why is an advertised port of call changed

Topics that are specific to cruising
User avatar

Topic author
Ray B
Senior First Officer
Senior First Officer
Posts: 2261
Joined: January 2013

why is an advertised port of call changed

#1

Post by Ray B »

An interesting post on another forum has cause for a little concern. It is alleged that a port of call in the Norwegian Fjords that Britannia was due to call, was changed by Carnival in favour of Cunard . An extract of the post thus-:

a clearly irate port manager provided me with chapter and verse on what had happened!

He gave me the specific dates that the bookings had originally been made and the dates that they had been cancelled, by whom and for what reasons. In summary, Carnival Group had unilateraly requested that Britannia’s port call was cancelled in lieu of one of the Cunard ships. So we were bumped by Carnival and not the port. He also informed me that he found the whole thing frustrating as Britannia had been cancelled 6 times that year alone!

Then, the icing on the cake was that Carnival had cancelled Britannia’s port calls 9 months before the cruise, yet continued to market the cruise as Flaam and Olden right up until we were notified, which was just 3 months before sailing.

Now I can understand that if a port, due to an operational problem cannot except a ship for reasons other than alleged, then the cruise line cannot do much about it but to inform its passengers honestly. Is this practice really going on ? Is it just PandO or does Carnival bump other lines? I would not be happy to find my cruise itinerary changed in favour of Carnivals other lines without a damn good explanation, oh and a bit of compo, must not forget the compo. The cruises are advertised with ports that is normally the main reason for booking.
So does anyone know if the allegations are true. Do they really tell the truth, no matter what cruise line you are on, when a port of call is changed.
Don't worry, be happy

User avatar

Stephen
Commodore
Commodore
Posts: 15926
Joined: January 2013
Location: Down Souf. The civilised end of the country :)

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#2

Post by Stephen »

Definitely compo Ray, and lots of it. And forward the correspondence onto Carnival and P&O and see what they're reaction is. Oh, and not forgetting the tabloids.

I know I would be peeved off it were me.
Last edited by Stephen on 08 Nov 2017, 12:41, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar

qbman1
Captain
Captain
Posts: 12153
Joined: January 2013
Location: Oxfordshire

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#3

Post by qbman1 »

We had a late change from Flaam to Olden "for operational reasons" a couple of years back but who knows whether that was genuine? I suppose they could be marketing cruises to the more popular destinations whilst knowing they will never have a hope in hell of calling there so, at best, that is certainly sharp practise


Quizzical Bob
Senior First Officer
Senior First Officer
Posts: 3951
Joined: January 2013

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#4

Post by Quizzical Bob »

Changing or cancelling ports drives me up the wall and is the main reason why we have now (mainly) jumped ship and gone to Princess. We have sufered so many late changes that there is not room enough to list them all here but the most recent was last year on Aurora's last leg from Cape Town to Southampton. It was only whilst in the airline lounge in Doha that I received an email telling us that our cruise was not going to call into the Gambia after all and that Madeira had been substituted. The reason given was to the effect that when P&O had done their checks for the port they found out that it wasn't suitable for the ship. Now this was for a world cruise which had been in the planning for years before. On talking to other passengers it turned out that many had been allowed to board on an earlier leg despite not having had yellow fever vaccinations and we suspect that this was the main reason. The ship had missed several calls before Cape Town and the whole cruise was a complete shambles. They weren't allowed to dock in Port Elizabeth for some reason and turned up in Cape Town a whole day early but nobody was allowed off until 17:30 because all the necessary documents were up in Johannesburg or somewhere.

I have lost count of the places that we should have visited but now, unfortunatey, never shall

User avatar

Stephen
Commodore
Commodore
Posts: 15926
Joined: January 2013
Location: Down Souf. The civilised end of the country :)

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#5

Post by Stephen »

It'll be interesting to see if and what changes they make to our first trip to the Fjords next year on Britannia.

