure tender facilities at Villefranche, but were unable to do so. 

The tone on the ship following the event was mixed, there were many passengers who were extremely angry and tearful (some reporting recurrent nightmares and extreme emotional distress); others who were very accepting; some a mixture of both; there were many unaffected passengers who had no idea of what we had gone through and were horrified at the stories and photo evidence; others that were cross at the press coverage, either thinking it was exaggerated and others thinking it was underplayed. There were also a large number of affected passengers who took many days to recover from the ordeal either due to sleep deprivation, fatigue, musculoskeletal problems or emotional distress, so had most of the 2nd week of their cruise wiped out.

Our evaluation of these varied reactions leads us to believe that it depended on: 

1. The physical condition of passengers prior to the event

2. Whether this was your first cruise or not

3. The exact individual experience e.g. if you had been one of the excursion returners at 5pm who had been told by the Intercontinental man not to join the queue, but to seek shelter and facilities in the commercial centre, or if you had queued from 1.30; if you been one of the unlucky people in the 2 horrendous priority tenders and suffered a traumatic hour being thrown around in a tender in the pitch black, with  those around you screaming, vomiting and having panic attacks, whilst being trapped by all the wheelchairs, scooters and buggies in the exits; if you had managed to get a blanket, stretcher, camp bed, food or had to lay on the cold, concrete floor on top of a flattened biscuit box etc etc.

 

Re back home, as detailed in the review we received a hamper, with a compliments slip stating "a warm welcome home from all to enjoy from P&O cruises". There was no accompanying apology. The response to date to our complaint letter thanked us for our email and "I have taken note of your comments and have passed them on to our guest relations team, who will respond within 28 days.....I would also like to thank you for taking the time to share your feedback". I personally feel, that given the severe nature of this event and the hundreds of affected passengers, that P&O would already have allocated dedicated staff to address the complaints that would be coming in on an urgent basis, rather than the standard acknowledgement and response time.

 

Very lacklustre response from the shore office considering the situation in your complaint. I suppose you have to give the 28 days for a full response but it does not bode well. 
 

Best wishes, Stephen. 

27 minutes ago, vsgnorwich said:

Thank you Stephen and others for your pertinent comments. It was a horrendous experience

A horrendous experience. To think I worry about if I get one cabin service or two in a day. It really puts it in perspective. You should not have had that experience but I do hope your complaint to P&O is resolved satisfactorily. 

This situation caused a significant distress to passengers and crew. It seems to me that P&O could reasonably be questioned  about

The decision to schedule Monaco as a port when it was likely to be a tender port with a reputation for bad weather. 
 

The decision to tender on the day depending on the local weather forecast. 
 

The safety of allowing passengers to tender who may not have complete d the step test. 

The  safety of the crew member who fell in the sea. That could have been a real tragedy. 

The decision to tender some passengers back to the ship. Uncomfortable seems an understatement. 
 

The failure to look after stranded passengers adequately. Food, water, accommodation, information, shade, toilets and money may have been lacking. Also expecting passenger to stand for an extended period. Presumable P&O had a port agent, Monaco is well developed and connected to the rest of Europe. 

The level of compensation offered to affected passengers. Some feel this is less than generous. It is entirely under the control of Carnival UK, not dependant on the weather, not dependant on local facilities in Monaco and does not have to be paid In an emergency. It is the one part of this that is entirely in their control. 
 

Best wishes, Stephen. 

Remarks about read the contract and you give up your legal rights might not be entirely true. 

I believe this was a a European Cruise for which European passenger may have Package Tour protection. The operator must deliver substantially the advertised holiday. They cannot use the outside our control excuse. They cannot rely on restrictive terms in the contract. Basically provide what people paid for or compensate the appropriately and proportionately. 
 

For example from the Association on British Travel Agents.

’Legal protection means your travel company is responsible for making sure that you get the holiday you paid for.’

All this is subject to interpretation and I am know legal expert. It may be for the courts to rule particularly as the weather was a factor. 

These regulations can about because holiday companies were sending passengers to hotels that were not built or were ridiculously different to the brochure descriptions. The industry has itself to blame for these regulations. 
 

Best wishes, Stephen. 

Perhaps somebody opened a door to a hidden midships staircase. It made the ship unstable and the swimming pool emptied. The water flooded down the said staircase. 

Best wishes, Stephen. 

55 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

If you didnt cruise on cruise lines that were economical with the truth on where the ship actually docks compared to what they advertise you wouldnt do many cruises.

If cruise lines had to be totally truthful with perspective passengers about anything then they would be in trouble. How many brochures show pictures of suites predominately when there are only two per ship. How many brochures show passengers working down empty corridors. 

To to be fair sometimes travel agents rewrite cruise line information. Late afternoon day one to early morning day two becomes two days. This may not be intentional but the cruise line should take responsibility for how agents sell their cruises. 

