Anyone returned yet from Fly cruises in mediteranian

[themanwithahat]

Thanks for that. I think I must've read another brochure policy and got it mixed up with P&O. It will come in useful with our next cruise. Especially good for us because we don't drink a lot of wine at dinner, a bottle lasts us 2-3 days.

Edited April 13, 2014 by themanwithahat

[daiB]

"I stand corrected"

 

 

Quite OK you can sit down now. :) :).

 

I wouldn't care but in all our cruises we have only ever taken anything on board twice. Although I am looking at a bottle of gin in the kitchen which is waiting for next week. :)

 

 

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[themanwithahat]

We're taking our children (late teens) next year and my son is a bit of a Coke head (Coca cola !). If I take a crate on with me he can have one when he feels like it. Might take some lager as well ; it's quite nice sometimes just to sit on the balcony watching the world go by - or not :)

 

"Gan Canny Dai" just sounds weird (I'm from Teesside).

 

Out of interest, have you ever considered other cruise lines are are you just dead happy with P&O ?

Edited April 13, 2014 by themanwithahat

[moswinner1]

As I understand it, (I could be wrong) If you are going on a P&O arranged flight your luggage will be taken to the ship, However, if your travel agent has arranged your flights you will have to collect your luggage from the airport. This is the case with us as at the time of booking P&O couldn't supply Gatwick flights but the TA could.:confused:

[tjwa]

Out of interest, have you ever considered other cruise lines are are you just dead happy with P&O ?

 

His blood is P+O positive.;)

[Host Hattie]

I should think that's the case, has your TA arranged a transfer as well ?

[daiB]

We're taking our children (late teens) next year and my son is a bit of a Coke head (Coca cola !). If I take a crate on with me he can have one when he feels like it. Might take some lager as well ; it's quite nice sometimes just to sit on the balcony watching the world go by - or not :)

 

"Gan Canny Dai" just sounds weird (I'm from Teesside).

 

Out of interest, have you ever considered other cruise lines are are you just dead happy with P&O ?

 

 

I. Have certainly considered others. But I have never had a bad days cruising with P&O let alone a bad cruise so I am very happy. Well with 7 already booked it would seem a waste of money not to be happy.

 

One big factor is that unlike all the others P&O offer a range of cruises all the year round from Southampton and as I have a mobility scooter I find that flying is just too much hassle.

 

 

Gan Canny

 

Dai

 

 

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[themanwithahat]

As I understand it, (I could be wrong) If you are going on a P&O arranged flight your luggage will be taken to the ship, However, if your travel agent has arranged your flights you will have to collect your luggage from the airport. This is the case with us as at the time of booking P&O couldn't supply Gatwick flights but the TA could.:confused:

 

Yep. We spoke to a couple of ladies who were somewhat disgruntled with P&O. They had booked through a third party and were flying to Johannesburg and Paris (I think), i.e. not on the package. The problem was that their flights were about 8 or 9 in the evening, and P&O did not have any helpful suggestions regarding what to do with their luggage in the interim other than telling them they had to be off the ship at 9:00. I think they wanted to look round Venice for the day.

 

(People who had added on hotel nights to the holiday were catered for as the fly home group were)

 

So if you don't book an 'all in' package with P&O it sounds like it is like Southampton, i.e. you have to get on after a specified time, and leave before a specified time, and it is up to you to sort out how, why , when, you will also have to move your own luggage about and so on.

 

I suspect the P&O flights, or not, were something to do with them booking out whole planes - everyone on our flight was a P&O person. Your TA might book you on a Venice/Gatwick flight that is unconnected.

 

I would say that P&O did pretty much everything possible to make the Fly/Cruise work well. The problems were provincial airports trying to do too much at once ; you could argue P&O could have foreseen this I suppose. The problem is returning specifically ; they want people off at a reasonable hour to prepare the boat, but they don't want people off at 5 AM on what is supposed to be a holiday.

[Elviex]

Thanks for all the comments. Enjoyable and informative as ever. We are undecided about fly cruises as we are used to making our own flight arrangements, but I am sure it is do-able and will have a chat about it with the P&O sales when on board Azura at the end of May. Anyone else here on that one? Western Med...

 

 

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[BrianI]

For anyone who does not want fly to Venice, there are now very good train connections to get there. It is possible, using the sleeper train, to leave London in the afternoon and be in Venice at 0935 the next day.

Alternatively, you can do it a bit more leisurely on daytime trains with an overnight stop enroute.

http://www.seat61.com/Italy.htm#London to Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples

 

It is possible, therefore, to create another holiday getting there, as well as the cruise.

 

Brian

[supergran]

Please let us know how your fly cruise in the mediteranian went. And any tips that you can think of.

In genoa was there a shop near by to buy cans of pop.water or wine.

Did you have to Collect luggage at airport or was it transferred to ship.

How much were the shuttle buses.

