P&O Cancelling Baltic Cruises

[wowzz]

14 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

This thread is about the Baltic cruises that were cancelled, and quite naturally has moved onto the cruises that have replaced them, some of which have shore excursions to Edinburgh.

Seems quite  sensible thread drift to me.

I suppose so, but surely a new thread altogether would be better. Those people interested in logistics for Edinburgh are hardly likely to look in a thread about Baltic cruises.

[terrierjohn]

3 hours ago, wowzz said:

I suppose so, but surely a new thread altogether would be better. Those people interested in logistics for Edinburgh are hardly likely to look in a thread about Baltic cruises.

Wowzz, it isn't about Baltic cruises in general, it's about specific cancelled Baltic cruises. 

We switched our cancelled cruise to Sky Princess and looking forward to comparing glitzy Sky with vanilla Britannia.  We opted for Princess plus, so maybe you can comment as to whether the speciality coffees in the drinks package include the alcoholic Irish coffee versions?

[bobstheboy]

I do get annoyed when I read a thread title, have a look at the latest posts and they are way off topic. I can understand how it happens but when it carries on for a couple of pages .......

[GOQ]

At last I have found a couple of possible alternative cruises to replace my cancelled B315.

 

The cancellation email states

"As a further apology for this cancellation, we’d like to offer the first two guests booked in your cabin £100 per person on-board spending money if you choose to book any alternative 2023 holiday before the end of December 2022."

If I book a replacement June/July 2023 holiday this week how do I get the offered £100 on-board spending money.

 

Thanks 

 

Paul

[wowzz]

42 minutes ago, GOQ said:

If I book a replacement June/July 2023 holiday this week how do I get the offered £100 on-board spending money.

It will be added to your onboard account. 

[heatherb1958]

On 12/6/2022 at 3:00 PM, PJ's said:

We are booked on B322 to the Baltic on 1st September 2023 but not had an email informing us that this cruise is cancelled. Wonder if it will be?

 

We are also on this one for hubbies 70th . The itinerary doesn't include St. Petersburg on my online  P&O account and didn't when I booked it . We have already been there anyway so if it had been dropped from the original scheduled itinerary it would not have been too disappointing.  

[wowzz]

4 minutes ago, heatherb1958 said:

 

We are also on this one for hubbies 70th . The itinerary doesn't include St. Petersburg on my online  P&O account and didn't when I booked it . We have already been there anyway so if it had been dropped from the original scheduled itinerary it would not have been too disappointing.  

We are on that cruise as well. Have you joined the roll call ?

Personally,  I am pretty confident it will go ahead. If it was going to be cancelled,  P&O would have done so by now. 

[heatherb1958]

11 minutes ago, wowzz said:

We are on that cruise as well. Have you joined the roll call ?

Personally,  I am pretty confident it will go ahead. If it was going to be cancelled,  P&O would have done so by now. 

 

No I don't think I have 🙂. Will look for it now 😎. 

[wowzz]

13 minutes ago, heatherb1958 said:

 

No I don't think I have 🙂. Will look for it now 😎. 

Just realised there isn't one  ! 

Do you want to start the ball rolling ?

[wowzz]

B322 (1.9.23) roll call started.

I'm not expecting an overwhelming response !

Edited December 21, 2022 by wowzz

[GOQ]

On 12/19/2022 at 10:17 PM, wowzz said:

It will be added to your onboard account. 

I couldn't see anything on my onboard account so I just booked my replacement cruise through my account assuming an extra £100 on board credit would be applied to the booking, It was not.

 

Oh dear, phone up P&O I suppose.

[zap99]

On 12/17/2022 at 4:52 PM, wowzz said:

Must admit, the free room service on Princess is a real bonus compared to P&O. 

After 197 cruises I must admit to having never, ever ordered room service.

[wowzz]

5 minutes ago, zap99 said:

After 197 cruises I must admit to having never, ever ordered room service.

We don't often, but having the odd drink delivered, or a snack with chips when we can't face the buffet, is a nice option to have.

[zap99]

31 minutes ago, wowzz said:

We don't often, but having the odd drink delivered, or a snack with chips when we can't face the buffet, is a nice option to have.

One day perhaps. DW told me it's 221222. 🤣

[terrierjohn]

2 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

Then why have they been cancelled then? Because the lack of SPB is a big issue in the level of sales or because it is not safe to do so from the water standpoint?

