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Triggertravel

By Triggertravel,
in P&O Cruises ( UK )

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Triggertravel

Triggertravel

Posted
Posted

Does anybody know why p&o are changing/cancelling so many ports ? We are due to sail on Arcadia July 5th ( not over confident that will happen) and we’ve had skyolden changed for Stavanger very annoying , my mother-in-law has received 2 emails in the last 2 days for 2 different cruises she’s booked on informing her of 2 port changes with no explanation.she sails on britannia this Sunday and has just had Marseille changed for Toulon. This is becoming far too regular now.and surely us as paying customers should receive some sort of compensation or on board credit. I just feel that when we book our cruises a massive part of us is the itinerary and destinations but at the min you just don’t know where you’re going to. End up. I’ve been a loyal p&o customer for over 20 years,and must admit we have started looking at other cruise company’s now , it’s a shame really but the company has changed …………and not for the better

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gsmt47471015

gsmt47471015

Posted
Posted
59 minutes ago, Triggertravel said:

Does anybody know why p&o are changing/cancelling so many ports ? We are due to sail on Arcadia July 5th ( not over confident that will happen) and we’ve had skyolden changed for Stavanger very annoying , my mother-in-law has received 2 emails in the last 2 days for 2 different cruises she’s booked on informing her of 2 port changes with no explanation.she sails on britannia this Sunday and has just had Marseille changed for Toulon. This is becoming far too regular now.and surely us as paying customers should receive some sort of compensation or on board credit. I just feel that when we book our cruises a massive part of us is the itinerary and destinations but at the min you just don’t know where you’re going to. End up. I’ve been a loyal p&o customer for over 20 years,and must admit we have started looking at other cruise company’s now , it’s a shame really but the company has changed …………and not for the better

I believe they are, to a certain extent playing on customers loyalty to the brand, but from what is been written on these boards , and elsewhere for that matter, even the staunchest supporters may be turning against them, and in fairness you can understand why with so many port cancellations at short notice and no mention of any OBC or similar in most cases to soften the news, pretty unimpressive stuff

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Selbourne "Live from...." Rare

Selbourne

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I believe that the itinerary (and, in some cases, one specific port) is the catalyst for many peoples cruise bookings. That’s certainly the case for us. P&O, however, increasingly seem to take the view that the ship is the main reason for people booking and the itinerary is very much secondary, provided as an indicative guide only that can be changed at will, with rarely any recompense for the customer.
 

I believe that this is a serious misjudgement and it will come as a huge surprise to the ‘new to cruising’ market that P&O is now prioritising. It will be an entirely new experience for these people to book a holiday to X and end up in Y with the holiday company effectively saying “what’s your problem with that?”

 

This is causing a serious disconnect between P&O and its customer base, both new and old. All companies need to build trust and confidence amongst its customers to ensure repeat custom and, in turn, grow its business. For an industry that has been on its knees for a few years and is saddled with crippling debt, it’s a very odd and potentially terminally damaging attitude. 

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wowzz

wowzz

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Posted
3 hours ago, Triggertravel said:

I’ve been a loyal p&o customer for over 20 years,

I think now would be a good time to change. 

Loyalty works both ways. 

I know it is another Carnival company, but give Princess a try.

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emam

emam

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Posted

 

 
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terrierjohn

terrierjohn

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3 minutes ago, emam said:

 

 

I just assumed that the missing times was because P&O never seem to publish their arrival and departure times, simply saying something like early morning and late afternoon.

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emam

emam

Posted
Posted (edited)
9 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I just assumed that the missing times was because P&O never seem to publish their arrival and departure times, simply saying something like early morning and late afternoon.

 

In March, on another site someone said that on our cruise our times are 9-6 for that day in October. I don't know where they got them from.

Edited by emam
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terrierjohn

terrierjohn

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1 minute ago, emam said:

 

In March on another site someone said that on our cruise our times are 9-6 for that day. I don't know where they got them from.

I would guess that's an interpretation of morning arrival and early evening departure, which is what my booking summary says.

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Palaceman

Palaceman

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Posted
7 hours ago, emam said:

 

 

I don't know what it means but the arrival and departure times for all the ports are missing when we are on Britannia in July

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Snow Hill

Snow Hill

Posted
Posted (edited)
8 hours ago, emam said:

 

 

I am wondering if the restrictions placed on cruise ship use of scrubbers at Marseille have affected port calls for Britannia?

 

According to Carnivals Sustainability report many of their ships use the open loop scrubber system discharging was water back into the sea, this has been prohibited in ports such as Marseilles and others. 

 

https://www.nepia.com/industry-news/no-scrubs-more-ports-declare-ban-on-egcs-discharges-update/

 

Extract from report

 

OPEN LOOP SYSTEM
Carnival Corporation’s AAQS are open loop systems that use a sea water spray for removing sulfur from engine exhaust, converting it to sulfates (which are abundant in the sea) before returning the seawater to the ocean. The seawater is monitored by pH, PAH and Turbidity sensors through this process to ensure that it meets or exceeds the IMO required standards before returning to the ocean. 
 

https://carnival-sustainability-2021.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com/assets/content/pdf/2018_Carnival_Sustainability_Report.pdf

 

 

 

Edited by Snow Hill
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davecttr

davecttr

Posted
Posted
46 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

Does anyone know why Aurora is currently going to Hamburg and not Stavanger? Is it no longer a cruise to Norway?

