Cancelled call

[Grrrrr]

How can a cruise line ( P&O ) cancell a port of call due to a lack of mooring ?

Surely when they advertise the itinerary moorings should be secured in advance.

I know that poor weather and civil unrest are often used as excuses but that can hardly apply to a port in Norway, and especially as we've been told weeks before departure. We've done two previous cruises to Norway but have not seen Geiranger so that was one of the main reasons we booked. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. This our second cruise with P&O but it will be our last if this is the way they organise things. :mad:

Edited January 20, 2016 by Grrrrr
Missed word

[cb at sea]

When you buy your ticket, you agree that the cruise line can change, rearrange, cancel, or substitute any port, at any time for any reason. Read your cruise contract!

 

If the PORT is the reason you're cruising....don't! Fly to that port on a land vacation!

[LHT28]

I am surprised they go up there in the winter months

 

sorry you will miss the port

[leaveitallbehind]

There are number of reasons a port of call will be cancelled and I am certain the Captain by announcement and printed material distributed would have explained the reasoning as to why. But nonetheless, as frustrated as you may be about this cancellations are covered very clearly in your cruise ticket / contract.

 

Sorry but this does happen.

Edited January 21, 2016 by leaveitallbehind

[sail7seas]

Cruise lines reserve the right to cancel any and all ports with or without notice for any number of valid and questionable reasons. The cruise contract you agree to when you buy your ticket states all the terms and conditions and almost all are fully in favor of the cruise line.

 

If you absolutely must see a particular place/port, take a fly/land trip there.

 

Edited January 21, 2016 by sail7seas

[notentirelynormal]

This guy has started several threads on this topic. Clearly he wants to complain over and over again.

[Keith1010]

There are many reasons to cancel a port of call. While disappointed these things happen.

 

Keith

[MicCanberra]

This guy has started several threads on this topic. Clearly he wants to complain over and over again.

 

Yes, another member joined up just to rant. It was cancelled weeks in advance, imagine if it happened on the cruise.

[Grrrrr]

When you buy your ticket, you agree that the cruise line can change, rearrange, cancel, or substitute any port, at any time for any reason. Read your cruise contract!

 

If the PORT is the reason you're cruising....don't! Fly to that port on a land vacation!

 

No it's not the port, Google Norway fiords and you will understand the reason

Do you think it's fair for a cruise line to change itinerary for financial reasons ?

Just interested in what others think

[Grrrrr]

How do take a land tour of a fiord?

[Kris74]

Now, how do you know it happened for financial reasons?

 

As I now look outside its minus 22 celsius and we live in similar conditions.

The port and the way to the port is kept open with great effort and so it may very well be that a part of a port is just closed of because of too much heavy ice. What can a cruise line do if a port just says they cannot moor because of lack of space? There are ferries that just have to operate and they tak up space, cruiseline is the first one to be told not to come if neede, I would think.

 

And we have had here a very strange and hard weather, its called cannonball snowing, which means that is some places the snow just keeps on coming in really huge amounts, it has happened especially on the coast, so it may very well be that similar things have happened in Geirander. Then it would be quite natural that however they try they cannot accommodate all ships.

Edited January 21, 2016 by Kris74

[EGG]

We were on Queen Elizabeth 2 years ago in late May and that same port was cancelled and replaced well before the cruise.

Rumor had it as lack of moorings.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have had ports of call changed and cancelled for various reasons. And on different cruise lines.

These things happen.

Most recent one was the dropping of St Barts (which we had never been to) because they can't handle 3 ships tendering into them. HAL went elsewhere.

[Hflors]

How can a cruise line ( P&O ) cancell a port of call due to a lack of mooring ?

Surely when they advertise the itinerary moorings should be secured in advance.

I know that poor weather and civil unrest are often used as excuses but that can hardly apply to a port in Norway, and especially as we've been told weeks before departure. We've done two previous cruises to Norway but have not seen Geiranger so that was one of the main reasons we booked. To say I'm disappointed is an understatement. This our second cruise with P&O but it will be our last if this is the way they organise things. :mad:

 

Grrrr - first thing you need to do is take a deep breath and calm down. These itineraries were booked a long time ago. (I am no expert on moorings) but if they are like any other place I have cruised to things change and spots sometimes change. Maybe something happened to where ever the ship was supposed to moor. Would you want to put yourself and any other person in a dangerous or unsafe situation? Cruise lines are forced to cancel ports of call all the time. People are giving you good information. When you are cruising you just can not depend on going to any port at any time.

 

You say this is your second cruise on P&O did they cancel any port on your first cruise? Listen the cruise line doesn't want to cancel a port. They lose lots of money thru their tours. If I were you when I boarded the ship I would be asking about another cruise maybe a little later in the year that would go back to Geiranger.

