UK staycation cruise details launched

[Adawn47]

1 hour ago, mercury7289 said:

No back to back cruises will be available

 

Are you discussing the round Britain no-port cruises or the new cruise releases? I've been looking at adding a 12 night cruise to the end of our October 2021 cruise and tried to phone P&O to discuss it but both numbers I have are 'closed'😏

Avril

[arlowood]

59 minutes ago, teabear said:

We were on a CMV mini cruise from Newport in Wales to Ireland and then back to Tilbury several years ago,  a bunch of people had been at a football thing in Wales, checked in for the cruise really early and then went off again to the local bars I guess,  didnt turn up until well over an hour past sailing time and with us having to transit out of Newport that meant all kinds of staff had to stay late - the Captain gave them a major telling off and the gossip was that CMV were going to make them pay their extra costs.   Not the first time this has happened, years ago, remember an article on CBC news about a Canadian couple who held up a cruise ship in Panama and had to find their own way home and the cruise company sued them for thousands of additional charges they had to pay to the Panama Canal company - should be standard practice on all cruise ships

Our very first cruise was a 21 nighter on Artemis round the Med. One port of call was Tripoli in Lybia and we were well warned in advance that if we had Israeli stamps in our passports we would not be allowed into Lybian waters. At check-in we were also questioned about travel to Israel and our passports were retained for scrutiny. Heard later that one passenger was offloaded in Valetta due to the discovery of an Israeli stamp in her passport. She was advised that she could make her own way to Tunis (next port after Tripoli)  to rejoin the ship or make her way home. Not sure what happened in the end but it is a salutary tale to double check your passport when requested.

[mercury7289]

32 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

Are you discussing the round Britain no-port cruises or the new cruise releases? I've been looking at adding a 12 night cruise to the end of our October 2021 cruise and tried to phone P&O to discuss it but both numbers I have are 'closed'😏

Avril

The around Britain Cruises

[Beckett]

2 hours ago, mercury7289 said:

Some relevant information taken from the P&O web site.

All new cruises on this release will board and disembark at Southampton.

Passports will be required

No back to back cruises will be available

No coach transfer service will be available.

You can use your current FCC against these cruises.

Loyalty points will be awarded as well.

No coach service would be a blow for me. I always use the coach as I live only 5 minutes from the M25 pick-up point. Usually, coach is included in the Select fare but not the Guarantee fare so it will be interesting to see see if they still differentiate, or if it will be on a first come first served basis. Mmm,  perhaps I'll have to re-think this. Jane.x

[Beckett]

2 hours ago, Jack McGowan said:

I would be interested to know peoples thoughts for what / how many ships will be sailing?

 

I would assume Iona will not be one of the first, but there again neither will Aurora or Arcadia (most likely). Personally thinking it will be Ventura, Azura & Britannia to begin with. Ventura would be strong contender for me with the covered pool area meaning having a higher chance of being able to use the pools etc if you end up with rain for the whole of your cruise!

 

Would love to know what everybody thinks will happen & also the ships they would like to start up first.

For me, Azura, Ventura and Britannia in any order. I love the 2 smaller ships both, but I'll be travelling with kids and they are adults-only. Normally quite a calm person I'm getting agitated to know soon! Jane.x

[Britboys]

9 minutes ago, Beckett said:

No coach service would be a blow for me. I always use the coach as I live only 5 minutes from the M25 pick-up point. Usually, coach is included in the Select fare but not the Guarantee fare so it will be interesting to see see if they still differentiate, or if it will be on a first come first served basis. Mmm,  perhaps I'll have to re-think this. Jane.x

I didn't realise they had coach pick-ups in the South. I thought it was only in the Midlands and North...

Is driving not an option for you? They may well still offer free parking.

[Beckett]

5 minutes ago, Britboys said:

I didn't realise they had coach pick-ups in the South. I thought it was only in the Midlands and North...

Is driving not an option for you? They may well still offer free parking.

Yes Britboys, it's at the South Mimms service station. I've used it for years. I do drive but have a really small car and there will be 3 of us and luggage - 2 teenagers' luggage at that! We can find a way round it I'm sure but I had just presumed (wrongly) that we would be going by coach as normal. Jane.x

[Adawn47]

31 minutes ago, mercury7289 said:

The around Britain Cruises

Thank you. I was a bit worried P&O were stopping all B2B cruises.

Avril

[MX-Drew]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

I dont think there are plans to release Summer 2023 cruises any earlier than the the normal Septemberish time. They have already announced that they will soon be releasing 2022/23 winter programme but that will only take them up to March 2023.

I was referring to the short British coast cruises.

[majortom10]

10 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

I was referring to the short British coast cruises.

They have already announced that the short "coastal waters" cruises will be announced shortly.

 

[MX-Drew]

2 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

They have already announced that the short "coastal waters" cruises will be announced shortly.

 

I think you are missing the point. I'm saying shortly is not going to be soon enough. I'm looking at a plan B and prices and availability are changing every hour so I can't afford to wait until the end of the week at this rate.

In fact I now have plan B sorted and the button is about to be pressed as I know what I'm getting with that but as for any cruises from any cruise line we have no idea. In business I have learnt not to give the competitor a head start. 

[mercury7289]

53 minutes ago, Beckett said:

Yes Britboys, it's at the South Mimms service station. I've used it for years. I do drive but have a really small car and there will be 3 of us and luggage - 2 teenagers' luggage at that! We can find a way round it I'm sure but I had just presumed (wrongly) that we would be going by coach as normal. Jane.x

There appears to be some government discussions taking place,with regards to possibly cutting back on the summer school holidays, to allow pupils to catch up! This could be a possible problem for some going forward

[terrierjohn]

3 minutes ago, mercury7289 said:

There appears to be some government discussions taking place,with regards to possibly cutting back on the summer school holidays, to allow pupils to catch up! This could be a possible problem for some going forward

I can't  imagine the militant teachers unions letting that happen without a national strike, which could shut them down for months.