A travel agent for years sent brochures explaining traditional dining on a British budget cruise line using photographs taken in the QE2 Queens Grill.  Tableside flambé is certainly not a feature of this good value line. 

Best wishes, Stephen. 

Enjoy your cruise. I hope you have good weather. 

Best wishes, Stephen. 

On 9/11/2019 at 8:28 PM, Lanky Lad said:

On the same basic subject, is there anything to do in Ijmuiden?

Port shuttle buses are not used. Within easy walking (for me) of the cruise terminal building is a beach and marina. There are also a few quite basic shops, bars and restaurants. Probably better in the summer. There is the Bunker  Museum which is about the defences built in the 1940s. As I discovered it closes on Mondays. Oddly there is a red telephone box. 

There may may be more but I did not find it. It was a warm day for my visit so I sat on the beach and read my book and had a coffee in one of the beach bars. It was very quiet which made a nice break from my Marella 1990s music themed cruise. I do not know if they do this for every cruise but there were sniffer dogs at the gangway for passengers returning to the ship. 

I quite enjoyed the port as a quiet place to relax without the hassle of ports in big cities. A nice beach day for me just not St Tropez. 

Best wishes, Stephen. 

23 hours ago, daiB said:

I use a scooter and don’t find Britannia’s lifts that bad, no worse than Azura/Ventura especially at the stern when going to dinner where Azura/Ventura have a bar on deck 18 and Britannia doesn’t.

 

Looking at the deck plans Iona will have three sets of stairs and 22 lifts. 8 at the bow end 8 in the middle and 6 at the stern.

Three stairs and twenty two lifts should be enough.  I like to use the stairs but are sometimes tempted in by a lift. 

Than you, Stephen. 

8 hours ago, Showingthatgame said:

My take on Iona is that it is aimed towards a different demographic than the usual P&O clientele. Gearing it towards younger generations with the focus on food and freedom of times should help towards its space management. 

 

The millennial generation (of which I am a part of) prefer less human interaction. Yes Ionas public space is lower per passenger but I feel that a lot of passengers are going to be spending more time in their rooms. There doesn't actually seem to be that many interior rooms and with the layout of rooms on the exterior I am far more inclined to spend time in the room rather than the room I was in on Azura. 

 

The Quays variety of food offerings should absorb a fair few passengers as P&O is now indicating that these are included in the price. The atrium seems huge with no shops around its edge like on the other ships so the capacity of that space should be significant. Freedom dining should ensure that passengers aren't all in the same place at once. 

 

The skydome should help disperse crowds due to it being evening entertainment on a higher deck (avoiding that strange occurance on Azura where everyone on the ship swaps ends). However this is all from studying deck plans so it will be interesting to see how Iona is when I'm on it in June.

An interesting and valuable perspective. They may be intending this ship for younger passengers who behave differently. Who will book it and what they will want to do onboard is a different matter.  

Industry research  I was shown suggested that cruise lines have had limited success attracting new passengers to new ships. They tend to get the same passengers doing more cruises.  Often attracted by significant discounts. In the UK the average age of a cruiser has not changed much since these mega sized new style ships have been introduced. 

Interesting idea that they will spend more time in their cabin. That is not what the cruise lines have traditionally wanted. You can spend money in your cabin but generally not as much as elsewhere on the ship. Also Iona cabins are generally quite small. 

I am looking forward to trying Iona. My only other big ships are QM2, Symphony of the Seas and MSC Bellisima. QM2 is of course unique.  Symphony I thought worked amazing well. MSC was just so so.   

I am on an early Iona cruise (if she is delivered on time). I am feeling it will be  absolutely wonderful or totally dreadful. The difference will possibly be down to how well P&O manage all these people and the ship itself. 

Thank,you, Stephen. 

Iona does seem to be less spacious than QM2. I would guess nobody would build a ship as spacious as Queen Mary 2 today. 

Queen Mary 2 has big cabins but of course you only have access to your own. Double, triple and nearly quadruple height spaces take up space.  There are many single occupants of double cabins and often many not triples and quadruples. I have cruised with just over 2000 passengers. She felt empty in places. Cunard prices often reflect this spaciousness. I feel Queen Mary 2 does have a few pinch points though that can mean congestion.  This is particularly apparent with all those sea days. 

Iona will have generally smaller cabins. A lot of space seems dedicated to extra tariff dining.  She lacks a ballroom too.I suppose it is up to the designers to make the most of the space they have. We shall all see. I am booked on the second come voyage. It will be interesting. We are in port most days so the ship should be almost empty.

My only hope is that Iona does not have the lift and stairs shortage that people report on Britannia. 

Best wishes, Stephen. 

9 hours ago, wowzz said:

I am always bemused by people who want a table for two at peak times and then moan when they find that they have to wait!

Perhaps it is in the name Freedom. It creates a false expectation. It could be renamed Wait For dining.

Best wishes, Stephen. 

