Limited choice

[nancyneptune]

Just been checking availability for February / March / April for a 14 night cruise. There are only four cruises available during these months flying from Glasgow  / Edinburgh.  Definitely don't want to do the Canaries again. What are Tui Marella thinking off.  So little choice from any Scottish airport but loads of choice to all different destinations from lots of airports down south. 

 

Anyway we had a look at CMV website.  Wow what a difference. So much choice of wonderful destinations and departure ports. 

 

Absolutely delighted to see CMV will be departing from Rosyth / Edinburgh and Dundee as usual this year again and from next year they have several departures from Greenock and Aberdeen also.  Looking to do the Baltic and the Norwegian Fjords from Greenock in 2020. 

 

Tui have cut back on their regional departures but they are also cutting their own throats. 

 

Tui if you think people who were used to flying from their regional airport  are willing to travel  from only Manchester, Birmingham or Gatwick to join their cruises,  think again.  Your loyal customers will only put up with so much for so long. 

[Vitalsign]

Oh Nancy what a shame - agree with you about them cutting their own throats - really stupid. CMV Columbus my favourite ship when Ocean Village seems very popular now but have heard the drinks are quite expensive and then you have the tips so would be interested in price comparisons

[nancyneptune]

Thank you for your reply Vitalsign.  I don't wish to be a moaner but we feel so disappointed with Tui Marella after so many lovely cruises with Thomson over the years.

 

It can be quite a journey for people who live in the north to travel to Glasgow airport never mind Manchester , Birmingham or Gatwick and lately Tui seem to be changing so many flight times from the time people book their cruise till departure which could disrupt travel plans even further.  So many things to think about.  Travel disruption due to bad weather etc.

 

CMV sounds good to me.  We are not big drinkers so don't mind that they are not AI. Tips are not a problem either as we have always tipped our cabin stewards, dining room waiters, wine waiters and a few others on all our cruises. The staff on board are TUI's best asset and we will miss so many  of them that we have got to know quite well over the years.

 

CMV cruises prices seem very reasonable to me , and departing from Greenock, Rosyth, Aberdeen suits us well.  Tui prices have gone up considerably since they introduced the AI which not everyone wants.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[davecttr]

I doubt Marella will be 'cutting their own throats', this is a business decision  about maximising revenue and minimising costs. It is unfortunate if you happen to live hundreds of miles from an airport but no company is going to jeopardise the shareholders profits.

[Malch_uk]

CMV prices are very good, particularly if you can book well in advance. Their early offers are always 2nd passenger free and we are very happy with the cruises. Fred Olsen also sail from Newcastle and Rosyth and are worth considering. They do last minute offers to fill cabins.

[nancyneptune]

2 hours ago, davecttr said:

I doubt Marella will be 'cutting their own throats', this is a business decision  about maximising revenue and minimising costs. It is unfortunate if you happen to live hundreds of miles from an airport but no company is going to jeopardise the shareholders profits.

 

 

Dave,   We do not live hundreds of miles from an airport.  We live within easy driving distance of three Scottish airports.  We have flown with Thomson countless times over several years on land based holidays and cruises from these airports.

 

We have in the past enjoyed  hotel holidays and cruises to the Caribbean, the Middle East, many European destinations and several re-positioning cruises.  Too many to mention, all from our local airports. 

 

About the only choice we have now from only one Scottish airport, Glasgow,  during the whole autumn / winter season is the Canary Islands and about three dates for Caribbean cruises throughout the season.  No Far East. No re-positioning cruises to Europe or the Middle East which we have done a couple of years ago from Glasgow.

 

What I am saying is that Tui Marella have now limited the choice of destinations and flights from Scottish and some English regional airports that they have done until fairly recently.  What we could do  previously with Thomson we can no longer do with Marella.  I know they say only the name has changed but so many other things have changed too. 

 

Marella will lose a lot of loyal customers to other lines that do offer better choices with regional departures.  CMV have obviously already profited from this as they have increased the number of departures from regional ports for next year.

