Iona and Geiranger

[Pete_M]

Hi,

 

I am seeking some clarification which P&O don’t seem able to help with.  We are booked on G223 to Norway 16th July.  The ports have been changed and some are listed as sail-by.  There are a few excursions bookable (typically a transfer cruise), but what isn’t clear is whether there will still be a tender to port if we want to go exploring on our own.

 

Also, what isn’t listed in the itinerary is the timings.  For example, we would like to do the Troll cars and bus by ourselves, but as the itinerary doesn’t list timings, it makes it all a bit risky - any ideas or suggestions?

 

Many thanks

Pete

 

ITINERARY

DAY 1

16 JUL 2022 

SOUTHAMPTON, UK

 

DAY 2

17 JUL 2022

DAY AT SEA

 

DAY 3

18 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Morning

Departing from Afternoon

STAVANGER, NORWAY

 

DAY 4

19 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Morning

Departing from Early Evening

OLDEN, NORWAY

 

DAY 4

19 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Early Evening

Departing from Early Evening

INNVIKFJORDEN (CRUISE-BY), NORWAY

 

DAY 4

19 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Early Evening

Departing from Evening

NORDFJORD (CRUISE-BY), NORWAY

 

DAY 5

20 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Early Morning

Departing from Afternoon

HELLESYLT, NORWAY

 

DAY 5

20 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Afternoon

Departing from Early Evening

GEIRANGERFJORD, NORWAY

 

DAY 5

20 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Early Evening

Departing from Early Evening

SUNNYLVSFJORDEN (CRUISE-BY), NORWAY

 

DAY 5

20 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Early Evening

Departing from Early Evening

STORFJORDEN (CRUISE-BY), NORWAY

 

DAY 6

21 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Morning

Departing from Early Evening

HAUGESUND, NORWAY

 

DAY 7

22 JUL 2022

DAY AT SEA

 

DAY 8

23 JUL 2022 

SOUTHAMPTON, UK

 

[kruzseeka]

Sometimes if you check individual port website you can pick up arrival/departure times - at least for most cruise lines, P&O perhaps not.  

[AchileLauro]

We are on the following cruise (G224) and we too are slightly confused by the changes especially taking into account reports of recent Norway excursions and missed ports of call.  We have taken the view that it it's not worth pre-booking anything as we are treating it as a mystery cruise.

 

I don't think you have to concern yourself about tendering as I don't think Iona is set up for tendering operations as normal passenger capacity would make such operations extremely onerous and time consuming. 

We've experienced tendering on various ships and while many passengers don't enjoy the experience we actually look forward to it, but we've also seen how difficult it can be to get large numbers of passengers ashore by tender in a reasonable time frame. Some years ago while on Ventura it was nearly 2 o'clock in the afternoon before some passengers were able to go ashore in Sardinia, and they had to be back on board by 4.30p.m.

[davecttr]

2 hours ago, Pete_M said:

Hi,

 

I am seeking some clarification which P&O don’t seem able to help with.  We are booked on G223 to Norway 16th July.  The ports have been changed and some are listed as sail-by.  There are a few excursions bookable (typically a transfer cruise), but what isn’t clear is whether there will still be a tender to port if we want to go exploring on our own.

 

Also, what isn’t listed in the itinerary is the timings.  For example, we would like to do the Troll cars and bus by ourselves, but as the itinerary doesn’t list timings, it makes it all a bit risky - any ideas or suggestions?

