No car (or anything else) to Carcassonne

[Lottie A]

Thank you very much Bonnie. There will be a lot of happy people onboard if we could visit Carcassonne. Will wait to hear from you.

[Lottie A]

Hi Bonnie,

 

Just wondering if you have any news for us yet about the Port Vendres short time in port. You said you would try to find out for us. Maybe the itinerary planners have thought of a substitute port or hopefully a longer stay at Port Vendres that would allow us to visit Carcassonne?

Many thanks.

[BBMacLaird]

Hi Bonnie,

 

Just wondering if you have any news for us yet about the Port Vendres short time in port. You said you would try to find out for us. Maybe the itinerary planners have thought of a substitute port or hopefully a longer stay at Port Vendres that would allow us to visit Carcassonne?

Many thanks.

 

Hi LottieA, I haven't heard yet. I've just sent off another inquiry.

Thanks for reminding me to f/u on this :)

[Lottie A]

Thanks Bonnie. Much appreciated. Still living in hope that we can all visit wonderful Carcassonne. :)

[Mrs Miggins]

I am afraid it doesn't look very likely as all reference to Carcassonne has now been deleted from the itinerary on the website.

[BBMacLaird]

I'm sorry to report to you that there does not seem to be a way for our ship to arrive earlier or depart later the day you're in Port Vendres, which would allow you enough time to reach Carcassonne. We have had various people look into this.

[laurieb]

Thank you for taking the time and effort! I'm sure we'll all still enjoy our time there

 

 

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[BBMacLaird]

Thank you for taking the time and effort! I'm sure we'll all still enjoy our time there

 

 

 

Thank you laurieb. I hope you have a wonderful time!

[Lottie A]

Thank you for your efforts in looking into this for us Bonnie.

I have to say I'm still very disappointed as I simply cannot understand why any destination planner would take us to Port Vendres with no time to go to Carcassonne. It is a place I have always wanted to visit. Oh well, perhaps a land holiday there is in my future, rather than a fourth Azamara cruise this year!

However, it is settled now, so we will just have to get on with it. I'm sure we will have a good time in nearby Collioure anyway. Thanks again.

[Spursgirl]

Thank you Bonnie for checking although I expected this would be the case.

 

As you said in a previous post Azamara have a new team of itinerary planners and I hope they take note of our disappointment so this won't be repeated in the future.

 

However the final day of our cruse will still be spent in an interesting part of France - I have only been to Perpignan once so may return there

[uktog]

Thank you for your efforts in looking into this for us Bonnie.

I have to say I'm still very disappointed as I simply cannot understand why any destination planner would take us to Port Vendres with no time to go to Carcassonne. It is a place I have always wanted to visit. Oh well, perhaps a land holiday there is in my future, rather than a fourth Azamara cruise this year!

However, it is settled now, so we will just have to get on with it. I'm sure we will have a good time in nearby Collioure anyway. Thanks again.

 

Have to agree looks like much more land based trips for us too so we can address some disappointment with the destination planning and reliability of some of the onshore offerings. As you say we will make the most of Collioure on out cruise also

[Baynanno1]

Not Carcassone, but Hobart, Tasmania February 2018.

 

Bonnie, while on the subject of seemingly impossible Shore Excursions, while a 9 hour tour will work very well on this year's itinerary, arriving in Hobart on Friday 24 February at 6.30pm and departing 6pm the following day, perhaps that particular Shore Excursion should be removed from next years Land Discoveries Brochure, as the ship is due to arrive 1pm Saturday 10 February and depart 2pm Sunday 11 February, which seems to me to make a 9 hour tour non-viable.

 

Trish

[BBMacLaird]

Not Carcassone, but Hobart, Tasmania February 2018.

 

Bonnie, while on the subject of seemingly impossible Shore Excursions, while a 9 hour tour will work very well on this year's itinerary, arriving in Hobart on Friday 24 February at 6.30pm and departing 6pm the following day, perhaps that particular Shore Excursion should be removed from next years Land Discoveries Brochure, as the ship is due to arrive 1pm Saturday 10 February and depart 2pm Sunday 11 February, which seems to me to make a 9 hour tour non-viable.

Trish

 

 

Hi Baynanno1, thank you for catching this. I've passed this suggestion along to our Tour Department. I'm not sure whether they'll choose to shorten the experience or remove tour HB70 altogether. I'll let you know if I hear, though often you (the community) will see the changes before I hear about them!

[Baynanno1]

Hi Baynanno1, thank you for catching this. I've passed this suggestion along to our Tour Department. I'm not sure whether they'll choose to shorten the experience or remove tour HB70 altogether. I'll let you know if I hear, though often you (the community) will see the changes before I hear about them!

 

 

Thanks for the response Bonnie.

Having lived in Hobart for most of my life, the subject of my post jumped out at me as an impossibility given the port times.

 

The description in the Shore Excursions Brochure also neglects to mention the 90 minutes it takes to drive each way between Hobart and Port Arthur. Based on https://www.tasmancruises.com.au/ I would suggest the tour has already been shortened from 10½ to 9 hours, perhaps by a shorter lunch break and / or less time at the Tasmanian Devil Park.

 

Trish

[cpgrneyes]

We have an 8 hour land discoveries available but given it is a tender port and the time to and from Carcassone its not really going to be worth it. I think we will just head to Perpignan

 

We are booked on the ship's excursion to Carcassonne. After reading this thread and others where LD's were cancelled late, I decided to show some interest to the powers that be in Miami and get at least two of us on the trip. It doesn't address the OBC for LD's that I would prefer to use, but I'll worry about that as it gets closer. I don't see a land trip to that part of the world in my future, so this may be our only chance to see Carcassonne.

 

At least if the tour gets cancelled, I have a Plan B for Perpignan or Collioure.

Uktog, look forward to meeting you!

Cheryl

[laurieb]

We are booked on the ship's excursion to Carcassonne. After reading this thread and others where LD's were cancelled late, I decided to show some interest to the powers that be in Miami and get at least two of us on the trip. It doesn't address the OBC for LD's that I would prefer to use, but I'll worry about that as it gets closer. I don't see a land trip to that part of the world in my future, so this may be our only chance to see Carcassonne.

 

At least if the tour gets cancelled, I have a Plan B for Perpignan or Collioure.

 

Cheryl

What Ships excursion to Carcassonne is that? When are you sailing? We don't have one on this sailing

[Lottie A]

Laurie, both the September 16th and September 29th cruises on Journey call at Port Vendres. Luckily for them they have the whole day in port so visiting Carcassonne is a possibility for them.

[laurieb]

Thanks Lottie! Lucky them...

[cpgrneyes]

Lottie and Laurie, sorry AZ couldn't have planned the port better for your cruise. It's going to be a long bus ride for us IF the excursion isn't cancelled, but I feel fortunate to have the option.