Edited March 7, 2021 by terrierjohn

[peteukmcr]

6 hours ago, delgirl said:

We have done transatlantic 3 times on QM2. Its not as bad as you would think. We absolutely love it not getting off the ship is so relaxing. There is plenty to do onboard if you so wish or you can do absolutely nothing and just chillax. On our 1st TA it took us about 4 days to find our way around the ship, we kept getting lost but it all adds up to the fun😆

We've done 4 TA's, not on Cunard, but RCI, Celebrity and NCL (should have been 7, but 2019 on RCI Oasis of the Seas cancelled, Britannia 2020 cancelled and upcoming RCI Anthem in Oct this year cancelled). Longest was 15 days with the largest stretch at sea for 2 of them 7 days, and we coped no problem.

[Bertie Doe]

3 hours ago, teabear said:

 Not the first time this has happened, years ago, remember an article on CBC news about a Canadian couple who held up a cruise ship in Panama and had to find their own way home and the cruise company sued them for thousands of additional charges they had to pay to the Panama Canal company - should be standard practice on all cruise ships

It should be standard practice for the captain to sail at the advertised time IMHO.

[Rupert2251]

Am I thinking this correctly? Coaches are never available for cruises of less than 7 nights duration so are all of these British cruises going to be 5 nights or less?

[tring]

9 minutes ago, Rupert2251 said:

Am I thinking this correctly? Coaches are never available for cruises of less than 7 nights duration so are all of these British cruises going to be 5 nights or less?

 

I can see why coaches will not be available, irrespective of cruise length due to possible infection.

 

Also, I can see P&O may not provide free coach travel for shorter cruises, but have they still been available on a paid for basis?  I suspect they may have been available, but I do not know that.

Edited March 7, 2021 by tring

[Beckett]

8 minutes ago, Rupert2251 said:

Am I thinking this correctly? Coaches are never available for cruises of less than 7 nights duration so are all of these British cruises going to be 5 nights or less?

No I don’t think so. My original understanding was that the new 'tester' cruises will be 3,4, or 7 nights ( there might be a 5 in there but I can't remember). The quote that Freddie laid down from P&O referred to the new ones, yet to be released - no coach transfers on any of them. We'll have to wait and see. Jane.x

[delgirl]

2 hours ago, Beckett said:

No coach service would be a blow for me. I always use the coach as I live only 5 minutes from the M25 pick-up point. Usually, coach is included in the Select fare but not the Guarantee fare so it will be interesting to see see if they still differentiate, or if it will be on a first come first served basis. Mmm,  perhaps I'll have to re-think this. Jane.x

 

2 hours ago, Beckett said:

No coach service would be a blow for me. I always use the coach as I live only 5 minutes from the M25 pick-up point. Usually, coach is included in the Select fare but not the Guarantee fare so it will be interesting to see see if they still differentiate, or if it will be on a first come first served basis. Mmm,  perhaps I'll have to re-think this. Jane.x

Can you not do a national express coach. I know they don't take you to the cruise terminal but you could always take a taxi from the coach park.

[Beckett]

7 minutes ago, tring said:

 

I can see why coaches will not be available, irrespective of cruise length due to possible infection.

 

Also, I can see P&O may not provide free coach travel for shorter cruises, but have they still been available on a paid for basis?  I suspect they may have been available, but I do not know that.

They've always been available for 7 nights plus, but not for less than 7. I've never paid for one as they've always been part of the Select package but, when, the time comes, I will check with the coach connect company to see if I can pay. Jane.x

[Rupert2251]

2 minutes ago, Beckett said:

No I don’t think so. My original understanding was that the new 'tester' cruises will be 3,4, or 7 nights ( there might be a 5 in there but I can't remember). The quote that Freddie laid down from P&O referred to the new ones, yet to be released - no coach transfers on any of them. We'll have to wait and see. Jane.x

these new cruises won't be an option for us unless Eavesway put on any coaches but then it has to be 7 nights or more. I've just seen someone mention National Express!!! Are you kidding? Yuk spare the thought!

[Jack McGowan]

5 minutes ago, delgirl said:

 

Can you not do a national express coach. I know they don't take you to the cruise terminal but you could always take a taxi from the coach park.

This would be a good idea, the National Express coach park in Southampton is within walking distance of some of the terminals to be honest. If not just a very short taxi ride

[Beckett]

6 minutes ago, delgirl said:

 

Can you not do a national express coach. I know they don't take you to the cruise terminal but you could always take a taxi from the coach park.

I'll have to look into it when I know a bit more. Again, I'd need to get to London Victoria to pick it up. I'm being a spoilt brat really. I'm so used to a quick hop to South Mimms - a £5 taxi ride and we're there. Jane.x

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, MX-Drew said:

I think you are missing the point. I'm saying shortly is not going to be soon enough. I'm looking at a plan B and prices and availability are changing every hour so I can't afford to wait until the end of the week at this rate.

In fact I now have plan B sorted and the button is about to be pressed as I know what I'm getting with that but as for any cruises from any cruise line we have no idea. In business I have learnt not to give the competitor a head start. 

You are being unrealistic they are short staffed due to covid, staff working from home and are also dealing with loads of cancellations. Give them a chance I am sure they will be released as soon as possible, if that isnt good enough then push button B.

[Beckett]

5 minutes ago, Jack McGowan said:

This would be a good idea, the National Express coach park in Southampton is within walking distance of some of the terminals to be honest. If not just a very short taxi ride

Sounds good. If it's that near the terminals it might work. Thanks for the info. Jane.x