Bolette not calling at Menorca again

[dbjhughes]

I have watched with interest whether Bolette makes it to Menorca on her two Amalfi Coast cruises this year, as my Balmoral cruise later this year is due to stop there, and I have previously failed to get to Menorca on another (non-Fred) cruise. I was disappointed to see Bolette called at Malaga instead on Menorca during the April cruise, but when I called Fred to enquire they reassured me that the reason was weather-related and a one-off, so my Balmoral cruise would be unaffected. However, I see Bolette is due to substitute Menorca with Malaga again tomorrow, so the reason given to me by Fred was clearly misleading. I also paid attention to whether Bolette made it to Tangier a few weeks ago, and can‘t say I was surprised to see it was replaced by Gibraltar. Does anyone have any first-hand experience as to why Bolette hasn’t made it to Menorca or Tangier? Many thanks.

[Coravel]

Bolette didn't make it to Tangier because it wasn't allowed in owing to high Covid levels.  We went to Gibraltar instead but after the ship sailed out we were told that 19 members of crew were waiting to board the ship at Tangier  so we had to visit after all!  But we had to park in the bay while a local tug transferred the crew members to the ship seven at a time.  At least we can say we were close enough to have a good view of the town.  

 

I hope the Balmoral visits Menorca in October because they have axed all the ports of call we were looking forward to and left us with ones we visited earlier this month or have not previously heard of.  We are really looking forward to Menorca as we have not been there before!

[tring]

1 hour ago, Coravel said:

Bolette didn't make it to Tangier because it wasn't allowed in owing to high Covid levels.  We went to Gibraltar instead but after the ship sailed out we were told that 19 members of crew were waiting to board the ship at Tangier  so we had to visit after all!  But we had to park in the bay while a local tug transferred the crew members to the ship seven at a time.  At least we can say we were close enough to have a good view of the town.  

 

I hope the Balmoral visits Menorca in October because they have axed all the ports of call we were looking forward to and left us with ones we visited earlier this month or have not previously heard of.  We are really looking forward to Menorca as we have not been there before!

 

Sorry to hear about Tangier, we had a great time when we visited it on Adonia, during her first season.

 

9 hours ago, dbjhughes said:

I have watched with interest whether Bolette makes it to Menorca on her two Amalfi Coast cruises this year, as my Balmoral cruise later this year is due to stop there, and I have previously failed to get to Menorca on another (non-Fred) cruise. I was disappointed to see Bolette called at Malaga instead on Menorca during the April cruise, but when I called Fred to enquire they reassured me that the reason was weather-related and a one-off, so my Balmoral cruise would be unaffected. However, I see Bolette is due to substitute Menorca with Malaga again tomorrow, so the reason given to me by Fred was clearly misleading. I also paid attention to whether Bolette made it to Tangier a few weeks ago, and can‘t say I was surprised to see it was replaced by Gibraltar. Does anyone have any first-hand experience as to why Bolette hasn’t made it to Menorca or Tangier? Many thanks.

 

There was a problem with Menorca last autumn as there was work being done at (or near) the port which had the effect of making the sea far too shallow to get there.  I do not know if that work is now finished and/or if the sea has been dredged.  Perhaps worth googling whatever was going on in the harbour to get an update.  Also perhaps find out whatever other cruise lines may, or may not, be calling there.  Balmoral may have a shallower draught than the ex HAL ships though, so could be a factor as well.

 

There have been a lot of ports changed on other cruise lines, partly because of covid.  Sadly we are nowhere near back to what we all like to think of as "normal" cruising, sadly. Land holidays are the best way to be confident about a destination, though must admit the airport problems have been putting us off that too this year, though a flight is our next plan to travel, late September.

 

Edited July 21, 2022 by tring

[tiggertom]

We were in Minorca in June on another cruise ship and is was a lovely port. A lovely leisurely sail in and a beautiful island for excursions and a beautiful sail away. Hope you manage to get there.

[Coravel]

7 hours ago, tring said:

Sorry to hear about Tangier, we had a great time when we visited it on Adonia, during her first season.

