Azura passengers stranded?

[picsa]

Just now, Eglesbrech said:

The “reality” is that passengers should never have been placed in this situation in the first place. 

 

That will happen when cruise passengers don't book cruises because it has a stop at Monaco - i.e. never.

[Eglesbrech]

4 minutes ago, picsa said:

 

That will happen when cruise passengers don't book cruises because it has a stop at Monaco - i.e. never.

Not true. Monaco is perfectly fine for ships at berth.

[picsa]

Just now, Eglesbrech said:

Not true. Monaco is perfectly fine for ships at berth.

 

And perfectly fine most of the time for tender - even this event caused not blip at P&O.

 

If people stopped booking tender stops at Monaco then the cruise companies would berth. But people will carry on booking whatever the arrangements, so tendering will continue.

[Eglesbrech]

1 minute ago, picsa said:

 

And perfectly fine most of the time for tender - even this event caused not blip at P&O.

 

If people stopped booking tender stops at Monaco then the cruise companies would berth. But people will carry on booking whatever the arrangements, so tendering will continue.

Personally I would never book a tender here again based on previous experience. Once bitten.....

[picsa]

Just now, Eglesbrech said:

Personally I would never book a tender here again based on previous experience. Once bitten.....

 

A few hundred thousand people with that view might have an impact. Otherwise...

[Eglesbrech]

4 minutes ago, picsa said:

 

A few hundred thousand people with that view might have an impact. Otherwise...

The longest journey starts with just one step as they say. Based on the bad experiences and publicity of those caught up in the recent debacle who knows

[picsa]

4 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

The longest journey starts with just one step as they say. Based on the bad experiences and publicity of those caught up in the recent debacle who knows

 

The vast majority of those caught up will book with P&O or another Carnival company again, irrespective.

 

As for bad publicity - last week's chip paper; nobody will remember when they come to make a future booking.

[Eglesbrech]

2 minutes ago, picsa said:

 

The vast majority of those caught up will book with P&O or another Carnival company again, irrespective.

 

As for bad publicity - last week's chip paper; nobody will remember when they come to make a future booking.

Your are right as some may, personally I won’t at least not for this port given my last experience which was bad but nothing like as bad as the recent debacle.

[picsa]

Just now, Eglesbrech said:

Your are right as some may, personally I won’t at least not for this port given my last experience which was bad but nothing like as bad as the recent debacle.

 

So you are doing exactly as I suggested; taking personal responsibility for the problem when the cruise company doesn't. You know if it goes wrong they won't help out, so don't book.

 

Fine, but don't expect them to stop tendering at Monaco because of your view of a few dozen other lost bookings, when there are thousands to take your place.

[NoFlyGuy]

Some on here claim P&O/Carnival failed in their duty to passengers. I disagree.

 

Would be interesting to know what a non Carnival cruise line would have done differently given the circumstances.

Apart from the question of whether going to Monaco during the boat festival was a sensible idea, this could have happened to any cruise ship.

 

The sheer number of passengers and crew stranded meant the result was always going to be problematic and not ideal. The idea that hundreds of hotels rooms can be found at short notice at a typical tender port  is ridiculous - Last year we tendered at Rovinj in Croatia, a really nice but fairly small town, doubt they could have accommodated the numbers involved if a similar incident had happened there.

 

 

[Harry Peterson]

15 minutes ago, NoFlyGuy said:

Some on here claim P&O/Carnival failed in their duty to passengers. I disagree.

 

Would be interesting to know what a non Carnival cruise line would have done differently given the circumstances.

Apart from the question of whether going to Monaco during the boat festival was a sensible idea, this could have happened to any cruise ship.

 

The sheer number of passengers and crew stranded meant the result was always going to be problematic and not ideal. The idea that hundreds of hotels rooms can be found at short notice at a typical tender port  is ridiculous - Last year we tendered at Rovinj in Croatia, a really nice but fairly small town, doubt they could have accommodated the numbers involved if a similar incident had happened there.

 

 

It's not what another cruise line would have done that matters - it's what an English court would consider to be reasonable.

 

And the point is that all of this was known in advance, but they decided to take the risk - with unfortunate consequences.  A clear indication of a failure of duty of care.

