Advice re Canary Islands cruise please

[wowzz]

28 minutes ago, Malibustacey79 said:

We go on Azura in October and paid an extra £175 each to go from Newcastle, which seems an awful lot! But London is just so far from us and makes it really impractical.

I suppose that by the time you factor in the cost of travelling to Gatwick/Luton etc and back, hotel rooms,  meals etc,  the actual nett extra cost will probably be nearer £100 each.

Still a lot, but if your departure airport was Luton, it would be a price I would happily pay to avoid the place. IMHO, Luton and Leeds/Bradford are the two worst airports in the UK, although recent reports suggest that Manchester is doing its best to challenge them.

[Malibustacey79]

2 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I suppose that by the time you factor in the cost of travelling to Gatwick/Luton etc and back, hotel rooms,  meals etc,  the actual nett extra cost will probably be nearer £100 each.

Still a lot, but if your departure airport was Luton, it would be a price I would happily pay to avoid the place. IMHO, Luton and Leeds/Bradford are the two worst airports in the UK, although recent reports suggest that Manchester is doing its best to challenge them.

Agreed! We usually use Manchester as lots more choice but it was awful in Feb and looks even worse now. We used Edinburgh last week and couldn’t fault it, but would choose Newcastle every time if possible. 

[davecttr]

39 minutes ago, Malibustacey79 said:

We go on Azura in October and paid an extra £175 each to go from Newcastle, which seems an awful lot! But London is just so far from us and makes it really impractical. 
 

I have noticed that our cruise (13th Oct) is now only being sold as ‘cruise only’ - is this a common thing? I assume it means all flights are now full but it’s our first time with P&O and not something I’ve noticed before. Our planner does show flight times, and did straight away when we booked in March so I’m hoping they remain the same!

The P&O site is still showing September flights included and A220B in October. Maybe the flight capacity has been reached but still capacity aboard if you make your own way there?

[Mollag]

9 minutes ago, davecttr said:

The P&O site is still showing September flights included and A220B in October. Maybe the flight capacity has been reached but still capacity aboard if you make your own way there?

There are a few showing cruise only around that time. They must be struggling now as well saw a post elsewhere yesterday the Birmingham flight which was hours late already stopped at Gatwick to pick more passengers up which made it even later

[Malibustacey79]

20 minutes ago, davecttr said:

The P&O site is still showing September flights included and A220B in October. Maybe the flight capacity has been reached but still capacity aboard if you make your own way there?

Actually having checked again just now, it’s saying all cabins sold out.
 

The flights are down as Jet2 for Newcastle so not surprised that those are full, I was just surprised that there were no more flights available at all…I just hope it all goes as planned! 

[davecttr]

1 minute ago, Mollag said:

There are a few showing cruise only around that time. They must be struggling now as well saw a post elsewhere yesterday the Birmingham flight which was hours late already stopped at Gatwick to pick more passengers up which made it even later

They are covering for the possible flight problems at that time. i have a November fly cruise to the Canaries and hopefully the flight will go ahead as the cruise company and airline are owned by the same parent company and the flight is essentially a charter being full of cruise passengers and hotel passengers. Absolute chaos possible though. They can't recruit enough baggage handlers? Lot of them have discovered they are more content with a job elsewhere. Recruit from abroad - no for obvious reasons. Delays in getting security clearance - the recruits may have had several jobs in the last 2 years and some of their employers don't send back the security questionnaire so no job!

 

A perfect storm 😒

[cruise saint]

Think we'll stick to cruising from Southampton for a year or two 🤔 

[Malibustacey79]

Just now, cruise saint said:

Think we'll stick to cruising from Southampton for a year or two 🤔 

I don’t blame you. Would do that myself if Southampton wasn’t pretty much a whole country away…combined with an electric car it would just add too much time (and annual leave requirement) on. We cruised (UK only) from Liverpool in 2021 with MSC and it was fantastic…I really hope there are plans to expand this in the pipeline 🤞

[DropThePuck]

I know November is a long way away, but I do like to have everything set out properly. I may try to change flights to Birmingham, but cannot get hold of the cruise company. Probably due to loads of people concerned about flights. Why I didn't pick Birmingham initially,  have no idea. Less than an hour away for us, with Gatwick being at least 2 hours.

[Selbourne]

On 6/2/2022 at 7:34 PM, wowzz said:

Not anymore, as the cobbles have been replaced with tarmac.

The only danger is to your wallet.

Do you mean that it’s now a smoother ride, or that the baskets can’t slide down on tarmac so no longer operate?

 

In these days of health and safety sanitising every aspect of our lives, we thoroughly enjoyed the near death experience when we were in Madeira 😂 

[wowzz]

8 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Do you mean that it’s now a smoother ride, or that the baskets can’t slide down on tarmac so no longer operate?

 

In these days of health and safety sanitising every aspect of our lives, we thoroughly enjoyed the near death experience when we were in Madeira 😂 

Baskets still in operation, but now that the cobbles  are gone, the ride is smoother and safer.