It was the port I had most looked forward to because as a teenager in the 60s it was possible for me to listen to American pop music on Voice of America broadcasting from Tangier.  Never in a million years did I think I might one day pay it a visit - and I still haven't!  

 

But a second and more recent reason is that close friends of ours have a daughter who works as an estate agent in Tangier.  I've met her and her husband several times and they wanted to show us around.  Next time maybe.  

[tring]

3 hours ago, Coravel said:

It was the port I had most looked forward to because as a teenager in the 60s it was possible for me to listen to American pop music on Voice of America broadcasting from Tangier.  Never in a million years did I think I might one day pay it a visit - and I still haven't!  

 

But a second and more recent reason is that close friends of ours have a daughter who works as an estate agent in Tangier.  I've met her and her husband several times and they wanted to show us around.  Next time maybe.  

 

Indeed a shame, especially as you would have had a personal tour. 

 

We had a well planned day starting in the Medina (had printed a map), but came a cropper when table companions said hello to us as we went near the centre.  We had been ignored until then, (our normal confident selves), but our friends were on a tour and had been abandoned with their number stickers, so we were immediately identified as cruise passengers, so needed to retreat and go another way nippily 🙂

 

Anyway, found the American Ligation, which was extremely interesting, then walked through the upper Medina where celebrities had lived in the 60's.  Then on to The Cafe de Paris, which had been very popular in the 60's and got into a conversation with a local gentleman who spoke excellent English.  He was with his wife - a lovely man.  Walking back we went into the Hotel Continental, also planned.  It is an old colonial styled hotel on the edge of the Medina, overlooking the shore and our cruise ship.  We ate appetising lemon chicken tagines in an almost empty restaurant, before returning to the ship. 

 

One of our more memorable ports and somewhere worth trying to visit again from your point of view, I am sure.  I do hope you get there one day.  We are just hoping things get better soon, as our travelling days could be curtailed any time now due to age, but at least we are OK for now, healthwise.

 

Edited July 21, 2022 by tring

[Coravel]

On 7/21/2022 at 10:37 AM, tring said:

 

Sorry to hear about Tangier, we had a great time when we visited it on Adonia, during her first season.

 

You clearly made the most of your day there Barbara and I'm pleased you had such a good time.  I'm resigned to missing a port on every cruise but it's ironic that it always seems to be the one we were most looking forward to.   It's just one of those things - my parents rarely left the country and my grandparents didn't go further than the West Country or Wales.  We are the luckiest generation ever born where ordinary people are able to literally travel the world for leisure.  We also realise that it will soon come to an end for us because of age issues - primarily myself.  My wife is coming up to 72 so she will be able to get insurance for another eight years yet.  Our cruising friends are slightly older than us but use bank insurance which we do not believe is safe.  They are millionaires so can bail themselves out if they come a cropper.  We would probably become bankrupt so it's either proper insurance or we don't go at all.  

[tring]

30 minutes ago, Coravel said:

You clearly made the most of your day there Barbara and I'm pleased you had such a good time.  I'm resigned to missing a port on every cruise but it's ironic that it always seems to be the one we were most looking forward to.   It's just one of those things - my parents rarely left the country and my grandparents didn't go further than the West Country or Wales.  We are the luckiest generation ever born where ordinary people are able to literally travel the world for leisure.  We also realise that it will soon come to an end for us because of age issues - primarily myself.  My wife is coming up to 72 so she will be able to get insurance for another eight years yet.  Our cruising friends are slightly older than us but use bank insurance which we do not believe is safe.  They are millionaires so can bail themselves out if they come a cropper.  We would probably become bankrupt so it's either proper insurance or we don't go at all.  

 

I hope you do get there sometime.