Printing compo forms off in readiness.


daib GC
Senior Second Officer
Senior Second Officer
Posts: 666
Joined: February 2013
Location: North East

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#6

Post by daib GC »

Ray B wrote: 08 Nov 2017, 12:26
An interesting post on another forum has cause for a little concern. It is alleged that a port of call in the Norwegian Fjords that Britannia was due to call, was changed by Carnival in favour of Cunard . An extract of the post thus-:

a clearly irate port manager provided me with chapter and verse on what had happened!

He gave me the specific dates that the bookings had originally been made and the dates that they had been cancelled, by whom and for what reasons. In summary, Carnival Group had unilateraly requested that Britannia’s port call was cancelled in lieu of one of the Cunard ships. So we were bumped by Carnival and not the port. He also informed me that he found the whole thing frustrating as Britannia had been cancelled 6 times that year alone!

Then, the icing on the cake was that Carnival had cancelled Britannia’s port calls 9 months before the cruise, yet continued to market the cruise as Flaam and Olden right up until we were notified, which was just 3 months before sailing.

Now I can understand that if a port, due to an operational problem cannot except a ship for reasons other than alleged, then the cruise line cannot do much about it but to inform its passengers honestly. Is this practice really going on ? Is it just PandO or does Carnival bump other lines? I would not be happy to find my cruise itinerary changed in favour of Carnivals other lines without a damn good explanation, oh and a bit of compo, must not forget the compo. The cruises are advertised with ports that is normally the main reason for booking.
So does anyone know if the allegations are true. Do they really tell the truth, no matter what cruise line you are on, when a port of call is changed.
Ray,

Do you know how old this story is? I do tend to look at a lot of posts and this has not come up this year. On the other hand it seemed to happen a lot the year before. What is new is the bit about Carnival swapping ships and Britannia missing out.it is noticeable that in the next few years Cunard are doing more northerly cruises and fewer in the Med. You would think that the Cruise schedule for both lines should be done by the same team as they are in the same office.ey share Captains and senior staff so why not information.
Last edited by daib GC on 08 Nov 2017, 19:08, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar

Topic author
Ray B
Senior First Officer
Senior First Officer
Posts: 2261
Joined: January 2013

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#7

Post by Ray B »

daib GC , I have not come across this story before, but yes, there are lots of 'stories' doing the rounds. As I stated, the content is alleged but thought it was of interest to make a posting, to maybe stimulate a response, as a change of port is more than likely excepted without question.
As you say about how they work out the schedules being in the same office, at the back of my mind is, are Carnival trying to do PandO down.
Don't worry, be happy

User avatar

wolfie
First Officer
First Officer
Posts: 1029
Joined: January 2013

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#8

Post by wolfie »

Quizzical Bob wrote: 08 Nov 2017, 13:17
Changing or cancelling ports drives me up the wall and is the main reason why we have now (mainly) jumped ship and gone to Princess. We have sufered so many late changes that there is not room enough to list them all here but the most recent was last year on Aurora's last leg from Cape Town to Southampton. It was only whilst in the airline lounge in Doha that I received an email telling us that our cruise was not going to call into the Gambia after all and that Madeira had been substituted. The reason given was to the effect that when P&O had done their checks for the port they found out that it wasn't suitable for the ship. Now this was for a world cruise which had been in the planning for years before. On talking to other passengers it turned out that many had been allowed to board on an earlier leg despite not having had yellow fever vaccinations and we suspect that this was the main reason. The ship had missed several calls before Cape Town and the whole cruise was a complete shambles. They weren't allowed to dock in Port Elizabeth for some reason and turned up in Cape Town a whole day early but nobody was allowed off until 17:30 because all the necessary documents were up in Johannesburg or somewhere.

I have lost count of the places that we should have visited but now, unfortunatey, never shall
They would not have been allowed to board in the first instance if they did not have the right documentation/ vaccination criteria completed; for example visas for India and other countries that require visas or vaccination certificates. Such lack of necessary documentation puts the whole ship at jeopardy of being refused entry and docking.

