BeebMarc

On 8/10/2022 at 6:08 AM, Pumpkinsoup said:

Good lord, is this BBC Marc from Scopitones by any chance? If so, what a small world! We are on the Sky Princess the week before you -- will keep an eye out for you at disembarkation!

it might be 😉

but who are YOU, as “@pumpkinsoup” is a bit less obvious!

Just now, EDVM96 said:

Most likely, the reason is the Kvalsundet Strait north of Tromsø the day before. Sky Princess is so big that an extra pilot boat is required to cross this shipping channel. If there are no available pilot boats, Sky Princess can't sail this passage.

This is exactly what happened to us on June 19 on the Sky (also on the 14-Day Land of the Midnight Sun cruise). The ship had instead to go way around north via Ullsfjord to leave Tromsø to open waters. Because of this unexpected detour, we were 3 hours late in Gravdal and many tours had to be canceled or shortened.

I am pretty sure that Princess does not want this to happen again, so they changed the itinerary in advance.
 

Thank you for your constructive and non-patronising reply. It was refreshing to read.

40 minutes ago, toofewcruises said:

Obviously, you are new to cruising.  Yes, cancellations and changes of itinerary happen all of the time.  This unfortunately is unavoidable for several reasons including weather, port permissions, etc., and are not due to Princess.  Why in the world would Princess would use anything as an excuse to not go anywhere when all of the arrangements have been made?  That makes no sense.

  
this will be my sixth cruise, but you know what they say when you assume.

When “all the arrangements have been made”, the cynic in me would say that Princess couldn’t be bothered to fight its corner over the pilotage restrictions.

We’re booked on Y225 - Norway’s fjords and islands - which leaves on August 20th from Southampton and today we’ve had an email from Bolsover to say that because of “recent restrictions imposed by the pilotage authority” we won’t be going to Gravdal but Hellysylt. 
Can anyone translate that? Is it the kind of thing that happens often? Or is Princess using it as an excuse to avoid going there for other reasons…?

18 hours ago, Kentlover said:

If pushing your children (I dislike the term "kids") to a club is so important, then maybe cruising is not the right choice for a family holiday?

what an extraordinary comment! Kids’ Clubs have been an integral part of holidays for years, be it on a cruise ship, a resort by the sea or up a mountain. (We specifically booked a cruise with P&O as we’d been very happy with the facilities offered by the Kids Club)
Parents have long welcomed the opportunity for their kids to have fun with other kids their age, possibly making friends with kids from different parts of the country or even kids from other countries, while they themselves have a few hours of respite away from the kids and the chance to enjoy their holiday themselves.

Perhaps you’d have more enjoyment on an adult-only cruise, where there are no kids ? Or maybe just go the whole hog and suggest people shouldn’t have kids?

Thanks for flagging up that thread.( I did do a search but it didn't come up as a result)

It was enlightening if pretty depressing in terms of the reality of Kids Clubs. 

In summary, it seems to be "hard luck, take it or leave it" and given the cost of the cruise - when it's too late to get much of it back - we don't seem to have much option. 

Unless anyone thinks P+O would be sympathetic to us asking for a refund...?

Long time cruiser, first time poster. 

I'm going with my wife and two kids (8 and 4) on Britannia in August - slap bang in the middle of the summer holidays - for two weeks to the Baltics. It'll be our fifth cruise with P+O. 

Today, P&O have dropped the bombshell that while the Kids Club will operate, staffing levels will be reduced with the result that one of us  has to stay with our four year for the entire time she's there. To me, that pretty much negates the point of booking the cruise as one of the main draws was the fact that the ship had a Kids Club. In addition, the Night Nursery isn't operating at all.

The Kids Club for our eight year old has restricted hours and availability, but at least we'd be able to leave him there to enjoy himself - as long as we could get him in, for the limited hours it's actually operating. 

Leaving our kids there would finally give me and my wife something of a break, which we've barely had for two years for various reasons.

The question is whether you think we have a leg to stand on if we ask P+O for a refund, given the material change to the cruise and our likely enjoyment of it. We're already paying over the odds, as there's a premium for any cruise which goes to St Petersburg. But that's been dropped as a destination - for obvious reasons - but we've not had any reduction in the price of the cruise to reflect that. 

We've already paid in full; the 90 days window for refunds has gone.

What should our approach be?

Thanks in advance.