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Azura Change of Itinerary

TPers

By TPers,
in P&O Cruises ( UK )

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Britboys

Britboys

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Do you know for certain that they have caved in, or have they agreed a price reduction for the passenger tax with Amsterdam?

Who knows - but it would have been better for pax if they had just agreed to pay in the first instance. I was on the first call to Ijmuiden and it was a nightmare.

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AndyMichelle

AndyMichelle

Posted
Posted (edited)
11 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Who knows - but it would have been better for pax if they had just agreed to pay in the first instance. I was on the first call to Ijmuiden and it was a nightmare.

I don't think any passenger would have minded paying 8 euros extra to be close to Amsterdam, but we never got a choice. 

The cost of shipping us all in must have exceeded that. 

I always thought there was more to it than that... 

It was often a missed port, perhaps that played a part. 

Andy 

 

Edited by AndyMichelle
Your lovely, charitable friend, Andy
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molecrochip

molecrochip

Posted
Posted

P&O never stopped calling at Amsterdam. They just got very selective. Most ships didn't but some did.

 

In a post covid world, its easier (and safer?) to dock in Amsterdam and with ships not at full capacity, the economics between paying for a fleet of coaches v paying the tax is not as stark.

 

Also, I believe the original proposal was tax was due on the full passenger capacity irrespective of if the ship was full. Not its actual guest loading.

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Harry Peterson

Harry Peterson

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, molecrochip said:

P&O never stopped calling at Amsterdam. They just got very selective. Most ships didn't but some did.

 

In a post covid world, its easier (and safer?) to dock in Amsterdam and with ships not at full capacity, the economics between paying for a fleet of coaches v paying the tax is not as stark.

 

Also, I believe the original proposal was tax was due on the full passenger capacity irrespective of if the ship was full. Not its actual guest loading.

 

It wasn't just the change from Amsterdam to Ijmuiden though, was it.  It was the blanket refusal of P&O to allow passengers to cancel, even though for many of them a two day stay in the centre of Amsterdam was the sole or main reason for booking.  You'll recall that there were various 7 day cruises with four port days - two of them in Amsterdam.

 

That should have been accepted by P&O as a 'significant alteration' to the package, allowing cancellation by the customer and return of the deposit - but it wasn't.  At least not for the vast majority of customers who didn't take P&O on with threats of court action.  As I recall, the story even made the media.

 

It's precisely this sort of behaviour that gives P&O a bad name.  It switched the overnight from Amsterdam to Ijmuiden to save itself money and score points in a battle (lost) with the Amsterdam Port authorities, spoiled vast numbers of cruises which people had paid a lot of money for, but refused to allow them the cancellation option which its own terms (and English legislation) allowed.

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Snow Hill

Snow Hill

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, molecrochip said:

P&O never stopped calling at Amsterdam. They just got very selective. Most ships didn't but some did.

 

In a post covid world, its easier (and safer?) to dock in Amsterdam and with ships not at full capacity, the economics between paying for a fleet of coaches v paying the tax is not as stark.

 

Also, I believe the original proposal was tax was due on the full passenger capacity irrespective of if the ship was full. Not its actual guest loading.

According to Port of Amsterdam it’s based on the actual numbers of passengers on board not the passenger capacity of the ship. 

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Al_W

Al_W

Posted
Posted

Just heard our cruise A211b from Malta on 2/6 has had a change... Rovinj to Korcula due to operational reasons. Not been updated on the website yet, so just posting for info in case anyone is thinking of booking.

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Huggsy

Huggsy

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, Al_W said:

Just heard our cruise A211b from Malta on 2/6 has had a change... Rovinj to Korcula due to operational reasons. Not been updated on the website yet, so just posting for info in case anyone is thinking of booking.

Got the same email as yourself - I looked up our original booking which was four ports of call being Dubrovnik, Zadar, Trieste & Split. Wasn't aware that Trieste had been dropped for Rovinj which has now being replaced with Korcula. What's going on with this lot?? Operational reasons? B.S.!!!!

And, like you said, why haven't they updated their website? Bunch of amateurs and I haven't even set foot on the ship yet. 🤬

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Harry Peterson

Harry Peterson

Posted
Posted
33 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

Fed up with hearing "operational reasons". What does this mean? Anything apparently!!

It means anything they want it to mean, almost always something they don’t want to admit to.

 

In the case of the change from the ever popular Amsterdam to the ever unpopular Ijmuiden, the real reason was that they wanted to avoid increased port charges. The reason given was, of course, operational reasons, and they refused point blank to say what those reasons were.

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Orianababes

Orianababes

Posted
Posted (edited)
48 minutes ago, tesni said:

I'll be on A216 (4th Aug) and I've noticed that Trieste seems to have been replaced by Koper, Slovenia.

Hi

where did you “notice” this? P&O website still says Trieste

 

LATER - I’ve logged in to My Cruises and as you say Trieste has been replaced by Koper.

Edited by Orianababes
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tesni

tesni

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, Orianababes said:

Hi

where did you “notice” this? P&O website still says Trieste

Oops, forgot to say - on the 'My P&O Cruises' page (the one where you login with your 6 digit booking reference).

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Snow Hill

Snow Hill

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Harry Peterson said:

It means anything they want it to mean, almost always something they don’t want to admit to.

 

In the case of the change from the ever popular Amsterdam to the ever unpopular Ijmuiden, the real reason was that they wanted to avoid increased port charges. The reason given was, of course, operational reasons, and they refused point blank to say what those reasons were.

I think the problems with the likes of Trieste and Ravenna, since Venice banned large cruise ships, they are the only ports which are nearest in relation to transfer of passengers to Venice, however neither are really geared up  for a number of large cruise ships, plus this the first time since pandemic that things are returning to a form of normality and the ports are finding it difficult to accommodate multiple cruise ships at the same time. The alternatives in the region may also have similar difficulties hence the “operational reasons” status on changes.

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ElmaLee

ElmaLee

Posted
Posted
2 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

Koper is a nice stop. Not been to Trieste, what is it like?

Trieste is beautiful.  The ship docks near city centre, so just walk off.  Nice promenade.  We did an escorted walking tour which was very interesting.  Lots of history.

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Britboys

Britboys

Posted
Posted
26 minutes ago, ElmaLee said:

Trieste is beautiful.  The ship docks near city centre, so just walk off.  Nice promenade.  We did an escorted walking tour which was very interesting.  Lots of history.

That's good to hear - I'm due there later this year on Aurora.

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