User avatar

bassman67
Second Officer
Second Officer
Posts: 266
Joined: January 2013
Location: Cambridge

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#9

Post by bassman67 »

As I've said on earlier postings, our Oceana cruise in the Aegean was changed by P&O last year to exclude Kusadasi, Turkey "due to political unrest", meaning that we could not visit Ephesus. Of, course, "due to logistical reasons" we were unable to visit Santorini, either. Instead we had to put up with Katakolon ( a run-down fishing village, like a poor copy of Jaywick) and Sarande, Albania (words fail me on that one!). P&O offered us any other cruise if we were unhappy about this, providing it was within 12 months and cost more! For this reason, plus the horrendous flight to Malta, we are sailing with a different cruise line in 2018. Sorry P&O, but here's two customers that you no longer delight after 15 years of loyalty!


CaroleF
First Officer
First Officer
Posts: 1857
Joined: January 2013
Location: Hampshire

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#10

Post by CaroleF »

We are doing a two week Oceana cruise next September to Malta. We were calling at Kusadasi but it has been altered to Heraklion in Crete which we are pleased about as we've been to Kusadasi but never been to Crete. When we went to Katakolon we had a fantastic trip to a vineyard where we saw the old and new methods of production. We then spent a lovely couple of hours where tables had been set up under the trees and we had wine, cheese, various meats, breads and all sorts of extras. We remember that with great fondness. I agree Katakolon itself is not wonderful but like many ports you have to go outside the port to see something of the rest of the area.

User avatar

GillD46
Senior First Officer
Senior First Officer
Posts: 3364
Joined: January 2013
Location: Gower Peninsula, South Wales

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#11

Post by GillD46 »

I think Katakolon is charming and love calling there.
Gill


Quizzical Bob
Senior First Officer
Senior First Officer
Posts: 3951
Joined: January 2013

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#12

Post by Quizzical Bob »

wolfie wrote: 08 Nov 2017, 23:21
They would not have been allowed to board in the first instance if they did not have the right documentation/ vaccination criteria completed; for example visas for India and other countries that require visas or vaccination certificates. Such lack of necessary documentation puts the whole ship at jeopardy of being refused entry and docking.
Yes, that's why I think that The Gambia was cancelled at the last moment, that there were too many people including crew who had got on in the Far East without their yellow fever certificates. When speaking to passengers who had boarded out in China (or somewhere) they told us that they had never been asked for their yellow fever proofs. We never did hear the true reason for it apart from "that was a mistake" but to spin some tale about 'When we did our final checks we found at that the approaches to the port weren't suitable' is not credible.

User avatar

Meg 50
Senior First Officer
Senior First Officer
Posts: 2266
Joined: January 2013
Location: sarf London

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#13

Post by Meg 50 »

one cruise - all ports other than the first and last were shifted - because of a pending anti cruise liner demo in Venice the whole lot were rearranged. Demo went ahead without us!

Another, we missed one cos tendering impossible, so they moved us a few miles up the coast - trips went ahead as planned

Last one, Kusadasi and Heraklion were replaced by Katakolon (which we didn't much like) and Sarande (which apart from the beggars, was a pleasant surprise)
Meg
x

User avatar

Manoverboard
Ex Team Member
Posts: 13014
Joined: January 2013
Location: Dorset

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#14

Post by Manoverboard »

We have regrettably ' missed ' quite a number of Ports with P&O for reasons that were not weather related, yet we missed none at all when cruising with Festival, Ocean Village, Costa, Celebrity, Princess, Fred, Voyages of Discovery etc ... ?

Just saying :thumbdown:
Keep smiling, it's good for your well being


daib GC
Senior Second Officer
Senior Second Officer
Posts: 666
Joined: February 2013
Location: North East

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#15

Post by daib GC »

Manoverboard wrote: 13 Nov 2017, 16:20
We have regrettably ' missed ' quite a number of Ports with P&O for reasons that were not weather related, yet we missed none at all when cruising with Festival, Ocean Village, Costa, Celebrity, Princess, Fred, Voyages of Discovery etc ... ?

