no eastern med cruises

[Gerrym]

I do agree that there are far too few cruises taking in the Eastern Mediterranean next year and there seem to be too many that do the 'usual suspect' destinations of Canary Islands and traditional Med ports such as Civitavecchia and Barcelona.

 

Feebee_71 :)

 

 

I dare say that is because the cruises to Canary Islands and normal Med destinations are more profitable for P&O, can't think of another reason why they do not go to the eastern end of the Med very often. I would be on P&O rather than Celebrity next year if they did.

 

I think the problem that P&O may find though is that their cruises will only appeal to first timers and those that have done the Med once or twice will have visited all of their ports of call. It seems it is not an issue for P&O currently though.

 

 

 

Gerry

[davecttr]

P&O are part of the Carnival corporation and perhaps this is why there are no eastern med cruises. Carnival have other lines including Princess offering fly cruises in the area and see no need to duplicate itineries if the market segment is already adequately covered. They may also consider that the P&O experience is more attractive to the older passenger who is happy with days at sea rather than destination intensive cruises for the hyperactive young uns!.

 

I would still like to see Marseille used as a base because of the fast train connections but obviously there is no demand for this as no one has done it yet.

[tom_uk]

I have a feeling that P&O will move to doing fly-cruises in the Mediterranean, and I wouldn't be surprised if they use the arrival of Ventura's sister in 2010 to do so. As to which ship - my guess is that it would be one of: Oceana 9if she's still in the fleet); Arcadia; Ventura; or Ventura'a sister. These ships are more suitable for full-time cruising in the Mediterranean, being both larger in size and having a lot of balcony cabins.

 

As to why: well, that seems to be the way the industry is moving. I believe that Cunard are going to base either Queen Vic or Queen Elizabeth in the Med, at least in summer time. Fred Olsen, also, are from this summer starting to base a ship there: it will be Balmoral for the first part of this summer, followed by Braemar in late July (post-stretch). In 2009 I think it'll be Braemar all summer.

 

My conclusion is that P&O has to respond to this. And if there is a P&O ship based in the Med then cruises with 4, 5 or 6 ports of call in the Eastern Med become much more likely.

[jeanlyon]

I think the big decent companies will still sail a lot from the UK, because who wants to fly these days :-( My friend is a flight attendant. She just took 100 passengers to Miami to join a cruise - guess what - no baggage went with them.

[daiB]

P&O are part of the Carnival corporation and perhaps this is why there are no eastern med cruises. Carnival have other lines including Princess offering fly cruises in the area and see no need to duplicate itineries if the market segment is already adequately covered. They may also consider that the P&O experience is more attractive to the older passenger who is happy with days at sea rather than destination intensive cruises for the hyperactive young uns!.

 

I would still like to see Marseille used as a base because of the fast train connections but obviously there is no demand for this as no one has done it yet.

 

 

 

Hi Dave,

 

This has little to do with Carnival and far more to do with what P&O traditionally do. You will notice that there is far more variety in the cruises each P&O ship does than in most cruise lines. Each ship goes to the Med., to the Baltic, the Canaries and so on.

 

The Greek Isles have never been a regular destination.

 

Now with the development of the fleet it may be that the expand into these areas but I feel that it will continue to be sailing from Southampton.

 

 

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

 

 

 

:cool:

 

Dai

[graham44]

I think the big decent companies will still sail a lot from the UK, because who wants to fly these days .

 

But as davetheroad says, that would be the great advantage of Marseille - fast rail connection from UK with no flying and opportunity to take plenty of luggage! I guess French-speaking cruises must operate from there, but I believe there must be a market for English ones too, giving easy access to the Eastern Med and Black Sea.

 

Graham.

[davecttr]

But as davetheroad says, that would be the great advantage of Marseille - fast rail connection from UK with no flying and opportunity to take plenty of luggage! I guess French-speaking cruises must operate from there, but I believe there must be a market for English ones too, giving easy access to the Eastern Med and Black Sea.

 

Graham.

Apparently Costa cruises sail from there for a Italian experience plus RCI are starting a French line with the Holiday Dream. The port has several berths available for ships up to 300m so no problem there except no English speaking lines. I have found a direct London to Avignon Eurostar service which operates summer Saturdays so there should be no problem running direct to Marseille as it is the next stop!.

 

Perhaps in a few years we will have direct departures from London in late morning arriving in Marseille late afternoon so you are aboard within the hour. I suspect block bookings would bring the price below the current London/Avignon price of £99. Here's hoping........:)

[graham44]

Perhaps in a few years we will have direct departures from London in late morning arriving in Marseille late afternoon so you are aboard within the hour. I suspect block bookings would bring the price below the current London/Avignon price of £99. Here's hoping........:)

 

That sounds really good to me! :cool:

[southwinds]

Cunard's Victoria... will do that area, as they do fly cruises around that part of the Med. Shame is it takes over two weeks to cover that area from SOuthampton.

WHen P&O had a Victoria that would do fly cruises from Venice and cover lots of Greek islands I do wish P&O would start them again.

[BrianI]

We have done the same 18 day cruise to the eastern med for the last two years on Aurora and Oriana in late November. Each time the weather has been superb. This year its X819 on Oriana to Malaga, Port Said (for Cairo/Pyramids), Limassol (Cyprus), Kusadasi (Ephasus), Athens, Cagliari, Cadiz. Last year was probably the best ever cruise we have had as it had the bonus of being a Musical cruise with Richard Baker on board and we still had the "normal" P&O entertainment. Due to the time of year it always seems to be reasonably priced so if you can go at that time of the year go for it.

