Any ideas for new itineraries for 2024 or even 2025

[kalos]

3 hours ago, Yorkypete said:

How about an itinery where the ship will be able to visit every port ON the itinery and not just wander about the oceans!

 

We did a 5 day cruise which never got in to any port but we had a great time , these things 

can happen .

[majortom10]

One of the best cruises we have ever done was the very first Seacation we did last August on QE. 7 nts no ports and sailing around Scottish Islands on west coast of Scotland and on 2 nts we stopped in the bays of 2 islands. Would love to do it again but dont suppose Cunard will do it again.

[Son of Anarchy]

Thoroughly enjoyed our seven night seacation on Iona last year as well.  Done a few TA's as well as a couple of world sectors where we had up to seven days in a row.  Really like sea days.

[majortom10]

1 hour ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Thoroughly enjoyed our seven night seacation on Iona last year as well.  Done a few TA's as well as a couple of world sectors where we had up to seven days in a row.  Really like sea days.

We have done roundtrip TA on QM2  Sou-NY-Sou where we had 1 day in 15 days at port rest at sea. Also on such a beautiful liner is what it is all about.

[Host Sharon]

On 9/3/2022 at 2:08 PM, JDB78 said:

Was looking forward to Sicily and visiting Pompei as never visited before. Post Covid there seems to be a lot less choice? Especially the Italian stops?

On Sicily, Palermo, Messina and Syracuse can all take big ships. The latter port was my favourite on my last cruise but few lines seem to call there.

[P&O SUE]

On 9/3/2022 at 2:00 PM, Josy1953 said:

It is always good to have new ports to explore.  I spent some time in Bilbao for work and found it interesting to look around with some interesting architecture. If you are interested in museums I would recommend a visit to the Guugenheim museum, a very modern building that is also worth looking at from an architectural perspective.

We also visited La Rochelle on a cruise but found it less interesting.

La Rochelle is lovely! We went on our first cruise there and went round two of the old towers on the city walls and had lovely crepes sitting by the harbour.

A couple of years ago we went again and this time we went on an excursion to Ile de Re as it seemed the best way to get there. It was lovely but they didn’t give us enough time at the places we wanted to linger!  

[P&O SUE]

On 9/8/2022 at 9:51 PM, majortom10 said:

One of the best cruises we have ever done was the very first Seacation we did last August on QE. 7 nts no ports and sailing around Scottish Islands on west coast of Scotland and on 2 nts we stopped in the bays of 2 islands. Would love to do it again but dont suppose Cunard will do it again.

This year they did a 4 night cruise up to Mull with no stops, saw a video on YouTube, looked lovely. (I have actually holidayed on Mull as a child)

[Gettingwarmer]

3 hours ago, Host Sharon said:

On Sicily, Palermo, Messina and Syracuse can all take big ships. The latter port was my favourite on my last cruise but few lines seem to call there.

What ship were you on that berthed at Syracuse? I don’t think it can take large ships. When we were on Celebrity Constellation we were due to stop at Catania but there was no room so we went to Syracuse but we had to tender. The steps at the dockside were  very difficult. 

Edited September 11, 2022 by Gettingwarmer

[wilkoone]

LONGER EUROPEAN NO-FLY CRUISES. I personally would like to see some no-fly european cruises of 20+ days added to the schedule. For those that do not like to fly this gives people a real chance to visit an area and take in a number of ports in the region. An example would be a Southampton to Southampton cruise to the Adriatic visiting much of Croatia, Italy, Slovenia and Greece. The sailing time to get from the UK (and back) to a region like this means that even a 16 day cruise can offer only a few ports in the area. We went on a 19 night cruise to Greece last year. This cruise only had 7 port days. Adding 5 days could well add 4  more ports. Creating one or two of this type of cruise each year would attact people wishing something different. Interested in what others think.

[yorkshirephil]

8 hours ago, wilkoone said:

LONGER EUROPEAN NO-FLY CRUISES. I personally would like to see some no-fly european cruises of 20+ days added to the schedule. For those that do not like to fly this gives people a real chance to visit an area and take in a number of ports in the region. An example would be a Southampton to Southampton cruise to the Adriatic visiting much of Croatia, Italy, Slovenia and Greece. The sailing time to get from the UK (and back) to a region like this means that even a 16 day cruise can offer only a few ports in the area. We went on a 19 night cruise to Greece last year. This cruise only had 7 port days. Adding 5 days could well add 4  more ports. Creating one or two of this type of cruise each year would attact people wishing something different. Interested in what others think.