Could there be only room for one ship? It is a very narrow port

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Trevor Fountain

Trevor Fountain

Posted
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10 hours ago, emam said:

 

In March, on another site someone said that on our cruise our times are 9-6 for that day in October. I don't know where they got them from.

Venture Assure which sells excursions lists the "in port" times when you browse through the itenary.

Not sure how accurate they are, but assume they're correct at this time.

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davecttr

davecttr

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3 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

No, Stavanger can accomodate 2-3 bigger ships and Hamburg would be a bad substitute for Norway.

Stand corrected, however those ships are mighty close together and things could get very interesting if the wind strengthens. We did not get into Stavanger on Iona a couple of weeks ago because of the wind and "the narrowness" of the port and we were the only ship scheduled

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Saab4444

Saab4444

Posted
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3 hours ago, dunnster1965 said:

Whoah! Wires are getting crossed here! Aurora is having her dry dock visit so her previously advertised cruise was cancelled. I suspect Hamburg is where she is having her 'MOT'.

She is indeed now in Hamburg for dry dock. Just confusing as there was a big anouncement from P&O that she goes to Harland & Wolf in Belfast for that.

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dunnster1965

dunnster1965

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29 minutes ago, Saab4444 said:

She is indeed now in Hamburg for dry dock. Just confusing as there was a big anouncement from P&O that she goes to Harland & Wolf in Belfast for that.

 

Yes, it does sound familiar about the work being done in Belfast. Something must have changed. 

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molecrochip

molecrochip

Posted
Posted

One off port changes can be for a variety of reasons:

- Dock maintenance

- Ship maintenance that can't be undertaken in previously scheduled port

- Degraded ship performance

- Local health restrictions

- Weather

- Tide times

- Lack of port/tour staff

- Lack of bus drivers / busses for mandatory shuttle service

 

The last two are current favourites.

 

A cancellation of the same port for the same ship repeatedly indicates a problem - but its not necessarily with the ship.

 

I know of one incidence where a ship was due to regularly call at a port. The ship met all the conditions required by the port and the port had accepted the booking. Less than 48 hours before its arrival, when it was reconfirming its plans with the pilot, the pilot declined entry. Whilst the ship did technically fit, the pilot was not happy that there was enough margin to deal with any problems or variance in weather conditions. The ship owner and port owner had done all the right things but pilots are given final say on safety grounds for a reason.

 

It costs a cruise line money to cancel a port at late notice.

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besberry

besberry

Posted
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4 hours ago, Trevor Fountain said:

Venture Assure which sells excursions lists the "in port" times when you browse through the itenary.

Not sure how accurate they are, but assume they're correct at this time.

That's what I do, look at an onshore company offering excursions.  They almost always have the port times and I've never found one to be wrong yet.  After all they need to know so they can get you back on time.

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kruzseeka

kruzseeka

Posted
Posted (edited)
16 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

I just assumed that the missing times was because P&O never seem to publish their arrival and departure times, simply saying something like early morning and late afternoon.

I remember quite a long discussion about this some years ago.   

 
Most cruise lines declare the time they are scheduled to be in port.  Clearly P&O know the times they are planning to be docked too as they will have had to book the berths well in advance.  So a failure to communicate that to passengers except for a rather vague time slot eg 'early/late afternoon' is, I think, a calculated move. 
 
We aren't opposed to ship's excursions if it's not practical to DiY - the Alhambra, Spinalonga, a trip from Leknes to Nusfjord and Iceland tours are just a few we have really enjoyed, benefitting from ease of transport and/or an informative guide.  We found them and many others definitely worth doing. Going in large organised groups isn't for everyone though and doesn't necessarily give you the balance in terms of experience and timings you would want.  
 
We also love to research ports, decide what we want to do then determine if we can DiY.  Sometimes that just involves a wander, other times using local transport; buses, ferries, trains, HoHo or private tours.  Bus and train timetables are easily available on-line which allows for planning using local services.
 
However a loose description of arrival/departure times as is P&O's practice, makes such planning more difficult - there could be 2/3 hours difference between the earliest and latest timings their 'windows' of port-time provide.  That can make a big difference in terms of how doable/advisable a DiY excursion is in a given port allowing for getting back with a good margin. 
 
The cynic in me thinks this is a calculated ploy to make planning independent exploration at ports more problematic hoping at least some people will settle for the convenience of ships' trips rather than DiY options thereby generating more income for P&O.   
 
As already mentioned it's sometimes possible to find the info on some sites which list schedules but often P&O timings are omitted even if all other ships give those details.  Iirc there was a time when suddenly mid season P&O started reducing the planned time in port.  Our friends were caught in the middle of this whilst on board. P&O reversed that decision after passengers questioned the timings compared with those in their published cruise booking.  Perhaps the opaque berthing times is a strategy to avoid such challenges in future. I know it's never set in stone - all kinds of issues could affect the schedule but P&O know the expected berthing times and I think it's a shame they don't see fit to share that with their customers as do other lines. 
Edited by kruzseeka
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