 

We were insured with Lloyds until last March and it was a very good, comprehensive, insurance, (DH is quite into checking legal details of things due to his work background), but they changed the max number of days per holiday to 30 (from 45), which is not adequate for us, so we have gone elsewhere.  Like many others, that would have ended at 80 though (we are currently both 72, but are aware health issues can arise at any time - minor ones keep cropping up recently).  Of course all insurance you have to make sure you declare all relevant details, if required.  Also, what is good for some people is not necessarily so for all.  We have now lost our disruption insurance, which is a shame, but will manage somehow and after covid are more likely to keep to packaged holidays anyway (albeit sometimes ones which we have put together to our requirements, rather than standard packages), so will be protected for disruption anyway.  As you say though, insurance is not something you need to be careful about.

 

[Coravel]

I've made a list of insurance companies that cater for oldies to find out if the Antarctic cruise next January is a possibility.  I have a number of reservations about it including the fact that most of the ports are a repeat of our 2012 cruise around South America on the Balmoral.  Cuba is one I've not visited so far.  My wife is far more keen than me to book it!

[tring]

2 hours ago, Coravel said:

I've made a list of insurance companies that cater for oldies to find out if the Antarctic cruise next January is a possibility.  I have a number of reservations about it including the fact that most of the ports are a repeat of our 2012 cruise around South America on the Balmoral.  Cuba is one I've not visited so far.  My wife is far more keen than me to book it!

 

I would love to do an around S America and is something we had considered pre covid, though one would be fine.  We have not been away for more than 45 nights at a time previously though, and that included land stays (35 nights is our longest cruise), so a big jump.  Whilst we would hope to be able to extend travel insurance, (if only with another company), the crunch we see is the house insurance, which currently only covers 60 days if not "occupied".  We do not have close relatives nearby, so could not really ask someone to move in for a few days during our travels, but are thinking it may be worth speaking to our house insurers to see if there may be a way around it.  The policy excludes, escape of water, theft and vandalism if the house is unoccupied for more than 60 days, so a risk we could never consider.  Did you have house insurance problems for a longer holiday?

[david05]

11 hours ago, tring said:

 

I would love to do an around S America and is something we had considered pre covid, though one would be fine.  We have not been away for more than 45 nights at a time previously though, and that included land stays (35 nights is our longest cruise), so a big jump.  Whilst we would hope to be able to extend travel insurance, (if only with another company), the crunch we see is the house insurance, which currently only covers 60 days if not "occupied".  We do not have close relatives nearby, so could not really ask someone to move in for a few days during our travels, but are thinking it may be worth speaking to our house insurers to see if there may be a way around it.  The policy excludes, escape of water, theft and vandalism if the house is unoccupied for more than 60 days, so a risk we could never consider.  Did you have house insurance problems for a longer holiday?

We once did a cruise of over 100 nights and the insurance company was fine with this as a one-off, no additional premium. A neighbour was happy to keep an eye on the house.

[tring]

3 minutes ago, david05 said:

We once did a cruise of over 100 nights and the insurance company was fine with this as a one-off, no additional premium. A neighbour was happy to keep an eye on the house.

 

Thank you for that information, perhaps worth speaking to our insurance company.

 

[Coravel]

We live in an apartment block so our building insurance is paid out of the service charge.  Contents insurance is our responsibility.  Fortunately neighbours are happy to keep an eye on everything and there are CCTV cameras on every floor of the building.  All our long cruises have been on the Balmoral and they've all been very enjoyable.  I could happily spend my entire life on board if money was not a consideration.  

[dbjhughes]

On 7/21/2022 at 9:22 AM, Coravel said:

Bolette didn't make it to Tangier because it wasn't allowed in owing to high Covid levels.  We went to Gibraltar instead but after the ship sailed out we were told that 19 members of crew were waiting to board the ship at Tangier  so we had to visit after all!  But we had to park in the bay while a local tug transferred the crew members to the ship seven at a time.  At least we can say we were close enough to have a good view of the town.  

 

I hope the Balmoral visits Menorca in October because they have axed all the ports of call we were looking forward to and left us with ones we visited earlier this month or have not previously heard of.  We are really looking forward to Menorca as we have not been there before!

Many thanks for your update about what happened with Tangier.

[dbjhughes]

On 7/21/2022 at 10:37 AM, tring said:

 

Sorry to hear about Tangier, we had a great time when we visited it on Adonia, during her first season.

