Why are P&O no longer docking in Amsterdam

[AndyMichelle]

1 hour ago, No1cherry said:

I am going this week on Friday, hopefully they will have learnt some lessons from the first cruise. I can see Amsterdam being taken of the itineraries altogether. I think I am going to adopt the attitude to go with the flow and see what happens.

Good attitude,

Have a fantastic time.

Andy

[daiB]

2 minutes ago, docco said:

They do if they've spoken to the right people within Carnival, believe me.

Well possibly not everyone believes you. An why should they.

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

I do not know the ins and outs like you Docco, but surely if it was just about saving money, they would have just passed the charge onto the passengers, I doubt many would have objected.

Supplying the coach transfers must cost P&O a few Bob, so there must be other reasons.

Is it more likely that they want to prove a point, that they can still function without the charges?

Either way, I agree that they have handled it poorly.

Andy

 

I agree with you Andy.  I was on A906 and very annoyed about the change.  I sent a complaint about three weeks ago and still have not had a response to it!

 

Personally, my guess is that there was a very big steer from Carnival to its brands to say "let's all stick two fingers up to Amsterdam".

 

It will be very interesting to see if Amsterdam does put a restriction on the coaches, limiting them to 20 pax as mentioned in an earlier post.

[arendale1]

1 hour ago, No1cherry said:

I am going this week on Friday, hopefully they will have learnt some lessons from the first cruise. I can see Amsterdam being taken of the itineraries altogether. I think I am going to adopt the attitude to go with the flow and see what happens.

We’re on the same cruise 🙂

[Addict]

1 hour ago, No1cherry said:

I am going this week on Friday, hopefully they will have learnt some lessons from the first cruise. I can see Amsterdam being taken of the itineraries altogether. I think I am going to adopt the attitude to go with the flow and see what happens.

We're on this same cruise. We are going with same attitude and hope it all works out. We have booked a ship tour for the 6 is us on day 2 as we really want to be certain to get back to the ship before it leaves. We shouldnt have had to do that though.

[Harry Peterson]

I understand that reports going back to the decision makers at P&O about the recent chaos are appalling and urging changing back again because of the serious damage being done to the brand.

 

Whether that will happen, or indeed could happen, remains to be seen.

 

 

[AndyMichelle]

1 hour ago, docco said:

I understand that reports going back to the decision makers at P&O about the recent chaos are appalling and urging changing back again because of the serious damage being done to the brand.

 

Whether that will happen, or indeed could happen, remains to be seen.

 

 

That would be the next issue, would Amsterdam let them just change back, even if they wanted to?

Port availability may now be a problem.

I suspect Carnival have made their bed and will just have to ride out the storm.

Andy

 

[No1cherry]

3 hours ago, Addict said:

We're on this same cruise. We are going with same attitude and hope it all works out. We have booked a ship tour for the 6 is us on day 2 as we really want to be certain to get back to the ship before it leaves. We shouldnt have had to do that though.

 

I agree you shouldn’t have to.I Have cruised with P&O a few times and can not imagine if you are in que for their own shuttles back to the ship they would go with out you. As long as people are waiting for the shuttle before the deadline time they will get you back. Same with the tenders. But agree it’s a shame you feel you have to book an excursion with them just for ease of getting back to ship. Do we know what times we are due in and out of Amsterdam yet?

[Addict]

5 minutes ago, No1cherry said:

 

I agree you shouldn’t have to.I Have cruised with P&O a few times and can not imagine if you are in que for their own shuttles back to the ship they would go with out you. As long as people are waiting for the shuttle before the deadline time they will get you back. Same with the tenders. But agree it’s a shame you feel you have to book an excursion with them just for ease of getting back to ship. Do we know what times we are due in and out of Amsterdam yet?

From our experience, P&O is the only cruise line that doesn't give you times. Just (for example) "Early Morning" to "Late Afternoon" etc.  Very frustrating.  I guess we could check on each Port's website, but I haven't got around to doing that yet.  Again, something else we shouldn't have to do.  I wish they would just give you the times of docking and departing port, would be so much easier.  But this is P&O we are talking about. 🙂

[arendale1]

We are going to go into Amsterdam on day one, and stay local on day two. Not doing any of the excursions, and don’t want to risk missing the shuttle back on day two 😳

Edited April 7, 2019 by arendale1

[Addict]

9 minutes ago, Addict said:

From our experience, P&O is the only cruise line that doesn't give you times. Just (for example) "Early Morning" to "Late Afternoon" etc.  Very frustrating.  I guess we could check on each Port's website, but I haven't got around to doing that yet.  Again, something else we shouldn't have to do.  I wish they would just give you the times of docking and departing port, would be so much easier.  But this is P&O we are talking about. 🙂

OK, seems we dock at 8am on 14th and depart at 5pm on 15th......

 

https://www.felisonterminal.com/calendar

 

[No1cherry]

7 minutes ago, Addict said:

From our experience, P&O is the only cruise line that doesn't give you times. Just (for example) "Early Morning" to "Late Afternoon" etc.  Very frustrating.  I guess we could check on each Port's website, but I haven't got around to doing that yet.  Again, something else we shouldn't have to do.  I wish they would just give you the times of docking and departing port, would be so much easier.  But this is P&O we are talking about. 🙂

 

Just been looking at the Port of Ijmuiden and if all else fails on the second day a walk along the beach and then lunch in what looks like a pretty good seafood reasturant in the town. That is if we can get off the ship 😜

[Addict]

If it helps anyone sailing this Friday (from the port information websites).......