[Bennybluehat]

On 10/1/2019 at 7:38 PM, Presto2 said:

 

If I've said this before, please forgive me, but in August on Celebrity EDGE (NOTE NOT P&O) we tendered to Mykonos. Other ships did not and left. We did an excursion where we sailed to a few beaches that morning. It was very windy and choppy on the way out ……….. on the way back it was scary (and I like a rough sea). Believe me, when that little boat turned side ways as the waves hit it as we turned to harbour it really felt that it was at a 45 degree angle. Scary.

 

The weather had changed and it was by the grace of God that we all got back to the EDGE safety ….. and thanks to the professionalism and expertise of the Captain and crew.

 

The weather can change so quickly and credit to the Captain of the Azura  he did not put people at risk and decided that it was better for them to stay ashore (with the criticisms from the press) than risk them coming back to the ship.

 

People who moan about things like this really do not seem to understand that 'nature' / the 'sea' can not be tamed by even the best Captain. A cruise is NOT a land holiday - do your homework people.

 

 

I totally agree. Obviously it wouldn’t be a pleasant experience and nobody would want to be in that situation but instead of blaming the Captain, P&O, and anyone else you can think of, I think people need to think long and hard whether a cruise is actually for them. The seas can be wild and unforgiving and should be respected and I don’t think most people are prepared for the conditions they find themselves in. Tenders especially can give a rough crossing and I have witnessed very elderly and immobile passengers trying to board them with great difficulty, probably not the wisest thing to do. People need to take responsibility for their own actions and judge whether being in the middle of the ocean, maybe in very extreme conditions is what they really want and are prepared to deal with. 

[Harry Peterson]

14 minutes ago, picsa said:

 

The incoming bad weather was known about in advance, which was the actual cause?

 

Strange you knew about it but the captain didn't. Perhaps you should sell your weather forecasting service to the cruise companies.

Not remotely the point that was being made, I'm afraid.  Nothing whatever to do with the weather - all to do with lack of forward planning as to what was going on in the port area at the time, and a failure of any risk management.

 

I wonder, in fact, whether there was any risk management process in place - it certainly doesn't look like it!

[picsa]

11 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Not remotely the point that was being made, I'm afraid.  Nothing whatever to do with the weather - all to do with lack of forward planning as to what was going on in the port area at the time, and a failure of any risk management.

 

I wonder, in fact, whether there was any risk management process in place - it certainly doesn't look like it!

 

Following an unpredictable event people got shelter and were reunited with the ship the following day. What more do you want.

[Sam34jolly]

22 hours ago, vsgnorwich said:

We were amongst those stranded in Monaco and I have just had my review published on here. It is a long read, but I felt it was important to give the facts so you can make your own judgements. 

 

http://click.email.cruisecritic.com/?qs=070cdfa5ec678c1b7a207c609f9ec74584b467cab0e62a743287ede70dd093970fa466a2314b239f4e9f3540896bb60130d47b962e3d2b9a

 

We were also amongst those stranded passengers in Monaco. I've read the review and agree with what vsgnorwich has written.

We also got escorted to the stadium.

 My wife spent the night trying to sleep across 4 tipping seats. where as I decided to try my luck on the stadium floor. There were several empty large cardboard boxes in the stadium. I ripped one open and out feel 2 dead cockroaches.  I put one of the supplied beach towels on top of the box and I managed to get about 1 hours sleep.

The next day I had insect bites on my leg and my wife has a large bite to her elbow.

On arrival back to the ship we slept half of the next day and some of the following afternoon.

P & O need to review visiting Monaco when the boat show is on. This year nearly cost one of their crew his life, and it was only the quick reactions of the tender driver which saved him being crushed between tender and ship.

I'm giving a special mention for all the hard working crew who were ashore with us. There was one junior office who'd worked 30 hours without any sleep. 

 

Since arriving home I now have more empathy for the homeless.

 

I await P & O 's reponse to my complaint.

Edited October 11, 2019 by Sam34jolly
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[P&O SUE]

I must say that review does paint things in a different light. 

Thanks for posting. I’ve missed Guernsey 3 times and the moaning by people saying it looks calm. They should all read the review just posted.

[picsa]

4 minutes ago, P&O SUE said:

I must say that review does paint things in a different light. 

Thanks for posting. I’ve missed Guernsey 3 times and the moaning by people saying it looks calm. They should all read the review just posted.

 

Don't worry, according to some here, no cruise line should ever call at Guernsey ever again as they wouldn't have the capacity to put everyone up in a hotel.

