Are P&O now the Easy jet of the sea

[scifimonkey]

If the current Norway season is anything to go by then which ports you visit now seems to be nothing more than a lucky dip and whether you get 2 3 or 4 ports on your 7 night cruise a matter of chance. As does which restaurants and bars might be open and when. As their new flagship Iona limps back to Southampton after yet another failure to fulfil its published itinerary it seems like the comparison with Easy Jet may be generous. 

[mikey22664]

The Norway itineraries on Iona do really appear to be a lottery

We are booked on her next July and would like to hear from P&O as to why the ship has such a poor record of missed/alternate ports

They have just emailed us to say they won’t call into Geiranger due to operational issues although at least today they did the sail past of the seven sisters

Anyone else selling a product with so many bits missing would find themselves attracting the unwanted attentions of trading standards

Maybe it’s time for P&O to consider swapping the itinerary to the like'sof the Britannia 

[Mollag]

36 minutes ago, scifimonkey said:

If the current Norway season is anything to go by then which ports you visit now seems to be nothing more than a lucky dip and whether you get 2 3 or 4 ports on your 7 night cruise a matter of chance. As does which restaurants and bars might be open and when. As their new flagship Iona limps back to Southampton after yet another failure to fulfil its published itinerary it seems like the comparison with Easy Jet may be generous. 

Probably not comparable to EasyJet on there you get compensation unlike P&O where it’s tough take it or leave it

[Windsurfboy]

A - do you have missed ports cruise insurance 

 

 

[Palaceman]

16 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

A - do you have missed ports cruise insurance 

 

 

You may find that missed port insurance cover only applies if it is due to bad weather and providing no alternative port was found

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, mikey22664 said:

The Norway itineraries on Iona do really appear to be a lottery

We are booked on her next July and would like to hear from P&O as to why the ship has such a poor record of missed/alternate ports

They have just emailed us to say they won’t call into Geiranger due to operational issues although at least today they did the sail past of the seven sisters

Anyone else selling a product with so many bits missing would find themselves attracting the unwanted attentions of trading standards

Maybe it’s time for P&O to consider swapping the itinerary to the like'sof the Britannia 

So are you saying that Iona isn't calling into Geiranger next year either?

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, scifimonkey said:

If the current Norway season is anything to go by then which ports you visit now seems to be nothing more than a lucky dip and whether you get 2 3 or 4 ports on your 7 night cruise a matter of chance. As does which restaurants and bars might be open and when. As their new flagship Iona limps back to Southampton after yet another failure to fulfil its published itinerary it seems like the comparison with Easy Jet may be generous. 

In answer to your question, I've used Easyjet a lot and they've always taken me where they promised and very seldom cancelled a flight...

[mikey22664]

The email i got today states that the cruise I have booked for next July will no longer call at Geiranger but will stay all day at Hellestylt

They also say they will do a sail past of the seven sisters

They state operational issues but don’t go into detail

[Britboys]

2 minutes ago, mikey22664 said:

The email i got today states that the cruise I have booked for next July will no longer call at Geiranger but will stay all day at Hellestylt

They also say they will do a sail past of the seven sisters

They state operational issues but don’t go into detail

Not good at all! I'd got it in my head that Moley had said steps were being taken to resolve the problem but it doesn't look too positive...

[Ardennais]

10 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Not good at all! I'd got it in my head that Moley had said steps were being taken to resolve the problem but it doesn't look too positive...

That’s what I thought too. What a disappointment again for 2023. 

[zap99]

16 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

That’s what I thought too. What a disappointment again for 2023. 

We did a fjords cruise on Britannia pre you know what. That was fine and last week on Silhouette. Also fine. Anthem of the seas , a similar size to Iona, goes to the fjords and all seems to be going ok.P&O need to seriously rethink the fjords ports with Iona. We did a 7 night staycation cruise, we enjoyed the ship and no way would we describe it as easyJet, but P&O have a serious problem which needs sorting. Operation reasons is an insult to customers.