Now offering departures from four Scottish ports while Marella seem to be consolidating flights  for many cruises from only Birmingham , Manchester and Gatwick. 

 

I am well aware it is a business but I think they are making a big mistake here.  

 

Marella's loss is CMV and Fred Olsens gain. 

 

I take it you are shareholder Dave.

[nancyneptune]

1 hour ago, Malch_uk said:

CMV prices are very good, particularly if you can book well in advance. Their early offers are always 2nd passenger free and we are very happy with the cruises. Fred Olsen also sail from Newcastle and Rosyth and are worth considering. They do last minute offers to fill cabins.

 

 

Thank you for that Malch_uk.   We have sailed with Fred a couple of times from Greenock and Rosyth.  A bit more expensive but worth it when you consider how much it would cost us to travel down to Gatwick and book overnight accommodation on both the outbound and return journeys. Not to mention the time and inconvenience. 

 

The entertainment was good on Fred and the food much better too. Did the Baltics with Fred from Newcastle . It was excellent.

[Vitalsign]

I am Nancy and I bought at 13.26 the shares are now 8.56 - I'm not a happy bunny

And sorry I don't have enough clout to get more regional flights re introduced 

[nancyneptune]

So sorry about your shares Vitalsign.  Lets hope it's only a  temporary blip.

[Vitalsign]

Thanks Nancy I won't hold my breath but maybe a good dividend will make up for the downturn

[davecttr]

4 hours ago, nancyneptune said:

 

 

Dave,   We do not live hundreds of miles from an airport.  We live within easy driving distance of three Scottish airports.  We have flown with Thomson countless times over several years on land based holidays and cruises from these airports.

 

We have in the past enjoyed  hotel holidays and cruises to the Caribbean, the Middle East, many European destinations and several re-positioning cruises.  Too many to mention, all from our local airports. 

 

About the only choice we have now from only one Scottish airport, Glasgow,  during the whole autumn / winter season is the Canary Islands and about three dates for Caribbean cruises throughout the season.  No Far East. No re-positioning cruises to Europe or the Middle East which we have done a couple of years ago from Glasgow.

 

What I am saying is that Tui Marella have now limited the choice of destinations and flights from Scottish and some English regional airports that they have done until fairly recently.  What we could do  previously with Thomson we can no longer do with Marella.  I know they say only the name has changed but so many other things have changed too. 

 

Marella will lose a lot of loyal customers to other lines that do offer better choices with regional departures.  CMV have obviously already profited from this as they have increased the number of departures from regional ports for next year.

Now offering departures from four Scottish ports while Marella seem to be consolidating flights  for many cruises from only Birmingham , Manchester and Gatwick. 

 

I am well aware it is a business but I think they are making a big mistake here.  

 

Marella's loss is CMV and Fred Olsens gain. 

 

I take it you are shareholder Dave.

I understand your point and am not a shareholder, . Maybe they just can't get sufficient passengers to fill the aircraft especially with their long hauls flights which are usually on Dreamliners. As I understand it Dreamliners fly the Atlantic or Far East routes and fill in the gaps between those flights with trips to the med etc. It could be that they have to fill those planes.

 

If I was in your situation I would not be happy either and trying other cruise lines

Edited February 18, 2019 by davecttr

[nancyneptune]

Don't think being unable to fill the planes is the problem Dave. 

 

We were on a cruise to Dubai a couple of years ago and travelled on the Dreamliner.  That cruise was sold out from Glasgow several weeks before departure date. All the flights we have been on have been full. The demand is there and prices usually remain quite high.  People from the north of England also use Glasgow flights

 

 I would think that they have difficulty filling flights from Gatwick as the prices from there are very often greatly reduced near departure dates. Much more competition down south. 

 

We have flown from Gatwick and Manchester a few times for a late dale but when you take into account the extra travel expenses, overnight accommodation, meals etc. it's not really worth the effort.  

 

 

 

[GOQ]

It's a bit the same from Cardiff, only 3 or 4 flights to the Caribbean over the winter months and the Canaries of course. However it's easy for me to get to Gatwick.