 

 

There was a problem with Menorca last autumn as there was work being done at (or near) the port which had the effect of making the sea far too shallow to get there.  I do not know if that work is now finished and/or if the sea has been dredged.  Perhaps worth googling whatever was going on in the harbour to get an update.  Also perhaps find out whatever other cruise lines may, or may not, be calling there.  Balmoral may have a shallower draught than the ex HAL ships though, so could be a factor as well.

 

There have been a lot of ports changed on other cruise lines, partly because of covid.  Sadly we are nowhere near back to what we all like to think of as "normal" cruising, sadly. Land holidays are the best way to be confident about a destination, though must admit the airport problems have been putting us off that too this year, though a flight is our next plan to travel, late September.

 

Thanks for your thoughts re Mahon/Menorca. I was already a bit suspicious about this port before Fred changed it twice this year, as it was scheduled on a P&O Oriana itinerary in 2019, and then nine months prior to sailing was replaced with tendering to Ciutadella on the west coast of Menorca. Which would have been great, except of course tendering was called off the day before we were due there due to forecast swell, so we ended up having two days rather than one in… Gibraltar, argh!

 

By the way, I called Fred about the reason for the second time they changed Mahon to Malaga, as I had done the first time, and was again given the reason of ‘weather’. I just can’t buy this as a reason twice for the same port of call, especially when the forecasted weather for Mahon was gorgeous in every way. While people on other cruise lines are annoyed by being fobbed off with ‘operational reasons’ as an explanation, I would have bought it more than ‘weather’ in this circumstance.

 

While I know people are having ports cancelled or changed left, right and centre at the moment, I have been rather spoilt since I returned to cruising last September after the pandemic, as I haven‘t missed a single port of call on four cruises since then! So I can’t complain. But if anyone was on Bolette for either of the Amalfi Coast cruises and knows why Menorca was replaced with Malaga, I (and by the sounds of it, Coravel too!) would be very grateful to know, as I am due on Balmoral in a couple of months with a scheduled stop in Menorca…

[tring]

On 7/30/2022 at 8:27 PM, dbjhughes said:

Thanks for your thoughts re Mahon/Menorca. I was already a bit suspicious about this port before Fred changed it twice this year, as it was scheduled on a P&O Oriana itinerary in 2019, and then nine months prior to sailing was replaced with tendering to Ciutadella on the west coast of Menorca. Which would have been great, except of course tendering was called off the day before we were due there due to forecast swell, so we ended up having two days rather than one in… Gibraltar, argh!

 

By the way, I called Fred about the reason for the second time they changed Mahon to Malaga, as I had done the first time, and was again given the reason of ‘weather’. I just can’t buy this as a reason twice for the same port of call, especially when the forecasted weather for Mahon was gorgeous in every way. While people on other cruise lines are annoyed by being fobbed off with ‘operational reasons’ as an explanation, I would have bought it more than ‘weather’ in this circumstance.

 

While I know people are having ports cancelled or changed left, right and centre at the moment, I have been rather spoilt since I returned to cruising last September after the pandemic, as I haven‘t missed a single port of call on four cruises since then! So I can’t complain. But if anyone was on Bolette for either of the Amalfi Coast cruises and knows why Menorca was replaced with Malaga, I (and by the sounds of it, Coravel too!) would be very grateful to know, as I am due on Balmoral in a couple of months with a scheduled stop in Menorca…

 

To be fair, Fred has cancelled very few ports, though Mahon was one for us.  Not sure which was the replacement port, but the itinerary was called something like "undiscovered Med" and the vast majority of ports were new to us and we were happy with all of them.  I had not even heard of a couple of the ports.  We have done about five Fred cruises since the Pandemic and the only other miss was Scilly, on a day when it was clearly unfit to tender into St Marys.  We even called into Hamburg overnight on Bolette, when P&O were constantly cancelling that off their itineraries, so I really did not expect to call there.  I was getting very annoyed about not having notice from Fred about that, yet in the end it was totally unfounded - we went there and had a really good time on the overnight call.

