Port Times

[tring]

Trying to find P&O's definition of the approx port times they give.  I know I have found it previously but searching their website has not revealed them just now.  I am particularly interested in the difference between 'afternoon' and 'early evening'.

 

I may not be able to return to this forum today, so can I say thanks to anyone replies now.

[kruzseeka]

Try

 http://www.cruisecal.com/portal/ItineraryLookup/tabid/2918/Default.aspx

Select your ship from the drop down, then search dates.  Click 'view' and the timi gs should appear (although perhaps not some 2020 sailings - I checked one or two a while back without success).  It also shows which other ships are in port and their arrival/departures so you can get an idea of the pressure on the taxis, buses, local infrastructure.  

Hope that gives you the info you seek.

[bee-ess]

[Harry Peterson]

Here's another option:  http://ships.cruisett.com/

[Cruising Nomads]

If you have a cruise in mind try searching for it on a Android system. I find it gives all actual port times on my Samsung tablet.

[tring]

Thanks for the replies.

 

That is just what I was looking for bee ess.

 

  Cruising Nomads - My husband has Android phone so he tried searching but to no avail, just gives normal time spans.  Worth trying though as someone else had reported recently that diff systems gave her diff results.

 

Thanks for the links as well.  I use the second one mainly to find what ships are in port and have saved the link to the other.  I have found in the past that sites like that seem to just put an approx timing in which is within the time span given, but as our cruise is within a couple of weeks I have printed out the details from each and will see if it is aligned with when we dock - though not foolproof though as times can be changed last minute of course.

 

I have always found that the most accurate way to find port times is to search out the port authority and see if they have cruise schedules published.  Not big issue this time as just wanted an idea of whether we will have time to go back into port after an excursion we hope to take.

[the english lady]

We live opposite Southampton. I have the port website . The difference between when that states ship are due in and due out, usually does not have much connection to real life. Which is probably why Pando give an approx guesstimate..early morning etc. I know other lines do give times, but i wonder how often they stick to those times on the dot. We were once in a port at the expected time (announced in horizon) however we then spent over an hour trying to dock. we wanted to go this way, and the wind was blowing us that way. With the best intentions life and weather gets in the way.

[Jossie1960]

3 hours ago, the english lady said:

......Which is probably why Pando give an approx guesstimate..early morning etc. I know other lines do give times, but i wonder how often they stick to those times on the dot..........

P&O give arrival and departure times in their Onboard Horizon magazine, so why not publish it prior to boarding? 

Because they don't want people booking private excursions, the least info given the more chances that people will book their tours.  Like everything else on P&O, it is revenue driven.

[the english lady]

6 minutes ago, Jossie1960 said:

P&O give arrival and departure times in their Onboard Horizon magazine, so why not publish it prior to boarding? 

Because they don't want people booking private excursions, the least info given the more chances that people will book their tours.  Like everything else on P&O, it is revenue driven.

I really don't understand when people post they do not give exact timings so people will book their tours and not private ones. We nearly always do private tours. Usually the meet up is "1/2 hour after the ship is docked". They will also know when it's due to leave. As most private tours are variations of the ship ones they will get you back. The only ones I would def. Book a ships one is if going to Rome.  All it takes is a bit of homework before you go as to what the private tours are offering to work it out. By the time the Horizon is printed baring a disaster they will have an idea when they are arriving. So much can effect a cruise ship getting somewhere anything is a guesstimate.

[jeanlyon]

The other way to do it is to go to the Cruise ship schedule for each port.  So type into Google "cruise ship schedule Civitavecchia and you can usually find what you want.

 

We always DIY and I can normally get a whole day planned, allowing us to be back 2 hours before we need to be.

[jeanlyon]

Just tried it on my Samsung android phone - no, only early morning and afternoon.  Also tried it on Samsung Tablet, same.

 

Only get port timings using Internet Explorer on my work pc.  At home have tried Edge, Firefox, Chrome and IE.  All the same.

[kruzseeka]

 

1 hour ago, jeanlyon said:

 

We always DIY and I can normally get a whole day planned, allowing us to be back 2 hours before we need to be.

 

Like you we like to do DiY if possible.  If it's expedient to do ship's excursions then we do sometimes choose that option but timing is key.  As you say, it's important to leave a good margin for your return.  

We recently went by train from La Spezia to Vernazza, then by ferry to Portovenere and returned back to La Spezia via local bus.  

Information such as 'morning' (9.00 to 11.59) and 'afternoon' (3.00 to 5.59) is far too vague for planning purposes when you wish to use public transport to say nothing of not knowing the amount of time in port.  

Best case scenario from these timings is 6 hours but could be as little as 3!  

No, if we are intending to do our own thing as opposed to a ship's excursion or private organised trip we need better information than those loose timings.  

Pleased P&O are now providing these - at least on some devices but it will be good when the software behaves in such a way that it's readily available to all. 

