Arvia Itinerary changes 30th April No Majorca

[jeanlyon]

19 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Ironic to say the least, surely you were helping doing the "ruining"?

Well of course, but my point was too many ships.  I have been there on quite a few cruises before this occasion and it was fine.  A couple of ships in was no problem, but now the mega ones are here and there were 5 ships in port including us on Aurora.  So it's a tiny town and it can't handle it.

[Megabear2]

13 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Well of course, but my point was too many ships.  I have been there on quite a few cruises before this occasion and it was fine.  A couple of ships in was no problem, but now the mega ones are here and there were 5 ships in port including us on Aurora.  So it's a tiny town and it can't handle it.

The trouble with Dubrovnik is not just the ships or size of them. It's also Game of Thrones which is why they are looking to limit the numbers visiting.  There are restrictions being planned.

 

I love Dubrovnik even when it's crowded, much the same as I love Venice.  It will be a very sad day if the former goes the way of the latter although I do see why. The problem isn't limited to the ships unfortunately or even the number of them, a lot of the problem is the Snapchat generation and travel guides making things in Europe "must see" and fashionable.

 

We are all the problem as we want to see these sites, it's just different as far more people have access nowadays with cheap flights or cruises.

[Megabear2]

Re Majorca I'm just looking at Britannia cruises on 4th and 18th August with a view to booking.  These two cruises show overnights in Majorca which my friend and I quite liked.  Am I to assume these too will be at risk of not happening? As it would be two days I'm not keen if it became extra seaday, a substitute port would be okay but assumedly it wouldn't be overnight.

[yorkshirephil]

31 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Re Majorca I'm just looking at Britannia cruises on 4th and 18th August with a view to booking.  These two cruises show overnights in Majorca which my friend and I quite liked.  Am I to assume these too will be at risk of not happening? As it would be two days I'm not keen if it became extra seaday, a substitute port would be okay but assumedly it wouldn't be overnight.

Britannia shows on cruisemapper with no times, probably due to overnight? it may be worth you taking a look and see if the other ships that are in meet the 3 ship/1 megaship rule that is now applied. If P&O are selling that cruise knowing the situation with Majorca then you would hope it is correct. I would take a download of the mapper site page as evidence in case anything gets changed later

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/palma-de-mallorca-port-77?tab=schedule&month=2023-08#schedule

[dallas16]

47 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Re Majorca I'm just looking at Britannia cruises on 4th and 18th August with a view to booking.  These two cruises show overnights in Majorca which my friend and I quite liked.  Am I to assume these too will be at risk of not happening? As it would be two days I'm not keen if it became extra seaday, a substitute port would be okay but assumedly it wouldn't be overnight.

Britannia has a capacity of 3600 so in theory should be less affected by the rule changes as it can dock in port with ships that have over 5000 passengers. Check if there are more than three ships in port that day 

[Megabear2]

Appears there are 3 ships on 10th Britannia, AIDAstella and Costa Diadema. 

Just MSC Seaview and Britannia on 11th.

 

24th has 2 ships one of which is Britannia, other Costa Diadema.

25th looks problematic- Britannia, Seaview, Celebrity Edge and Mein Schiff.

 

Looking at these I assume the first cruise on 4th is likely to be best for not being cancelled?

 

We want to go to Soller as we went last year but had restricted time, that's the attraction for the overnight.

[dallas16]

1 minute ago, Megabear2 said:

Appears there are 3 ships on 10th Britannia, AIDAstella and Costa Diadema. 

Just MSC Seaview and Britannia on 11th.

 

24th has 2 ships one of which is Britannia, other Costa Diadema.

25th looks problematic- Britannia, Seaview, Celebrity Edge and Mein Schiff.

 

Looking at these I assume the first cruise on 4th is likely to be best for not being cancelled?

 

We want to go to Soller as we went last year but had restricted time, that's the attraction for the overnight.

The one with three ships on the 10th would be fine as I don't think any of the ships on that day have more than 5000 passengers and the following day is fine as there's only two ships.  The other cruise with four ships,one will have to cancel 

[davecttr]

1 hour ago, dallas16 said:

The one with three ships on the 10th would be fine as I don't think any of the ships on that day have more than 5000 passengers and the following day is fine as there's only two ships.  The other cruise with four ships,one will have to cancel 

Ships on turn around day would not be expected to cancel either

[Fionboard]

2 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Appears there are 3 ships on 10th Britannia, AIDAstella and Costa Diadema. 

