Do the routes change yearly?

[lilyafloat]

Hi

Do the ships change their location yearly, every couple of years or never? I'm looking at the Norwegian fjords (7 days) and it seems to be mostly Iona with Britannia beginning and end of season upto 2023. Is it likely that this will continue into 2024?

 

Iona has far too many passengers for my liking and Britannia would be pushing it. I just can't imagine the villages with all these people, let alone if their are other ships there as well.

[Bazrat]

36 minutes ago, lilyafloat said:

Hi

Do the ships change their location yearly, every couple of years or never? I'm looking at the Norwegian fjords (7 days) and it seems to be mostly Iona with Britannia beginning and end of season upto 2023. Is it likely that this will continue into 2024?

 

Iona has far too many passengers for my liking and Britannia would be pushing it. I just can't imagine the villages with all these people, let alone if their are other ships there as well.

This would be the best time to go on either ship as not sailing with full capacity

[lilyafloat]

I would love to, but alas, this is for future planning in 2024 😮

[Ardennais]

3 hours ago, lilyafloat said:

 

Iona has far too many passengers for my liking and Britannia would be pushing it. I just can't imagine the villages with all these people, let alone if their are other ships there as well.

I have been thinking this for quite a while! We first visited Olden on Oceana and the second visit was Azura and there seemed to be so many people around. But small fry compared to Iona. 

[P&O SUE]

Aurora and Arcadia, the smaller adult only ships have done an odd Norway cruise in recent times, tends to be 12 nights instead of the 7.

 

Last few years P&O have had each ship doing the same itinerary each year. Eg Britannia the med, Ventura the canaries and short breaks and Iona Norway. It’s annoying really as there’s not so much choice. Hope they change it up a bit soon. As you say Britannia is doing a few Norway in 2023 but as yet we don’t know what they are planning for 2024. I hope they change Iona soon as we’d like to see different itineraries for her in the summer.

Edited February 5, 2022 by P&O SUE

[john watson]

The scheduling of "routes" or itineraries as they are more commonly known tend to repeat annually. There will typically be a ship or ships in the Caribbean from roughly November to March giving the outward and return fly one way sail the other cruises.  The Mediterranean gets covered in the summer but generally excludes the hottest months where Fjords and Canaries may be scheduled. Fly cruising to the Mediterranean is a newer option as has been the Middle East and India. They also do a series of special voyages, Iceland, Greenland and the weekend tasters. A world cruise might happen over the Northern winter.  The ships they use will generally be based on size and adults only ships will be most likely on special voyages and world cruise.  If you look at the Fincantieri website for new build cruise ships you should get details of ships and look also generally for P&O news.  In general they are building new ships bigger than the pre-existing ones not only for P&O but generally throughout the industry.  If you want smaller other lines have a few boutique type vessels. In general you will find that as ships get bigger they get put onto repeating the same itinerary which cannot be good for creating a positive vibe on board for the crew.

 

Regards John

[john watson]

I think the best option for Fjords is with Princess Cruises on one of their Royal class ships.  If you wanted smaller Island Princess which is a Panamax vessel but has fewer passengers.  It will be more expensive.  All the cruise lines are going bigger and bigger or look at a boutique line or other ex-UK cruise ship sailings.

Regards John

[Fionboard]

Old fogies like me prefer the smaller traditional ships which can get into nicer ports. Big ones tend to dock in container ports requiring buses into town (or tenders!) Britannia is big enough for me. I don't need the facilities that the new family orientated ships offer.

[lilyafloat]

Strange that Princess has been mentioned as I may have been perusing their website 😀 I can understand their money making policies but I wish they would look a bit further to customer's experiences and the environmental impact of these mega-ships. I can't imagine that a lot of ports and infrastructures cope well with 6000+ people being dropped off weekly!

[molecrochip]

1 hour ago, john watson said:

 

I think your opinion is almost universal for all ages and families.  Anyone who wants dodgems, ice skating and the like would do better with a resort holiday.  Whilst cruise lines have been going bigger and bigger for cost efficiency and increased profit there is good news on the horizon.  An increasing number of ports are banning ships with excessive numbers of passengers embarked.  I think this started with Venice and French Polynesia but other places are following suit.

 

Regards John.

No John, not an almost universal opinion. Just one that is often floated on here, where the demographic posting on UK focused lines tends to be skewed 50+.

 

The cruise industry is big enough that it has capacity for both types of cruise ship. In fact, broadly, ships are built into one of three marketable types.

 

Expedition <500

Small ship 1,000 - 2,000

Megaship 2,500+

 

There is a massive market for Megaships. Lots of families want the variety and choice that these ships offer. Whilst RC and CCL may be building ships which are 'Butlins at Sea', P&O have typically avoided the resort style offering, preferring to stay closer to the traditional.

 

There is also a massive market for the truly traditional ship experience and a number of operators providing this. It won't surprise me to see one of the major 3 cruise corporations acquire Crystal to provide a traditional offering.

 

Cruise corporations spend a lot of time finding out what cruisers of all ages want. It is with that knowledge that P&O is slowly moving from one old-age skewed market to a more generic family market. RC have whole heartedly changed are remain massively popular.

 

As for size, efficiency, profitability - yes, no doubt that larger ships are more profitably but that has allowed lower prices thus attracting the younger audience with greater pressures on disposal income.

 

Finally, for all the places that don't want megaships, largely due to local ecological issues, there are many more places which are more than glad for the tourism income that cruise ships bring. St Maarten has control over the number of ships in port and has kept increasing its own capacity. It may be Terrible, but that is the decision of the island.

[zap99]

2 hours ago, john watson said:

I think the best option for Fjords is with Princess Cruises on one of their Royal class ships.  If you wanted smaller Island Princess which is a Panamax vessel but has fewer passengers.  It will be more expensive.  All the cruise lines are going bigger and bigger or look at a boutique line or other ex-UK cruise ship sailings.

Regards John

Last Fjords cruise was on Brittania. Not too big IMO, but this year going with Celebrity. It's their turn.

[zap99]

5 hours ago, Fionboard said:

Old fogies like me prefer the smaller traditional ships which can get into nicer ports. Big ones tend to dock in container ports requiring buses into town (or tenders!) Britannia is big enough for me. I don't need the facilities that the new family orientated ships offer.

We are old fogies and we prefer big ships. This year we are booked on Celebrity Silhouette, Iona and Anthem of the seas. Don't know about container ports. Did you mean Felixstowe and Tilbury.?.

[Fionboard]

No, foreign ports! Wait and see. Silhouette is not a mega ship, fewer passengers than Ventura. We all have different opinions - thank heavens!