Well, This is Odd........

[sail7seas]

:confused: I'm looking at The Americas Brochure 2011 - 2012 and itineraries do not give times arriving or departing from various ports. How is it no one has yet commented about this?

 

One itinerary I'm looking at says "San Juan, Puerto Rico", Half Day and evening....... well that's nice. How about sharing a bit about this vacation we're buying? Would be oh so useful to know what time the ship is scheduled to arrive and depart. No???

 

While we never book independent tours in advance, many people do. Sure doesn't make planning convenient. :rolleyes:

 

I give this new idea a profound thumbs down.

[rafinmd]

:mad: Cunard pioneered this "enhancement" several months ago and it is absolutely a step in the wrong direction.

 

Roy

[sail7seas]

....for the 'convenience of their guests'? ;)

 

Some itineraries we book by time departing from such ports as San Juan. We love that port in the evening and want to know if the ship leaves late enough for us to go ashore for dinner and not have to worry about early departure? It isn't possible to plan with this new 'guess what it is you are buying' structure.

 

This is really over the top IMO They expect us to purchase a cruise but keep us guessing what we are buying.

 

How is it no one has yet commented? :confused:

 

[rafinmd]

One other thing that was noted on the Cunard forum: Often the information is available on the port web sites, so the cruise line not providing it is IMHO quite stupid.

 

Roy

[sail7seas]

One other thing that was noted on the Cunard forum: Often the information is available on the port web sites, so the cruise line not providing it is IMHO quite stupid.

 

Roy

 

Excellent point. Thanks for mentioning it.

Of course, we know some of those sites are not particularly accurate but at least it's a guide. If we go to all three of the most well known, it's a pretty fair guess that is arrival and departure time.

 

It feels so disrespectful to their 'guests' to not provide such vital information. Did they think we'd not notice or care?

Maybe next year's brochure will make us guess which ship we're booking??? :rolleyes:

[Spinner2]

Perhaps this is all because of SHEEPLEDAM. The kind folks at HAL, having read that thread here last summer, prefer to tell us in person what the port hours are, lest some of us get the All Aboard time and the Port Hours times confused.

 

Those of you who don't know about the Sheepledam thread can just move on by; it's too complicated to explain again. But some of us had a good laugh (hi, Joanie) so I thought I'd bring up the possibility on this day when (pick one) you either have way too much to do OR don't have anything left to do in preparation for an upcoming holiday that many of us will celebrate.

 

Insert multiple smiley faces here; all of this is suggested in the greatest spirit of levity and good humor. :p:p:p

[sail7seas]

Laffnvegas (Lisa) made a good point saying the web site shows the times. I haven't gone there to check.

 

I recall the 'sheepledam' :) and yes, I had time to spend on HAL brochure today. ;) First time I looked at it.

 

 

 

[Mary Ellen]

Excellent point. Thanks for mentioning it.

Of course, we know some of those sites are not particularly accurate but at least it's a guide. If we go to all three of the most well known, it's a pretty fair guess that is arrival and departure time.

I took rafinmd's post to suggest looking at the port web sites. They do list the scheduled arrival/departure times for the ships that are due at their particular port - and often the pier where the ships will be docked. My guess is that you are instead referring to websites of three well-known on-line booking sites.

 

All the HAL brochures we saw while on board this past summer now listed the meaningless port times. :rolleyes:

[wander]

You beat me too it, but they are on the HAL website and have been so for some time. I have been studying them for some time and wanted to check they were still there before I responded.

 

I suspect the brochures are printed way before we get them and some details may not yet be set - like specific port times. As you know, HAL has to work them out with the ports and not just pick times.

[Mary Ellen]

I suspect the brochures are printed way before we get them and some details may not yet be set - like specific port times. As you know, HAL has to work them out with the ports and not just pick times.

This makes sense. We keep seeing here pax wanting cruise itineraries further and further in advance.

[Jemima]

The new "port duration times" aren't very helpful when comparing various cruises in the HAL brochures. Sure I can go to the website and look up the specific cruise itinerary, but that is a nuisance when comparing several cruises/itineraries.

Full day is at or before 10 am to between 3 pm and 7:30. So 7:00 am - 7:30 pm (12 1/2 hrs.) is a full day and 10 am to 3 pm (5 hrs.) is also a full day. The later rules out any real full day excursion, excursions with lots of required to & from time. Big difference.

[sail7seas]

You beat me too it, but they are on the HAL website and have been so for some time. I have been studying them for some time and wanted to check they were still there before I responded.

