Local Cruises

[majortom10]

5 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Have they actually called them :scenic" cruises, I thought they described them as cruises around UK coastal waters enjoying the summer sunshine.  So I doubt they will venture any further north than maybe the southernmost point of Wales.

Why not we have done 5 Round British Isles cruises with Princess and have had lovely weather at times in Greenock, Liverpool, Orkney Isles and Edinburgh.

[terrierjohn]

Just now, majortom10 said:

Why not we have done 5 Round British Isles cruises with Princess and have had lovely weather at times in Greenock, Liverpool, Orkney Isles and Edinburgh.

I don't doubt that you have had good weather inland in those places, however these cruises are staying at sea, and I imagine they will need to be well out to sea where it will be significantly cooler.  Even in the Med sea days are often not suitable for sunbathing.

[majortom10]

Just now, terrierjohn said:

I don't doubt that you have had good weather inland in those places, however these cruises are staying at sea, and I imagine they will need to be well out to sea where it will be significantly cooler.  Even in the Med sea days are often not suitable for sunbathing.

When they go round Scotland they are very close to land and not way out at sea, you can see mainland and many islands especially west coast on many occasions and also because you are not that far out they have to close casinos for the duration due to  UK laws.

[Son of Anarchy]

2 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

My word, all these ships doing round Britain cruises it's going be like like the M1.

Avril

More like M25! 🤣🤣

[terrierjohn]

52 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

When they go round Scotland they are very close to land and not way out at sea, you can see mainland and many islands especially west coast on many occasions and also because you are not that far out they have to close casinos for the duration due to  UK laws.

They will want to maximise onboard spend, so I assume they will want to be far enough out to be able them to open the shops and casinos.

[jeanlyon]

6 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

They will want to maximise onboard spend, so I assume they will want to be far enough out to be able them to open the shops and casinos.

Difficult coming down the North Sea!!

 

[terrierjohn]

10 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Difficult coming down the North Sea!!

 

Like I keep saying I doubt any of these cruises will stray much further north than the Avon estuary, if that, it will be a gentle poodle along the south coast as far as the Scilly Isles and then back, with maybe a detour up the Btristol Channel.

[majortom10]

34 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

They will want to maximise onboard spend, so I assume they will want to be far enough out to be able them to open the shops and casinos.

Shops can open just not casinos due to UK gambling laws.

[majortom10]

11 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Like I keep saying I doubt any of these cruises will stray much further north than the Avon estuary, if that, it will be a gentle poodle along the south coast as far as the Scilly Isles and then back, with maybe a detour up the Btristol Channel.

But that is only your opinion that you keep saying with no evidence and you well might be wrong we will wait and see.

[Selbourne]

2 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Like I keep saying I doubt any of these cruises will stray much further north than the Avon estuary, if that, it will be a gentle poodle along the south coast as far as the Scilly Isles and then back, with maybe a detour up the Btristol Channel.

Is that assumption based upon the weather generally being better in the South John? The reason that I ask is that even in the summer, it is unlikely to be warm enough whilst moving at sea in UK waters for people to sunbathe, even in the south. I would have thought that a UK circumnavigation would be far more appealing for people even if, in reality, they will see very little land. I know that they aren’t marketing them as ‘scenic cruises’ (even though many people seem to have labelled them as such) but for people to say that they ‘cruised around the UK’ would be a lot better than ‘we did 30 circuits of the English Channel’! 
 

Edit - I’m obviously talking about the 7 night cruises as the 3 day ones will almost certainly just do as you describe. 

Edited March 11, 2021 by Selbourne

[jeanlyon]

Whichever they are, they certainly wouldn't appeal to me!  I couldn't be bothered to drive to Southampton for 7 days.  Did a 9 dayer on Fred, that was just about OK.

[Selbourne]

13 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Whichever they are, they certainly wouldn't appeal to me!  I couldn't be bothered to drive to Southampton for 7 days.  Did a 9 dayer on Fred, that was just about OK.

We have done some great 7 day cruises from Southampton, most notably the Norwegian Fjords and one or two to Western Europe. We always feel that time goes slowly on cruises, so a week seems like longer! However, 7 days at sea with no port calls wouldn’t be for us at all. We did 6 days (each way) transatlantic and were close to throwing ourselves overboard 😂 

[davecttr]

11 hours ago, majortom10 said:

Shops can open just not casinos due to UK gambling laws.

Are the shops and casinos franchises? If so are they happy to open given that they are only there as an attraction to encourage passengers to book. Maybe they will expect subsidies from P&O to cover losses etc. Will there be sales of 'tat' in the atrium, don't think so!. Will the casinos even open at all? they are a 'hot spot' for infection possibilities. Crowded, boozy passengers, fruit machines too close together. handling cards and chips is doubtful etc.

