Why are P&O no longer docking in Amsterdam

[AlisonB1978]

Anyone know what time Ventura is going to dock at Ijmuiden in 14th April?  Looking to book a canal cruise, but can’t find anything that indicates what time we’ll be arriving so I can add on the hour shuttle bus and associated hassle before booking 

[hansol1966]

I did post on this thread yesterday that a major UK website was offering Azura March 22 nd 4 nt balcony for a fraction over 100 PPPN..to AMSTERDAM not the port on the coast as I call it (IJmuiden)....IJmuiden should be classed as the same as Zebrugge...Rotterdam.....both cruise ship coach based products..IJmuiden possibly might become the same. As for the Amsterdam Council who ultimately have the upper hand I’m sure can either give in or charge the coaches a fee for entering the city....this is why I think PO coaches have to find some private land to offload passengers, as dropping and waiting for passengers in a popular area would not go down well....This is brinksmanship and we are the PAWNS............

 

 

 

 

[dallas16]

19 hours ago, AlisonB1978 said:

Anyone know what time Ventura is going to dock at Ijmuiden in 14th April?  Looking to book a canal cruise, but can’t find anything that indicates what time we’ll be arriving so I can add on the hour shuttle bus and associated hassle before booking 

Looking at the Amsterdam cruise schedule it was previously scheduled to arrive there at 8am when it was docking in Amsterdam so I imagine it will be around two to three hours earlier in Ijmuiden 

[dallas16]

14 hours ago, hansol1966 said:

I did post on this thread yesterday that a major UK website was offering Azura March 22 nd 4 nt balcony for a fraction over 100 PPPN..to AMSTERDAM not the port on the coast as I call it (IJmuiden)....IJmuiden should be classed as the same as Zebrugge...Rotterdam.....both cruise ship coach based products..IJmuiden possibly might become the same. As for the Amsterdam Council who ultimately have the upper hand I’m sure can either give in or charge the coaches a fee for entering the city....this is why I think PO coaches have to find some private land to offload passengers, as dropping and waiting for passengers in a popular area would not go down well....This is brinksmanship and we are the PAWNS............

 

 

 

 

It is disappointing as I am doing this cruise in July. The drop off point though is close to a number of the main attractions including the Rijksmuseum and Van Gogh museum. It also makes the shuttle journey shorter as it allows the coaches to use the motorway from Ijmuiden to Amsterdam and then a short drive from there rather than driving in towards the central station along the North Sea canal road . I definitely would prefer to dock in Amsterdam though as I’m doing a tour to volendam and this will make my journey much longer 

[Harry Peterson]

34 minutes ago, dallas16 said:

Looking at the Amsterdam cruise schedule it was previously scheduled to arrive there at 8am when it was docking in Amsterdam so I imagine it will be around two to three hours earlier in Ijmuiden 

I’ve seen revised timings for N924 showing Ventura arriving at Ijmuiden almost a day early in the morning of 31 August, but also leaving a day earlier on 1 September.

 

Not sure how that allows the promised extra time to allow for the wasted time queuing for buses and travelling in and out of the city. Or the time it’s going to take to travel into the centre from the outlying museum area.

[dallas16]

57 minutes ago, docco said:

I’ve seen revised timings for N924 showing Ventura arriving at Ijmuiden almost a day early in the morning of 31 August, but also leaving a day earlier on 1 September.

 

Not sure how that allows the promised extra time to allow for the wasted time queuing for buses and travelling in and out of the city. Or the time it’s going to take to travel into the centre from the outlying museum area.

Looking at the timings I’ve on seen on the ***** website, the ship arrives at 10am on 31st and leaves on 1st at 8pm so they’ve got rid of the seaday, I wasn’t really sure why they needed a seaday from the UK to Holland anyway when a ferry can do it in less than twelve hours. I think you’ll have extra time on the evening of the second day 

Edited March 3, 2019 by dallas16
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[Harry Peterson]

10 minutes ago, dallas16 said:

Looking at the timings I’ve on seen on the ***** website, the ship arrives at 10am on 31st and leaves on 1st at 8pm so they’ve got rid of the seaday, I wasn’t really sure why they needed a seaday from the UK to Holland anyway when a ferry can do it in less than twelve hours. I think you’ll have extra time on the evening of the second day 

Extra time on a Sunday evening - that's going to be really useful for passengers, isn't it, when most things will have closed.  P&O have really fouled this up for people, using them as pawns in their fight against the City of Amsterdam.

