Iona no show for Geiranger

[Trevor Fountain]

My advice to anybody who wants desperately to see a particular place is go and book a land based holiday there.

It doesn't matter which shipping line  or ship you choose, there are many reasons why a port may be cancelled, or even inaccessable on the day of the planned visit.

It is, if I may say, a bit silly to base a cruise around a particular port. What you should look at really is the region you're cruising to, i.e. a Mediterranean Cruise, a Caribbean Cruise, a Scandinavian cruise and so on.

You pay a fare for say a 14 night cruise, and a 14 night cruise is what you get. Talk of compensation for a change of port is imvho nonsense.

Honestly I have had dozens of instances of missed ports for a multitude of reasons, but never have I had a really bad cruise.

Sorry if this upsets people, but just my view.

 

[Ardennais]

8 minutes ago, Trevor Fountain said:

My advice to anybody who wants desperately to see a particular place is go and book a land based holiday there.

It doesn't matter which shipping line  or ship you choose, there are many reasons why a port may be cancelled, or even inaccessable on the day of the planned visit.

It is, if I may say, a bit silly to base a cruise around a particular port. What you should look at really is the region you're cruising to, i.e. a Mediterranean Cruise, a Caribbean Cruise, a Scandinavian cruise and so on.

You pay a fare for say a 14 night cruise, and a 14 night cruise is what you get. Talk of compensation for a change of port is imvho nonsense.

Honestly I have had dozens of instances of missed ports for a multitude of reasons, but never have I had a really bad cruise.

Sorry if this upsets people, but just my view.

 

I think we all appreciate that there will be missed ports now and then - we have only missed 2 in over 20 cruises and they were indeed inaccessible on the planned day. 
i understand where you’re coming from regarding looking at the region in general, but there are some places which do make us choose a particular cruise. For instance, next year we are looking to visit Barcelona, having only been there once and keen to return. So it’s not a silly to look at cruises which visit Barcelona!

The Gerianger situation is different. Someone, somewhere had slipped up. What makes it worse is that now P&O are offering the trip to say Mt Dalsnibba for much more than the one which was cancelled. Don’t know about you, but we used to cruise with our children which would have incurred a considerable additional cost. So it’s not about compensation as such, just that P&O absorbs that additional cost, and not the passenger who has been let down. 

[Selbourne]

43 minutes ago, Trevor Fountain said:

My advice to anybody who wants desperately to see a particular place is go and book a land based holiday there.

It doesn't matter which shipping line  or ship you choose, there are many reasons why a port may be cancelled, or even inaccessable on the day of the planned visit.

It is, if I may say, a bit silly to base a cruise around a particular port. What you should look at really is the region you're cruising to, i.e. a Mediterranean Cruise, a Caribbean Cruise, a Scandinavian cruise and so on.

You pay a fare for say a 14 night cruise, and a 14 night cruise is what you get. Talk of compensation for a change of port is imvho nonsense.

Honestly I have had dozens of instances of missed ports for a multitude of reasons, but never have I had a really bad cruise.

Sorry if this upsets people, but just my view.

 

I get what you are saying, but that’s fine if you are able bodied and can fly to places. My wife cannot fly, hence why cruises are our only way to go overseas.
 

Where I think that your argument falls down though is that if P&O marketed cruises as just ‘Mediterranean’ or whatever, as you suggest, then that would be fine. But they don’t. They make a big deal of the showcase ports that are the main ‘hook’ to get people to book, with photos of these places, tempting descriptions etc etc. We all understand that there will be reasons why, on the day, a port may not be reached, especially when it is due to weather, but that’s not what is concerning many of us at present. Sometimes, P&O continue to sell a cruise to specific destinations long after they know that they won’t be going there. I know this for a fact. That is dishonest trading and leaves a very bad taste in the mouth. 
 

We have often booked cruises because of specific places that we wanted to go to such as St Petersburg, Venice, Dubrovnik, Barcelona, New York and, in the case of our next cruise, Geiranger. This is the only one of the top 3 fjords that we haven’t been to so we specifically chose a cruise that was going there. P&O made a big deal of it, highlighting that it is a World Heritage site. We wouldn’t have booked the cruise had it not been going there. If a key port is removed, then I’m not looking for compensation. I’m either looking for a free land transfer from the alternative port (if feasible) or the option to get a full refund on the cruise if you no longer wish to go, even if this is after the final payment has been made. That is not an unreasonable expectation when you are not going to be provided with what you were sold. The trouble is that, all too often, us passive Brits allow ourselves to be walked over and just shrug our shoulders which encourages these poor business practices to continue. 

