When is an overnight stay NOT an overnight stay?

[Selbourne]

51 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

We dont care for overnight stays, or 2 full days in port.  As wheelchair users we have no desire to dine ashore, or to explore the night life, and much prefer an extra different port day. So we avoid booking cruises that do have overnight stays.

Same here, for the same reasons, although the Northern Lights cruises are an exception as it’s far better viewing the lights from ashore away from the light pollution caused by the ship.

 

We love Baltic cruises, but since St Petersburg has been removed from the itineraries they now seem to have two days in other places, mostly Copenhagen. This has deterred us from booking a number of potential cruises as we have no desire to spend 2 days there and consider it to be wasted time. 

[Fionboard]

I like cruises without St P, which I have done too many times. Lots of lovely places to visit in the Baltic. Lovely in the Summer away from the Med heat. 

[jeanlyon]

2 minutes ago, Fionboard said:

I like cruises without St P, which I have done too many times. Lots of lovely places to visit in the Baltic. Lovely in the Summer away from the Med heat. 

I'm the opposite.  Did the Baltic once, but had rain in Stockholm, rain in Copenhagen and we now only do the Med or Azores, or Canaries.

[devonuk]

5 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

We dont care for overnight stays, or 2 full days in port.  As wheelchair users we have no desire to dine ashore, or to explore the night life, and much prefer an extra different port day. So we avoid booking cruises that do have overnight stays.

I understand that but on this occasion we wanted 2 extended opportunities to search for the Northern Lights overnight which ultimately we weren’t able to do. 

[gsmt47471015]

7 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

We dont care for overnight stays, or 2 full days in port.  As wheelchair users we have no desire to dine ashore, or to explore the night life, and much prefer an extra different port day. So we avoid booking cruises that do have overnight stays.

On a personal level whenever we have had a”proper” overnight we have always made a point of enjoying what that particular port had to offer in the evening and had some of the best times in doing so, the latest we have got back on board is around 2am 

[Interestedcruisefan]

Friday night visit to Oistins Fish Fry in Barbados is a fantastic experience 

 

Edited December 7, 2023 by Interestedcruisefan

[kruzseeka]

Oistins is somewhere we'd always had in mind to do but never got there.  Looks fab!

 

We too have had some great experiences in ports on two day calls with interesting/memorable evening excursions: Club Tropicana in Havana, Cotton Club in NYC, Ballet in St P,  Palm Court Jazz Cafe New Orleans, French Quarter for a drink in Quebec. But it is very much dependent on the port having enough of interest to spend a second day there - and something different/memorable for the evening. 

 

I do agree though that one day is enough in many ports and then move on to see somewhere new.  

[Presto2]

Just been reading this with interest. Not wanting to get in to a massive debate, but just to share that we were only discussing this issue last weekend regarding the Northern Light cruises as we thought that an over night meant that you had 2 days in a port (as it has done on any Med. cruise we have been on with P&O). It was Mr and Mrs Pete14 who explained that this isn't necessarily the case but that the ships leave early the next morning. Perhaps P&O can make it clearer on the itineraries for Northern Light newbie cruisers who, like us, automatically apply what they have experienced in the past to the definition for these cruises. (I think I am rambling, so hope that this makes sense).

[davecttr]

What is an overnight stay? Obvious really, when the ships departs after sunrise the next day, night having ended 😁

 

Not in P&O speak though.

[pete14]

10 minutes ago, davecttr said:

What is an overnight stay? Obvious really, when the ships departs after sunrise the next day, night having ended 😁

 

Not in P&O speak though.

But sunrise in Arctic Norway at this time of year is much much closer to noon than midnight so not quite as obvious as it would appear.

[yorkshirephil]

4 minutes ago, davecttr said:

What is an overnight stay? Obvious really, when the ships departs after sunrise the next day, night having ended 😁

 

Not in P&O speak though.

We have had many "overnight" stays over the years with different cruise lines, they have varied from leaving port just after midnight to staying until the following evening, however P&O are the only line that didn't have an actual departure time, which in my opinion is the fundamental problem as it leaves it open to interpretation. 

 

Even considering Dave's interpretation sunrise the next day has a vast range of times especially when visiting Arctic regions. In this particular case the sun probably won't rise at all in Tromso during December.