 

I suspect the brochures are printed way before we get them and some details may not yet be set - like specific port times. As you know, HAL has to work them out with the ports and not just pick times.

 

 

That makes sense.

I was looking at cruises for 10-11 months from now which is not 'that' far out considering which ship. For some ships, (Maasdam for example) in order for us to get the cabin we like, we have to book at least this far ahead.

 

Just a nuisance to have to go from brochure to web site for a number of different cruises to make our choices.

 

As long as the info is available, at least we can get it but it makes more work for us which seems unnecessary IMO

 

 

MaryEllen, Yes. I was referring to the 'three' sites many of us use to see which other ships will be in a given port together.

 

 

 

The new "port duration times" aren't very helpful when comparing various cruises in the HAL brochures. Sure I can go to the website and look up the specific cruise itinerary, but that is a nuisance when comparing several cruises/itineraries.

Full day is at or before 10 am to between 3 pm and 7:30. So 7:00 am - 7:30 pm (12 1/2 hrs.) is a full day and 10 am to 3 pm (5 hrs.) is also a full day. The later rules out any real full day excursion, excursions with lots of required to & from time. Big difference.

 

 

 

Yes. Big difference.

[CanSail]

:confused: I'm looking at The Americas Brochure 2011 - 2012 and itineraries do not give times arriving or departing from various ports. How is it no one has yet commented about this?

 

One itinerary I'm looking at says "San Juan, Puerto Rico", Half Day and evening....... well that's nice. How about sharing a bit about this vacation we're buying? Would be oh so useful to know what time the ship is scheduled to arrive and depart. No???

 

While we never book independent tours in advance, many people do. Sure doesn't make planning convenient. :rolleyes:

 

I give this new idea a profound thumbs down.

 

When looking at The Americas Brochure 2011 - 2012 itineraries not showing set times refer the reader to page 127 for definitions of port duration times...

 

Page 127

Example: Half Day and Evening - Arrival Definition - Arrival after 10 am.

Departure Definition - Departure at or after 8 pm but before

daylight the next day.

 

While it is yes frustrating not to know the actual times of arrival and departure when looking at this brochure, the definitions of port durations times does let the consumer know what hours the ship is expected to be docked in port. If after reading the definitions of port times on page 127, the reader will then need to go to the Hal website for actual times or call Hal.

 

Hope that helps Sail, I as well wish that the time was stated with each cruise listing in this brochure.

 

Happy Holidays.

CanSail

[Mary Ellen]

MaryEllen, Yes. I was referring to the 'three' sites many of us use to see which other ships will be in a given port together.

That is why I prefer to use the websites for the specific ports. I've found them to more accurate than others - or even HAL. As an example, the port of Monaco website had our ship docking. Seattle stuck with we were tendering. We docked.

[Taxguy77]

That is why I prefer to use the websites for the specific ports. I've found them to more accurate than others - or even HAL. As an example, the port of Monaco website had our ship docking. Seattle stuck with we were tendering. We docked.

 

On our cruise, on 3 out of 6 ports, the information given over the loudspeaker on board was WRONG. The other 3 were easy access by foot.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I didn't know about this since we don't have any brochures.

I just check HAL's site for cruises.

[iceman93]

It feels so disrespectful to their 'guests' to not provide such vital information. Did they think we'd not notice or care?

 

Yes, that's it exactly. I, and I suspect 99% of the passengers out there, don't care about the exact arrival and departure times at each port. Calling this "vital information" is a bit over the top, don't you think?

[sail7seas]

:shrug: It matters to me whether we would leave San Juan at 5 P.M. vs. 11 P.M. as HAL often does.

I would choose one cruise over another just to have the later departure from that port.

 

 

[bob brown]

I am not saying this is in fact the case...but perhaps it is intentionally ambiguous in order to afford HAL easier flexbility to make changes in times and/or itiineraries that might be advantageous to them down the line?

Not 'setting the times in stone' would allow them to make changes and perhaps not annoy those affected as much?

[mcduck]

Put us in the 1% catagory. We specificaly picked our HAL Panama cruise over a Princess cruise because of the port times. Princess had very short port times at two ports we were very interested in while HAL was in port all day at those two ports.

[m steve]

arrived at 1 pm and left at 11 pm on to St. Thomas which is very close. We booked a table in San Juan for dinner but cancelled as they were doing the dine w/ the chef that night and we really enjoy that.