UK staycation cruise details launched

[Beckett]

8 minutes ago, Rupert2251 said:

these new cruises won't be an option for us unless Eavesway put on any coaches but then it has to be 7 nights or more. I've just seen someone mention National Express!!! Are you kidding? Yuk spare the thought!

Eavesway are fabulous aren't they? I hope they survive this nightmare. What's wrong with National Express? I've never travelled with them. J.x

[majortom10]

4 minutes ago, Beckett said:

Sounds good. If it's that near the terminals it might work. Thanks for the info. Jane.x

I believe National Express coach station is by West Quay shopping centre and might be walkable for some to Mayflower Terminal but think it is a bit far too walk to Ocean Terminal.

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by majortom10

[Beckett]

7 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

I believe National Express coach station is by West Quay shopping centre and might be walkable for some to Mayflower Terminal but think it is a bit far too walk to Ocean Terminal.

 

Thanks Tom - much appreciated. J.x

[Rupert2251]

 

 

3 minutes ago, Beckett said:

Eavesway are fabulous aren't they? I hope they survive this nightmare. What's wrong with National Express? I've never travelled with them. J.x

Eavesway are brill!! I suppose everyone is different but unless they NE have changed considerably we found them dirty and smelly, would definitely not use them again. If there's a delay with them and quite possibly will be you would miss the ship.

[Adawn47]

1 minute ago, Beckett said:

Eavesway are fabulous aren't they? I hope they survive this nightmare. What's wrong with National Express? I've never travelled with them. J.x

 We've used Eavesway for 11 years and they are a marvellous reliable company. As I said on another thread, I get regular up-dates from them and you  can do a cruiselink provisonal booking. Their cruise service is still up and running, and they are doing the same as all of us, waiting patiently for cruising to resume.

Avril

[Presto2]

1 minute ago, Rupert2251 said:

 

 

Eavesway are brill!! I suppose everyone is different but unless they NE have changed considerably we found them dirty and smelly, would definitely not use them again. If there's a delay with them and quite possibly will be you would miss the ship.

 

We have booked transfers with P&O and they use Ellison coaches - they too are excellent.

[terrierjohn]

17 minutes ago, Beckett said:

They've always been available for 7 nights plus, but not for less than 7. I've never paid for one as they've always been part of the Select package but, when, the time comes, I will check with the coach connect company to see if I can pay. Jane.x

Jane, do Eavesway provide a cruise coach service from the London area?

[Rupert2251]

8 minutes ago, Presto2 said:

 

We have booked transfers with P&O and they use Ellison coaches - they too are excellent.

Yes we have used them as well but if P&O aren't using coaches for their new cruises I was wondering if Eavesway would be.

[Presto2]

Just now, Rupert2251 said:

Yes we have used them as well but if P&O aren't using coaches for their new cruises I was wondering if Eavesway would be.

Sorry have I missed this --- have scanned the thread . Sorry

[Beckett]

56 minutes ago, Rupert2251 said:

 

 

Eavesway are brill!! I suppose everyone is different but unless they NE have changed considerably we found them dirty and smelly, would definitely not use them again. If there's a delay with them and quite possibly will be you would miss the ship.

Didn't think of that! Thanks for the insider knowledge. J.x

[Beckett]

56 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Jane, do Eavesway provide a cruise coach service from the London area?

I'm not sure John. I'm going to contact them and find out. J.x

[jake 26]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

I believe National Express coach station is by West Quay shopping centre and might be walkable for some to Mayflower Terminal but think it is a bit far too walk to Ocean Terminal.

 

We've used National Express on a couple of occasions to West Quay coach terminal, and found them very good, and always on time. It is too far to trek with luggage to the cruise terminals but there is a taxi rank by the coach terminal and it's just a few minutes by taxi.

[purplesea]

22 minutes ago, jake 26 said:

We've used National Express on a couple of occasions to West Quay coach terminal, and found them very good, and always on time. It is too far to trek with luggage to the cruise terminals but there is a taxi rank by the coach terminal and it's just a few minutes by taxi.

We used National Express to get up to Manchester Airport and found them to be clean and reliable. One of the drivers was extremely helpful to the family in front of us as they were worried that the town the wanted to get to was affected by flooding. He contacted the main office to get the latest information To find out how their area was affected..

[Francisdrake]

Out of interest if any of you are considering this what kind of prices are you willing to pay.  I'm contemplating it as I don't mind the sea days (though being Britain it would be hugely dependent on weather as to whether it's nice enough to enjoy or not) , I'm happy as Larry to get sat down outside down on the lower outside deck with a book and watch the world go by.  

I'm thinking my max would be around £500 for a week in an inside but i'm hoping for nearer £350 due to lack of demand for insides because of the risk of having to quarantine.    Balcony i'd probably go up to £700 for a week. 

[majortom10]

I personally think there might be every chance that they will not sell any inside cabins on these cruises will be balcony and above.

[Britboys]

4 hours ago, Beckett said:

Yes Britboys, it's at the South Mimms service station. I've used it for years. I do drive but have a really small car and there will be 3 of us and luggage - 2 teenagers' luggage at that! We can find a way round it I'm sure but I had just presumed (wrongly) that we would be going by coach as normal. Jane.x

Know it well. We used to live over the other side of it in Boreham Wood from '87 to '97 before moving down to the South Coast. We never really thought of using a coach though as we preferred driving. I'm now back in North Herts up the A1 a bit further from the M25. It's part of my cruise tradition now to drive down the day before and usually watch my ship arriving from my bedroom at the Holiday Inn.