Edited July 27, 2022 by zap99

[ferretktf]

MSC Virtuosa …. One of the biggest ships in the world, successfully navigated the Fjords in May …. Only one tender stop (due to high winds) …. So it’s not size that is causing the issue

 

[Billish]

Personally I think a comparison to Ryanair would be more appropriate. 

Ryanair's sense of geography is much worse than Easyjet's. 

[showingdiva]

1 hour ago, ferretktf said:

MSC Virtuosa …. One of the biggest ships in the world, successfully navigated the Fjords in May …. Only one tender stop (due to high winds) …. So it’s not size that is causing the issue

 

 

Her virtually identical sister Grandiosa is doing it again multiple times in 2023.

Southampton / Haugesund / Olden / Flam / Kristiansand, Norway / Southampton

[Billish]

Just now, Yorkypete said:

Could it be they are in financial trouble?

No - in a word. 

CCL have issues, but P&O are only a small part of the total picture. 

[ann141]

1 hour ago, Yorkypete said:

I wonder why Iona cannot go to Gerainger. I know Moley said it is due to the berthing not being possible but is this correct? Other vessels are managing it yet P&O will not give a reason. As they are now offering (in an e-mail today) 25% off certain cruises on Aurora and Arcadia plus extra OBC. Could it be they are in financial trouble? Come on P&O, try not to be a Boris and  not tell us or lie to us.

Is that cruises in 2022 or 2023 on Aurora and Arcadia? Just wondering as I may be interested 

[Saab4444]

7 hours ago, showingdiva said:

 

Her virtually identical sister Grandiosa is doing it again multiple times in 2023.

Southampton / Haugesund / Olden / Flam / Kristiansand, Norway / Southampton

Grandiosa is currently doing it every week without issues from Germany.

[Cathygh]

7 hours ago, ann141 said:

Is that cruises in 2022 or 2023 on Aurora and Arcadia? Just wondering as I may be interested 

It's the long ones going in September 2022.

[ann141]

6 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

It's the long ones going in September 2022.

Thank you. Already going on holiday in September but hope I get any future discount emails!

[Mollag]

9 hours ago, Billish said:

I'm being slow here - which ship was coming out of dry dock ?

Aurora

[Thejuggler]

Berthing arrangements will also be a P&O operational decision.  
 

If they can't/won't use the Seawalk they have to tender and P&O operational policies will come into play.

[gsmt47471015]

11 hours ago, Britboys said:

Not good at all! I'd got it in my head that Moley had said steps were being taken to resolve the problem but it doesn't look too positive...

Well don't bank on the sail past in Gerainger, as we never even got to Hellesylt. It looks as though the Iona mystery cruises are going to continue into next year, if we knew then what we know now we would have cancelled the trip and re booked something else, and have advised our newbie cruisers to find another line , and of course because we visited an alternative port any insurance claim is invalid 

[Britboys]

16 minutes ago, gsmt47471015 said:

Well don't bank on the sail past in Gerainger, as we never even got to Hellesylt. It looks as though the Iona mystery cruises are going to continue into next year, if we knew then what we know now we would have cancelled the trip and re booked something else, and have advised our newbie cruisers to find another line , and of course because we visited an alternative port any insurance claim is invalid 

Fortunately not an issue for me as Iona isn't for me but I feel so sorry for those booked. Having visited Geiranger on a cruise, I know how beautiful a place it is.

[Billish]

19 minutes ago, gsmt47471015 said:

and of course because we visited an alternative port any insurance claim is invalid 

Not necessarily. Depending on your policy, if you miss a scheduled port you csn still claim, even with a substitute port .

[gsmt47471015]

32 minutes ago, Billish said:

Not necessarily. Depending on your policy, if you miss a scheduled port you csn still claim, even with a substitute port .

To be perfectly honest we have never bothered to claim on any missed ports down the years, but after the last two cruises and the late notification of changes we may have to rethink our attitude