 

There's a lesson to be learned here - never, ever trust a Carnival company to do the right thing by its passengers.  You'd be safer trusting Boris Johnson!

[dallas16]

I think the call has been bought forward a day as there is another ship in port on the 2nd September and their statement did say that they may need to move the call to Rotterdam. It looks like they’ve bought forward the call instead 

[dallas16]

10 minutes ago, docco said:

Extra time on a Sunday evening - that's going to be really useful for passengers, isn't it, when most things will have closed.  P&O have really fouled this up for people, using them as pawns in their fight against the City of Amsterdam.

 

There's a lesson to be learned here - never, ever trust a Carnival company to do the right thing by its passengers.  You'd be safer trusting Boris Johnson!

Shops normally open 12-6 in the main shopping areas. Hopefully the shuttle buses will be organised especially when a ship the size of Ventura has never docked in Ijmuiden. It would have been preferable if the shuttle had been to the central station too

[winman14]

1 hour ago, dallas16 said:

Looking at the timings I’ve on seen on the ***** website, the ship arrives at 10am on 31st and leaves on 1st at 8pm so they’ve got rid of the seaday, I wasn’t really sure why they needed a seaday from the UK to Holland anyway when a ferry can do it in less than twelve hours. I think you’ll have extra time on the evening of the second day 

 

 I am also on N924, we now have a sea day between Ijmuiden and Zeebrugge on the 2nd. Which website are the port timings on? We are wanting to book attractions such as Anne Franks House for our first day there. 

[kruzseeka]

21 minutes ago, winman14 said:

 

 I am also on N924, we now have a sea day between Ijmuiden and Zeebrugge on the 2nd. Which website are the port timings on? We are wanting to book attractions such as Anne Franks House for our first day there. 

 

Try this site.

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

 

Scroll down to Ventura then 'Find dates' and select your sailing date.  It will show you port times - except I don't think it will have the updated Ijmuden details.  It's still showing Amsterdam when I last looked.  It should be ok for your other ports unless the itinerary has been changed as has been suggested for some itineraries. 

[ts2004]

On 2/12/2019 at 7:18 PM, AlisonB1978 said:

Really frustrated to receive itinerary change - no longer docking at Amsterdam but  at IJmuiden - a 40 minute bus ride away. We’re overnight in Amsterdam but what would have been really handy to pop back to the ship for a quick shower and change before heading into the city for dinner seems like an ordeal. Overnight in Amsterdam was the reason we booked the cruise and now it’s had the shine taken off it. No offer of any goodwill gesture from P&O but they’ve certainly had lots of complaints. Couldn’t tell me why, only that it was for operational reasons. Anyone know what’s happened?

There is a new €6 Per head docking fee in amsterdam for all ships now, Cruise lines do not want to pay around €12,000 just to dock for 1 day. And if they continued operations there will be an increase in prices.

[the english lady]

http://www.felisonterminal.com/calendar

 

click on the ship and it gives you EXPECTED times of arrival and departure. As with any ship docking these are not set in stone. We once got to a port round about the time expected. We then spent over an hour trying to dock. The wind was pushing us away.

[BarmyJackArmy]

Yet again P&O have let me down. I have 2 cabins booked on this cruise and I booked 9 months ago as we are travelling with a friend who has never been to Amsterdam so the change is a bitter disappointment to say the least  .A very blase  reply from P&O when I  dared to voice my frustrations ,so once again the customer has no voice. And to rub salt in the wound balcony cabins are selling  for not far off the price paid for inside cabins. I had already booked another cruise with P&O prior to receiving my E mail if I  had received it beforehand, I would have taken my custom elsewhere . Not even the offer of an upgrade after 20 years of regular cruising with them. I urge you to think carefully before booking with P&O I've certainly been treated far better by other companies. My hard earned cash has now  been spent on a cruise that is not really what I signed up for. It's certainly taken the shine off my holiday, so many thanks P&O for not giving us the option to pay the €8 euro charge, for the convenience of walking on and off the ship, instead of being herded on to shuttle buses,  the customer is disadvantaged once again .

