Port Arrival and Departure Times

[tring]

I find the lack of info from P&O regards this extremely poor. Even after searching, all I can find is that they consider an evening departure to be after 9pm and the length of time in port for a half day or a full day?

 

Has anyone any idea what P&O consider to be a morning arrival vs an early morning arrival and what they consider to be afternoon and early evening departures. Rough guidance is all I am hoping for and I do realise times can change as we are regular cruisers.

 

At least Fred Olsen define the the times that they consider to be various times of day (e.g. late afternoon) and define them as within certain times.

[tartanexile81]

We weren't happy with Fred's timings either. For example we booked a private tour on a day we were due to arrive "early morning" and it turned out that early morning meant anything up till 10:00 a.m. which in fact it was that day. I never get up early, but even I wouldn't consider that early morning.

 

I find cruisecal.com gives fairly accurate information about the timings and for the life of me I can't understand why Fred and P&O can't do the same. They have to book the berth and pilot for certain times and as with all things they can say this is subject to change.

 

http://www.cruisecal.com/portal/ItineraryLookup/tabid/2918/Default.aspx

[besberry]

http://ships.cruisett.com/ works too

[daiB]

I find the lack of info from P&O regards this extremely poor. Even after searching, all I can find is that they consider an evening departure to be after 9pm and the length of time in port for a half day or a full day?

 

Has anyone any idea what P&O consider to be a morning arrival vs an early morning arrival and what they consider to be afternoon and early evening departures. Rough guidance is all I am hoping for and I do realise times can change as we are regular cruisers.

 

At least Fred Olsen define the the times that they consider to be various times of day (e.g. late afternoon) and define them as within certain times.

 

 

I find some TA web site give information regarding times of arrival and departure.

 

 

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[mondas42]

http://ships.cruisett.com/ works too

 

I normally use this web site too, but it seems not to have been updated since last year. :(

[eddie11]

cruisett doesn't work for me any more

 

There is a very good website designed for crew, called cruise centre or similar, which gives all itineraries and all arrival and departure times. I don't have access to it at the moment, so can't link, but do a google search and you should find it

[Mrs Tinkywinky]

I have used "What's in Port".

I looked up the ports we are going to in the Baltic and each port lists an arrival time and departure for your particular ship.

So " Arrives morning " is approx 9 am -10am.

 

Departs afternoon is approx 5pm

Early morning is about 7 am

Early evening is about 6pm

Couldn't find anything for Tallin and Stockholm but both are early morning , depart afternoon.

Hope this is of some use

[eddie11]

Here's crew center

 

http://crew-center.com/cruise-ship-port-schedules-2017

 

It gives actual times, in most cases

[tartanexile81]

I have used "What's in Port".

I looked up the ports we are going to in the Baltic and each port lists an arrival time and departure for your particular ship.

So " Arrives morning " is approx 9 am -10am.

 

Departs afternoon is approx 5pm

Early morning is about 7 am

Early evening is about 6pm

Couldn't find anything for Tallin and Stockholm but both are early morning , depart afternoon.

Hope this is of some use

 

http://www.cruisecal.com gives you info for every port if you click on Itinerary Look-up. This is a link to the cruise we're doing to the Baltic in June, Mrs Tiggywinkle and it covers all ports

 

http://www.cruisecal.com/portal/ItineraryPrint/tabid/2919/Default.aspx?sailID=CarnUK/B716

[Mrs Tinkywinky]

Here's crew center

 

http://crew-center.com/cruise-ship-port-schedules-2017

 

It gives actual times, in most cases

Thankyou . That works and is easier than going into each port's website

[Mrs Tinkywinky]

www.cruisecal.com gives you info for every port if you click on Itinerary Look-up. This is a link to the cruise we're doing to the Baltic in June, Mrs Tiggywinkle and it covers all ports

 

http://www.cruisecal.com/portal/ItineraryPrint/tabid/2919/Default.aspx?sailID=CarnUK/B716

Thanks . That also works. Easy to look up.

[tartanexile81]

Thanks . That also works. Easy to look up.

 

Sorry for spelling your name wrong Mrs Tinkywinky.

 

The reason I like cruisecal over all the other sites is it's based on your itinerary rather than having to look up each port individually. I find it really useful when I'm planning a cruise

[Mrs Tinkywinky]

Don't worry. It is a made up name on the spur of the moment as I was unable to find a name that wasn't already in use

[Selbourne]

Like others, I fail to see why P&O can't give estimated arrival and departure times, with the disclaimer that they are liable to change. The level of detail currently provided is about as useful as a chocolate fire guard.

[daiB]

Like others, I fail to see why P&O can't give estimated arrival and departure times, with the disclaimer that they are liable to change. The level of detail currently provided is about as useful as a chocolate fire guard.

 

 

The impression I get is that they have had so many complaints when weather or other factors have delayed arrival that they now only give general details.

 

You may have noticed the uproar when ports are changed even months before a cruise.

 

 

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[tring]

Thank you all for those replies I will look into all suggestions. Yes I know Fred is not good either, but at least he gives time ranges otherwise they will not easily give out that info until you read the sheet the night before the port call (I have weedled it out of reception at times though, and even shore tours before embarkation).

 

Thanks for your experiences regards those times Mrs Tinkywinky.