In venice were was the nearest vaporretto stop to the ship.

Did p&o provide fact sheet with a small map of port area and things to do.

Did the drink prices seam to be a lot dearer

 

And anything ales that will help plan our cruises. Thanks

 

 

 

Just returned from two week cruise on Ventura. Luggage went straight to ship. We were on the 6.30 am flight from Gatwick so we were onboard before noon. Our cabin was ready but we were told that some would not be ready until 2pm. We dropped our cases and caught the bus into Genoa, cost about three euros for the two of us for a ticket valid for 110 minutes. We wandered the streets and caught the funicular for the views out over a Genoa and the surrounding area. Back onboard for afternoon tea. So tired as we had driven through the night to be at Gatwick by 3.30 am for checkin. Decided to take a nap and slept through dinner. Woke up at 8am.

 

Shuttle buses were free for Select fare passengers but charged for Saver fare passengers. In Livorno you have to take the shuttle unless you take a taxi or hire a car at the port. In Dubrovnik you can go to the bus station just outside the port gate. Bus fare is half the price of the shuttle but you do need kunar which you can get from the ATM with your debit card. We went to Cavtat then stopped in the walled town on the way back.

 

In Venice take the people mover to Piazalle Roma. You can buy vaporetto tickets for 12, 24, or 36 hours. We went into St Mark's by several different routes so we saw quite a bit of Venice. All the stations have route maps like the Underground in London.

As to drink prices, a G & T was £3.80 if that helps. Cocktails were around a fiver.

 

Enjoy your cruise, we certainly did.

Edited April 17, 2014 by supergran
Spelling

[clivep]

Shuttle buses were free for Select fare passengers but charged for Saver fare passengers. In Livorno you have to take the shuttle unless you take a taxi or hire a car at the port.

 

According to the latest P&O port info pdf the shuttle service in Livorno is free to Saver fare passengers as well as Select fare ones. This rather surprised me when I saw it. Can you confirm the shuttle service was free to all in Livorno?

[jenny wren]

I think you will find the Livorno shuttles are provided by the port rather than the cruiseline which is probably why there is no charge

 

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[Host Hattie]

Thank you for reporting back on the Genoa 14 day experience. Some of those who did 7 days reported some chaos at Venice on the return leg - was Genoa OK ?

 

I love Cavtat, spent happy childhood holidays there.

[supergran]

According to the latest P&O port info pdf the shuttle service in Livorno is free to Saver fare passengers as well as Select fare ones. This rather surprised me when I saw it. Can you confirm the shuttle service was free to all in Livorno?

 

We didn't use the shuttle bus at Livorno as we had hired a car from the port. We went to San Gimignano and Volterra and enjoyed both very much. I think that as the buses are provided by the port authority they are free, as are the buses at Civitaveccia.

[supergran]

Thank you for reporting back on the Genoa 14 day experience. Some of those who did 7 days reported some chaos at Venice on the return leg - was Genoa OK ?

 

I love Cavtat, spent happy childhood holidays there.

 

We flew out to Genoa but flew back from Nice. We left Ventura around noon and had a bus transfer which took 2 hrs 20 mins. Nice views along the Côte d'Azur.

[Host Hattie]

We flew out to Genoa but flew back from Nice. We left Ventura around noon and had a bus transfer which took 2 hrs 20 mins. Nice views along the Côte d'Azur.

 

Thanks

[Janet-]

In Dubrovnik you can go to the bus station just outside the port gate. Bus fare is half the price of the shuttle but you do need kunar which you can get from the ATM with your debit card. We went to Cavtat then stopped in the walled town on the way back.

 

 

Hi Supergran

Did you catch the bus to Cavtat from outside the port gate? Can you remember how much it was? Do you pay on the bus?

[supergran]

Yes, the bus goes from the bus station. We only took 400 kunar out from the ATM. That is just over £40. You get the ticket from the bus driver, it was 25 kunar each way. Bus takes 25 mins and they run every hour but you get off near the Tourist information office and they will give you the exact times. It varies a little around 2 to 3 in the afternoon.

[Janet-]

Thank you for the info

 

Janet

[asda]

In Livorno were does the shuttle bus drop you off, at port gates or in the town?

Did any of you stay in Livorno for the day ? If so was the shuttle bus running all the time ?

Did anyone do the hop on bus around Livorno ? And was it worth it?

[asda]

Was there anything of interest in naples if we were to stay there for the day? Or any local beaches we could go to ?

[davecttr]

Anyone know the time of the muster drill in Venice? I get to the ship about lunchtime and fancy a vaporetto trip in the afternoon.

[70054609]

Anyone flew back from Genoa on ventura, we have a 10:30 flight back to Manchester and wondered what time we would be picked up from ship?

[supergran]

Probably around 7.30. Have to be out of cabins by 7am. We flew back from Nice in the afternoon so can't help but you need to be at the airport two hours before the flight.