Returning to the same ports multiple times?

[yorkshirephil]

1 hour ago, d9704011 said:

Most of the discussion seems to have been around European ports except Ocho Rios was just thrown into the mix.  I'd say a good port to not bother going ashore is Colon, Panama.  If you feel a need to do something while tied up there, a ship excursion is essential.... not even the leg-stretching!

I guess they called it colon for a reason😁

Another non European port that we love is Quebec, we had 2 days there and will go back. There are lots of other amazing places to visit along the river down to Montreal. 

[jeanlyon]

16 hours ago, zap99 said:

We have been on well over 30 cruises and have never stayed on the ship when it docks. We even find Gibraltar interesting.

We would never stay on the ship either.  I even quite enjoy the half day in Gib, walking in, having a coffee etc.

 

We did 3 days in the Fjords on one Fred cruise and I'm afraid I thought once you've been down one fjord, they are all pretty much the same.  Waiting to be shot down here :0(

[Megabear2]

51 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

It’s one of those places where the ship berths smack bang in the middle of the waterfront, so no need for a shuttle bus (which is always a plus) as you are already in the heart of things. There are two promenades, one along the waterfront where the ship berths and another alongside a vast beach the other side of the peninsular (a short walk via the town centre). Glorious outlooks across the Gibraltar Straights and out to the Med. It’s a lovely town as well, with lots of shops, interesting buildings and sculptures. Beautifully manicured parks and gardens. There’s a lovely water park (not the ones with slides etc, more a landscaped swimming lake). It had only just opened for the season when we went. We didn’t want to swim but asked how much it was to just wander around the gardens and they let us in for nothing. We couldn’t believe the contrast with Gibraltar. Chalk and cheese. 

Looks beautiful but I'm intrigued by the Kluklux clan guy in the penultimate picture. Do you have any information on who he is?

Edited April 11, 2023 by Megabear2

[d9704011]

3 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Looks beautiful but I'm intrigued by the Kluklux clan guy in the penultimate picture. Do you have any information on who he is?

The figure is shown wearing a capirote... I'm sure those that still wear them would not like to be associated with the KKK.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capirote

[tring]

1 hour ago, Jennizor said:

We are on Iona in July for a week and we stop at Stavanger, Alesund, Olden and Haugesand and cruise-by Innvikfjord and Nordfjord on two other days. 

 

Those sail bys are done going into/out of Olden on the same day you visit Olden, not on different days.  It is about two hours sailing up to Olden from out at sea if I remember correctly, but that is the only real fjord that Iona traverses.

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by tring

[Megabear2]

3 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

The figure is shown wearing a capirote... I'm sure those that still wear them would not like to be associated with the KKK.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capirote

Thank you. I'm sure they wouldn't either, but as I had no idea what it was I was trying to be light hearted. Apologies.

Edited April 11, 2023 by Megabear2

[Yorkypete]

2 hours ago, Jennizor said:

We are on Iona in July for a week and we stop at Stavanger, Alesund, Olden and Haugesand and cruise-by Innvikfjord and Nordfjord on two other days. 

And it does the same on all its cruises last year and this year.That is boring.

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, tring said:

 

Those sail bys are done going into/out of Olden on the same day you visit Olden, not on different days.  It is about two hours sailing up to Olden from out at sea if I remember correctly, but that is the only real fjord that Iona traverses.

 

Some of the Iona cruises do 2 of the top 3 fjords, Olden & Geiranger, albeit with Geiranger they stop short at Hellesylt and then do a cruise down towards Geiranger in the evening, prior to heading out to sea. 

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, d9704011 said:

The figure is shown wearing a capirote... I'm sure those that still wear them would not like to be associated with the KKK.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capirote

Interesting. We had wondered (thinking along the same lines as @Megabear2) 😂 

[terrierjohn]

1 minute ago, Selbourne said:

Interesting. We had wondered (thinking along the same lines as @Megabear2) 😂 

+1

[tring]

47 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Some of the Iona cruises do 2 of the top 3 fjords, Olden & Geiranger, albeit with Geiranger they stop short at Hellesylt and then do a cruise down towards Geiranger in the evening, prior to heading out to sea. 