Hope all works out for you.

[Beckett]

4 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Know it well. We used to live over the other side of it in Boreham Wood from '87 to '97 before moving down to the South Coast. We never really thought of using a coach though as we preferred driving. I'm now back in North Herts up the A1 a bit further from the M25. It's part of my cruise tradition now to drive down the day before and usually watch my ship arriving from my bedroom at the Holiday Inn.

Hope all works out for you.

Thanks Britboys - I hope so too. I bet moving from Borehamwood to the coast was a bit of a culture shock! B'wood is not such a good area now - it's not the village of old when nearly everyone who lived there worked in the studios. Your way of arriving at So'ton and watching your ship come in sounds very restful and stress free. Hopefully you'll be able to do it again before too long. Jane.x

[Britboys]

2 hours ago, Beckett said:

Thanks Britboys - I hope so too. I bet moving from Borehamwood to the coast was a bit of a culture shock! B'wood is not such a good area now - it's not the village of old when nearly everyone who lived there worked in the studios. Your way of arriving at So'ton and watching your ship come in sounds very restful and stress free. Hopefully you'll be able to do it again before too long. Jane.x

We moved to Central Brighton, so it was very different. I visited Boreham Wood about 5 years ago for the first time in many years and was shocked at how different it was. Just like a London suburb now. No personality and incredibly busy!

[Selbourne]

25 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

Again you have the wrong end of the stick.

I'm not saying this from my point of view but from the point of view of the cruise lines.

They would not release their 2023 cruises on January 1st 2023 so why release the so called summer round Britain cruise on the first day of summer? 

Yes I know it takes time but there will be a lower number of willing cruise passengers this year (just read the threads on this board) so the companies need to fight for those available.

As for me pushing button B, well that has been done so I have no interest at all in these sailings and so it could be argued that is 1 cabin sale lost and how many people out there (not on this forum) who have done the same?

I do see a different side to this if I'm cynical. The longer they leave the release the more desperate people are as they have missed the boat (excuse the pun) for the holiday cottages etc so the cruise lines can charge more for these cruises.

I absolutely get what you are saying, as UK holidays are filling up fast (and prices are rising) as many people decide that they would prefer not to run the risk of booking an overseas holiday this year ‘just in case’, but I don’t think that the cruise lines are holding back for a big ‘reveal’. I should think that it’s far more likely that, having perhaps harboured a vain hope that overseas cruises might have resumed this summer, they are now working on their own Plan B (the cruises to nowhere) and are now having to plan these from a standing start. The itineraries are the easy part - because there isn’t one! The dates, likewise, would be easy to set. The challenge will be that it takes 3 months lead time to get a ship ready (including crew, most from overseas, and training) and I suspect that they need a bit of time before they know which / how many ships they can get up and running for this ‘summer season’. 

[terrierjohn]

All the known data point to these cruises being launched before the end of this month, so we should know all about them in 3 weeks time.

[MX-Drew]

5 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I absolutely get what you are saying, as UK holidays are filling up fast (and prices are rising) as many people decide that they would prefer not to run the risk of booking an overseas holiday this year ‘just in case’, but I don’t think that the cruise lines are holding back for a big ‘reveal’. I should think that it’s far more likely that, having perhaps harboured a vain hope that overseas cruises might have resumed this summer, they are now working on their own Plan B (the cruises to nowhere) and are now having to plan these from a standing start. The itineraries are the easy part - because there isn’t one! The dates, likewise, would be easy to set. The challenge will be that it takes 3 months lead time to get a ship ready (including crew, most from overseas, and training) and I suspect that they need a bit of time before they know which / how many ships they can get up and running for this ‘summer season’. 

I didn't mean to say they are deliberately "holding back", my point was they need to go as fast as they can for their own good. 

I believe too much is being read between the lines that is not there. 

Yes I know it takes time, yes I know they want to get it right etc. but if they want to sell a decent number they also have to come to market at the right time which no fault of their own is very hard to achieve but they are already on the back foot imo.

[MX-Drew]

4 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

All the known data point to these cruises being launched before the end of this month, so we should know all about them in 3 weeks time.

I fear that is too late for many people. For example over the weekend I looked at a holiday cottage and it went up by £100 for a week from Saturday to Sunday (in the space of one day) then Sunday evening it was booked.

If you're prepared to either pay a fortune or just not go away if you don't like the cruises offered then you have to move soon  is how I see it.

That is based on my personal experience and the size of my pocket/wallet. 

[MX-Drew]

17 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

The challenge will be that it takes 3 months lead time to get a ship ready (including crew, most from overseas, and training) and I suspect that they need a bit of time before they know which / how many ships they can get up and running for this ‘summer season’. 

You don't need to have the crew back and trained to put the cruises on sale.

Indeed you could argue they need to go on sale to see just how many people are interested as they may not be worth running.

Edited March 8, 2021 by MX-Drew

[Roger88]

10 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

I fear that is too late for many people. For example over the weekend I looked at a holiday cottage and it went up by £100 for a week from Saturday to Sunday (in the space of one day) then Sunday evening it was booked.

If you're prepared to either pay a fortune or just not go away if you don't like the cruises offered then you have to move soon  is how I see it.

That is based on my personal experience and the size of my pocket/wallet. 

I ery hope so. Moreover, from what I have learned recently, it wont take long and by the end of Spring we will have our magnificent cocktails on board of the cruisers. I am really looking forward to it 

[Roger88]

All international cruises are cancelled cause there is no uniform politics in regard of a uniform policy for all the coutries in regard for cruise business. It might take a little longer for them to figure it out