 

I usually look for port authority sites for ports when researching ports, but takes a while to search and sometimes there just does not seem to be anything on a particular port - we do go to some unusual ports though. If that info can be found more easily it is really great, so thanks again to all.

[tartanexile81]

I also think there's an element of discouraging you from booking your own tours, Dai. If you don't know when you'll be arriving it's harder to book tours independently. We've been there and done that with tours and they're not ofr us any more and that's why cruisecal is so good.

[tring]

Like others, I fail to see why P&O can't give estimated arrival and departure times, with the disclaimer that they are liable to change. The level of detail currently provided is about as useful as a chocolate fire guard.

 

I am of the opinion they do not want to make it too easy for people to arrange their own trips in port vs buying their excursions.

 

Sorry did not see #17 before posting this, but I agree.

[Selbourne]

The impression I get is that they have had so many complaints when weather or other factors have delayed arrival that they now only give general details.

 

You may have noticed the uproar when ports are changed even months before a cruise.

 

 

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We must have been lucky, but I dont recall any port where we have arrived late. I think that's probably because the ships go so much slower these days to save fuel and have quite a bit of slack as a result, hence the shorter days in port. I recall our first cruise on Oriana in 1996. We cruised at 25 knots and were in ports from around 7am to 7pm. Nowadays, 15 knots seems to be the norm and if you don't have to be back on board by around 5pm you are lucky!

 

I would say that itinerary changes are a completely different issue, because they can result in a fundamentally different holiday to the one that you have booked. For example, we chose a Fjords cruise on Britannia because it included Flaam and Olden, both very long scenic Fjords. A year in advance, P&O agreed to cancel the port calls at both these locations (in favour of Queen Elizabeth) yet continued to market the cruise as Flaam and Olden until a couple of months before sailing. Yes the booking conditions cover them, but it leaves a very bad taste in the mouth.

 

As I say, I can see no reason why they can't give 'guide' arrival and departure times with a disclaimer. Other cruise lines seem to manage it.

[Selbourne]

I am of the opinion they do not want to make it too easy for people to arrange their own trips in port vs buying their excursions.

 

Sorry did not see #17 before posting this, but I agree.

 

I'm sure that you are both correct. It would be the only logical explanation.

[daiB]

I also think there's an element of discouraging you from booking your own tours, Dai. If you don't know when you'll be arriving it's harder to book tours independently. We've been there and done that with tours and they're not ofr us any more and that's why cruisecal is so good.

 

 

Don't disagree.

 

 

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[tring]

I would say that itinerary changes are a completely different issue, because they can result in a fundamentally different holiday to the one that you have booked. For example, we chose a Fjords cruise on Britannia because it included Flaam and Olden, both very long scenic Fjords. A year in advance, P&O agreed to cancel the port calls at both these locations (in favour of Queen Elizabeth) yet continued to market the cruise as Flaam and Olden until a couple of months before sailing. Yes the booking conditions cover them, but it leaves a very bad taste in the mouth.

 

 

We have done a number of Fred cruises over the last couple of years and have had ports cancelled like that, yet not been told until just before the cruise. Looking at port authority sites we were aware of the changes, but calls to Fred just drew a blank. On one cruise, the Captain even said at the welcome party that Fogo in Cape Verde had been cancelled two months before the cruise and yet passengers were not told until a week before. Interesting that that cruise was selling better than the other similar ones - presumably because of Fogo, which is a very unusual port. They cited the problem as needing a tender - we were told by the shore manager the year before (when on board) that it would be a tender port!

[Florry]

I think it's about the trips because they hardly ever arrive or leave late, and let's face it they don't seem to care about the prospect of complaints when they cancel ports altogether [emoji6]

 

 

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[daiB]

We must have been lucky, but I dont recall any port where we have arrived late. I think that's probably because the ships go so much slower these days to save fuel and have quite a bit of slack as a result, hence the shorter days in port. I recall our first cruise on Oriana in 1996. We cruised at 25 knots and were in ports from around 7am to 7pm. Nowadays, 15 knots seems to be the norm and if you don't have to be back on board by around 5pm you are lucky!

 

 

 

I would say that itinerary changes are a completely different issue, because they can result in a fundamentally different holiday to the one that you have booked. For example, we chose a Fjords cruise on Britannia because it included Flaam and Olden, both very long scenic Fjords. A year in advance, P&O agreed to cancel the port calls at both these locations (in favour of Queen Elizabeth) yet continued to market the cruise as Flaam and Olden until a couple of months before sailing. Yes the booking conditions cover them, but it leaves a very bad taste in the mouth.

 

 

 

As I say, I can see no reason why they can't give 'guide' arrival and departure times with a disclaimer. Other cruise lines seem to manage it.

 

 

The slow running is not quite true either. It was about 4 years ago when oil was high and Carnival told all their companies to slow down. That only lasted a short tome. On Arcadia October last year the usual speed was 19 to 21 for most of the cruise.when they go direct to Funchal they generally cruise at about 15/16 but that is only to arrive at the correct time none of the ships have the speed to get there a full day earlier.

 

After the slowing down happened and then the return to normal I have bee taking note of the speed of the ships I travel on.

 

 

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[daiB]

I think it's about the trips because they hardly ever arrive or leave late, and let's face it they don't seem to care about the prospect of complaints when they cancel ports altogether [emoji6]

 

 

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I think they do care but there is always a very good explanation. Which of course people do not believe. So they are between a rock and a hard place.

 

 

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