Missed Port Marseille

[bee-ess]

Just had notification that Marseille will be missed on our Sept 4th Cruise on Britannia and will be replaced with Toulon,

Bit annoyed as Marseille was the only port on the cruise we had not previously visited.

 

The usual blanket excuse given of 'operational reasons'.  I could accept the change more if we were given the actual reason for missing the port.

Toulon doesn't look like much a replacement on first look, it is a naval port rather than a cruise port and everything will be shut as it is a Sunday.

 

No compensation offered or extra OBC, these changes always seem to happen after final payment when it is too late to change and we are powerless do do anything about it.

 

Not very happy with P&O at the moment.

[Trevor Fountain]

For operational reasons Britannia is now calling at Toulon and not Marseille.

[Pine Man]

1 minute ago, bee-ess said:

Not very happy with P&O at the moment.

You are not alone!

 

On my last cruise Marseilles was also cancelled and Toulon used instead. I was, however, pleasantly surprised with Toulon and in fact preferred it to Marseilles.

[gsmt47471015]

4 minutes ago, bee-ess said:

Just had notification that Marseille will be missed on our Sept 4th Cruise on Britannia and will be replaced with Toulon,

Bit annoyed as Marseille was the only port on the cruise we had not previously visited.

 

The usual blanket excuse given of 'operational reasons'.  I could accept the change more if we were given the actual reason for missing the port.

Toulon doesn't look like much a replacement on first look, it is a naval port rather than a cruise port and everything will be shut as it is a Sunday.

 

No compensation offered or extra OBC, these changes always seem to happen after final payment when it is too late to change and we are powerless do do anything about it.

 

Not very happy with P&O at the moment.

Recurring theme running here

[Fionboard]

Happened to us on Britannia in June. Quite happy as never liked Marseilles. Toulon is much nicer. Got little train to beach and had a lovely lunch there. Lots of bars along harbour front and old town is very attractive. 

[Fionboard]

Duplicate thread.

[bee-ess]

We also have it changed on B221

[Trevor Fountain]

1 minute ago, Fionboard said:

Duplicate thread.

No it isn't.

[Trevor Fountain]

1 minute ago, bee-ess said:

We also have it changed on B221

For the better in my opinion.

[Snow Hill]

I understand Marseilles prefecture have introduced some restrictions on cruise ships calling there especially those who pollute the most, this maybe the reason for moving to Toulon a decision not of P&O s making. 

[bee-ess]

11 minutes ago, Snow Hill said:

I understand Marseilles prefecture have introduced some restrictions on cruise ships calling there especially those who pollute the most, this maybe the reason for moving to Toulon a decision not of P&O s making. 

I can accept that, but why not tell us that if that is the case.

They would also of known this before final balance day but do not tell us until after payment has been made.

Edited July 29, 2022 by bee-ess

[Fionboard]

14 minutes ago, Trevor Fountain said:

No it isn't.

See bee-ess post.

[terrierjohn]

24 minutes ago, Snow Hill said:

I understand Marseilles prefecture have introduced some restrictions on cruise ships calling there especially those who pollute the most, this maybe the reason for moving to Toulon a decision not of P&O s making. 

If it is due to pollution then I am not surprised after seeing the thick black smoke that Britannia was churning out one morning on our June cruise.

Edited July 29, 2022 by terrierjohn

[Billish]

16 minutes ago, bee-ess said:

I can accept that, but why not tell us that if that is the case.

They would also of known this before final balance day but do not tell us until after payment has been made.

But even if you knew before the balance was due, what would you have done ? Cancelled and moved to another cruise ?

[Billish]

Perhaps the mods could merge the two identical threads.

[Trevor Fountain]

18 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

See bee-ess post.

 

1 minute ago, Billish said:

Perhaps the mods could merge the two identical threads.

They are two different cruises. Not identical at all. 

[Britboys]

It is the communication that makes these cancellations all the more frustrating. At least when they sent out notification of Venice calls being cancelled it did say "due to port restrictions".

[Eglesbrech]

10 minutes ago, Billish said:

But even if you knew before the balance was due, what would you have done ? Cancelled and moved to another cruise ?