Dream has cruises from March 2020 in the western Med/Portugal from Cardiff, so that is another option for me in the winter months, so have booked Spirit of Iberia for April 2020. Do you have that same option ?

[nancyneptune]

Looks to be the way Tui are going regarding regional flights.  Why do they assume we want to keep going to the Canaries every winter season.  If you want to cruise for 14 nights on the back to back cruise the ports on the second week are almost the same as the first week.  Done both itineraries five times already and Caribbean four times.  We were so looking forward to going to the Middle East or the Far East with Tui.

 

Tui change the flight times so often it's not easy trying to make extra  travel arrangements and book hotels before and after your flight from Gatwick when you live so far away either.  Flying to Birmingham from Scotland is actually more expensive than flying to Gatwick.  That's good that you are not so far from Gatwick.  

 

We are looking at going with CMV in 2020 so haven't really thought too  much about Tui for next year apart from noticing how expensive they have become. 

 

We had some lovely driving holidays in Wales when our family was young.  Long drive but worth it.

 

 

 

 

 

[Vitalsign]

I can't understand why a one week cruise from the Canaries doesn't include going south to Cape Verde islands They go north to Madeira and East to Agadir so why not do something new and go south for a change - it would popular even if it included 2 sea days

Edited February 24, 2019 by Vitalsign

[nancyneptune]

Agree Vitasign,  something a bit different may tempt us back.  As much as we enjoy the entertainment and the company on board, it's the itinerary that matters most to us.

We love to get off the ship and visit new destinations. 

The Canary islands are not the most exciting and as much as Madeira is very nice there is only so many times you wish to visit.

We enjoyed the ports in Morocco, Agadir and Casablanca just because they are a bit different but we have done most of the tours now.  Longing for something new.

[GOQ]

I am looking forward to the Casablanca visit on the Spirit of Iberia cruise next year. Any advice.

[nancyneptune]

Hi.  We did a morning tour to Rabat which we really enjoyed. 

 

If you don't wish do do a tour there are plenty of taxis at the port.  You are better  to agree a price before you go.  We didn't have any problems when we took a taxi to the beautiful mosque in the afternoon. It was 5 euros one way but that's a few years ago. 

 

The Mosque and Rick's Cafe are actually reasonable walking distance from the ship.  We walked back to the ship from there and never at any time felt unsafe.

 

Some people never got off the ship which I think is a shame as they missed out on a chance to experience the different culture. 

 

I say travel with an open mind.  Hope you have a great time on your cruise.

[okavango]

On 2/24/2019 at 8:42 PM, Vitalsign said:

I can't understand why a one week cruise from the Canaries doesn't include going south to Cape Verde islands They go north to Madeira and East to Agadir so why not do something new and go south for a change - it would popular even if it included 2 sea days

Cape verde is about 900nm south of the canaries ,two full days steam each way ,(madeira only about 240nm from la palma (usually the day before port)) ,plus you could end up with the same situation as when they tried the azores a few years ago ,a very low success rate of actually getting there.

[okavango]

On 2/18/2019 at 5:47 PM, nancyneptune said:

 

 

Dave,   We do not live hundreds of miles from an airport.  We live within easy driving distance of three Scottish airports.  We have flown with Thomson countless times over several years on land based holidays and cruises from these airports.

 

We have in the past enjoyed  hotel holidays and cruises to the Caribbean, the Middle East, many European destinations and several re-positioning cruises.  Too many to mention, all from our local airports. 

 

About the only choice we have now from only one Scottish airport, Glasgow,  during the whole autumn / winter season is the Canary Islands and about three dates for Caribbean cruises throughout the season.  No Far East. No re-positioning cruises to Europe or the Middle East which we have done a couple of years ago from Glasgow.

 

What I am saying is that Tui Marella have now limited the choice of destinations and flights from Scottish and some English regional airports that they have done until fairly recently.  What we could do  previously with Thomson we can no longer do with Marella.  I know they say only the name has changed but so many other things have changed too. 

