WARNING: P&O cost cutting.

[rubydoobydoo]

Has anyone else noticed less ports on their itinerary now compared to previous cruises, or is it only ours ?

 

As I said before only 5 stops on a 12 night cruise last time we did the same there were 8 stops for 13 nights

 

We seem to be missing out the Spanish ports, done them before and they were not that great by I do like to be able to get off the ship and walk around.

 

Janis

[rubydoobydoo]

You are lucky. Gibraltar must be the most boring place on earth. The best bit is the harbour itself, seen from the ship.

 

I really enjoyed Gibraltar, had a great guide drive us up the rock, it was a fun morning, we were only there half a day but I could have stayed longer :D

[jeanlyon]

I also enjoy Gib - been there many times, but still enjoy walking around, a little shopping, looking at the yacht marinas etc.

[NSWP]

The old British Graveyard at the far end of Gibraltar town is also interesting, a lot of sailors and soldiers graves there from the 1800's. Plenty of duty free booze shopping too for those interested and anyone for a Gib T shirt? LOL.

[majortom10]

Everybody is complaining about the short time at port in Gibraltar but we have been cruising with P&O since 2000 and done lots of cruises calling in at Gib and it has always only ever been a morning or afternoon call.

[Nixi]

Everybody is complaining about the short time at port in Gibraltar but we have been cruising with P&O since 2000 and done lots of cruises calling in at Gib and it has always only ever been a morning or afternoon call.

 

Quite reasonable for some of the stops to be short.. but it was only in Venice that we had 7 hours.. the rest were really short and some of the excursions organised poorly such that they set off late and arrived back at the port with about an hour left.. not enough time to do anything. Dubrovnic was especially disappointing.. would have loved to walk the walls as well as the tour inside the city we did.. but we were bussed back to the port which is some way away from the city with insufficient time to get back.

[simonpjd]

We are in Gib next week and have a full day - in fact it says evening departure. I think it really depends on your next port and the time needed to get there. The next port is Cadiz so we could practically walk there overnight they are so close together.

[jeanlyon]

yes that's true sometimes, but our stop in Malta, which is a lovely place, so disappointing to be leaving at 3.30 when there are 2 sea days after it.

[jeanlyon]

and I've just discovered that it's now 1430!! That's unbelievable.

[qm2lover]

We found this with P&O over a year ago now and the times in port are gradually being reduced more and more. That is why we no longer cruise with P&O.

 

P&O class a full day in port as being, say 7 hours. But if the ship is berthed early at around 8am you could be sailing by 3pm!! And you cannot arrange anything as you dont know what time the ship will arrive until you receive the Horizon paper the night before. Independent trips can be impossible to plan. And who wants to be up, fed and organised to get off the ship at 8am when you are on holiday when nothing is open and taxis, buses etc are busy with the rush hour/school run!!

 

Having said that, if you look on various travel agents website they seem to have the P&O ports times!!! But not sure how accurate they are.

 

We love Gib and would like more time there. Last year on Azura we had a morning call there. Ventura was due a full day call at a different port but for some reason called in at Gib instead. So both ships in together on their way back to Southampton. We had to be back on board to sail at lunch time. Venutra had a full day there. Ventura was already docked when we on Azura arrived back in Southampton!!!

[daiB]

We found this with P&O over a year ago now and the times in port are gradually being reduced more and more. That is why we no longer cruise with P&O.

 

P&O class a full day in port as being, say 7 hours. But if the ship is berthed early at around 8am you could be sailing by 3pm!! And you cannot arrange anything as you dont know what time the ship will arrive until you receive the Horizon paper the night before. Independent trips can be impossible to plan. And who wants to be up, fed and organised to get off the ship at 8am when you are on holiday when nothing is open and taxis, buses etc are busy with the rush hour/school run!!

 

Having said that, if you look on various travel agents website they seem to have the P&O ports times!!! But not sure how accurate they are.

 

We love Gib and would like more time there. Last year on Azura we had a morning call there. Ventura was due a full day call at a different port but for some reason called in at Gib instead. So both ships in together on their way back to Southampton. We had to be back on board to sail at lunch time. Venutra had a full day there. Ventura was already docked when we on Azura arrived back in Southampton!!!

 

 

The port times are on the P&O site, not easy to fid but they are there look for the dress codes for the nights under FAQ's and you are directed to a download of a table with all the information on.

 

All of this was discussed quite a while back, perhaps 2 years when Cunard increased the TA sailing days for QM2.

 

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

[jeanlyon]

Yes Dai - I found them and wish I hadn't. I'm afraid this might be our last cruise with P&O. Fred Olsen have full days in port nearly everywhere.

[rubydoobydoo]

The port times are on the P&O site, not easy to fid but they are there look for the dress codes for the nights under FAQ's and you are directed to a download of a table with all the information on.

 

All of this was discussed quite a while back, perhaps 2 years when Cunard increased the TA sailing days for QM2.

 

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

 

Thank you Dai that was really helpful, I didn't know that info was there

[PoppyandNana]

We have just returned from a cruise on the Aurora to the Med.

In order to "stay competitive", they say, P&O have reduced shore time at the destinations to the point where you don't have time to do a half day excursion and then explore on your own for the rest of the day. In most places we were only in able to get ashore for 3 or 4 hours.