 

[daiB]

2 hours ago, BarmyJackArmy said:

Yet again P&O have let me down. I have 2 cabins booked on this cruise and I booked 9 months ago as we are travelling with a friend who has never been to Amsterdam so the change is a bitter disappointment to say the least  .A very blase  reply from P&O when I  dared to voice my frustrations ,so once again the customer has no voice. And to rub salt in the wound balcony cabins are selling  for not far off the price paid for inside cabins. I had already booked another cruise with P&O prior to receiving my E mail if I  had received it beforehand, I would have taken my custom elsewhere . Not even the offer of an upgrade after 20 years of regular cruising with them. I urge you to think carefully before booking with P&O I've certainly been treated far better by other companies. My hard earned cash has now  been spent on a cruise that is not really what I signed up for. It's certainly taken the shine off my holiday, so many thanks P&O for not giving us the option to pay the €8 euro charge, for the convenience of walking on and off the ship, instead of being herded on to shuttle buses,  the customer is disadvantaged once again .

 

Unfortunately most other companies are doing the same.

[Harry Peterson]

7 hours ago, daiB said:

Unfortunately most other companies are doing the same.

Perhaps - but few, if any, are handling this as badly, with as little concern for their customers, as P&O. 

 

P&O know their customer base very well indeed.  It has a certain demographic, which is quite different from that of other companies, and P&O exploit what they see as a weakness.

 

Fortunately, but unfortunately for them, not all customers fit that demographic, and those that don't will not allow them to get away with it.

[ts2004]

9 hours ago, daiB said:

Unfortunately most other companies are doing the same.

Many companies are having the same problem and it is not logical to with the charge that Amsterdam, many passengers will not be able to do anything as P&O states that Ports are subject to change at any time, this means that there will be no change until Amsterdam remove this charge

[Eglesbrech]

1 hour ago, docco said:

Perhaps - but few, if any, are handling this as badly, with as little concern for their customers, as P&O. 

 

P&O know their customer base very well indeed.  It has a certain demographic, which is quite different from that of other companies, and P&O exploit what they see as a weakness.

 

Fortunately, but unfortunately for them, not all customers fit that demographic, and those that don't will not allow them to get away with it.

 

From what is reported on here P&O do not appear to be handling the customer service aspects of this well but as Dai says many of the other cruise companies are all pulling out of Amsterdam too.  RCI / Celebrity are still hanging in in central Amsterdam at the moment.

 

The problem with holiday companies in general is that even when someone does formally challenge them they tend to settle on a case by case basis and then only with the most tenacious. These cases seldom get talked about as they usually come with a non disclosure agreement so no one else knows that anyone has been successful in getting a payout.

 

While I really do feel for those involved in this and I would be furious if it was me it has made me wonder why the vast majority of cruise lines have chosen to do the same and pull out of the port. Do the cruise companies think that it is the thin end of the wedge. If Amsterdam do it will other ports follow and the the additional 8 euros a day become hundreds over a longer cruise.

[Harry Peterson]

23 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

The problem with holiday companies in general is that even when someone does formally challenge them they tend to settle on a case by case basis and then only with the most tenacious. These cases seldom get talked about as they usually come with a non disclosure agreement so no one else knows that anyone has been successful in getting a payout.

 

While I really do feel for those involved in this and I would be furious if it was me it has made me wonder why the vast majority of cruise lines have chosen to do the same and pull out of the port. Do the cruise companies think that it is the thin end of the wedge. If Amsterdam do it will other ports follow and the the additional 8 euros a day become hundreds over a longer cruise.

I agree.  Cases will be settled on an individual basis, in the way that you suggest - those who are prepared to pursue them will succeed (as was the case not so long ago when deceitful pricing was the issue) and those who don't won't.  P&O know that most of their customers will just lie back and accept the situation, and they trade on that inertia.

 

The cruise companies (via CLIA) are taking a stand on this because they fear for the future.  Passengers are just pawns in their game.

[Harry Peterson]

32 minutes ago, ts2004 said:

Many companies are having the same problem and it is not logical to with the charge that Amsterdam, many passengers will not be able to do anything as P&O states that Ports are subject to change at any time, this means that there will be no change until Amsterdam remove this charge

That's what P&O would have you believe.  It's not actually true, though - take a close look at the T&C.

[janny444]

9 hours ago, daiB said:

Unfortunately most other companies are doing the same.

Hi....yes other companies are doing the same but other companies are dealing with it better....

[kruzseeka]

I don't disagree with cruise companies making a stand if, as some think, it could be the thin edge of the wedge. 

But in fairness to passengers it should be properly planned by Carnival and any other cruise lines to minimise the effect on passengers.  An overnight in Amsterdam which is the only port of call is significantly different to 2 days in Ijmuden.  And to add to that, no opportunity to cancel or re-book without penalty or compensation - then waiting until, for many people, final payment had been made before notification of the change is making passengers suffer the consequences.  In so doing it has generated a great deal of angst and very negative perceptions of how P&O and others are prepared to treat their customers.    

