Iona no show for Geiranger

[Adawn47]

2 hours ago, Snow Hill said:

Probable that Iona is not the only ship to be able to go under the bridge, the bigger the ships get, comes the restrictions on where they can go due to local infrastructure and rules. 

It seems to me, that with the move towards the larger ships the emphasis is now on a floating theme park  rather than the classic cruise to different countries.

Not my idea of cruising at all.

Avril

[jon01]

Good to see that Iona made it into Stavanger this week after the  cancellation last week. Two ships in port today, you can just see Silver Whisper top right

 

Not very warm there, max temp 11 C

[terrierjohn]

9 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

It seems to me, that with the move towards the larger ships the emphasis is now on a floating theme park  rather than the classic cruise to different countries.

Not my idea of cruising at all.

Avril

It all seems a bit weird to me, why were the Excel class of ships designed differently to all the other Papenberg built ships. Celebrity's Solsrice class and RCI'S Quantum class are both built at Papenberg, and Quantum is a very similar size to Excel. 

You would think that Meyer Werft should have questioned the Carnival plans when they realised the gun port door style differed significantly from their standard.

All rather strange leaving far more questions than answers.

[Amyracecar]

56 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

It seems to me, that with the move towards the larger ships the emphasis is now on a floating theme park  rather than the classic cruise to different countries.

Not my idea of cruising at all.

Avril

I'm not sure what theme park they were basing Iona on then. A very beige one with hardly any entertainment facilities. 🤣

Certainly is the case with the big RCI and Carnival ones though. They just look like a headache to me. Personally if it doesn't have a wooden promenade to stroll down after dinner and pretend I'm Rose, I'm just not interested! 😋

[SarahHben]

1 hour ago, jon01 said:

Good to see that Iona made it into Stavanger this week after the  cancellation last week. Two ships in port today, you can just see Silver Whisper top right

 

Not very warm there, max temp 11 C

Please could you post a link to that webcam? I had saved it off before our cruise but whatever I try it is stuck on the 10th May 

[purplesea]

https://en.world-cam.ru/cams/stavanger-webcam-online/harbour-stavanger-online/

[jon01]

1 hour ago, SarahHben said:

Please could you post a link to that webcam? I had saved it off before our cruise but whatever I try it is stuck on the 10th May 

You need to register an account now to see the Stavanger webcam:

 

https://www.aftenbladet.no/trafikk/i/mqEEp/webkameraer

 

(You may need to translate the webpage to English to understand it!)

[SarahHben]

1 hour ago, jon01 said:

You need to register an account now to see the Stavanger webcam:

 

https://www.aftenbladet.no/trafikk/i/mqEEp/webkameraer

 

(You may need to translate the webpage to English to understand it!)

That's great, thank you.

[davecttr]

For those who visit Hellesylt the factory right by the terminal is a meat processing plant. A family firm established in 1938 and I suppose with 50 permanent employees swelling to 80 in autumn the only major employer for many miles.

[pete14]

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

For those who visit Hellesylt the factory right by the terminal is a meat processing plant. A family firm established in 1938 and I suppose with 50 permanent employees swelling to 80 in autumn the only major employer for many miles.

Do you know whether they do factory tours?

[babs135]

Interestingly, for other reasons, I have just received a revised booking confirmation letter for our cruise at the end of June.  It still shows the Iona docking at Gerainger, arriving at 9.00 am and leaving at 17.00pm.  The day (29th June) starts with a stop at 6.30 am at Hellesylt, leaving at 07.15 am.  The day then ends with a visit to Geirangerfjord scheduled for 17.30 - 18.30 and then cruise-bys from 18.30 - 20.30 of Sunnylvsfjorden and Sorfjorden.  

If we are not docking at Gerainger why are they still sending out false information?

[terrierjohn]

33 minutes ago, babs135 said:

Interestingly, for other reasons, I have just received a revised booking confirmation letter for our cruise at the end of June.  It still shows the Iona docking at Gerainger, arriving at 9.00 am and leaving at 17.00pm.  The day (29th June) starts with a stop at 6.30 am at Hellesylt, leaving at 07.15 am.  The day then ends with a visit to Geirangerfjord scheduled for 17.30 - 18.30 and then cruise-bys from 18.30 - 20.30 of Sunnylvsfjorden and Sorfjorden.  

If we are not docking at Gerainger why are they still sending out false information?