HIt does seem you had many similar problems to me in the main dining room. Lack of staff and perhaps poorly trained staff. I also thought that some of the menu descriptions were a bit over the top for what was served. 

It is a shame as it would put me off cruising with Marella next year. 

Best wishes, Stephen. 

38 minutes ago, dronnygirl said:

Thanks for this Stephen, very interesting. I wonder if there had been a staff change? Not that this should be an excuse for poor service.  I must admit I personally  wouldn't choose this type of cruise. We are on Explorer 2 shortly so hope things are better then.

I did wonder but staff change all the time on ships. After the evening I thought it was perhaps just a bad day for them. I hope you are fine on Explorer 2.  I cannot imagine it is like that across the rest of the fleet when everything else was really good. 

Best wishes, Stephen. 

Just returned from Electric Sunsets the 1990s Music themed short cruise from Newcastle. I thought it was a very good cruise with one very big exception for me. I have cruised more time than I can remember on possibly a dozen different lines but only once with Thomson as it then was. Here is my mini review it is purely my personal perspective

THE SHIP. I thought the Explorer was wonderful and a massive step up from my previous cruise on Celebration.  Light, modern, comfortable, spacious and luxurious. I had single occupancy of four berth cabin on five decks was very pleasant. My only criticism would be because the upper births folded against the wall rather than in the ceiling they impinged on the cabin space.  Throughout the ship maintenance and cleanliness seemed second to none. 

SERVICE. With one exception I thought the service was very good.  I really do not think it could have been improved. I do not think the ship was full so I think that might have helped the crew. 

BUFFET.  The best shipboard buffet experience I have had in years. After the first meal I usually avoid the buffet but on this ship I went back for every breakfast and lunch. I found a wide choice, fresh and nicely presented food.  Tables were cleared quickly also and always seemed available. 

MAIN DINING ROOM. Sorry but my worst dining experience I have had on a ship ever.  The food was nice enough and some of it was very good but the service was poor. 

On the first night the restaurant was almost empty and our party was shown to a table of eight as requested. We were given menus for the wrong day. Mistakes happen but our waiter did not apologise and I was left felt I was the cause of his inconvenience. Throughout the meal the wrong food was delivered to the wrong people in the wrong order with some delays. The waiters did not seem to be coping and would rather we were not bothering them. 

On the third night we queued for a table at Vista to be told it had moved from the sign posted position so we had to queue again at a different entrance. Our table of eight turned out to be two separate tables of four despite at least three tables for eight in a not full restaurant being free. I think they were trying to close some sections. Reluctantly they eventual gave us a table for eight. Bread, wine, olives (one each only) just seemed vey difficult for them. Again the wrong food was given to the wrong people in the wrong order.  I noticed it was an hour from arriving, at a less than full restaurant, before we all had a starter.  Some had finished the starter before others arrived of course. 

By the way on the second night we went to Kora La which I very much enjoyed and could not fault the service or food. 

PASSENGERS. Everybody seemed very friendly and looking to enjoy themselves. I certainly saw no trouble and was not woken by noise in my cabin corridor. People were vaping discreetly in bars and corridors which surprised me but not bothersome. The F word was used as a normal part of speech. It was not offensive just unusual on a cruise. I suppose it was an adults only cruise. Lots of fancy dress including a few nuns.  Call The Midwife will not be quite the same for me again. Compared to my usual cruises the average was decades younger. 

THEME. I must say I had never heard of any of the groups but then the 1990s did pass me by.  Apparently many acts had a fewer members than in they did in the 90s but I do not feel that gives me grounds to ask for a partial refund on my cruise. I have done themed cruise before where only one venue is dedicated to the theme.  You can ignore the theme on those cruises.  This was a whole ship (and embarkation terminal) takeover. I enjoyed it in many ways and just went with it. 

VERDICT.  Would I do another cruise on the ship? Yes. Would I do another Marella cruise? Yes. I hope the main dining room would be better. Would I do another pop music themed cruise? Possibly. 

7 hours ago, Host Sharon said:

It isn't CPS fault but P&O who have brought this in to "minimise delays" with the introduction of Iona. I assume taxis can still drop off at the terminal?

I would imagine CPS, Carnival UK and ABP work together on such matters. 

Best wishes, Stephen. 

If anybody is interested in the covered drop off area at the Ocean Terminal I think you can see it on the ABP Southampton Facebook page. There is a photo of Centura docked with Oriana sailing past. 

Best wishes, Stephen. 

4 hours ago, AndyMichelle said:

In general, if you arrive on time, you will get a green card and called first.

If you arrive early, you get a red card and as soon as the greens have caught up, reds will be called.

This is based on recent visits to Mayflower terminal.

Its a system that works really well in my opinion.

I have had blue at Ocean terminal but think we had priority boarding, we were on by 12.30.

Andy

Thank you.  That explains it.

Best wishes, Stephen.