 

Shame all these places which cruisers will miss and the local community will miss the income.

[wowzz]

I have to say,  the fact that the ship sent supplies to the hundreds of pax stranded on shore seems stupid. 

The pax were in one of the richest countries on earth. Surely, as has been said,  a simple shopping trip to Carrefour with 20 shopping trollies would have sorted out basic food and water.

I'm getting the feeling that P&O couldn't organise a party (other terms are available) in a brewery.. 

Unfortunately,  in 3 months time,  no one will remember. 

[Harry Peterson]

6 hours ago, wowzz said:

I have to say,  the fact that the ship sent supplies to the hundreds of pax stranded on shore seems stupid. 

The pax were in one of the richest countries on earth. Surely, as has been said,  a simple shopping trip to Carrefour with 20 shopping trollies would have sorted out basic food and water.

I'm getting the feeling that P&O couldn't organise a party (other terms are available) in a brewery.. 

Precisely.  And this is just one of the organisational failures about all this that so many people are missing.  It wasn't the weather, it wasn't the captain - it's the P&O back office people that failed here in any forward planning, any emergency planning, and any risk management process.

[brian1]

Our Marella captain a few weeks ago on a q&a session recalled a similar situation.It was Port Stanley in the Falklands,the stranded passengers almost outnumbered the residents.The locals reopened hotels that were shut,residents took people into their homes for the night and the few that drew the short straw were in the church hall.All ok the next day and everyone was wined and dined,a bit different from all those rich sods.Didn't the Prince have any room in his palace.

[brillo]

Been to Monte Carlo 4 times on cruises and the only problem we have had was that it was a bit to hot on 1,

 

[Sam34jolly]

1 hour ago, brian1 said:

Our Marella captain a few weeks ago on a q&a session recalled a similar situation.It was Port Stanley in the Falklands,the stranded passengers almost outnumbered the residents.The locals reopened hotels that were shut,residents took people into their homes for the night and the few that drew the short straw were in the church hall.All ok the next day and everyone was wined and dined,a bit different from all those rich sods.Didn't the Prince have any room in his palace.

 

At 2pm the Monaco police chief contacted the Azura and suggested that the passengers be transferred to Villefrance and the ship and tenders meet them there. But there were already 2 cruises at Villefrance and coaches could be arranged to get us to the train station. Also the captain expected the swell to diminish.

Later it's believed that the ship rang around the hotels for any room availability but there wasn't any vacancies. It wasn't till late in the evening, after the supermarkets had closed did the captain give up hope of getting us back to the ship.

The Prime Minister was involved and they implemented their emergency/disaster plan by transferring us to the stadium.

Edited October 12, 2019 by Sam34jolly
Extra sentence added

[Midland Red]

On 10/9/2019 at 7:06 PM, Midland Red said:

Anyone know how P&O dealt with compensation, etc?

I understand there was:

1 day’s cost per person credited back

£50 per person credited to obc

Hamper delivered to home address

Did these apply to all passengers, or only those marooned overnight onshore?

Sorry to repeat the above, but there doesn’t appear to have been an answer - does anybody know, please????

[brian1]

19 minutes ago, Sam34jolly said:

 

At 2pm the Monaco police chief contacted the Azura and suggested that the passengers be transferred to Villefrance and the ship and tenders meet them there. But there were already 2 cruises at Villefrance and coaches could be arranged to get us to the train station. Also the captain expected the swell to diminish.

Later it's believed that the ship rang around the hotels for any room availability but there wasn't any vacancies. It wasn't till late in the evening, after the supermarkets had closed did the captain give up hope of getting us back to the ship.

The Prime Minister was involved and they implemented their emergency/disaster plan by transferring us to the stadium.

I was just highlighting the 2 situations and the contrasting resolutions.But I suppose we have more of a bond with the Falkands.

[Sam34jolly]

27 minutes ago, Midland Red said:

Sorry to repeat the above, but there doesn’t appear to have been an answer - does anybody know, please????

I don't believe that the word compensation had ever been used.  My understanding is that the payments and gifts just applied to those who spent the night away from the ship.

But don't forget the free bottle of processo, which you were allowed to have in the restaurants without paying the corkage.

 

Anyone not happy with missing Corsica had to claim off their travel insurance.

 

And the Azura increased the onboard entertainment for the rest of the cruise.   

 

Edited October 12, 2019 by Sam34jolly
Extra sentence added