Just MSC Seaview and Britannia on 11th.

 

24th has 2 ships one of which is Britannia, other Costa Diadema.

25th looks problematic- Britannia, Seaview, Celebrity Edge and Mein Schiff.

 

Looking at these I assume the first cruise on 4th is likely to be best for not being cancelled?

 

We want to go to Soller as we went last year but had restricted time, that's the attraction for the overnight.

Yes, Soller is lovely, especially on the train over the mountains. Spectacular views.

[dallas16]

1 hour ago, davecttr said:

Ships on turn around day would not be expected to cancel either

Yep MSC Seaview won't be cancelling any calls as a home port . Arvia will be quite affected this season for most calls  and Britannia may be affected on at least one date. 

[davecttr]

3 hours ago, dallas16 said:

Yep MSC Seaview won't be cancelling any calls as a home port . Arvia will be quite affected this season for most calls  and Britannia may be affected on at least one date. 

Also home port for Marella Discovery 2 and Voyager which I think are there on Tuesday and Saturday

[P&O SUE]

8 hours ago, Fionboard said:

Yes, Soller is lovely, especially on the train over the mountains. Spectacular views.

One of my cancelled because of you know what cruises was going to be on Ventura to Majorca and we were going to do the Soller train. Very sad the only 14 night Med cruises now offered by P&O are on Arvia. I know Britannia is going but only in August which would be too hot for me! 
Hopefully this new rule by Majorca will mean they’ll sent Ventura there again, we will see.

[dallas16]

8 hours ago, davecttr said:

Also home port for Marella Discovery 2 and Voyager which I think are there on Tuesday and Saturday

Yep P and O will hopefully be able to rearrange replacement ports for the itineraries that will be affected. I think the government there are happier with the home port ships as quite a few passengers will spend time in Majorca before the cruise 

[Britboys]

On 2/5/2023 at 3:24 PM, jeanlyon said:

Last time I was in Dubrovnik, we had a full day and evening.  We went over and it was so crowded with 5 ships in, we gave up and went back to the ship.  We then went ashore again at 6 and sat in the square having a glass of wine.  Nobody around and a guy came down and played the piano.  It was just lovely.  Such a shame everywhere is being ruined, but that's life.

Dubrovnik is a "double-whammy" port. As well as the cruise ships, they have the Game of Thrones tourists. Hopefully, the influence of the latter is now on the wane...

 

PS - only just seen the post from Megabear saying something similar...

Edited February 7, 2023 by Britboys

[tring]

1 hour ago, Britboys said:

Dubrovnik is a "double-whammy" port. As well as the cruise ships, they have the Game of Thrones tourists. Hopefully, the influence of the latter is now on the wane...

 

PS - only just seen the post from Megabear saying something similar...

 

Out of interest, after we returned to the ship for a peaceful lunch we took a stroll around the port area, which was much more of an authentic Croatian town.  Not much around from a tourist point of view, but great to just have time there, walking on a road which went uphill a bit, but still almost  to the waterfront and walking down through a small shopping complex. Then back along the waterfront, stopping for a couple of local beers and wifi at a bar almost opposite the ship.  Very different to Dubrovnik and a very enjoyable afternoon, but perhaps not for everyone.  I like Jean's idea of going back to Dubrovnik in the evening, sadly we had sailed by then.

[elmsliebev]

On 2/7/2023 at 3:48 PM, tring said:

 

Out of interest, after we returned to the ship for a peaceful lunch we took a stroll around the port area, which was much more of an authentic Croatian town.  Not much around from a tourist point of view, but great to just have time there, walking on a road which went uphill a bit, but still almost  to the waterfront and walking down through a small shopping complex. Then back along the waterfront, stopping for a couple of local beers and wifi at a bar almost opposite the ship.  Very different to Dubrovnik and a very enjoyable afternoon, but perhaps not for everyone.  I like Jean's idea of going back to Dubrovnik in the evening, sadly we had sailed by then.

we did a similar thing a few years ago, though we were overnight in port (not P&O)  so went back in. We also spent some time in a couple of the bars near the port and had a gorgeous grilled chicken wrap!

[bee-ess]

Does anyone know the situation regarding Marseilles on the Arvia cruises from Southampton. Last year the calls into Marseilles on Britannia were replaced with Toulon.