[Selbourne]

6 hours ago, Presto2 said:

Just been reading this with interest. Not wanting to get in to a massive debate, but just to share that we were only discussing this issue last weekend regarding the Northern Light cruises as we thought that an over night meant that you had 2 days in a port (as it has done on any Med. cruise we have been on with P&O). It was Mr and Mrs Pete14 who explained that this isn't necessarily the case but that the ships leave early the next morning. Perhaps P&O can make it clearer on the itineraries for Northern Light newbie cruisers who, like us, automatically apply what they have experienced in the past to the definition for these cruises. (I think I am rambling, so hope that this makes sense).

On both our P&O Northern Light cruises we had proper overnights in Alta. We arrived on the first day, full overnight with the next full day in port and left in the early hours of the third day. So a proper overnight and a half overnight! In the second northerly port (Tromso on the first and Narvik on the second) they were ‘half’ overnights. 
 

Interestingly, we were going to book our first Saga cruise as the Northern Lights cruise in March 2025 but decided against it for a few reasons, but a major one was that there wasn’t a ‘proper’ overnight anywhere to match what we’d had with P&O. 

[Selbourne]

On 12/6/2023 at 12:49 AM, laslomas said:

I check on this website for times in port.

 

Cruise Timetables | Cruise Schedules | Cruise Ship Schedules

 

It is also useful for finding out which other ships are also in port with you. They have arrival and departure times, but not sure how far in advance they are showing. Plus, of course, they can always be changed "for operational reasons".

I’ve just looked for our January Aurora cruise and the ports show the times for all the other cruise ships but still just the vague ‘early morning, early evening etc’ descriptions for the P&O ships 🙄xx

Edited December 8, 2023 by Selbourne

[carlanthony24]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

I’ve just looked for our January Aurora cruise and the ports show the times for all the other cruise ships but still just the vague ‘early morning, early evening etc’ descriptions for the P&O ships 🙄xx

 

[Selbourne]

25 minutes ago, carlanthony24 said:

 

You’re a star. Thank you so much 👍

[carlanthony24]

2 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

You’re a star. Thank you so much 👍

Never had a problem times were spot on last two cruises. 

[carlanthony24]

Another site to cross check.

[Gizmo19]

Overall, the arrival and departure times at each port look really good for R401. The overnight in Bermuda is the only chopped one, as the ship leaves at 8am the following day. So we will probably be eating breakfast as we sail away - or having a lay in 😄

The late 22:00 departure from Miami /FL is good, as it gives us all opportunity to eat onshore early evening, should we wish to. Depending of course on whether there are any eating places within walking distance of the ship. Its a shame more ports don't offer late sailaways.

   

[Selbourne]

2 minutes ago, Gizmo19 said:

Overall, the arrival and departure times at each port look really good for R401. The overnight in Bermuda is the only chopped one, as the ship leaves at 8am the following day. So we will probably be eating breakfast as we sail away - or having a lay in 😄

The late 22:00 departure from Miami /FL is good, as it gives us all opportunity to eat onshore early evening, should we wish to. Depending of course on whether there are any eating places within walking distance of the ship. Its a shame more ports don't offer late sailaways.

   

Yes, I’m also happy with the times, as long as we don’t end up with first sitting and can’t change it!

 

Whilst we’ve been to Miami before, it wasn’t by ship. I think I’ve read that the cruise terminal isn’t easy for walking anywhere, even though it looks fairly central.

 

Like you, I’m keen to have dinner ashore where we are in port during the evenings, as there will be quite a bit of repetition in the MDR over 65 nights and a change of scene (and menus) will be nice. My wife isn’t quite so sure though. She thinks we will get attacked or something, even though I’ve reminded her that we were walking around New York on our own at night until after midnight and didn’t feel in the slightest bit threatened 🙄😂

[kruzseeka]

On 12/8/2023 at 11:40 PM, carlanthony24 said:

Never had a problem times were spot on last two cruises. 

That information is excellent and, can I assume available for any sailing?

I may have read the posts but can't see which sites you're using - or are you not allowed to post them? 

I'd be very grateful if you can especially since the Northern Lights info from earlier posts has certainly given me food for thought - I'd been labouring under a misapprehension with regard to those timings. 

 

[Gizmo19]

11 hours ago, Selbourne said:

Yes, I’m also happy with the times, as long as we don’t end up with first sitting and can’t change it!