 

Many thanks

Pete

 

ITINERARY

DAY 1

16 JUL 2022 

SOUTHAMPTON, UK

 

DAY 2

17 JUL 2022

DAY AT SEA

 

DAY 3

18 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Morning

Departing from Afternoon

STAVANGER, NORWAY

 

DAY 4

19 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Morning

Departing from Early Evening

OLDEN, NORWAY

 

DAY 4

19 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Early Evening

Departing from Early Evening

INNVIKFJORDEN (CRUISE-BY), NORWAY

 

DAY 4

19 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Early Evening

Departing from Evening

NORDFJORD (CRUISE-BY), NORWAY

 

DAY 5

20 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Early Morning

Departing from Afternoon

HELLESYLT, NORWAY

 

DAY 5

20 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Afternoon

Departing from Early Evening

GEIRANGERFJORD, NORWAY

 

DAY 5

20 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Early Evening

Departing from Early Evening

SUNNYLVSFJORDEN (CRUISE-BY), NORWAY

 

DAY 5

20 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Early Evening

Departing from Early Evening

STORFJORDEN (CRUISE-BY), NORWAY

 

DAY 6

21 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Morning

Departing from Early Evening

HAUGESUND, NORWAY

 

DAY 7

22 JUL 2022

DAY AT SEA

 

DAY 8

23 JUL 2022 

SOUTHAMPTON, UK

 

The day 4 Olden call is the whole day at the cruise berth there. The 2 following sail byes are the fjords that the ship sails along to get to/from Olden. No stops for tendering.

 

The day 5 call at Geiranger has been cancelled for this season due to various 'operational reasons'🙄

The original itinerary  has Iona calling at Hellysylt cruise berth to drop off passengers on long day excursions, the ship would then proceed to Geiranger. Hellysylt has now become a full day call. The day 5 sail byes are the Fjords that the ship sails along to get to Hellysylt. On leaving Hellysylt Iona makes a detour towards Geiranger so you can see the Seven Sisters waterfall.

 

All this may not happen as Iona seems to suffer from wind problems.

[Yorkypete]

10 minutes ago, davecttr said:

The day 4 Olden call is the whole day at the cruise berth there. The 2 following sail byes are the fjords that the ship sails along to get to/from Olden. No stops for tendering.

 

The day 5 call at Geiranger has been cancelled for this season due to various 'operational reasons'🙄

The original itinerary  has Iona calling at Hellysylt cruise berth to drop off passengers on long day excursions, the ship would then proceed to Geiranger. Hellysylt has now become a full day call. The day 5 sail byes are the Fjords that the ship sails along to get to Hellysylt. On leaving Hellysylt Iona makes a detour towards Geiranger so you can see the Seven Sisters waterfall.

 

All this may not happen as Iona seems to suffer from wind problems.... As do I ......but I still manage to go into the ports!!!!😄

[molecrochip]

4 hours ago, AchileLauro said:

We are on the following cruise (G224) and we too are slightly confused by the changes especially taking into account reports of recent Norway excursions and missed ports of call.  We have taken the view that it it's not worth pre-booking anything as we are treating it as a mystery cruise.

 

I don't think you have to concern yourself about tendering as I don't think Iona is set up for tendering operations as normal passenger capacity would make such operations extremely onerous and time consuming. 

We've experienced tendering on various ships and while many passengers don't enjoy the experience we actually look forward to it, but we've also seen how difficult it can be to get large numbers of passengers ashore by tender in a reasonable time frame. Some years ago while on Ventura it was nearly 2 o'clock in the afternoon before some passengers were able to go ashore in Sardinia, and they had to be back on board by 4.30p.m.

Iona is very much capable of tendering however the current itineraries do not require her too.

 

5 hours ago, Pete_M said:

Hi,

 

I am seeking some clarification which P&O don’t seem able to help with.  We are booked on G223 to Norway 16th July.  The ports have been changed and some are listed as sail-by.  There are a few excursions bookable (typically a transfer cruise), but what isn’t clear is whether there will still be a tender to port if we want to go exploring on our own.

 

Also, what isn’t listed in the itinerary is the timings.  For example, we would like to do the Troll cars and bus by ourselves, but as the itinerary doesn’t list timings, it makes it all a bit risky - any ideas or suggestions?