We are due to go to Marseilles on Arvia in June and went to Toulon last year and would like to visit Marseilles as scheduled this year. 

[terrierjohn]

We also had Toulon replace Marseilles last year, so it would be nice to see Marseilles this year.  However I would be quite happy to have Alicante replace Palma, there was only one accessible shuttle last year so we opted to go for a stroll from the port. But there is a very long trek to exit the port, and there is very little of interest nearby, and it was the time of the 40 degree heatwaves in Mallorca, so it turned out to be a boring trek in very hot weather.

[Fionboard]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

We also had Toulon replace Marseilles last year, so it would be nice to see Marseilles this year.  However I would be quite happy to have Alicante replace Palma, there was only one accessible shuttle last year so we opted to go for a stroll from the port. But there is a very long trek to exit the port, and there is very little of interest nearby, and it was the time of the 40 degree heatwaves in Mallorca, so it turned out to be a boring trek in very hot weather.

I was on this one. Must say I prefer Toulon to Marseilles any day. Lovely old town and nice beach. 

[thornegirl]

According to the crew centre arrivals for April 10th, Arvia is there along with MSC Seashore (5877 passengers), Costa Pacifica (3617 passengers) and Arvia (6264 passengers).  That will be a very busy day in port, we might stay on the ship! have a relaxing day in the spa.

[dallas16]

1 hour ago, thornegirl said:

According to the crew centre arrivals for April 10th, Arvia is there along with MSC Seashore (5877 passengers), Costa Pacifica (3617 passengers) and Arvia (6264 passengers).  That will be a very busy day in port, we might stay on the ship! have a relaxing day in the spa.

Arvia and Seashore will not be able to dock in port together as only one ship over 5000 is allowed in Palma, Costa Pacifica is exempt as it isn't a megaship. Arvia will definitely be docking elsewhere anytime that Seashore is in port as Seashore is a home ported ship embarking passengers there. Almost all of the itineraries this year for Palma will have to change. I assume you'll get a notification of alternative port soon 

[dallas16]

23 minutes ago, dallas16 said:

Arvia and Seashore will not be able to dock in port together as only one ship over 5000 is allowed in Palma, Costa Pacifica is exempt as it isn't a megaship. Arvia will definitely be docking elsewhere anytime that Seashore is in port as Seashore is a home ported ship embarking passengers there. Almost all of the itineraries this year for Palma will have to change. I assume you'll get a notification of alternative port soon 

 

 

2 hours ago, thornegirl said:

According to the crew centre arrivals for April 10th, Arvia is there along with MSC Seashore (5877 passengers), Costa Pacifica (3617 passengers) and Arvia (6264 passengers).  That will be a very busy day in port, we might stay on the ship! have a relaxing day in the spa.

Just reread your post and realised you were referring to Marseilles. It will be busy that day in port there. Toulon has often been less crowded and people have preferred being there to Marseilles so not sure if that will change. Your call to Palma will be fine as no other ships in port 

[zap99]

On 2/6/2023 at 6:33 PM, Fionboard said:

Yes, Soller is lovely, especially on the train over the mountains. Spectacular views.

We are there for a week in June.  I hope not too many cruise ships. Filling up all the taxis  and eating all the food from the buffet on the beaches. You can tell them all by the pool towels. 🤣

[Fionboard]

13 hours ago, zap99 said:

We are there for a week in June.  I hope not too many cruise ships. Filling up all the taxis  and eating all the food from the buffet on the beaches. You can tell them all by the pool towels. 🤣

Lucky you, lovely place.

[tring]

20 hours ago, zap99 said:

We are there for a week in June.  I hope not too many cruise ships. Filling up all the taxis  and eating all the food from the buffet on the beaches. You can tell them all by the pool towels. 🤣

 

As you mention a beach, I assume you mean Puerto Soller.  We had two weeks there in October more than ten years ago and had a great time doing lots of be walking.  You can walk both directions along the coast and some other good walks easily accessible on public transport, though we hired a car for a while as well.  We were two of just eight people booked into our hotel with the same agent (Eclipse or Portland - now all under TUI) and we became very friendly, chatting about our walks after dinner each night.  We went on the small 'train' up to the town of Soller, but did not take the train to Palma, meaning to do it another time and we have not done so as yet. 

Edited February 10, 2023 by tring