 

Whilst we’ve been to Miami before, it wasn’t by ship. I think I’ve read that the cruise terminal isn’t easy for walking anywhere, even though it looks fairly central.

 

Like you, I’m keen to have dinner ashore where we are in port during the evenings, as there will be quite a bit of repetition in the MDR over 65 nights and a change of scene (and menus) will be nice. My wife isn’t quite so sure though. She thinks we will get attacked or something, even though I’ve reminded her that we were walking around New York on our own at night until after midnight and didn’t feel in the slightest bit threatened 🙄😂

We actually requested 1st sitting in Alexandria, as we had that on R201N and enjoyed eating before the shows. Late sitting MDR was a bit late for us to eat. But yes, it can be a bit rushed to get back into the ship and ready for dinner (but a couple of times we managed to do it in 20 minutes 😄). The actual 6pm sailaway's are awkward with 1st sitting though, unless you get ready early and go on deck before the meal. But, there is no guarantee of moving away from the dock at 6pm. 

 

At Southampton we should have 'fireworks' on departure (Grand Tours often do) - so that will be good to be on deck for (from Portside promenade deck if its raining / cold / snow 😃).  We will be on that deck for sailaway / fireworks, and if necessary go to the Buffet that night  😄.

Miami looks like a sea of terminals and a massive Highway alongside  - so I think its a question of finding other guests who have sailed into Miami before and getting their view / recommendation (its our first sail into Miami as well).

😄

 

[Gizmo19]

On 12/7/2023 at 9:28 PM, Interestedcruisefan said:

Friday night visit to Oistins Fish Fry in Barbados is a fantastic experience 

 

Yes Oistins is a brilliant meal / night out. Smoke, people crammed onto the tables, entertainment weaving between the tables and just plain atmosphere. Wonderful. The Flying fish and chips were great.  

[Selbourne]

52 minutes ago, Gizmo19 said:

We actually requested 1st sitting in Alexandria, as we had that on R201N and enjoyed eating before the shows. Late sitting MDR was a bit late for us to eat. But yes, it can be a bit rushed to get back into the ship and ready for dinner (but a couple of times we managed to do it in 20 minutes 😄). The actual 6pm sailaway's are awkward with 1st sitting though, unless you get ready early and go on deck before the meal. But, there is no guarantee of moving away from the dock at 6pm. 

 

At Southampton we should have 'fireworks' on departure (Grand Tours often do) - so that will be good to be on deck for (from Portside promenade deck if its raining / cold / snow 😃).  We will be on that deck for sailaway / fireworks, and if necessary go to the Buffet that night  😄.

Miami looks like a sea of terminals and a massive Highway alongside  - so I think its a question of finding other guests who have sailed into Miami before and getting their view / recommendation (its our first sail into Miami as well).

😄

 

I believe that 1st sitting is always the most popular choice, so I’m hopeful that we therefore won’t end up with it. We like to watch the departures from our balcony in our casual gear with no time prrssure, then get ready (which takes my wife a while), go for a pre-dinner drink and then dine at around 8.30pm. This still gives us plenty of time to get to see the 10.30pm show if we want to. As none of the other evening entertainment appeals, pre dinner drinks and dinner are our main evening activities, so if we dined at 6.30pm we would have far too much time to kill afterwards. 
 

I didn’t know about the potential for fireworks on departure. Thanks for the tip! Agree we need to get some first hand info on Miami cruise port, as we intend to DIY there. 

[Fionboard]

The Aurora NL cruise in March had two nights in Tromso and Alta. Same next year. Have booked it again as I enjoyed it so much. 

[Winifred 22]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

I believe that 1st sitting is always the most popular choice, so I’m hopeful that we therefore won’t end up with it. We like to watch the departures from our balcony in our casual gear with no time prrssure, then get ready (which takes my wife a while), go for a pre-dinner drink and then dine at around 8.30pm. This still gives us plenty of time to get to see the 10.30pm show if we want to. As none of the other evening entertainment appeals, pre dinner drinks and dinner are our main evening activities, so if we dined at 6.30pm we would have far too much time to kill afterwards. 
 

I didn’t know about the potential for fireworks on departure. Thanks for the tip! Agree we need to get some first hand info on Miami cruise port, as we intend to DIY there. 

I don’t think fireworks on departure from Southampton are done anymore but please someone correct me .