With information the customer would at least have a choice about what they wanted to do.

 

Doing it after final payment makes it a fait accompli.

 

Edited July 29, 2022 by Eglesbrech

[Eglesbrech]

6 minutes ago, Britboys said:

It is the communication that makes these cancellations all the more frustrating. At least when they sent out notification of Venice calls being cancelled it did say "due to port restrictions".

Was that before payment date?
 

I’m sure I read a few folks who ended up in Trieste and also missed out on Dubrovnik.

[Cruiser5137]

My sister was on Britannia last week and Marseilles was cancelled the day before they were due to dock so at least I've had some notice for my cruise at end of August. 

[Josy1953]

Having been to both Marseilles and Toulon I think that I would be happy to go to Toulon rather than Marseilles but fir anyone who has not been to Marseilles it must be disappointing  to have the change.

Princess have done a similar thing this week in cutting a cruise by 2 days on final payment day when I suspect a lot of people have probably paid their balance.  We are affected but not upset because 1 port we wouldn't have got off because it is not our favourite place and the other we would have got off but have been there numerous times.

Is this a CCL decision to leave these changes until most people have paid ?

[Britboys]

10 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

Was that before payment date?
 

I’m sure I read a few folks who ended up in Trieste and also missed out on Dubrovnik.

No, it was about 3 months before the balance was due. My cruise still calls in to Dubrovnik. Venice was swapped for Trieste but no other changes were made to the itinerary, not even the order in which ports are visited.

[Palaceman]

I was on cruise B217 last week. We were told by the Captain of a change to Toulon a day or two before we were due to dock at Marseilles.  The reasons given were; a) Marseille would be busy as there would be 3 other ships in port, b) there was a shortage of coach drivers for the shuttle buses required and under their regulations they have to take breaks, which would be at lunchtime, when the demand for Shuttles is high and c) French dock workers had delayed the entry of two ships by 2 hours the previous day. In light of this it was decided to go to Toulon instead, where we were the only ship docked.  It did require a free 10-15 minute shuttle ferry across the bay, but they operated very efficiently.  New excursions were arranged and these left by coach direct from Britannia.  As has been mentioned already, Toulon is a nice town, with beaches, bars and history.  I appreciate frustrations regarding the timing of the announcement but in my view it did not detract from the enjoyment of the cruise overall.

[zap99]

27 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

With information the customer would at least have a choice about what they wanted to do.

 

Doing it after final payment makes it a fait accompli.

 

Same for our October Cruise. Toulon isn't too bad, but we have been there 4 times. Operational Reasons. Come on P&O, don't continue to treat your customers as idiots. We can take the truth, what's the real reason. Too big?, too much soot?. Fees too high?

[Megabear2]

56 minutes ago, Palaceman said:

I was on cruise B217 last week. We were told by the Captain of a change to Toulon a day or two before we were due to dock at Marseilles.  The reasons given were; a) Marseille would be busy as there would be 3 other ships in port, b) there was a shortage of coach drivers for the shuttle buses required and under their regulations they have to take breaks, which would be at lunchtime, when the demand for Shuttles is high and c) French dock workers had delayed the entry of two ships by 2 hours the previous day. In light of this it was decided to go to Toulon instead, where we were the only ship docked.  It did require a free 10-15 minute shuttle ferry across the bay, but they operated very efficiently.  New excursions were arranged and these left by coach direct from Britannia.  As has been mentioned already, Toulon is a nice town, with beaches, bars and history.  I appreciate frustrations regarding the timing of the announcement but in my view it did not detract from the enjoyment of the cruise overall.

We called Marseille on Regal Princess earlier in the month.  Very limited coach service to town - 30 minutes between them - and an hour break midday for lunchtime.  The ship was in a container area a 20 minute ride from the centre, not particularly nice for those staying onboard.  

 

Once in the centre we took the little train to the top where the church offers great views. This service was again at half and there was a midday break of 1 1/2 hours.  With temperatures approaching 40 degrees we took a taxi back to port (metered cost €35).  With all the reduced services when there was only one ship in i can well imagine why things are being changed.