 

It is possible that the work which made the harbour too shallow is still ongoing, or perhaps they have just not dredged the harbour fully since the problematic work.  Or it could be another reason, for instance if the harbour is a bit borderline for docking due to depth normally, then it is possible bad winds could just push it under the required depth.  We did believe the reason given in the autumn as we were actually told the harbour depth at the time, along with the required depth for Bolette.

 

Like all cruises, there is always a chance of at least one port being missed and replaced with another, but not something anyone can do anything about in most cases.  I do hope you are able to call there though and I can understand why you are frustrated about it,

 

Barbara

 

Edited July 31, 2022 by tring

[penport]

We were on the April cruise and Menorca was cancelled a couple of weeks before sailing, ostensibly due to predicted bad weather conditions.

It must have been an omen as both Amalfi and Sorrento also got cancelled due to the weather  although we did have an extra night in Salerno.

 

Here's the original message:

 

Please be advised that it has been necessary to make a small amendment to your cruise itinerary for guest comfort & safety reasons. The call into Mahon, Menorca on 19^th April would require use of tenders to transport guests ashore. Due to the length of the tender journey combined with potentially high winds in the afternoon causing high swells, the call into Mahon has now been cancelled, with the day now spent cruising. However, we are pleased to advise we have been able to add a full day call into Malaga, Spain on 18^th April (previously a day cruising). All other parts of the cruise itinerary remain unchanged.

[Coravel]

That must have been incredibly annoying since Sorrento and Amalfi were the highlights of the cruise.  Did they give you a voucher for a discount on a future cruise?  When our Californian cruise was ruined because of a fishing net getting wrapped around a propellor we had to rearrange the itinerary because our speed was halved and ports were cancelled.  Everyone was given a voucher for 10% off a future cruise.  

[dbjhughes]

16 hours ago, penport said:

Please be advised that it has been necessary to make a small amendment to your cruise itinerary for guest comfort & safety reasons. The call into Mahon, Menorca on 19^th April would require use of tenders to transport guests ashore. Due to the length of the tender journey combined with potentially high winds in the afternoon causing high swells, the call into Mahon has now been cancelled, with the day now spent cruising. However, we are pleased to advise we have been able to add a full day call into Malaga, Spain on 18^th April (previously a day cruising). All other parts of the cruise itinerary remain unchanged.

Many thanks for confirming. I suspected as much, as I followed with interest MSC Orchestra’s visit to Mahon last week - she seemed to anchor at the mouth of Mahon’s long harbour and tender people in, which must have been a huge undertaking. On the plus side, AIDAstella successfully docked in port yesterday, despite being significantly heavier and deeper than Balmoral, which bodes well for Balmoral’s intended call in October.

[penport]

On 8/10/2022 at 8:51 PM, Coravel said:

That must have been incredibly annoying since Sorrento and Amalfi were the highlights of the cruise.  Did they give you a voucher for a discount on a future cruise?  When our Californian cruise was ruined because of a fishing net getting wrapped around a propellor we had to rearrange the itinerary because our speed was halved and ports were cancelled.  Everyone was given a voucher for 10% off a future cruise.  

Yes it was annoying, but then the weather was pretty bad and that's not the ship's fault so no we didn't request a discount.

[Coravel]

We may have had the discount because the captain was to blame for steering the ship through an area known to contain fishing nets.  There were a number of retired BP tanker captains on the cruise and they kicked up such a fuss that the captain was replaced in San Diego.  

[terry2]

On 7/22/2022 at 8:48 PM, tring said:

We were insured with Lloyds until last March and it was a very good, comprehensive, insurance, (DH is quite into checking legal details of things due to his work background), but they changed the max number of days per holiday to 30 (from 45), which is not adequate for us, so we have gone elsewhere. 

 I too was with Lloyds and ran into this problem.  However I have recently been advised by friends that the Nationwide flexplus account also gives such insurance, for which there is a one off extra fee if you are over 70, and you can also buy more than 30 days cover for another surcharge .  Note I haven't tried them yet, but will look at it when my current annual travel insurance runs out.

 Anybody using them who could give a comment.