Selbourne

I was staggered at the level of detail that the Flaam harbour master gave me in response to my questions. As I well and truly rumbled Carnival / P&O, so much so that they had to attempt to silence me (with an NDA that they couldn’t even manage to phrase correctly, so it had no validity) I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they have now instructed harbour masters not to provide such information any more. Given the income that they generate from cruise lines I suspect that they would agree to this.

How very British we are. We buy a holiday to a specific place. The operator takes the final payment (so that you cannot cancel without a substantial loss) before letting us know that we aren’t going there. They then say, never mind, we can get you there but it will cost around £30-50 per person extra and that’s of course an additional cost that must be incurred by………..the customer. Oh well, say some people. That’s “not too bad” say others. What mugs we are. It’s no wonder P&O take us for fools. Of course, that decision was only made this week. Funny how the port knew weeks ago. I’m sorry, but as I reported previously, P&O have ‘form’ for blatantly lying about these issues. On a previous cruise, our call to Flaam was cancelled for ‘operational reasons’ and the communication clearly implied that the problem was with the port and not P&O. I contacted the harbour master who was extremely helpful and gave me chapter and verse, including dates when Carnival requested that Queen Victoria would berth in place of Britannia. We were ‘bumped’ to the coastal ports instead. That decision was entirely Carnivals and nothing to do with the port. I was given compensation for having rumbled this, but on the condition that I signed a non-disclosure agreement, a tool that P&O use frequently to mask their deceit. We still don’t know the reason that Iona isn’t getting to Geiranger. First it was compatibility with the floating sea walk. When everyone rightly said that smacked of incompetence the story changes and it’s now something to do with the pilots. How convenient. P&O will hide behind their view that the ship is the ‘destination’ and the port calls are are an irrelevance. We booked a particular cruise because we specifically wanted to go to Geiranger. Silly me. When will I learn?

Great to hear that they have reverted to storing unfinished bottles of wines for subsequent nights and I hope that now applies to all the ships. Lack of busses is a new one and can be added to the long list of excuses for cancelled ports! 🤔 On a serious note, it’s encouraging that things are slowly but surely returning to normal. The abolition of quarantine zones, with the associated last minute unwelcome cabin changes, is the big one that I’m looking out for.

As in 100% full, or ‘full’ to the reduced capacities (allowing for quarantine zones etc)?

Yes I read that she did that last week and that’s a good compromise, even though she doesn’t go all the way to Geiranger. My worry is that this would be at the discretion of the Captain and, as we know, some of them can be a law unto themselves! My hope is that P&O can resolve this issue and go to Geiranger as advertised. If not, then I would like to think that they will instruct all Captains to do as happened last week. Whilst this would still fall short of what was advertised, it would be of some consolation to those of us who cannot entertain an excursion from Hellesylt to Geiranger

I’m sure that Hellesylt is lovely, but Geiranger and it’s Fjord (which isn’t transited if you stop short at Hellesylt) is a World Heritage site, as P&O state in the description of the cruises that are meant to go there. If P&O passengers just roll over and accept this then it is no wonder that they take us for fools and continue to behave in such a cavalier manner.

Im afraid that I take a different view on a number of aspects. We all understand that there will be reasons why cruise ships cannot make it into certain ports on certain days, most notably weather conditions (although, as others have pointed out, it’s strange that P&O seem to have more failures to dock than some other operators with similar sized ships). My issue with this is that whilst we understand the reasons, why are the consequence always on the passengers and not P&O? Whether it’s due to the age profile of cruise passengers (the average age being older than other holiday types) or our British reserve and tolerance of things that others wouldn’t put up with (or probably both, I suspect), many just accept the brush off. I think that might change with the shift to younger passengers. Some people (including many on here) book a cruise just to be on a ship and the ports are a minor consideration. Others (including ourselves) book for the specific ports as advertised with the ship being somewhat secondary. Often one specific port might be the catalyst for booking a specific cruise (as Geiranger is for our next cruise) so not getting there renders the holiday somewhat pointless (it’s the only fjord cruise location that we haven’t been to). We don’t pay the extra premium for specific cruise cover that includes missed ports but, even if we did, the minor compensation would still not make the holiday worthwhile for us. If it is known in advance that a specific destination can no longer be reached, it is my view that this should be notified to passengers before the balance due date and the option of a full refund should be made. The retailer (P&O) is no longer able to provide the consumer (passenger) the product that they were sold. The reason for the missed port is completely irrelevant IMO. If they refuse to offer this refund option then they should provide an acceptable alternative which, in this case, would not be expecting passengers who wish to get to Geiranger to pay extra for an excursion. For as long as we keep making excuses for them not honouring what we have been sold then we will continue to have these issues. As you say, P&O’s lack of transparency (and sometimes downright lies) about these issues further compounds the problem. Given the price of a cruise versus a ticket for a show on land, I’m not sure that I fully agree with that comparison, but I get your point. Let’s hope that this is resolved soon, as @molecrochip has stated.

Sarah - I’ve had a very busy week, so I’ve not been on Cruise Critic much and have only just come across this thread. Thank you so much for providing such an informative and balanced perspective on Iona. We are booked on her next year and I have been wondering if we might regret it, but your review has reassured me quite a bit. As my wife is a wheelchair user your comments about this aspect have been useful. I need to accompany my wife in the disabled loos so I can imagine the reaction if I manage to trigger the sensor that opens the door! Having read mixed reviews about the food, your comments were reassuring and the photos looked encouraging.

I agree. Cruises (such as ours) were sold as going to Geiranger. If Iona is no longer able to go there, P&O should provide a no-cost option for passengers. It’s a nice earner for them to stop short and charge passengers extra for concluding the advertised journey! As I’ve said before, I can think of no other consumer product (let alone holiday) where one thing is advertised and sold, yet something different is delivered and yet there is no come back whatsoever on the company that has mis-sold the product - and the consumer just has to put up with it. This will come as quite a surprise to the ‘new to cruising’ market that P&O are so desperate to target.