 

I believe you are right, yes, some cruises do the itinerary you mention above, but the person I quoted said their 7 night cruise was doing, "Stavanger, Alesund, Olden and Haugesand and cruise-by Innvikfjord and Nordfjord on two other days".  So four ports and the fjords mentioned were in the fjord system sailed along to get to/from Olden.  That person will be disappointed to learn they will be spending a day at sea each end of the cruise, which of course we would all have expected as a ship cannot get to Norway overnight.  The itineraries do clearly mention the dates though, so P&O are quite clear on what to expect.

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by tring

[Jennizor]

14 minutes ago, tring said:

 

I believe you are right, some cruises do, but the person I quoted said their 7 night cruise was doing, "Stavanger, Alesund, Olden and Haugesand and cruise-by Innvikfjord and Nordfjord on two other days".  So four ports and the fjords mentioned were in the fjord system sailed along to get to/from Olden.  That person will be disappointed to learn they will be spending a day at sea each end of the cruise, which of course we would all have expected as a ship cannot get to Norway overnight.  The itineraries do clearly mention the dates though, so P&O are quite clear on what to expect.

 

I won’t be disappointed as we have done a similar cruise before and I am aware of the sea day at each end of the cruise. I was just responding to a previous poster who said we were only going to Stavanger and Alesund.

[Denarius]

5 hours ago, Cristaltips said:

We always get off and stretch our legs (and usually partake of a local beer) 

The only place where I wouldn’t get off again is Ocho Rios. Others may like it but  not my cup of tea at all. Yes, done Dunn’s River Falls so no appetite to get off ship again . 

I agree. Ocho Rios is my all time least favourite port. If I ever had to go there again I would stay on the ship. I was constantly harassed by drug dealers and could not wait to get back to it!

[P&O SUE]

On 4/10/2023 at 11:04 AM, Host Sharon said:

I would be very happy not to visit Lisbon or Vigo ever again and now stay on board in those ports. One reason I am increasingly booking other lines is to discover new ports - Oceania to go to Nantes, Gijon and St Malo, Saga for Toulon, Savona, Calvi, Elba and Siracuse and Fred Olsen for Propriano, Olbia, Sorrento and Salerno. 

P&O are going to Gijon a few times next year…

[Denarius]

3 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Thank you. I'm sure they wouldn't either, but as I had no idea what it was I was trying to be light hearted. Apologies.

I also associated the capirote wth the KKK until I found myself in Vigo one Palm Sunday. There was a hugh parade including a marching band, priests carrying religious artifacts and a tableau of Christ on a donkey, and penitents wearing the capirote. This is one of the photos I took.

[snaefell]

3 hours ago, Jennizor said:

I won’t be disappointed as we have done a similar cruise before and I am aware of the sea day at each end of the cruise. I was just responding to a previous poster who said we were only going to Stavanger and Alesund.

That is applicable to all cruises from the UK surely,unless you are on a cruise of the UK you need a day or two to reach any destination.

[Britboys]

As ever, this thread shows how all our tastes differ. For me, there isn't a black and white answer. Yes, there are some major cities that are worth visiting multiple times and I would include Barcelona and lovely Lisbon amongst those. There are however other cities that once or twice is enough and other towns where once is definitely enough. Obviously some areas, such as Norway are limited in where ships of any significant size can berth.

I think that the issue with P&O now is that over the last 3 or 4 years (taking out the Covid years) many of the itineraries have become almost total repetition of the vast majority of ports. As someone who has been lucky enough to cruise for some 20+ years, P&O seldom now come up with an interesting itinerary for me. Most of you know I only cruise on the smaller ships and there are many more options for those to call at - especially if they chose to employ tenders, which they almost never do now (although I appreciate the problem that would cause for those with any significant mobility impairment).

I don't expect a whole raft of new ports on every itinerary but it would be nice to see a few more.