I agree, we would prefer to sail from Southampton albeit we do fly, several other cruise lines cover the Med/ Indian ocean/Red sea  area with longer cruises and these are the ones we are most likely to use. I think P&O may be missing an opportunity especially while they still have Aurora and Arcadia which tend to be used by some of us retired people. It seems to work well for the longer Caribbean cruises in winter so why not try a 30-35 across the Med or even mixed Baltic and Fjords/Iceland? Maybe Moley has some insight into this?

[Host Sharon]

On 9/11/2022 at 12:50 PM, Gettingwarmer said:

What ship were you on that berthed at Syracuse? I don’t think it can take large ships. When we were on Celebrity Constellation we were due to stop at Catania but there was no room so we went to Syracuse but we had to tender. The steps at the dockside were  very difficult. 

Spirit of Adventure. It seems quite a long dockside, although not sure of depth. I would think Aurora or Arcadia could berth. Photo is view from ship. 

[Gettingwarmer]

5 minutes ago, Host Sharon said:

Spirit of Adventure

That would be a tad smaller. Thanks. 

[Cathygh]

A cruise that goes to Istanbul, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Petra. In fact they could offer that as fly cruise on Azura in the med at either end of the season maybe? I would definately book it.

[cruising.mark.uk]

2 hours ago, Cathygh said:

A cruise that goes to Istanbul, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Petra. In fact they could offer that as fly cruise on Azura in the med at either end of the season maybe? I would definately book it.

Its possible (albeit, not with P&O) to encompass the first three of those on one trip, although you'd probably need an overnight or 2 stops in Israel to do both Jerusalem and Bethlehem.  Petra is the other end of the Suez canal, so you'd probably need to pick a cruise repositioning to / from the Med and Dubai or elsewhere in the Middle East or a leg of a world cruise (although, again, not with P&O based on their current itineraries) to hit all four on the same journey.

[tring]

3 hours ago, Cathygh said:

A cruise that goes to Istanbul, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Petra. In fact they could offer that as fly cruise on Azura in the med at either end of the season maybe? I would definately book it.

 

We did a 28 night cruise in Oceans which went as far as The Eastern Med in January a number of years ago, which spent a couple of days in Egypt and a couple of days in Israel..  Your idea of going to all bar Istanbul on your list would be a non starter though.  Jerusalem is a two hour each way journey from a port as it is inland and Bethlehem is further again with a border crossing, which is not easy.  Petra is through Suez so no ship would do that two ways on one cruise to just come back again regards the very high cost and couple of days to do the crossings.

 

Egypt and Israel are always difficult countries to visit as well because of events which can happen.  In fact we called at Haifa for two days instead of Ashdod on one, so the Jerusalem trip became more like three hours each way and, if possible, Bethlehem further again.  Ashdod is the nearest port for those, albeit still a long distance away, but is now within reach of missiles from the Gaza Strip, do a very iffy port.  Also, we docked in Alexandria for two nights instead of Port Said, which meant an extremely long trip to Cairo and the pyramids.  Must admit though we were very happy with our two days in each of those, which we enjoyed a lot, as we found other things to do, but we would not have considered spending that long on coaches.

 

The potential.problems on those countries, just means companies like P&O will steer well clear of them now.  You would need a land trip to do Israel imo.

 

 

 

Edited January 29, 2023 by tring

[zap99]

On 9/8/2022 at 8:55 PM, kalos said:

 

We did a 5 day cruise which never got in to any port but we had a great time , these things 

can happen .

At the end of lockdown we did a 7 night Iona cruise meandering around the BoB. Very pleasant.

[Snow Hill]

On 9/11/2022 at 10:18 AM, P&O SUE said:

La Rochelle is lovely! We went on our first cruise there and went round two of the old towers on the city walls and had lovely crepes sitting by the harbour.

A couple of years ago we went again and this time we went on an excursion to Ile de Re as it seemed the best way to get there. It was lovely but they didn’t give us enough time at the places we wanted to linger!  