 

Crew vaccination, not going to happen, a lot of potential customers are not going to like that.

[BrianI]

Shops will be subject to UK VAT unless they call into Guernsey. 
Brian

[reef112]

I'd like to think the casino would open... Well I hope so!

[zap99]

4 minutes ago, reef112 said:

I'd like to think the casino would open... Well I hope so!

Perhaps a Betfred would suit some on an Olsen ship.

[Host Sharon]

On 3/9/2021 at 5:51 PM, Britboys said:

There are a number of factors mitigating against P&O using other ports as turnaround ports. They have a contract with the port of Southampton but not any others, meaning they would have to set up new contracts. There are few, if any other ports that are likely to be capable of providing turnaround facilities for large ships. The reason Liverpool has planned a future new cruise terminal is because at present they cannot do this for large ships. I don't know for sure but suspect Newcastle may be the same and as has already been stated above, Edinburgh does not have a suitable Cruise Terminal. Whilst large ships can dock at Greenock for Glasgow and the West of Scotland, again to my recollection, there is no Terminal there.

 

With regard to any port calls, I agree that everything said so far has suggested this will just be scenic cruising.  As I have recently posted on another thread however, I have seen a cruise blogger suggesting that the announcement by the Maritime Minister today has indicated port calls would be possible on domestic cruises this Summer. We will just have to wait and see.

 

Sorry to correct you but there is a large cruise terminal at Greenock. I have visited there three times. Aslo docked at Rosyth for Edinburgh. Saga's Spirit of Adventure is doing a 15 night round Britain cruise with ports in July/August ( I hope), calling at Newcastle, Dundee, Kirkwall, Ullapool, St Kilda, Greenock, Belfast, Douglas, Holyhead, Bristol and Falmouth. I don't know why P&O could not do similar, at least with Aurora.

[arlowood]

Just got an email from P&O. Seems like the Staycation Cruises will be launched next week or at least clarified

 

We’re staying at home, so you don’t have to... New UK getaways. More information coming next week , the wait is almost over. You can soon be back where you belong: sitting on deck, sipping something cool and watching the sparkling sea below. So sit back, relax and know we’ve got your UK getaway covered. Our new holidays will give you the chance to soak up everything you’ve missed and more on board. Keep your eyes peeled for more information coming next week.

Edited March 12, 2021 by arlowood

[Eddie99]

Same on Twitter

posted @ 10

 

“Coming soon, new UK getaways.

Check back next week for more details…”

[WECRUISEUK]

57 minutes ago, Host Sharon said:

 

Sorry to correct you but there is a large cruise terminal at Greenock. I have visited there three times. Aslo docked at Rosyth for Edinburgh. Saga's Spirit of Adventure is doing a 15 night round Britain cruise with ports in July/August ( I hope), calling at Newcastle, Dundee, Kirkwall, Ullapool, St Kilda, Greenock, Belfast, Douglas, Holyhead, Bristol and Falmouth. I don't know why P&O could not do similar, at least with Aurora.

With no ports of call,just cruising,the only cruise that would tempt us would be one that ventures around the fjords,very scenic.

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, BrianI said:

Shops will be subject to UK VAT unless they call into Guernsey. 
Brian

Will that mean that VAT will be added to drink prices as well?

[Snow Hill]

2 hours ago, BrianI said:

Shops will be subject to UK VAT unless they call into Guernsey. 
Brian

Won’t be calling at Guernsey as they have banned cruise ships until 2022.

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, Host Sharon said:

 

Sorry to correct you but there is a large cruise terminal at Greenock. I have visited there three times. Aslo docked at Rosyth for Edinburgh. Saga's Spirit of Adventure is doing a 15 night round Britain cruise with ports in July/August ( I hope), calling at Newcastle, Dundee, Kirkwall, Ullapool, St Kilda, Greenock, Belfast, Douglas, Holyhead, Bristol and Falmouth. I don't know why P&O could not do similar, at least with Aurora.

There is a cruise terminal Greenock but only for day visiting cruises they havent got the infrastructure, car parking facilities or roads for it to be used a an embarkation port.

[Bloodaxe]

10 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

There is a cruise terminal Greenock but only for day visiting cruises they havent got the infrastructure, car parking facilities or roads for it to be used a an embarkation port.

 

I believe it has been proposed to create a terminal further up the Clyde in Glasgow were the 3 Azamara ships are currently laid up but that would not be able to dock the larger ships.

Edited March 12, 2021 by Bloodaxe

[majortom10]

Just now, Bloodaxe said:

 

I believe it has been proposed to create a terminal further up the Clyde in Glasgow were the 3 Azamara ships are currently laid up, but that would not be able to dock the larger ships.

Is that just to be used as a port of call or as an actual cruise terminal for embarkation/disembarkation.