[tring]

On 6/8/2022 at 1:18 PM, DropThePuck said:

We will be cruising on Azura from Tenerife on 11th November for my 60th.  We are really looking forward to it.  I haven't been to the Canaries/Madeira since I was 11, and really enjoyed it then.  I do remember it being a bit rocky in the Bay of Biscay, but starting in Tenerife we should avoid the choppy stuff.

The basket ride in Madeira was brilliant on the cobbles.  Will be interesting to see how it is on Tarmac.

I am a bit tense as we haven't received flight info yet, other than London.  I like to book parking, etc well in advance.  Does anyone have their flight info yet?  Hopefully, all the ongoing issues won't be so prevalent then.

 

Have you checked the daily itinerary on your login for the cruise.  We fly out to Malta from Manchester on the 6th October and return from Tenerife 16 days later and are flight details are there.  We have an 11.30am return flight time from Tenerife, but not sure if a flight number is showing for the return yet.  We did not get any notification, just logged in and there it was.  You may need to go into the individual days where it lists your ports for that day and any other bookings you have made for that day.

[DropThePuck]

11 hours ago, tring said:

 

Have you checked the daily itinerary on your login for the cruise.  We fly out to Malta from Manchester on the 6th October and return from Tenerife 16 days later and are flight details are there.  We have an 11.30am return flight time from Tenerife, but not sure if a flight number is showing for the return yet.  We did not get any notification, just logged in and there it was.  You may need to go into the individual days where it lists your ports for that day and any other bookings you have made for that day.

There's nothing there. I have sent a message to the travel agent to ask the cost to change to Birmingham.

[Brummijam]

Not sailed with P&O yet. Which airlines do they use for the flight/cruises.

We would depart from Birmingham?

Thanks in advance.

[LinniB]

50 minutes ago, Brummijam said:

Not sailed with P&O yet. Which airlines do they use for the flight/cruises.

We would depart from Birmingham?

Thanks in advance.

For our cruise in May

Tui Jet2 and easyJet flights used for Manchester Malta route

[wowzz]

4 minutes ago, LinniB said:

For our cruise in May

Tui Jet2 and easyJet flights used for Manchester Malta route

Probably not easyjet from BHX.

[Brummijam]

Thanks both.👍

[PJ's]

I have just booked 2 x balcony cabins on Ventura (no fly) to the Canary Islands in November. This is a 2wk cruise and although we have done the Canaries quite a few times in the past just wanted a bit of sun before Christmas and hopefully we will get some. Got a good price on an early saver fare and can also request dining (usually like 2nd sitting). In the past not had a problem with dining as we were allocated our preference. Not too bothered at the moment with flying so opted for the round trip from Southampton. Fingers crossed for a good cruise.

[jeanlyon]

That's a bit scary.  If you book your own flights, and they are cancelled, you miss the cruise?

[terrierjohn]

29 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

That's a bit scary.  If you book your own flights, and they are cancelled, you miss the cruise?

The op says it's a no fly cruise from Southampton on Ventura!!!!

[dunnster1965]

On 6/18/2022 at 4:20 PM, PJ's said:

I have just booked 2 x balcony cabins on Ventura (no fly) to the Canary Islands in November. This is a 2wk cruise and although we have done the Canaries quite a few times in the past just wanted a bit of sun before Christmas and hopefully we will get some. Got a good price on an early saver fare and can also request dining (usually like 2nd sitting). In the past not had a problem with dining as we were allocated our preference. Not too bothered at the moment with flying so opted for the round trip from Southampton. Fingers crossed for a good cruise.

2 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

That's a bit scary.  If you book your own flights, and they are cancelled, you miss the cruise?

 

Or they're sailing from Southampton...

[devonuk]

4 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

The op says it's a no fly cruise from Southampton on Ventura!!!!

The actual OP is using flights so in jeanylon’s defence she is correct in her cautious tone. 

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, devonuk said:

The actual OP is using flights so in jeanylon’s defence she is correct in her cautious tone. 

PJ said they were sailing from Southampton. 

I think the issue is that no one knows what post is being replied to.

[devonuk]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

PJ said they were sailing from Southampton. 

I think the issue is that no one knows what post is being replied to.

That’s true my friend but there’s only one OP and that OP is flying to meet a cruise. I absolutely get what jeanylon is stating though, it’s so stressful trying to book holidays these days that you need a holiday to deal with all of the angst. 

[Wichenford Wolf]

16 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

That's a bit scary.  If you book your own flights, and they are cancelled, you miss the cruise?

We are doing a similar cruise in January next year, a fly-cruise around the Canaries organised in full by P&O and starting from Birmingham (no extra cost under the current deal). Flight details not yet confirmed.

 

You can make your own flight arrangements if you wish - with the possible “scary” consequences - but you get no reduction in the total cost of the cruise so, unless you are coming from somewhere nowhere near a P&O airport, why would you?