Iona and Geiranger

[LoveGlasto]

Yes currently on the Iona now and we had a swap for Flam instead of Hellesylt yesterday and then stayed at Flam till 4am this morning due to high winds further along the route preventing us from travelling to Haugesund.

Consequently we have now a 2 day sail back to UK with a missed port stop.
Have I read somewhere that that there is compensation due for missed ports?
cruise otherwise has been great.  

[Fionboard]

If your insurance has extra cruise cover you should be able to claim for a missed, scheduled, port but not for a change of itinerary. However, make sure you get a letter  confirming missed port before you disembark to provide to the insurer.

[Yorkypete]

49 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

 I have never seen open topped lifeboats on any modern cruise ship we have sailed.

The open topped boats belong in the Moby Dick era!

[Son of Anarchy]

16 minutes ago, Yorkypete said:

The open topped boats belong in the Moby Dick era!

 

 

Baltika still had them in the 1980's.  Fond childhood memories of that era.

[AchileLauro]

I may well be very wrong but I think that a minimum degree of weather protection on all survival craft (lifeboats) became a requirement some years ago, but that older ships with open boats have grandfathers rights so we may still see them in use on older vessels.

 

I take it molecrochip that the gunport doors that you mention on Iona are the ports usually used to take on board pilots while at sea? 

 

I've assumed from what has already been said that while it is perfectly possible to provide a tender service from Iona and Arvia if absolutely necessary, it was never intended that this should be done on a regular basis hence the lack of enhanced craft and possibly the retractable docking sponsons that I previously enquired about.

[Son of Anarchy]

1 hour ago, Fionboard said:

If your insurance has extra cruise cover you should be able to claim for a missed, scheduled, port but not for a change of itinerary. However, make sure you get a letter  confirming missed port before you disembark to provide to the insurer.

We had a missed port on our Ventura cruise last year.  We had to go to reception to get a letter confirming the missed port.  Arrived in our pigeon hole a couple of days later.  No longer automatic that everyone gets the letter, you have to request it.

 

Eventually got paid out £75 for not going to Vigo.  More than happy to get paid for not going to Vigo!

 

 

[Megabear2]

From P&O's list of tender ports:.  Some interesting and familiar names here.

 

Europe, Africa, and Middle East

Agadir, Morocco
Alghero, Sardinia, Italy
Alter Do Chao, Portugal
Argostólion, Nisos Kefallinia, Greece
Bantry, Ireland
Brønnøysund, Norway
Calvi, Corsica, Haute-Corse, France
Crotone, Italy
Djúpivogur, Iceland
Douglas, Isle of Man, England
Fishguard, Wales
Flåm, Norway
Fowey, England
Galway, Ireland
Geiranger, Norway
Gythion (Sparta & Mystras), Greece
Heimaey, Iceland
Hellesylt, Norway
Helsingor, Denmark
Horta, Azores, Portugal
Hydra, Nisos Hydra, Greece
Ilfracombe, England
Isafjördur, Iceland
Itea (Delphi), Greece
Kirkenes, Norway
Korcula, Otok Korcula, Croatia
Kotor, Montenegro
Le Palais, France
Lerwick, Shetland Islands, Scotland
Lipari, Italy
Máhon, Spain
Mariehamn, Åland Islands
Mgarr (Victoria), Malta
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Mykonos, Nisos Mykonos, Greece
Náfplion, Greece
Nanortalik, Greenland
Newhaven (Edinburgh), Scotland
Nosy Be, Madagascar
Ny Alesund, Spitsbergen, Norway
Nynäshamn, Sweden
Oban, Scotland
Paamiut (formerly Frederikshåb), Greenland
Petropavlovsk, Russia
Plymouth, England
Ponza, Isola di Ponza, Italy
Portoferraio, Elba, Italy
Portree, Isle of Skye, Scotland
Praia, Cape Verde
Pýlos, Greece
Qaqortoq, Greenland
Rønne (Bornholm), Denmark
Runavík, Faroe Islands
Santorini, Greece
Sarandë, Albania
Sorrento, Italy
South Queensferry (Edinburgh), Scotland
Split, Croatia
St Helier, Jersey
St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, England
St Peter Port, Guernsey
Stornoway, Scotland
Taormina, Italy
Tobermory, Scotland
Trincomalee, Sri Lanka
Ullapool, Scotland
Visby, Sweden
Zakynthos, Greece

 

[Cruiser5137]

Iona's Norwegian cruise season has been shambolic and, it must be said, it is worrying that the problems with missed ports and disruption due to weather were not identified as a potential issue much earlier. I was on G220 and so was extremely lucky not to have had any disruption (other than a pre-cruise cancellation of a stop at Geiranger). What was annoying, however, was having paid £65 for a Geirangerfjord cruise only for Iona to make almost the same journey on our departure from Hellesylt. 