On previous cruises, we would leave around 6pm. On the cruise, the norm was having to be back on board by 3.30.

Aurora then poddled along at around 18 knots to the next destination.

This seems, from talking to staff, to now be common policy on P&O cruises to save fuel and port costs.

 

No complaints about service on board, but 9 sea days out of 16 days cruising and short times ashore at such wonderful destinations as Dubrovnic, Cefalonia and Cadiz is NOT the holiday I expected. It also became a major topic of conversation among passengers. Some amusing discussions about a group refusing to come back aboard as a protest.. But it didn't happen.

 

I will be writing a letter!

Have others experienced the same?

 

Who are you going to write a letter to? Yourself? How could you not know the itinerary, number of sea days and time in each port before you booked the cruise?

[Host Sharon]

You can find port timings here

 

https://ask.pocruises.com/help/PO/li...dress_code_all

 

On Oriana in May, the captain always rigged three gangways on arrival to get everyone ashore quickly - then reduced it back to the normal two around midday.

 

Before most of our time cruising I know, but four ports in a 2 week cruise was the norm in the 1950s/60s !

[daiB]

Yes Dai - I found them and wish I hadn't. I'm afraid this might be our last cruise with P&O. Fred Olsen have full days in port nearly everywhere.

 

I have to say the ones I looked at were not too bad, certainly the Norway/Baltic. Oriana seems to have a good time in port even for her Med cruises. We have been with her captain twice and both times he has lengthened the time in port on our cruises.

 

On the other hand personally I am not bothered as I prefer being at sea. Less ports and shorter stays are right up our street. In most ports we are back on board by about three having got off between 10 and 11. 4 1/2 to 5 hours is plenty for us.

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

 

:cool:

[Denarius]

Whilst I do enjoy the relaxation of an occasional day at sea, my principal reason for cruising is the days in port. Where P&O to significantly reduce the amount of time in port compared with their competitors, this would undoubtedly influence my future bookings.

[daiB]

Whilst I do enjoy the relaxation of an occasional day at sea, my principal reason for cruising is the days in port. Where P&O to significantly reduce the amount of time in port compared with their competitors, this would undoubtedly influence my future bookings.

 

Quite noticeable that the vast majority of cruisers on our last few cruises have beem back a long time before the departure time. I feel in p&o terms you are in the minority.

 

Gan Canny

 

Dai

[Denarius]

Quite noticeable that the vast majority of cruisers on our last few cruises have beem back a long time before the departure time. I feel in p&o terms you are in the minority.

 

Gan Canny

 

Dai

I do not agree that I am in a minority of P&O cruisers in enjoying a generous time in port.The fact that people are back onboard in good time before sailing does not mean that they would be happy with less time. I suspect that the reason that a majority of people who have been ashore independently get back on board a considerable time before sailing is that they build a good safety margin in their schedule. Essential in case of unforeseen circumstances. The ship may not wait for us if we are delayed.

[terrierjohn]

We are in Gib next week and have a full day - in fact it says evening departure. I think it really depends on your next port and the time needed to get there. The next port is Cadiz so we could practically walk there overnight they are so close together.

Good point Simon. On our recent Eclipse cruise we went to a Navigation presentation and the amount of detailed pre planning that goes into each itinerary is amazing, and of course the season's cruise matrix has already been set 2 years earlier by head office.

But to emphasise the similarity in cruise lines, Arcadia followed us round 4 ports in the Baltic and her arrival and departure times were almost identical to ours 8:00am arrival 5:00pm departure, so that seems to scuttle the view that P&O is short changing on Port calls.

However the old girl was looking decidedly weather worn, rust streaks everywhere, and a rather checkerboard appearance where her hull had been touched up, overall the shabbiest looking ship we saw on this cruise. So her appearance and the fact that the launch price for this cruise was £500pp more for a similar balcony cabin than we paid on Eclipse, would be my reasons for not sailing with P&O, rather than the lack of port time.

[jeanlyon]

8 am to 5pm is absolutely fine. Our call in Malta is 0800 to 1500 :-( Another one is 10 am arrival - 1630 departure. So in Malta, we will need to be back on board by 2pm. That is definitely not a full day as advertised.

[Brayman]

8 am to 5pm is absolutely fine. Our call in Malta is 0800 to 1500 :-( Another one is 10 am arrival - 1630 departure. So in Malta, we will need to be back on board by 2pm. That is definitely not a full day as advertised.

 

What makes you think you will need to be back onboard by 2pm? I would think the earliest would be 2:30 and possibly even actually 3pm.

[terrierjohn]

What makes you think you will need to be back onboard by 2pm? I would think the earliest would be 2:30 and possibly even actually 3pm.

On Celebrity the return time was always 15 mins before departure time.

[jeanlyon]

It departs at 3 pm! I checked on port operations. And P&O actually state early afternoon. Azura also is schedule 0800 to 1500. She is much bigger and faster than Oriana.

[terrierjohn]

It departs at 3 pm! I checked on port operations. And P&O actually state early afternoon. Azura also is schedule 0800 to 1500. She is much bigger and faster than Oriana.

JeaN, Azura is bigger but her top speed is only 22 knots compared with Oriana's 24 knots, and on her sea trials she managed 26.2 knots.