[Wiseyowl]

Jumping on this as also G221 - having issues printing off boarding passes and luggage labels. The button to click doesn’t do anything. Anyone else having same issues? Departure two weeks and no answer via email.

thanks and sorry for deviating on this thread

[davecttr]

Try using a different web browser, I found changing to Chrome solved problems with Edge

 

Microsoft do funny things with their Windows updates. a few months ago Boogle Dearth disappeared from my PC and would not re install. I downloaded Chrome and it installed just fine!

Edited June 18, 2022 by davecttr

[Wiseyowl]

4 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Try using a different web browser, I found changing to Chrome solved problems with Edge

Yes thats worked thanks very much for that advice, much appreciated - have been trying for ages!

[devonuk]

On 6/11/2022 at 2:20 PM, Selbourne said:

I get what you are saying, but that’s fine if you are able bodied and can fly to places. My wife cannot fly, hence why cruises are our only way to go overseas.
 

Where I think that your argument falls down though is that if P&O marketed cruises as just ‘Mediterranean’ or whatever, as you suggest, then that would be fine. But they don’t. They make a big deal of the showcase ports that are the main ‘hook’ to get people to book, with photos of these places, tempting descriptions etc etc. We all understand that there will be reasons why, on the day, a port may not be reached, especially when it is due to weather, but that’s not what is concerning many of us at present. Sometimes, P&O continue to sell a cruise to specific destinations long after they know that they won’t be going there. I know this for a fact. That is dishonest trading and leaves a very bad taste in the mouth. 
 

We have often booked cruises because of specific places that we wanted to go to such as St Petersburg, Venice, Dubrovnik, Barcelona, New York and, in the case of our next cruise, Geiranger. This is the only one of the top 3 fjords that we haven’t been to so we specifically chose a cruise that was going there. P&O made a big deal of it, highlighting that it is a World Heritage site. We wouldn’t have booked the cruise had it not been going there. If a key port is removed, then I’m not looking for compensation. I’m either looking for a free land transfer from the alternative port (if feasible) or the option to get a full refund on the cruise if you no longer wish to go, even if this is after the final payment has been made. That is not an unreasonable expectation when you are not going to be provided with what you were sold. The trouble is that, all too often, us passive Brits allow ourselves to be walked over and just shrug our shoulders which encourages these poor business practices to continue. 

Sometimes the advertisements over promise too! Spot the error with this little nugget I found in a promo sent to me 🙄

[davecttr]

The Flambaan is just off the left side of the piccie 😁

[devonuk]

49 minutes ago, davecttr said:

The Flambaan is just off the left side of the piccie 😁

Exactly… selling a stop in Stavanger by showing a pic Flamm 😳🤷‍♂️

[Bill Y]

Its not just P&O, this cruise was calling at Puntarenas Costa Rica,certainly not Costa Rica, but could well be near Punt Arenas Chile!

[devonuk]

3 hours ago, Bill Y said:

Its not just P&O, this cruise was calling at Puntarenas Costa Rica,certainly not Costa Rica, but could well be near Punt Arenas Chile!

I once saw an itinerary Barcelona Spain, Cartagena Columbia, Cadiz Spain… That would be some speedy crossing 😁

[jon01]

The ever fated Iona has a big delay on departure to the Fjords on Sat 18 June

Now departing at around 2.00am Sunday

That will mean a half day in Stavanger at best

Reason given as strong winds from an unusual direction in Southampton

Edited June 18, 2022 by jon01

[NewWestwardbound]

1 hour ago, jon01 said:

The ever fated Iona has a big delay on departure to the Fjords on Sat 18 June

Now departing at around 2.00am Sunday

That will mean a half day in Stavanger at best

Reason given as strong winds from an unusual direction in Southampton

Disappointing  for those on board but better safe than sorry. Were Ventura and MSC Virtuosa similarly affected today?

[mickey1959]

9 minutes ago, NewWestwardbound said:

Disappointing  for those on board but better safe than sorry. Were Ventura and MSC Virtuosa similarly affected today?

No not at all!!

[molecrochip]

29 minutes ago, mickey1959 said:

No not at all!!

They would have been berthed heading East ready to depart straight from berth.

 

Iona is berthed headed north and has to back out of the dock (south) whilst avoiding the tugs alongside at berth 44. Then she has to pirouette 90 degrees to head East out of dock.