[Megabear2]

Regarding the Caribbean P&Os list is fairly short but I'm not sure it's totally accurate.  I see Guadaloupe on their list which I tendered from Azura in the year of the hurricane disruption when it was a replacement for Dominica.

 

This is NCL's list - there are several ports on here which I have definitely tendered from on Azura and Britannia, the most recent being St Kitts and Tortola:

 

Caribbean, Mexico & Panama Canal

• Basseterre, St. Kitts*
• Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
• Castries, St. Lucia*
• Cozumel, Mexico*
• George Town, Cayman Islands
• Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos Islands*
• Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas
• Harvest Caye, Belize*
• Ocho Rios, Jamaica*
• Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic*
• Road Town (Tortola), British Virgin Islands*
• Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras*
• San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

[Host Sharon]

2 hours ago, Yorkypete said:

The open topped boats belong in the Moby Dick era!

QE2 had them. Otherwise I've only seen them on some clasic liners I have cruised on - Funchal and Discovery for example.

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, AchileLauro said:

I may well be very wrong but I think that a minimum degree of weather protection on all survival craft (lifeboats) became a requirement some years ago, but that older ships with open boats have grandfathers rights so we may still see them in use on older vessels.

 

I take it molecrochip that the gunport doors that you mention on Iona are the ports usually used to take on board pilots while at sea? 

 

I've assumed from what has already been said that while it is perfectly possible to provide a tender service from Iona and Arvia if absolutely necessary, it was never intended that this should be done on a regular basis hence the lack of enhanced craft and possibly the retractable docking sponsons that I previously enquired about.

Not been on Iona yet, but I would be very surprised if she did not have the drop down tender platforms, and will be having a close look in October when we have our first cruise on her.

[Ardennais]

7 hours ago, Saab4444 said:

Of course they can but they don‘t want to to avoid chaos or they may not stop with so many people on one ship anymore.

Ha. If ‘they don’t want to avoid chaos’ as you put it, then they should have planned the Norwegian itineraries better in the first place! Ok, they’ve also had bad weather which has meant some changes, but Geiranger should never have been included in the first place. 
 

Anyway, the one thing evident from all of this is that the mega ships won’t visit many, if any, tender ports including those on the lists shown in earlier posts. They’ll have to plan their itineraries carefully! Or, as described by FO in their mailings, put together some ‘hand-crafted’ itineraries! That phrase amuses me greatly. 

 

 

 

[Ardennais]

29 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Not been on Iona yet, but I would be very surprised if she did not have the drop down tender platforms, and will be having a close look in October when we have our first cruise on her.

I will have been on her before you, but won’t know what to look out for, so it’s best that you report back! 

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, Ardennais said:

I will have been on her before you, but won’t know what to look out for, so it’s best that you report back! 

They are easy to see, you can spot the rectangular cut out which will be about 1 metre above the water line.  So next time you are walking along the pier or alongside the berthed ship, have a god nosy.

Edited July 14, 2022 by terrierjohn

[Ladyshopper23]

Sorry for the topic adjacent question, but we're going on a Norwegian Fjords cruise on Iona in September. Can I ask, do any of the ports have the shuttles you get with the select fare? Only just starting to look at what we might do!

[davecttr]

1 minute ago, Ladyshopper23 said:

Sorry for the topic adjacent question, but we're going on a Norwegian Fjords cruise on Iona in September. Can I ask, do any of the ports have the shuttles you get with the select fare? Only just starting to look at what we might do!

Stavanger - no, you are right in the town centre

Olden - no, there is no town to shuttle into

Hellesylt - no, right there in village centre

Geiranger - no, you are not going there!

Alesund - no, you are right there in the centre

Haugosund - maybe?

[Ladyshopper23]

1 minute ago, davecttr said:

Stavanger - no, you are right in the town centre

Olden - no, there is no town to shuttle into

Hellesylt - no, right there in village centre

Geiranger - no, you are not going there!

Alesund - no, you are right there in the centre

Haugosund - maybe?