[Britboys]

6 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Looks beautiful but I'm intrigued by the Kluklux clan guy in the penultimate picture. Do you have any information on who he is?

Good Friday Procession in Torremolinos this year...

Sorry some are upside down. Tried deleting and reattaching but still the same. This damn site...

[DamianG]

Our cruises in the August school holidays often find us repeating ports but when it comes to finding activities to suit our son that’s not a bad thing. This year we are going to A Coruna (no plan yet other than he does not want to go to the Science Museum again), Valencia (back to the aquarium for the first time in a few years), Marseille (new port for us, we’ve been recommended to visit the promenade area at Boraly), Barcelona (zoo again then lunch on the top floor of El Cortes Ingles with the view over Placa de Catalunya - much better than it sounds & great for our son), Alicante (another new port & being a fan of all things Spanish can’t wait) then finishing in my wife’s favourite port Cadiz (bus to the beach near Residencia then lunch at La Marea). It’s a great mix of familiar & new for us.

Our son’s favourite port is Citivavecchia where we usually go swimming at the water polo club, we all like Vigo (in particular the beach Playa Samil) & we have unfinished business in Livorno where we went to the aquarium last time but want to use the Bagni Lido next time. 
The only port we have become tired of is Gibraltar having been so many times & with little to do for our son.

[DamianG]

On 4/10/2023 at 10:48 AM, davecttr said:

One, yes but for me it depends on the weather and how I feel on the day. On Arvia we have 2 days at Barcelona so I will invest in a hop on bus pass. If I can identify where exactly the tourist office is at the bottom of Ramblas. I toured La Sagrada Familia years ago so will stop over there again. The red route takes in the spanish village and Olympic park with good views so I will try that again. I enjoyed that market but in my case I was chomping my way through the sausage samples so another visit is called for. I have visited La Coruna several times but have yet another route for my walk ashore. My other visit to Valencia was spent in pursuing Tapas bars so this time I will do the cultural bits. First time in Marseilles for me so I hope we make it and being a Sunday might not help. Cadiz is a frequent stop and having exhausted the excursions i will take my usual walk, in reverse order this time.

 

I increasingly like staying aboard the ship for a relaxing day as well

In Barcelona have a look at the T-Casual transport ticket which gives you 10 journeys on all forms of transport. 

On one cruise before we became parents we were in Barcelona on New Years Eve & used the Metro to visit Camp Nou then various other landmarks with lots of tapas stops on the way. We had such a good day that it flew by & we ended up rushing back to the ship to get ready for 2nd sitting dinner at 8:30pm. 

[davecttr]

15 hours ago, Yorkypete said:

And it does the same on all its cruises last year and this year.That is boring.

We almost got to geiranger last year

[windra06]

Our first few cruises have been the standard itinerary in med or canaries and there are very few ports I would care to revisit.

 

The worst of them all was Toulon and we found once to Gibraltar, Lisbon and Madeira enough.

 

Florence and Malaga I would perhaps like another visit.

 

This time we are doing Scandinavian cities and I've already planned so much to do in Copenhagen and Helsinki I'm sure I would go back again several times.

[Yorkypete]

52 minutes ago, windra06 said:

Our first few cruises have been the standard itinerary in med or canaries and there are very few ports I would care to revisit.

 

The worst of them all was Toulon and we found once to Gibraltar, Lisbon and Madeira enough.

 

Florence and Malaga I would perhaps like another visit.

 

This time we are doing Scandinavian cities and I've already planned so much to do in Copenhagen and Helsinki I'm sure I would go back again several times.

If you are going to Tallinn you will love it.

[Red Ray]

If I never see Gibraltar again it will be too soon - and I agree about Ocho Rios (in fact Jamaica full stop). Other places I have no interest in seeing ever again include Tunis & Kristiansand. Have been to Barcelona, Lisbon & Rome more times than I care to remember but always find something new or different to do.

[jeanlyon]

I do find Mr Google very useful in finding new things to do in some of these ports.