How do shuttle busses work?

[84k]

Apologies for the seemingly basic question, I have searched this but couldn't find an answer.

 

Crusing on Britannia in a few weeks and although this is P&O cruise No.11, I haven't ever used a shuttle bus.

Unfortunately we're on a saver fare, so was wondering how this worked... Do shuttles have to be pre-booked?

How do we pay for them?

Do you just wait for one, when it's full it goes, and if you miss it you wait for another?

[AndyMichelle]

From our experience in places like Hamburg, it's very much as you assumed. 

No need to book, just show your cruise card and charged to your on board account. 

If you miss one, just wait for the next. 

Be aware though that P&O do not always supply them in every port and sometimes you need to get local buses, which you would pay direct. 

Hope this helps. 

Andy 

[9265359]

10 hours ago, 84k said:

was wondering how this worked

 

If P&O shuttles and not free port shuttles, then there will be a member of staff directing you to the shuttle buses, a member of staff will scan your cruise card and those on saver fares will be charged to their cabin bill, and they operate on a combination of 'fill and go' and timetable - i.e. if busy they will leave immediately they are full otherwise every 15 minutes or whatever the schedule is.

 

Returning is the same, with a member of staff at the stop scanning cards.

 

If you return at a popular time then it isn't unusual to have to queue and wait, but my experience is that P&O anticipate this and it isn't usually too bad.

 

What is well worth doing if you are on a saver fare and paying, is checking out where the bus will take you.

 

This is because the fare charged seems to be unrelated to distance, and for example in Lanzarote the bus ride is about two minutes long and takes you to the port entrance, but the fare is the same as in for example Valencia where it is about a 20 minute ride. For those on a Select fare it is a bit irritating to have only been taken two minutes away, but if you have paid £5 (or whatever the fare is these day) then it is far more annoying!

[84k]

30 minutes ago, 9265359 said:

 

What is well worth doing if you are on a saver fare and paying, is checking out where the bus will take you.

 

This is why I'm asking, everywhere else we've been lately has been walking distance, and before that paying for shuttles wasn't a thing.

 

Heading to Stockholm S167? Berth and Google maps says it's a 40 min walk to middle of Gamla Stan, which isn't bad at all, but also says it's over 2 miles and I know that's gonna take me longer 😅

So shuttle it is.

 

Also heard Helsinki port isn't walkable either but I haven't researched that properly yet.

 

Did this cruise back in 2013 but I really don't remember much about the port/bus situation, I remember walking to Skansen and back via the Vasa museum, but not if it was to ship or bus!

[84k]

11 hours ago, AndyMichelle said:

From our experience in places like Hamburg, it's very much as you assumed. 

No need to book, just show your cruise card and charged to your on board account. 

If you miss one, just wait for the next. 

Be aware though that P&O do not always supply them in every port and sometimes you need to get local buses, which you would pay direct. 

Hope this helps. 

Andy 

Thanks AndyMichelle 

[9265359]

13 minutes ago, 84k said:

and before that paying for shuttles wasn't a thing

 

That must be back in the mists of time!

 

One other thing with where the bus stops is that you might only want to use it one way, for example in Lisbon the bus stops way up in the top of the city and if you are walking down through the city from there then it is likely easier to simply walk back to the ship (or catch a public bus) than walk all the way back up to the shuttle bus stop.

 

And if my memory is correct, P&O have now stopped being 'helpful' by charging two single fares for each direction when you get on as you leave the ship and now charge as you get on for each ride.

[TigerB]

@84k, bear in mind that they only charge for the first two trips in each port; handy if you are in port for a while and wish to make multiple trips into the centre. However, I'm not sure if that extends to overnight stays, or if the clock restarts on the second day.

 

When we were in Stockholm in 2022, the shuttle buses dropped off and picked up on Strömgatan, outside the opera house...

From there it was a steady thirty minute walk to the Vasa museum.  

 

In Helsinki we were dropped off near to a ferry terminal...

 

 

[jeanlyon]

I think there is a shuttle from Brevik terminal in Tromso, but WhatsinPort says this is £19.95.  Anybody know if P&O lay on a shuttle here?

[davecttr]

Red dot - Gamla Stan

Blue dot - Berth 167

Orange dot - HoHo harbour boats

On Arcadia people were queing in the rain for the shuttle so I strolled the 250 yards to HoHo boat dock. The wrong company boat was docked but they let me shelter aboard and have a coffee until the correct boat arrived.

 

How the crow flies berth to Gamla stan is about 1.5 miles

 

 

[davecttr]

9 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

I think there is a shuttle from Brevik terminal in Tromso, but WhatsinPort says this is £19.95.  Anybody know if P&O lay on a shuttle here?

There is also a local service bus from Brevik

[9265359]

1 hour ago, TigerB said:

that they only charge for the first two trips in each port; handy if you are in port for a while and wish to make multiple trips into the centre. However, I'm not sure if that extends to overnight stays, or if the clock restarts on the second day.

 

The clock restarts and you are charged again on the second day.

 

As for only charging for two trips, they know that the number of people who will make two trips is tiny - when I was on a Canary Islands cruise in December and mentioned to people about going back into Funchal in the evening for an hour or so to see the Christmas lights as it was a late sailing (11pm iirc) they looked at me as if I had suggested they take a trip to the moon.

[jeanlyon]

58 minutes ago, davecttr said:

There is also a local service bus from Brevik

Yes but do P&O lay on a shuttle?

[david63]

4 hours ago, 9265359 said:

This is because the fare charged seems to be unrelated to distance, and for example in Lanzarote the bus ride is about two minutes long and takes you to the port entrance,

I thought that if it was a requirement to have a shuttle within the port then it was a free shuttle and usually provided by the port

[9265359]

9 minutes ago, david63 said:

I thought that if it was a requirement to have a shuttle within the port then it was a free shuttle and usually provided by the port

 

At Lanzarote you can walk instead of using the shuttle, and lots of people did, even Select passengers did because the shuttle really was a waste of time.

 

As for it needing to be free, in the past when I have been to Livorno there has been a prohibition on walking from the ship and the only way to get out of the port was to use the P&O shuttle bus, which meant paying if you were not a Select passenger - but that was a few years ago so things may have changed.

[pete14]

54 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Yes but do P&O lay on a shuttle?

They did last November. Drops you near the centre of Tromso. 

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, david63 said:

I thought that if it was a requirement to have a shuttle within the port then it was a free shuttle and usually provided by the port

In Lanzarotte the shuttle takes you to the Marina entrance, the port exit is as you exit the car/bus park.

[davecttr]

3 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

Yes but do P&O lay on a shuttle?

I can't remember. They did in the past but last time it was raining and the cable car was not running so I went to the botanical garden across the road, passing 2 bus stops and using the underpass to cross. I imagine the buses are frequent as the university is nearby. If you have a select fare the P&O shuttle is best, otherwise the local buses are a reasonable price.

[EM35]

8 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

I think there is a shuttle from Brevik terminal in Tromso, but WhatsinPort says this is £19.95.  Anybody know if P&O lay on a shuttle here?

On Aurora August 2022 there was a P&O shuttle in Tromso, it dropped us off in a carpark near a shopping mall but I can't remember the exact location I'm afraid. 

[Fionboard]

13 hours ago, EM35 said:

On Aurora August 2022 there was a P&O shuttle in Tromso, it dropped us off in a carpark near a shopping mall but I can't remember the exact location I'm afraid. 

P&O shuttle drops you in the centre of Tromso. 

[jeanlyon]

10 hours ago, Fionboard said:

P&O shuttle drops you in the centre of Tromso. 

Thank you!