Surely a well orchestrated response starting from next season  - or from 6 months from now would allow passengers to make an informed decision.  I feel in the interests of not making passenger feel like pawns in the game, the cruise companies should 'suck it up' in the short term but put both Amsterdam and passengers on notice of a change of strategy in the future whatever that may be - Ijmuden, a different port altogether or rearranged itineraries.   That could also include some limited acknowledgement for passengers already booked with obc or cancellation options.   And an explanation would be met with far more understanding and appreciation.   

[janny444]

1 hour ago, kruzseeka said:

I don't disagree with cruise companies making a stand if, as some think, it could be the thin edge of the wedge. 

But in fairness to passengers it should be properly planned by Carnival and any other cruise lines to minimise the effect on passengers.  An overnight in Amsterdam which is the only port of call is significantly different to 2 days in Ijmuden.  And to add to that, no opportunity to cancel or re-book without penalty or compensation - then waiting until, for many people, final payment had been made before notification of the change is making passengers suffer the consequences.  In so doing it has generated a great deal of angst and very negative perceptions of how P&O and others are prepared to treat their customers.    

Surely a well orchestrated response starting from next season  - or from 6 months from now would allow passengers to make an informed decision.  I feel in the interests of not making passenger feel like pawns in the game, the cruise companies should 'suck it up' in the short term but put both Amsterdam and passengers on notice of a change of strategy in the future whatever that may be - Ijmuden, a different port altogether or rearranged itineraries.   That could also include some limited acknowledgement for passengers already booked with obc or cancellation options.   And an explanation would be met with far more understanding and appreciation.   

Hi....I think you have made some fair comments....cruise companies should make a stand and if it is only 8 euros then some way of " absorbing" that extra charge for future cruise should be found BUT as someone in an earlier post said the 8 euros could be the start of an ever increasing charge. The discontent is happening because of cruises already booked and P&O are not handling it very well. Some will accept the change of POC...no problem... but some of us won't accept being " fobbed off" with no clear reasons as to why. I have written to P&O with 2 clear questions and I have received a phone call from P&O...even though I booked through a TA...at the moment they don't have the answers but fully understand that I need answers so they are keeping me informed and have said that when they can answer my questions they will take into account my individual needs....so we shall see what the outcome is.

[BarmyJackArmy]

Some really good points made here , but at the end of the day those of us booked on this cruise are not getting the exact cruise we signed up for and  as a result P&O  must take some responsibility for this . And I urge anyone who feels strongly  to pursue them on this point I intend to. I had a really lame response when I challenged them, which has fired me up even more. I was told in a roundabout way that I should be ' grateful'  that shuttle buses would be provided.!  Excuse me?? I am so grateful  that I now face a 90 minute return journey into the port, no doubt long queues,  being herded around like  cattle, and unable to come and go as I please on and off the ship without factoring in the extra journey time. Grateful ? I can hardly believe my luck !!  The bottom line is the main reason we booked this cruise was the promise of an overnight stop in Amsterdam, not Ijmuden which I'd never even heard of until this last couple of weeks if I'm totally honest. I intend to at least contact ABTA in the first instance, the more pressure people put on we may actually  get some decent responses at least,  instead of the tosh I've been handed out thus far.

[Harry Peterson]

13 minutes ago, BarmyJackArmy said:

Some really good points made here , but at the end of the day those of us booked on this cruise are not getting the exact cruise we signed up for and  as a result P&O  must take some responsibility for this . And I urge anyone who feels strongly  to pursue them on this point I intend to. I had a really lame response when I challenged them, which has fired me up even more. I was told in a roundabout way that I should be ' grateful'  that shuttle buses would be provided.!  Excuse me?? I am so grateful  that I now face a 90 minute return journey into the port, no doubt long queues,  being herded around like  cattle, and unable to come and go as I please on and off the ship without factoring in the extra journey time. Grateful ? I can hardly believe my luck !!  The bottom line is the main reason we booked this cruise was the promise of an overnight stop in Amsterdam, not Ijmuden which I'd never even heard of until this last couple of weeks if I'm totally honest. I intend to at least contact ABTA in the first instance, the more pressure people put on we may actually  get some decent responses at least,  instead of the tosh I've been handed out thus far.

Precisely - well put. 

 

Several of us have already registered complaints with ABTA, but the more that do so the greater the chance of P&O being obliged to put right - properly - the damage they've caused to holidays already booked.