Love it, thank you!!

As you can tell, I've not looked at the ports in any detail, so wasn't sure how close any were to a town centre etc. 

I did briefly look at excursions last week, and lots have sold out, so put it on my to do list to sort out. Guess I should get on with it at some point!

[Cruiser5137]

I was in Haugesand a few weeks ago and there were local shuttle buses available for 60NOK return. You can walk into town but it's a pretty dull walk - think Gibraltar only without the charm! Haugesand is a good port to book a tour. Stavanger is OK but don't bother with the HoHo bus which costs 350NOK and is definitely not worth it. Do take the local bus out to the Three Swords ( return costs about 60NOK) but you need to buy a ticket before boarding - ask at Tourist Info for directions. 

[molecrochip]

10 hours ago, Cruiser5137 said:

Iona's Norwegian cruise season has been shambolic and, it must be said, it is worrying that the problems with missed ports and disruption due to weather were not identified as a potential issue much earlier. I was on G220 and so was extremely lucky not to have had any disruption (other than a pre-cruise cancellation of a stop at Geiranger). What was annoying, however, was having paid £65 for a Geirangerfjord cruise only for Iona to make almost the same journey on our departure from Hellesylt. 

I'm fairly minded to agree with you however the season so far has had fairly poor weather compared to usual. And then there is the Geiranger issue.

[Megabear2]

I never understood the massive number of cruises on all lines going to Norway in the first place. Can see some of the specialist ones like Northern Lights and Arctic circle as special cases but these backwards and forwards straight rail like ones that all the lines are adopting offer little variety and I cannot see how all these new cruisers they are all chasing will want to keep going there.  Variety is the spice of life and all that ... I recall this area being called a cold weather cruise by Cunard when I first started cruising and at that point there were nowhere near the number of cruises in that area than there are now.

[molecrochip]

11 hours ago, AchileLauro said:

I take it molecrochip that the gunport doors that you mention on Iona are the ports usually used to take on board pilots while at sea? 

 

I've assumed from what has already been said that while it is perfectly possible to provide a tender service from Iona and Arvia if absolutely necessary, it was never intended that this should be done on a regular basis hence the lack of enhanced craft and possibly the retractable docking sponsons that I previously enquired about.

Yes, regarding pilots.

 

The tendering area's are next to the deck three gunport doors and are double height (deck2 & 3), marked with 'No Tug' as there is a void behind there needed for circulation when in use.

 

I don't know what tender craft have been ordered for Arvia. I suspect, the same as Iona. I think a general point, is that the bigger the ship, the longer it takes to tender. Therefore it is by plan that these ships will be booked into dockside berths and won't tender as regularly.

[molecrochip]

3 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

I never understood the massive number of cruises on all lines going to Norway in the first place. Can see some of the specialist ones like Northern Lights and Arctic circle as special cases but these backwards and forwards straight rail like ones that all the lines are adopting offer little variety and I cannot see how all these new cruisers they are all chasing will want to keep going there.  Variety is the spice of life and all that ... I recall this area being called a cold weather cruise by Cunard when I first started cruising and at that point there were nowhere near the number of cruises in that area than there are now.

Its an easy sell, and not somewhere people book a 7 day package holiday to.

[Megabear2]

13 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

Its an easy sell, and not somewhere people book a 7 day package holiday to.

Understand that, but what happens when they want their next cruise and the ships are all still trolling(!) backwards and forwards to the same places?  As someone taking 5 or 6 cruises a year I study a lot of lines itineraries and over the past five years or so choice has diminished a lot. I assume by easy sell you mean it can be cheaply marketed as these cruises are good "taster" cruises.  However all these chopping and changes combined with inclement weather might make it far harder to sell in the future?

[Fionboard]

The new mega ships are basically floating resorts. Great if you want to sit on your balcony and look at a load of cranes and containers!

[Host Sharon]

1 hour ago, Megabear2 said:

Understand that, but what happens when they want their next cruise and the ships are all still trolling(!) backwards and forwards to the same places?  As someone taking 5 or 6 cruises a year I study a lot of lines itineraries and over the past five years or so choice has diminished a lot. I assume by easy sell you mean it can be cheaply marketed as these cruises are good "taster" cruises.  However all these chopping and changes combined with inclement weather might make it far harder to sell in the future?

Also, you can't even stretch it into a 14 day cruise with a B2B as you will end up at the same places.