P&Os IT dept has great difficulty in reprogramming schedules more than once a year, so expecting them to keep up with Iona's wanderings is really expecting too much.🤣

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

P&Os IT dept has great difficulty in reprogramming schedules more than once a year, so expecting them to keep up with Iona's wanderings is really expecting too much.🤣

P&Os IT Dept have great difficulty in everything.

[darknightsdespiser]

Just got the email, no Geiranger on June 4th departure for "operational reasons".  I have several times accepted weather issues for missing a port but this seems awfully like bad management.

[Yorkypete]

Surprisingly enough many TA's and their companies, inc the largest one dealing with P&O are STILL advertising Gerainger as a 8.30 am to 5pm stop on the Norway cruise.  It also appears that P&O are still changing peoples cabins as more are needed for covid isolation.

 

[gsmt47471015]

Well that would be classed as been economical with the truth

[molecrochip]

Currently up to and including G218 confirmed as missing Geiranger.

[Yorkypete]

2 hours ago, molecrochip said:

Currently up to and including G218 confirmed as missing Geiranger.

Yes but NOT by the leading Travel companies!

 

[PauMorj]

The Norwegian Fjords Iona cruise (departing very soon) is my first cruise.  Not sure whether I am looking forward to the ship bit but am/was really looking forward to the Fjords.  Since we first booked (were due to go in June 2020 but...) my mobility has unexpectedly (temporarily) changed so taking a coach to the Dalsnibba Sky Deck from the Geiranger stop was going to be a highlight for me.  The cancellation of this stop is a real loss - from the start Hellesylt had very few tours and having a full day there instead of Geiranger is like receiving a pedal car when promised a Ferrari.  I do strongly feel there should be some kind of refund and/or cruise credit for this as it was clearly foreseeable.  I will be writing to P&O (probably fruitlessly).

 

I do note there is still availability for my cruise.  On the P&O booking pages Geiranger is still advertised as a highlight stop on the cruise - mis-selling?

 

If it is true that P&O think the Iona is the destination not the Fjords why does it bother leaving Southampton dock?

 

 

[PauMorj]

7 hours ago, Yorkypete said:

Surprisingly enough many TA's and their companies, inc the largest one dealing with P&O are STILL advertising Gerainger as a 8.30 am to 5pm stop on the Norway cruise.  It also appears that P&O are still changing peoples cabins as more are needed for covid isolation.

 

P&O still says it has availability for the Fjords cruise I'm on and still shows a stop at Geiranger as a highlight - mis-selling?

[Snow Hill]

10 hours ago, molecrochip said:

Currently up to and including G218 confirmed as missing Geiranger.

Appears it’s beyond that date according to port schedule 

 

https://www.stranda-hamnevesen.no/cruise-calls

[davecttr]

24 minutes ago, Snow Hill said:

Appears it’s beyond that date according to port schedule 

 

https://www.stranda-hamnevesen.no/cruise-calls

Yes, according to that the whole season is cancelled including the last scheduled call on the 7th September after which Iona reverts to Alesund. I was on that September G230 cruise so I cancelled 2 days ago and bought a 14 day fly cruise to the Canaries in November. P&O's loss and Marella's gain.

 

I presume if the problem as reported is the connection between Iona's doors and the Sea Walk the adaptation, maybe with a special cradle(s) on the Sea Walk will have to be paid for by P&O?

[Yorkypete]

14 hours ago, PauMorj said:

P&O still says it has availability for the Fjords cruise I'm on and still shows a stop at Geiranger as a highlight - mis-selling?

It appears that it is 'going to Gerainger' on every cruise! Mis-selling is an understatement.

[molecrochip]

16 hours ago, Yorkypete said:

It appears that it is 'going to Gerainger' on every cruise! Mis-selling is an understatement.

Not so, the voyages up to G218 have been amended on the website. There after, they still show.

 

In the same way, that the cruise schedule has been updated to remove Iona, it can be updated to put her back in.

[Yorkypete]

5 hours ago, molecrochip said:

Not so, the voyages up to G218 have been amended on the website. There after, they still show.

 

In the same way, that the cruise schedule has been updated to remove Iona, it can be updated to put her back in.

 G218 has not been changed on the website. It shows Geiranger stop as afternoon and depart early evening...not Geiranger Fjord but Geiranger itself. Cruises after 218. ie 220, 221 and 222  distinctly show Iona going to Geiranger for most of the day. Is this NOT mis-selling if they are not going there?If I was to book any of these cruises to go there and P&O knew they were not going there  would that not be mis-selling?