We visited La Rochelle when we were on a land holiday in France about 10 years ago. Apart from the medieval towers, we also visited the aquarium, had a wander around the town, had lunch and then a trip the Ile de Re. The town of Saintes is worth a visit if you are into you Roman History with its amphitheatre, it was the Roman capital in Aquitaine, plus the Abbey dux Dames, about a hour’s journey. Cognac and its brandy manufacturers is just under 90mins away. 

[Ardennais]

27 minutes ago, Snow Hill said:

We visited La Rochelle when we were on a land holiday in France about 10 years ago. Apart from the medieval towers, we also visited the aquarium, had a wander around the town, had lunch and then a trip the Ile de Re. The town of Saintes is worth a visit if you are into you Roman History with its amphitheatre, it was the Roman capital in Aquitaine, plus the Abbey dux Dames, about a hour’s journey. Cognac and its brandy manufacturers is just under 90mins away. 

We visited Saintes on a P&O excursion and had enough time for a leisurely lunch. Lovely place. 

[Cathygh]

18 hours ago, tring said:

 

We did a 28 night cruise in Oceans which went as far as The Eastern Med in January a number of years ago, which spent a couple of days in Egypt and a couple of days in Israel..  Your idea of going to all bar Istanbul on your list would be a non starter though.  Jerusalem is a two hour each way journey from a port as it is inland and Bethlehem is further again with a border crossing, which is not easy.  Petra is through Suez so no ship would do that two ways on one cruise to just come back again regards the very high cost and couple of days to do the crossings.

 

Egypt and Israel are always difficult countries to visit as well because of events which can happen.  In fact we called at Haifa for two days instead of Ashdod on one, so the Jerusalem trip became more like three hours each way and, if possible, Bethlehem further again.  Ashdod is the nearest port for those, albeit still a long distance away, but is now within reach of missiles from the Gaza Strip, do a very iffy port.  Also, we docked in Alexandria for two nights instead of Port Said, which meant an extremely long trip to Cairo and the pyramids.  Must admit though we were very happy with our two days in each of those, which we enjoyed a lot, as we found other things to do, but we would not have considered spending that long on coaches.

 

The potential.problems on those countries, just means companies like P&O will steer well clear of them now.  You would need a land trip to do Israel imo.

 

 

 

Thank you Barbara, I think it is doable but not in one cruise, and as you say a land tour might be an option

[Host Sharon]

In 2011, on Oceana, I did a 28 night cruise which included 2 days in Haifa. I managed to see Jerusalem, Galilee, Capernum, Nazareth, Bethlehem and Yardenit on the R. Jordan, all in those two days. We also had lunch in a kibbutz. The cruise included Kusadasi but didn't get up to Istanbul. 

[davecttr]

I would like to see more British Isles and nearby areas cruises from Southampton

Edited January 30, 2023 by davecttr

[Bill Y]

23 hours ago, Cathygh said:

A cruise that goes to Istanbul, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Petra. In fact they could offer that as fly cruise on Azura in the med at either end of the season maybe? I would definately book it.

Interesting places especially if you have not visited before.

 

Unfortunately about ten years ago a curtain of fear and risk came down over parts of Eastern Europe and the Middle East. P&O used to offer Black Sea and cruises that did Eastern Med which included Israel but these disappeared. In 2015 we were on a cruise that included Istanbul a few day before arriving something happened that upped the tension in the region, and the on board rumour mill went into overdrive half the vociferous ones wanted Istanbul pulled as P&O must not expose us to any risk whatsoever and the other half demanded the we went as it was the highlight of the cruise and sold as such. We went, enjoyed it and there was no trouble apart from a traffic jam. I am not aware of P&O going there after that.

 

We were surprised when Haifa was included in the 2019 world cruise after not going to Israel for several years. We were disappointed that the usual port of Aqaba for Petra was not included but nevertheless decided to book the last leg of this cruise. Israel was interesting but as has been said the excursions tend to be long, we did Jerusalem and Bethlehem the first day, eleven and a half hours very intense so much information from a very knowledgeable guide and Nazareth and Galilee the second day nine and a half hours. There was a lot to take in over two day so as you later say a land tour may be better.

 

P&O now seem to play it safe and just churn out the same repeated cruises, one thinks that they only offer a single world cruise now as they deem it to be a prestige statement.