That’s a relief to hear that it’s monitored. Not getting into Geiranger is bad enough, but a tsunami down the fjord would put a real downer on the cruise!

Thanks. Unfortunately my wife is unable to board a coach, so it was primarily the cruise to the end of the Geiranger fjord that attracted us to the cruise that we have booked. According to P&O we are still going there, but transparency has never been one of their strongpoints!

Thanks. That’s a shame, but the view point sounds like somewhere that I might struggle to push the wheelchair up to 😂

Thanks. After I posted I managed to work it out on Google Maps. Looks like Seven Sisters is just over half way along Geiranger Fjord but they probably go a bit further to turn around where the fjord widens. As I say, I just hope that this is the absolute minimum that they do on all cruises that were advertised to call at Geiranger. Can I ask those who have cruised all the way to Geiranger to advise whether the remaining fjord between Seven Sisters and Geiranger is the real highlight of that fjord? In other words, how short changed will we be (in terms of scenery, rather than mileage) if the extent of our transit is Seven Sisters?

Thanks for the info. Hopefully P&O will do this for all cruises that were sold as calling at Geiranger in order to help reduce the negative impact of the curtailed route. Out of interest, do you happen to know roughly what proportion of the Geiranger Fjord between Hellisylt and Geiranger is covered by cruising down to the Seven Sisters and back? I’m keen to understand what proportion of the fjord we would miss if we didn’t do an excursion. Thanks.

Well that would be a good compromise from our point of view. I wonder whether those who were fleeced for a P&O excursion down the fjord to Geiranger may now feel that they could have saved their money?

I think that’s a fair summation of P&O’s attitude. Sadly, they seem to ignore the fact that many customers don’t take that view and book cruises for maybe one specific port. I’m wondering if there are any other consumer markets where one product is advertised and sold yet a different product is delivered - with seemingly no comeback? Can’t think of any offhand.

I’m pleased to hear that you are having a lovely time. Whilst this curtailment hasn’t been an issue for you, it will be for those of us who expected to see the cruise into Geiranger from our balcony and not from an additional cost excursion which, incidentally, people such as my wife are unable to do anyway.

To be fair, that was always the case so nothing has changed in that respect. We specifically booked our cruise because it was one of those that included Geiranger.

Our cruise is still showing both Olden and Geiranger, but I shall be interested to read @molecrochip reply to my earlier questions. If Geiranger is no longer possible then clearly P&O should stop advertising Iona cruises featuring it and contact all passengers on the affected cruises. Anything less is sharp practice IMO.

Spot on. I’m afraid that P&O is now appearing to treat its customers with complete disdain. It’s all very well switching their focus to the ‘new to cruising’ market, but surely any company needs to ensure repeat custom for long term sustainability? To a degree, we are all used to these port change nonsenses, but it won’t even be considered by those booking their first cruise that they might not get to where they have booked. It’s a bit like booking a city break to Paris and then being told by the operator that they’ve changed it to Reims and when you query it being told that they can’t understand why it would matter to you!

If I am reading all of this correctly, Iona will now be unable to call at Geiranger - ever? If correct, this would be completely and utterly inexcusable. We booked our Iona cruise specifically because it went to Geiranger, as it is the only one of the top 3 fjords that we haven’t been to. Not only does it now appear that we will no longer go there, but P&O now has the bare faced cheek to sell overpriced excursions to the place that we have paid to go to anyway which, to rub salt into the wound, they describe as “the most beautiful fjord in the World”! We hate going on excursions at the best of times as we prefer to look around places independently rather than be herded in groups, but due to my wife’s disability we wouldn’t be able to do them anyway. Would you please be kind enough to state very clearly if my understanding of this situation is correct (I.e. NO Iona cruise will now go to Geiranger at any time in the future), or whether this is temporary? I’m afraid that P&O has considerable form for continuing to sell cruises to locations that they know full well they are unable to get to. They have a terribly arrogant attitude that people book cruises purely for the ability to be on a specific ship and where it goes is of no relevance. Wrong. We booked our cruise to go to Geiranger and wouldn’t have booked it had we known that it wouldn’t get there. I hope that I have misunderstood all of this and it’s a temporary problem, but my confidence in P&O has waned considerably in recent years and if this is true then I’m afraid that what confidence or enthusiasm that I have for P&O is left in tatters.

Plymouth to Tilbury by train, allowing for the cross London transfer from Paddington to Fenchurch Street, is at least 5 hours each way I’m afraid.

I’ve lost count of how many offers I’ve had from P&O over the past few months. Still not tempted to book though.

Now I might be wrong as it was a few years ago, but I’m pretty sure that when Adonia and Oriana were announced as being sold we were sent a targeted offer for the last few cruises on both. From memory, the prices were exceptionally good and we were frustrated that we couldn’t take up the offer as we were both still working at the time. Oriana holds a special place in our hearts as we did our first cruise on her in 1996. Sadly, we never cruised on Adonia but did a ships tour of her just before the sale was announced and we thought she was a fabulous ship, which made it all the more frustrating that we couldn’t take up the offer. Come the inevitable day that P&O parts company with Aurora we may endeavour to do one last cruise on her, as we have had more cruises on Aurora than any other P&O ship, but we wouldn’t rush back to Arcadia. I know that she’s a firm favourite of many P&O regulars but she wasn’t for us.

It doesn’t surprise me at all to hear that other cruise operators have slicker / quicker processes for tender operations, just as I believe they do with embarkation and disembarkation. I guess that P&O work on the basis that us Brits are a passive lot and love to queue!