No idea, but I guess its lack of demand for P&O offerings. Our cancelled cruise had only 5 ports, the replacement Princess cruise, also part of Carnival, has 9 ports. Which option would you choose.

[sogne]

2 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

Then why have they been cancelled then? Because the lack of SPB is a big issue in the level of sales or because it is not safe to do so from the water standpoint?

 

there were 9 published Baltic cruises for 2023  5 have been cancelled and replaced with new. Answer your own question.

[zap99]

20 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I am quite happy to do a repeat Baltic cruise without SPB, and I imagine I am not alone. I do lots of repeat Med and Canary cruises because we dont fly and cruising from the UK still enables us to do foreign "sunshine " holidays.

Russia has only a small coast line on the Baltic, all of it accessed via a narrow inlet, which could be closed to any Russian vessels with a couple of submarines and a frigate.

I would quite like a baltic cruise without SPB, but now I'm a bit worried that Wagner gonna hijack me in the canaries.  Why a classical composer wanna go and gonna hijack me.

[ace2542]

26 minutes ago, sogne said:

 

there were 9 published Baltic cruises for 2023  5 have been cancelled and replaced with new. Answer your own question.

The sales figures is the answer. The reason for the lack of interest is of course the lack of SPB. When we will be able to go back is anyone's guess.

[ace2542]

35 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Russia has only a small coast line on the Baltic, all of it accessed via a narrow inlet, which could be closed to any Russian vessels with a couple of submarines and a frigate.

Where would you get the ships from?

[wowzz]

58 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

Because the lack of SPB is a big issue in the level of sales

Exactly that. For some people SPB is a bucket list destination.

Having said that, there is more to the Baltic than just SPB. We are looking forward to visiting Copenhagen, Helsinki etc.

Equating the capture of Terry Waite to hijacking a cruise ship shows a certain lack of rational thought.

 

Edited December 23, 2022 by wowzz

[TigerB]

1 hour ago, ace2542 said:

Without St Petersburg there is no point to a Baltic cruise though is there? And you can't go there is if it not safe to do so and it is not.

 

St Petersburg was a destination we wanted to go to, but taking it off the itinerary was understandable. In September we had a fantastic cruise and felt totally safe, and would not hesitate in taking another Baltic cruise.

 

By the way, what has the no-fly zone over war-torn Ukraine got to do with sailing in the safe waters of the Baltic?

[Denarius]

17 minutes ago, zap99 said:

We went to SPB on a cruise several years ago. Looked a bit run down. Won't be going back.

I visited SPB several years ago, and whilst I am glad I have been there I have no particular desire to return. I am not a lover of museums and found the inability to explore independently without a personal Russian visa frustrating. This Summer I sailed the Baltic on a cruise specifically chosen because it did not visit SPB and had a wonderful time. There is much more to the Baltic than SPB and cities like Stockholm and Copenhagen are imo more than its equal.

[zap99]

4 minutes ago, Denarius said:

I visited SPB several years ago, and whilst I am glad I have been there I have no particular desire to return. I am not a lover of museums and found the inability to explore independently without a personal Russian visa frustrating. This Summer I sailed the Baltic on a cruise specifically chosen because it did not visit SPB and had a wonderful time. There is much more to the Baltic than SPB and cities like Stockholm and Copenhagen are imo more than its equal.

Both of those are on the long weekend wish list. We enjoyed our visit very much. As you say, SPB, glad we went, but won't be ' Russian back '.

[Yorkypete]

2 hours ago, ace2542 said:

Without St Petersburg there is no point to a Baltic cruise though is there? And you can't go there is if it not safe to do so and it is not.

Who are you? A Baltic Cruise is brilliant, though our last one was spoilt by getting covid . Tallin, Stockholm, Helsinki etc are great places to go and are sfe. If we did not go to these places the only people to suffer are ourselves and the people who rely on tourists. Remember wars are fought and caused  by politicians not the people. It is perfectly safe and I for one would continue to visit the area if cruises still did so.

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, ace2542 said:

But there is no baltics cruises without SPB? The demand appears not to be there?

There are still lots of Baltic cruises, albeit fewer than before.

We are just considering booking a second Baltic cruise for 2024, to visit ports that are not on our 2023 itinerary.