 

Given the sudden forceful gusts we've been having in Southampton, I can see why they want to wait to do the more complicated manoeuvre.

[cruise saint]

10 hours ago, molecrochip said:

They would have been berthed heading East ready to depart straight from berth.

 

Iona is berthed headed north and has to back out of the dock (south) whilst avoiding the tugs alongside at berth 44. Then she has to pirouette 90 degrees to head East out of dock.

 

Given the sudden forceful gusts we've been having in Southampton, I can see why they want to wait to do the more complicated manoeuvre.

Have often wondered why Iona docks the opposite way round from Britannia when at Ocean Terminal.  Any idea?

[jon01]

Crazy that a huge airliner can land and depart at Heathrow on a narrow strip of tarmac in winds gusting 60mph and P&O's new megaship can't depart their home, sheltered port of Southampton in winds gusting 35mph with the aid of some tugs

 

With Arvia coming soon, they are going to double the issues they are having with these huge ships in windy conditions

 

 

[davecttr]

Iona is currently mid channel opposite Eastbourne doing 18.8 knots. Stavanger is just under 600 nautical miles away, 30 hours at 20 knots. With 1 hour time difference she would arrive mid afternoon?

[jon01]

4 minutes ago, cruise saint said:

Have often wondered why Iona docks the opposite way round from Britannia when at Ocean Terminal.  Any idea?

Somebody mentioned that it was due to the refuelling process that takes place on the starboard side, but when in Haugesund I noticed that Iona was fuelled up with a ship on the port side!

[davecttr]

Maybe it is easier to steer the behemoth into the berth facing forward and reversing out then spinning round is also easier

[jon01]

15 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Iona is currently mid channel opposite Eastbourne doing 18.8 knots. Stavanger is just under 600 nautical miles away, 30 hours at 20 knots. With 1 hour time difference she would arrive mid afternoon?

I calculated a 13:30 arrival local time, departure time is 17:00, hardly time for an excursion

 

Iona has head winds for some of the journey so it won't reach maximum speed

 

635 miles to Stavanger, at full speed (21 knots) it would take around 30-31 hours

 

At an average of 19 knots this journey would take around 34 hours plus a bit extra for weaving around traffic

[DamianG]

13 hours ago, molecrochip said:

They would have been berthed heading East ready to depart straight from berth.

 

Iona is berthed headed north and has to back out of the dock (south) whilst avoiding the tugs alongside at berth 44. Then she has to pirouette 90 degrees to head East out of dock.

 

Given the sudden forceful gusts we've been having in Southampton, I can see why they want to wait to do the more complicated manoeuvre.

 

Thanks for another excellent, detailed description of the issues Iona faced in this particular instance. Your insight is always appreciated on these threads.

I only wish that P&O were similarly straightforward, I still can't get over the Captain insisting that high winds causing missed ports on our last Iona cruise would have affected any ship whereas for us it was our first experience of it in over 20 years of cruising.

[newbie cruissy]

2 hours ago, jon01 said:

I calculated a 13:30 arrival local time, departure time is 17:00, hardly time for an excursion

 

Iona has head winds for some of the journey so it won't reach maximum speed

 

635 miles to Stavanger, at full speed (21 knots) it would take around 30-31 hours

 

At an average of 19 knots this journey would take around 34 hours plus a bit extra for weaving around traffic

Comments from onboard in the last half hour, not calling at Stavanger. 

Edited June 19, 2022 by newbie cruissy

[Selbourne]

2 hours ago, jon01 said:

I calculated a 13:30 arrival local time, departure time is 17:00, hardly time for an excursion

 

Iona has head winds for some of the journey so it won't reach maximum speed

 

635 miles to Stavanger, at full speed (21 knots) it would take around 30-31 hours

 

At an average of 19 knots this journey would take around 34 hours plus a bit extra for weaving around traffic

P&O ships very rarely seem to go at full speed these days. The priority seems to be saving money on fuel rather than maximising passengers time in port. 

[jeanlyon]

3 hours ago, jon01 said:

Crazy that a huge airliner can land and depart at Heathrow on a narrow strip of tarmac in winds gusting 60mph and P&O's new megaship can't depart their home, sheltered port of Southampton in winds gusting 35mph with the aid of some tugs

 

With Arvia coming soon, they are going to double the issues they are having with these huge ships in windy conditions

 

 

That would depend on whether the wind was hitting the aircraft from the side, because if it was, they definitely wouldn't land.  Over 35 knots in a crosswind is not done.