 

Many thanks

Pete

 

ITINERARY

DAY 1

16 JUL 2022 

SOUTHAMPTON, UK

 

DAY 2

17 JUL 2022

DAY AT SEA

 

DAY 3

18 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Morning

Departing from Afternoon

STAVANGER, NORWAY

 

DAY 4

19 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Morning

Departing from Early Evening

OLDEN, NORWAY

 

DAY 4

19 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Early Evening

Departing from Early Evening

INNVIKFJORDEN (CRUISE-BY), NORWAY

 

DAY 4

19 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Early Evening

Departing from Evening

NORDFJORD (CRUISE-BY), NORWAY

 

DAY 5

20 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Early Morning

Departing from Afternoon

HELLESYLT, NORWAY

 

DAY 5

20 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Afternoon

Departing from Early Evening

GEIRANGERFJORD, NORWAY

 

DAY 5

20 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Early Evening

Departing from Early Evening

SUNNYLVSFJORDEN (CRUISE-BY), NORWAY

 

DAY 5

20 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Early Evening

Departing from Early Evening

STORFJORDEN (CRUISE-BY), NORWAY

 

DAY 6

21 JUL 2022 

Arrives in Morning

Departing from Early Evening

HAUGESUND, NORWAY

 

DAY 7

22 JUL 2022

DAY AT SEA

 

DAY 8

23 JUL 2022 

SOUTHAMPTON, UK

 

 

Olden

You sail in via Innvikfjorden and Nordfjord early in the morning.

The time you leave normally gives you a great picturesque sail out the way you came.

 

Hellesylt

 

You sail in via Sunnylvsfjorden and Storfjorden early in the morning.

After departing Hellesylt, you sail down about 2/3rds of Geirangerfjord, past the Seven Sisters waterfalls.

You then sail back the way you came, past Hellesylt and back out through the two fjords.

[Fionboard]

Might not see seven though, as some are pretty faint in Summer!

[newbie cruissy]

5 hours ago, Fionboard said:

Might not see seven though, as some are pretty faint in Summer!

Don't think you can blame P&O for that, although some on here might 😉

[Ardennais]

7 hours ago, molecrochip said:

Iona is very much capable of tendering however the current itineraries do not require her too.

 

 

Is there a reason then why Iona couldn‘t tender passengers ashore in Geiranger this year, given that there are problems with the Seawalk or whatever it’s called? It’s a real shame and disappointment that Geiranger has been dropped completely, even more so when you state that Iona is capable of tendering.

[Fionboard]

13 hours ago, newbie cruissy said:

Don't think you can blame P&O for that, although some on here might 😉

You are right there!

[AchileLauro]

12 hours ago, Ardennais said:

Is there a reason then why Iona couldn‘t tender passengers ashore in Geiranger this year, given that there are problems with the Seawalk or whatever it’s called? It’s a real shame and disappointment that Geiranger has been dropped completely, even more so when you state that Iona is capable of tendering.

I would think that this would be because tendering is labour intensive on the crew and at a time when some sectors of the crew are deliberately limiting any unnecessary contact with passengers because of risk of infection. Making tendering not really practical especially when you consider potential passenger capacity.

Edited July 12, 2022 by AchileLauro

[Ardennais]

2 minutes ago, AchileLauro said:

I would think that this would be because tendering is labour intensive on the crew and at a time when some sectors of the crew are deliberately limiting any unnecessary contact with passengers because of risk of infection. Making tendering not really practical especially when you consider potential passenger capacity.

You might be right, but Moley did say that Iona is ‘very much capable of tendering’! 

[Spike11]

20 hours ago, molecrochip said:

Iona is very much capable of tendering however the current itineraries do not require her too.

 

So when it was discovered that the sea walk was incompatible with Iona, why didn’t Iona tender in Geiranger?

[Ardennais]

1 hour ago, Spike11 said:

So when it was discovered that the sea walk was incompatible with Iona, why didn’t Iona tender in Geiranger?

That’s what I would like to know too! 

[AchileLauro]

4 hours ago, Ardennais said:

You might be right, but Moley did say that Iona is ‘very much capable of tendering’! 

She may be capable of tendering but would it have been practical to do so!

[Ardennais]

24 minutes ago, AchileLauro said:

She may be capable of tendering but would it have been practical to do so!