Of course, there is always scope for timings to go adrift but if things go to plan, it's certainly helpful to some of us to have docking times for planning purposes.  If these times aren't met, well then it's time for plan B! 

.  

[Jossie1960]

4 hours ago, the english lady said:

..... By the time the Horizon is printed baring a disaster they will have an idea when they are arriving. So much can effect a cruise ship getting somewhere anything is a guesstimate.

Strange that they publish on Day 1 in the Horizon Mag the itinerary for the complete cruise.  Every day arrival and departure times so your argument doesn't hold water.

[jeanlyon]

We've done lots of lovely DIYs.  Went to Venice for about the 6th time, so took the train to Padua.  about 20 minutes.  Had a lovely day there and back in plenty of time.  It's always best in the ports where ship excursions tend to be long.  So Vencie, Civitavecchia and Livorno are good examples.  The places the excursions go are usually quite a distance, so you can guess the ship will not leave before 1900.  So this time in Civita we are going on the train to Tarquinia and in Messina,, we will get the train to Taormina.  It's about 4.50 euros!

 

 

[the english lady]

22 minutes ago, Jossie1960 said:

Strange that they publish on Day 1 in the Horizon Mag the itinerary for the complete cruise.  Every day arrival and departure times so your argument doesn't hold water.

Can't remember seeing that. I'll have to look on our next cruise. 

[kruzseeka]

6 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

 So this time in Civita we are going on the train to Tarquinia and in Messina,, we will get the train to Taormina.  It's about 4.50 euros!

 

 

 

I'd be very interested to hear how your day to Tarquinia works out Jean.  I'd looked at that last time (but by bus which appeared to drop you outside of the town from where you needed a shuttle) and gave up on it. Is there a shuttle/local bus now from the drop off point in Civitavecchia to the train station or are you planning to walk?  Would appreciate some feedback when you're back on how the train worked out and If you found it rewarding. 

[bee-ess]

I always email P&O and ask the port times and have always received a reply with actual times that have turned out to be correct.

[daiB]

9 minutes ago, the english lady said:

Can't remember seeing that. I'll have to look on our next cruise. 

Funny I cruise 4/5 times a year now, I don’t remember that either

[bee-ess]

21 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

We've done lots of lovely DIYs.  Went to Venice for about the 6th time, so took the train to Padua.  about 20 minutes.  Had a lovely day there and back in plenty of time.  It's always best in the ports where ship excursions tend to be long.  So Vencie, Civitavecchia and Livorno are good examples.  The places the excursions go are usually quite a distance, so you can guess the ship will not leave before 1900.  So this time in Civita we are going on the train to Tarquinia and in Messina,, we will get the train to Taormina.  It's about 4.50 euros!

 

 

 

I believe it not as easy to get to the train station in Civita as it used to be. I don't think the port shuttle drops at the port gates anymore but drops in town instead which is quite a long way from the train. Worth checking out.

[daiB]

20 hours ago, bee-ess said:

 

I believe it not as easy to get to the train station in Civita as it used to be. I don't think the port shuttle drops at the port gates anymore but drops in town instead which is quite a long way from the train. Worth checking out.

There is supposed to be a separate shuttle from that car park to the station. Nothing to do with the cruise companies. Remember many cruise lines start cruises from this port. It all seems very chaotic there. The taxis will not take you unless you are going to Rome by taxi. They are very rude if you want a short journey.

[bee-ess]

14 minutes ago, daiB said:

There is supposed to be a separate shuttle from that car park to the station. Nothing to do with the cruise companies. Remember many cruise lines start cruises from this port. It all seems very chaotic there. The taxis will not take you unless you are going to Rome by taxi. They are very rude if you want a short journey.

 

Thanks Dai, I didn't know that. We used the train to Rome several times in the past but the change of dropoff for the port shuttle seemed to make the train to Rome too much trouble. We are back there next year so we will look out for this shuttle.

[jeanlyon]

23 hours ago, bee-ess said:

 

I believe it not as easy to get to the train station in Civita as it used to be. I don't think the port shuttle drops at the port gates anymore but drops in town instead which is quite a long way from the train. Worth checking out.

Oh dear that's interesting.  Last time - a year ago - we were dropped at the Port gates and picked up the Smart Cruise Tours bus into Rome.  I had assumed it was the same drop off.

[majortom10]

We have not been dropped off at the port gates in Civitavecchia for a number of years they drop you off at the new bus station, by the fire station,  opposite side of town than the train station. So you either have to walk back into town and then onto train station, I have heard of a shuttle bus to train station from where the shuttle bus drops you off but never saw one in May and dont know if it is free or at cost.

[jeanlyon]

Thanks for that.  Will have to find out.

[dronnygirl]

May be of use to you, if you look under Ports of call - Europe - Italy  there us a thread entitled Excursions from Civitevecchia (not Rome). This gives information on bus and train transport fo Tarquina. Think we are going to do this on our next cruise.