Brian

[Gerrym]

We have done the same 18 day cruise to the eastern med for the last two years on Aurora and Oriana in late November. Each time the weather has been superb. This year its X819 on Oriana to Malaga, Port Said (for Cairo/Pyramids), Limassol (Cyprus), Kusadasi (Ephasus), Athens, Cagliari, Cadiz. Last year was probably the best ever cruise we have had as it had the bonus of being a Musical cruise with Richard Baker on board and we still had the "normal" P&O entertainment. Due to the time of year it always seems to be reasonably priced so if you can go at that time of the year go for it.

Brian

 

 

Sounds a lovely cruise but at £2,550 for cheapest (balcony) cabin, I think that is expensive for an October cruise.

 

 

G

[Host Sharon]

I do want to see Athens, Santorini, Ephasus etc which pando don't visit which is a pity as I would like to stick to British!. Celebrity do have a cruise from Rome which ticks all the destination boxes at approx £2100 for 10 nights solo plus the return train fare to Rome of approx £500 which at an approx price of £2600 is less than the pando single supplement rates.

 

I still hope to take in a couple of pando cruises next year, perhaps a biggy to the baltic and a taster to Spain or perhaps the Canaries which I would really like to visit before half of it falls into the sea:eek:

 

Actually I would like to visit lots of places and 2 cruises a year would see me OK until I am 65 when if fit enough I would like to try a round the world, I should be a experienced cruiser by then:)

 

There's a nice 26 night Artemis eastern med cruise 5-31 Oct next year. I did an 18 nighter on Oriana to Athens, Ephesus, Rhodes, Cyprus, Egypt etc a couple of years ago and it was wonderful.

[StLucia]

There's a nice 26 night Artemis eastern med cruise 5-31 Oct next year. I did an 18 nighter on Oriana to Athens, Ephesus, Rhodes, Cyprus, Egypt etc a couple of years ago and it was wonderful.

A 26 night cruise is not practical for those at work. Celebrity really do seem to have the best offers, we're looking at Solstice for Oct, though we would much prefer to stay with pando.

[tom_uk]

A 26 night cruise is not practical for those at work. Celebrity really do seem to have the best offers, we're looking at Solstice for Oct, though we would much prefer to stay with pando.

 

I agree, it's the time factor that's important.

 

I see that Cunard are in fact doing fly-cruising in the Mediterranean this summer. Queen Victoria will be doing a series of 12-night cruises out of Barcelona, Rome, & Venice from August through to November, but they seem expensive. I also see that she's not scheduled to repeat them in 2009. Perhaps next year she's doing the cruises that QEII is doing this year, and the Med fly-cruises are a 'third Queen' innovation. If so we can expect them to reappear when Queen Elizabeth arrives in 2010.

[daiB]

I agree, it's the time factor that's important.

 

I see that Cunard are in fact doing fly-cruising in the Mediterranean this summer. Queen Victoria will be doing a series of 12-night cruises out of Barcelona, Rome, & Venice from August through to November, but they seem expensive. I also see that she's not scheduled to repeat them in 2009. Perhaps next year she's doing the cruises that QEII is doing this year, and the Med fly-cruises are a 'third Queen' innovation. If so we can expect them to reappear when Queen Elizabeth arrives in 2010.

 

 

 

Hi Tom,

 

Although not for us as we like the long trip through the bay and lots of sea days, I can see that with the expansion of the fleets there would be a market for this type of cruise to give a degree of variety.

 

 

 

:):)Happy Cruising:):)

 

 

:cool:

 

 

Dai

[Gerrym]

A 26 night cruise is not practical for those at work. Celebrity really do seem to have the best offers, we're looking at Solstice for Oct, though we would much prefer to stay with pando.

 

 

Yep, same problem I had and have now booked Solstice for next May as P&O did not really have a comparable alternative for us.

 

G

[Host Sharon]

Obviously I am very lucky in that my employer agreed to a 25 nighter this year, but P&O still do the 17-18 night cruises to the Eastern Med., fortunately for those of us who don't fly!

[jeanlyon]

Yes I'm lucky too as although I work, I only work part-time and they never mind how long I go for. The other half of my job just does full time while I'm away.

[aggietd]

Hi,

Those of us who were bemoaning the lack of Eastern Med, might be interested in this.

 

I am booked on Celebrity Eqinox next Oct, okay we have to go to Rome, but that is not that bad and the itinery is really very good, including Alexandria, and two stops in Israel. places that I have read about and wanted to visit without spending a whole holiday there, and here is the best bit, the discounts at the moment are fantastic, well worth a second look.

 

Nancy

[StLucia]

Hi,

Those of us who were bemoaning the lack of Eastern Med, might be interested in this.

 

I am booked on Celebrity Eqinox next Oct, okay we have to go to Rome, but that is not that bad and the itinery is really very good, including Alexandria, and two stops in Israel. places that I have read about and wanted to visit without spending a whole holiday there, and here is the best bit, the discounts at the moment are fantastic, well worth a second look.

 

Nancy

Just booked Celebrity Solstice for the eastern med. A good centre balcony at a very good price. Very sorry we could not stay with P&O, but for price and ports this was too good to miss. We shall put this one in the back pocket and look foward to Ventura this October.