 

Marella will lose a lot of loyal customers to other lines that do offer better choices with regional departures.  CMV have obviously already profited from this as they have increased the number of departures from regional ports for next year.

Now offering departures from four Scottish ports while Marella seem to be consolidating flights  for many cruises from only Birmingham , Manchester and Gatwick. 

 

I am well aware it is a business but I think they are making a big mistake here.  

 

Marella's loss is CMV and Fred Olsens gain. 

 

I take it you are shareholder Dave.

Canaries from both glasgow and edinburgh ,15 regional airports altogether for canaries.

For the long haul cruises they are only going to use as many airports as they need ,if they gave a choice of say 6 regional airports every week how are they going to fill the planes? , also they can only fly from airports they have already got slots for ,they cant just come and go as it pleases them

[Vitalsign]

Okavango I must say I didn't think it was that far but still think if they did it as a 14 day cruise it would be popular and it's a lot warmer than the Azores Having been there four times in April it's not that warm but have heard it's lovely in summer. However the Azores wouldn't fit for summer cruise itineraries. The ship could visit 3 of the Cape Verde islands and even Dakar in Senegal - Fred Olsen do (or have done)

[okavango]

18 minutes ago, Vitalsign said:

Okavango I must say I didn't think it was that far but still think if they did it as a 14 day cruise it would be popular and it's a lot warmer than the Azores Having been there four times in April it's not that warm but have heard it's lovely in summer. However the Azores wouldn't fit for summer cruise itineraries. The ship could visit 3 of the Cape Verde islands and even Dakar in Senegal - Fred Olsen do (or have done)

 

Yes would only be practical on a 14 day cruise ,but its a long expensive drag , 4 days,1800 nm at  nearly 20kn ,massive fuel bill , but if you had to abort through weather you would suddenly need 7 days of alternative ports in canaries with a lot of disgruntled passengers who booked especially for cape verde ,in my opinion too big a risk to take

[Vitalsign]

Why do you think the seas/weather would be bad going south? And north again?

[okavango]

10 hours ago, Vitalsign said:

Why do you think the seas/weather would be bad going south? And north again?

Its winter,its the atlantic ,nothing between you and america,and about 350nm offshore from africa ,subject to some very bad weather at times with absolutely no shelter ,what would they do for example if the forcast for the steam down to cape verde was good enough but for the days coming back absolutely horrendous ,i agree it would be nice to have something differant but it has to be practical ,round the canaries they can always get shelter/change a port or two if need be, like i said before, the year they tried the azores i think the success rate of actually getting there was less than 50% ,they didn't try it again.

[nancyneptune]

14 hours ago, okavango said:

Canaries from both glasgow and edinburgh ,15 regional airports altogether for canaries.

For the long haul cruises they are only going to use as many airports as they need ,if they gave a choice of say 6 regional airports every week how are they going to fill the planes? , also they can only fly from airports they have already got slots for ,they cant just come and go as it pleases them

 

 

 

Yes Okavango,  Canaries from Glasgow and Edinburgh.  Apart from three or four options to the Caribbean throughout the whole season that is the only option we  in Scotland have in the winter season.

 

Far East and Middle East cruises including re-positioning cruises to and from these destinations are 14 / 15 nights with the exception of Ancient Shores which is eight nights, so they wouldn't need to fill a plane every week. 

 

In the past and as recently as winter 2016 we cruised to the Middle East with TUi,  flying in and out of Aqaba, Jordan and also Dubai on the Dreamliner.  Flights were full.

These cruises are now only available from Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham as are cruises to the Far East.

 

Several other re-positioning cruises , Med. and Caribbean  are also not available from Scotland any more and we have been on many re- positioning cruises over the years with Thomson.

 

In the past with Thomson we had a choice of lots of destinations.  Tui seem to be consolidating flights to many cruise destinations to Manchester, Birmingham and Gatwick only.  Reducing the number of regional airports on both sides of the border. 

 

To put it another way.  Lets assume Tui are introducing cruises to USA and Canada.  Flights would be from Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow.  Would you be happy with that ?

 

 

Edited March 1, 2019 by nancyneptune