I honestly don’t know but I imagine that tendering over 5000 passengers wouldn’t be easy. 

Regardless of that, if Iona is very much capable of tendering (as stated by our P&O insider),, then surely it doesn’t matter where the tendering occurs. You have the same amount of passengers in Norway and the Canaries or elsewhere. 
 

[AchileLauro]

If anything Norway should be easier because the run distances would be shorter and the waters calmer in the fjords, but it still takes quite some time to launch and recover the tenders and makes for a very long working day for the crew.

[Ardennais]

Just now, AchileLauro said:

If anything Norway should be easier because the run distances would be shorter and the waters calmer in the fjords, but it still takes quite some time to launch and recover the tenders and makes for a very long working day for the crew.

Good point regarding distances. 
My point if that the time taken and the long working day is going to be the same everywhere. Moley states that Iona is very capable of tendering. So my question is this - despite being capable, will Iona ever visit tender ports? I don’t know whether there are any tender ports on the current Iona cruises in sale for the next 24 months. But if there are, why not tender in Gerianger rather than remove this popular port from all itineraries this year? If there aren’t any tender ports, then it’s possible that Iona never intends to visit the smaller ports. So there will be less choice in future if they continue to build the mega mega ships! 

[Denarius]

5 hours ago, Ardennais said:

You might be right, but Moley did say that Iona is ‘very much capable of tendering’! 

I am sure that she is. But as I understand it, the limiting factor is often not the number of tenders the ship can and needs to  launch to get passengers ashore in a reasonable timescale, but the number the pier can handle. For a big ship in a small port, the former may well exceed the latter by some margin.

[Spike11]

1 hour ago, Denarius said:

I am sure that she is. But as I understand it, the limiting factor is often not the number of tenders the ship can and needs to  launch to get passengers ashore in a reasonable timescale, but the number the pier can handle. For a big ship in a small port, the former may well exceed the latter by some margin.

A good point, but I have seen two good size ships tendering at Geiranger at the same time, so would be surprised if this was the reason for Iona not tendering there. I was on the first Iona cruise that didn’t call at Geiranger and the only other ship there at the time was the relatively very small World Explorer which only has around 170 passenger if full.

[Ardennais]

I guess we’ll never know! 

[Megabear2]

16 hours ago, Ardennais said:

Good point regarding distances. 
My point if that the time taken and the long working day is going to be the same everywhere. Moley states that Iona is very capable of tendering. So my question is this - despite being capable, will Iona ever visit tender ports? I don’t know whether there are any tender ports on the current Iona cruises in sale for the next 24 months. But if there are, why not tender in Gerianger rather than remove this popular port from all itineraries this year? If there aren’t any tender ports, then it’s possible that Iona never intends to visit the smaller ports. So there will be less choice in future if they continue to build the mega mega ships! 

Arvia is definitely scheduled for possible tender ports on her Caribbean schedules in 2023/24. With so many often crowded small ports in that part of the world it will be inevitable she will need to tender at some stage unless she wins the race to be first in port that regularly occurs!

[Host Sharon]

Iona may be capable of tendering, but when you look at her boats, they all appear to be lifeboats, no tenders (and yes, there is a difference.)

[AchileLauro]

I was thinking something similar Sharon but not having seen the survival craft on Iona yet was reserving judgment.

I have noted however that Britannia carries both types of craft so supposedly it is intended that she will visit some tender ports in the future if she hasn't already done so but perhaps it is not intended to do so with Iona and Arvia unless as a last resort.

[Host Sharon]

2 hours ago, AchileLauro said:

I was thinking something similar Sharon but not having seen the survival craft on Iona yet was reserving judgment.

I have noted however that Britannia carries both types of craft so supposedly it is intended that she will visit some tender ports in the future if she hasn't already done so but perhaps it is not intended to do so with Iona and Arvia unless as a last resort.

I had assumed that there were just too many passengers (if at full capacity) to make tendering viable. There are approx 1500 more on Iona than Britannia. Britannia appears to have 4 tenders (the aft boats, 2 per side).