 

Port times

Amsterdam 8am to 5pm next day

Zeebrugge 6am to 6pm

Guernsey 8am to 6pm

 

 

 

[majortom10]

2 hours ago, Addict said:

From our experience, P&O is the only cruise line that doesn't give you times. Just (for example) "Early Morning" to "Late Afternoon" etc.  Very frustrating.  I guess we could check on each Port's website, but I haven't got around to doing that yet.  Again, something else we shouldn't have to do.  I wish they would just give you the times of docking and departing port, would be so much easier.  But this is P&O we are talking about. 🙂

Cunard do the same as P&O they do not give exact times.

[davemorton]

Im also on this Friday.  Dont know if I will bother getting off, not a great fan of the Dam to start with, but add a couple of 40 min coach trips and however long the queue is, not sure if it is worth it....But, sure I am still going to have a great time, just hope we get some sun. 

[sogne]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

Cunard do the same as P&O they do not give exact times.

Cunard now give port times  on their website

[majortom10]

47 minutes ago, sogne said:

Cunard now give port times  on their website

Must be a recent change with the new website because they used to only do the same as P&O.

[hansol1966]

The queues on the 22nd March Azura test/debacle trip was mostly down to the disembarkation time of 1.30pm..passengers sitting around after breakfast with nothing else to do, waiting to get of the ship. One port only so most people wanted to make the most of it. The next morning we got off at 8.30am,with a short wait we were off.

on your trip arriving early 8.00am it should be easier as passengers will be having breakfast etc.

With the shuttle bus it will drop you about 10 mins from Amsterdam Central Station by the river. 250 yds in front of the train station are the canal boats @ 10-12 euros very easy to do and a lot cheaper than a tour £32-34 or £11 as you have the free shuttle.

For us the shuttle bus and location 20+miles from Amsterdam central was a pain with the added problem off the first day queuing ..no shelter or seating.

Yours should go better.

[Addict]

2 hours ago, hansol1966 said:

The queues on the 22nd March Azura test/debacle trip was mostly down to the disembarkation time of 1.30pm..passengers sitting around after breakfast with nothing else to do, waiting to get of the ship. One port only so most people wanted to make the most of it. The next morning we got off at 8.30am,with a short wait we were off.

on your trip arriving early 8.00am it should be easier as passengers will be having breakfast etc.

With the shuttle bus it will drop you about 10 mins from Amsterdam Central Station by the river. 250 yds in front of the train station are the canal boats @ 10-12 euros very easy to do and a lot cheaper than a tour £32-34 or £11 as you have the free shuttle.

For us the shuttle bus and location 20+miles from Amsterdam central was a pain with the added problem off the first day queuing ..no shelter or seating.

Yours should go better.

 

Thanks so much for this info.  Definitely puts our mind at rest a bit.

Edited April 8, 2019 by Addict
typo

[hansol1966]

We sailed to Ijmuiden/ Amsterdam direct from Southampton with no sea day arriving 12.30pm Offloading 1.30pm. With your extra sea day you will easily make port for before 8.00am. Basically treading water along the way.

Why not travel the same speed (16 knots) as our trip arrive at 1.30am and have 2 nights in Amsterdam.....P&O .???

[Addict]

55 minutes ago, hansol1966 said:

We sailed to Ijmuiden/ Amsterdam direct from Southampton with no sea day arriving 12.30pm Offloading 1.30pm. With your extra sea day you will easily make port for before 8.00am. Basically treading water along the way.

Why not travel the same speed (16 knots) as our trip arrive at 1.30am and have 2 nights in Amsterdam.....P&O .???

Because it will cost them more in port fees LOL

[pete14]

1 hour ago, hansol1966 said:

 

Why not travel the same speed (16 knots) as our trip arrive at 1.30am and have 2 nights in Amsterdam.....P&O .???

 

Because if they arrive that early they will probably get a stream of complaints that people have had their beauty sleep disturbed. I doubt there will be many wanting to get off at that time anyway. 

[hansol1966]

Oh dear silly me sausage fingers...1.30pm of course. Thankyou for your attention.

[Britboys]

Just to say that having made a complaint before departing on A906, I received a call from P&O yesterday - not Customer Relations, someone above them.  I received profuse apologies both for the poor experience on A906 and the fact that my complaint had not been responded to in a timely manner.  The person I spoke with listened patiently to my feedback and my complaint has been resolved to my satisfaction.

 

One of the points that I made was that on future calls to Ijmuiden, particularly those arriving in the middle of the day, they must have more shuttle buses available and a more efficient way to load the buses and get them moving quicker.

[kruzseeka]

Interesting - Marella are docking in Amsterdam and in the booking information it says Authorities now require a tourist tax of €8 per day and that this will be added to your on-board account.  Easy solution for cruise companies (though not if you're trying to make a point) - I'm sure most passengers would prefer that to the hassle of shuttles and for the convenience of being in the city.   However, it was never mentioned in the booking process - just in the paperwork, perhaps it should have been flagged up though I'm sure no one would fail to book on that basis.