 

Believe me we all feel for you. It is frustrating and disappointing when a port is cancelled. I just experienced it this last cruise. We wanted to see HAL's private island. We were there years ago before it was built up. The morning was sunny, but so windy I told my dh I didn't see how the tenders would be able to take people into the island. They couldn't and the captain had to tell the ship full of passengers that he (out of safety) had decided to cancel the stop. I can tell you there was a ship load of unhappy passengers that day!

 

Good luck and I hope you have a wonderful cruise even though this time you will not stop at Geiranger, but hopefully the next time there won't be a cancellation.

Edited January 21, 2016 by Hflors

[whogo]

It's sounds like a dirty trick by P&O, mooring spots should be reserved long before the cruise is ever offered to the public. Is it possible a mooring spot has been taken out of commission? Did P&O offer any explanation? Looks like the port gets plenty of other ships: http://www.stranda-hamnevesen.no/cruise-calls What ships are there on your date?

[spookwife]

No it's not the port, Google Norway fiords and you will understand the reason

Do you think it's fair for a cruise line to change itinerary for financial reasons ?

Just interested in what others think

 

yes it is entirely fair for the cruise line to do what is the best interest of THE CRUISE LINE.

 

many ports have been canceled due to other factors besides weather. Labadee/Haiti this week alone. and count yourself lucky you got advance notice instead of being told on the schedule date or arrival that is wasn't happening.

 

ports get canceled due to dock worker strikes. or political unrest. or terrorist attacks.

 

if it too much a burden/inconvenience then by all means cancel. hope you bought 'cancel for any reason insurance'

[spookwife]

It's sounds like a dirty trick by P&O, mooring spots should be reserved long before the cruise is ever offered to the public. Is it possible a mooring spot has been taken out of commission? Did P&O offer any explanation? Looks like the port gets plenty of other ships: http://www.stranda-hamnevesen.no/cruise-calls What ships are there on your date?

 

they get taken out of commission al the time, due to weather, and infrastructure requirements.. all over the planet.

 

any major Tai-fun or Hurricane can wipe out a pier for months. or an anchor point can be deemed too shallow due to storm conditions.

[sail7seas]

Ships turn away from Grand Turk on a regular basis if the current or winds are too strong to make for safe docking. Ships leave Half Moon Cay if the seas are too rough for safe tendering.

[cruzeluver]

No it's not the port, Google Norway fiords and you will understand the reason

Do you think it's fair for a cruise line to change itinerary for financial reasons ?

Just interested in what others think

 

Yes. I think it is fair for a cruise line to exercise the contract they created and I agreed to when I booked my cruise.

[Cruzaholic41]

Do you think it's fair for a cruise line to change itinerary for financial reasons ?

Just interested in what others think

 

Look. There's something you should know about Cruise Critic. People are very quick to criticize when it's an issue not affecting them. Put them in your shoes and they would be just as upset. People are so quick to throw the contract in your face, yet lack the simple human ability to sympathize with the reason for your anger.

 

Truth is, most people book cruises based on the destination. Contract or not, it's still very upsetting when the purpose of booking that particular cruise gets ripped out from under you. This is something the cruise lines should be more sympathetic to. Geiranger is an awesome port and a reason people book that itinerary, and I think P&O certainly should provide an explanation. It's good PR, if nothing else.

[kitty9]

People aren't throwing the cruise contract in the OP's face. It's a FACT that cruise lines do cancel ports for a variety of reasons, and one should never, ever book a cruise just to see one particular port, as ports can change in an instant for more reasons than we can count. I have been in the OP's shoes and I can't tell you how many ports have been cancelled from cruises I've been on, ports that are once in a lifetime ports such as stops in Indonesia or Vietnam, so I do understand what the OP is saying. But in the real world, the cruise contract that you claim we're throwing is the OP's face is king, and you must accept that whenever you sign on for a cruise. If the OP isn't going to sail on P&O ever again, I daresay that he can plan on not sailing any line because canceled cruises happen on every cruise line. Just ask the thousands of passengers who had ports cancelled in Israel, Egypt and Turkey this past summer, on quite a few cruise lines.

[whogo]

If the port was cancelled because of weather I would understand and be disappointed. If the port was cancelled because of a strike I would understand and be disappointed. If the port was cancelled because the cruise line had not booked dock space, I would be as angry as the OP.

[cruzeluver]

Look. There's something you should know about Cruise Critic. People are very quick to criticize when it's an issue not affecting them. Put them in your shoes and they would be just as upset. People are so quick to throw the contract in your face, yet lack the simple human ability to sympathize with the reason for your anger.

 

I am very sympathetic to the OP. When we have had ports cancelled we have been disappointed as well. But the question posed was do I think it is fair? And the answer is "yes".

[papcx]

I thought Geiranger was a tender port with the fancy port walk thing?

 

Maybe it's going to be out of use and there are no more places for tendering?

[SadieN]

We had a port cancelled on an upcoming cruise. The roll call knew the actual dock had issues. (We'd like to believe) the cruise line was hoping that dock would be repaired. It's disappointing but not life altering.

Edited January 21, 2016 by SadieN