Just saying :thumbdown:
That got me thinking and I cannot think of one port we have missed which has not been weather related. Apart from Le Havre on our last cruise which was cancelled due to a dockers strike.

So in 40+ Cruises that is none. We must be very lucky or you are very unlucky.


Just saying.

:) 8-) 8-)


daib GC
Senior Second Officer
Senior Second Officer
Posts: 666
Joined: February 2013
Location: North East

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#16

Post by daib GC »

daib GC wrote: 14 Nov 2017, 10:10
Manoverboard wrote: 13 Nov 2017, 16:20
We have regrettably ' missed ' quite a number of Ports with P&O for reasons that were not weather related, yet we missed none at all when cruising with Festival, Ocean Village, Costa, Celebrity, Princess, Fred, Voyages of Discovery etc ... ?

Just saying :thumbdown:
That got me thinking and I cannot think of one port we have missed which has not been weather related. Apart from Le Havre on our last cruise which was cancelled due to a dockers strike.

So in 40+ Cruises that is none. We must be very lucky or you are very unlucky.


Just saying.

:) 8-) 8-)


Just remembered. On Crown Princess we missed out Genoa and were not given the reason at all. But it was not the weather.


Quizzical Bob
Senior First Officer
Senior First Officer
Posts: 3951
Joined: January 2013

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#17

Post by Quizzical Bob »

daib GC wrote: 14 Nov 2017, 10:10
Manoverboard wrote: 13 Nov 2017, 16:20
We have regrettably ' missed ' quite a number of Ports with P&O for reasons that were not weather related, yet we missed none at all when cruising with Festival, Ocean Village, Costa, Celebrity, Princess, Fred, Voyages of Discovery etc ... ?

Just saying :thumbdown:
That got me thinking and I cannot think of one port we have missed which has not been weather related. Apart from Le Havre on our last cruise which was cancelled due to a dockers strike.

So in 40+ Cruises that is none. We must be very lucky or you are very unlucky.


Just saying.

:) 8-) 8-)
Not weather related? Ooh, where do I start...

Tripoli, The Gambia, Bar Harbor, Newfoundland, Charleston, Jacksonville, one in the Red Sea whose name escapes me, Port Suez, Punta Delgada (medical emergency). There are some others too.

User avatar

Manoverboard
Ex Team Member
Posts: 13014
Joined: January 2013
Location: Dorset

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#18

Post by Manoverboard »

daib GC wrote: 14 Nov 2017, 10:10
Manoverboard wrote: 13 Nov 2017, 16:20
We have regrettably ' missed ' quite a number of Ports with P&O for reasons that were not weather related, yet we missed none at all when cruising with Festival, Ocean Village, Costa, Celebrity, Princess, Fred, Voyages of Discovery etc ... ?

Just saying
That got me thinking and I cannot think of one port we have missed which has not been weather related. Apart from Le Havre on our last cruise which was cancelled due to a dockers strike.

So in 40+ Cruises that is none. We must be very lucky or you are very unlucky.
Luck doesn't come into it .... unfortunately.

Of those missed or time reduced the majority were, for us, on World Segments or places that were ( for P&O ) off the beaten track. So, young Dai, could it be that your 40+ cruises were all visiting the Caribbean Islands rather than Lesbos, Buenos Aires or Chennai etc ? :lol:

Just asking :wave:
Keep smiling, it's good for your well being

User avatar

Mervyn and Trish
Commodore
Commodore
Posts: 15262
Joined: February 2013

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#19

Post by Mervyn and Trish »

daib GC wrote: 14 Nov 2017, 10:10
Manoverboard wrote: 13 Nov 2017, 16:20
We have regrettably ' missed ' quite a number of Ports with P&O for reasons that were not weather related, yet we missed none at all when cruising with Festival, Ocean Village, Costa, Celebrity, Princess, Fred, Voyages of Discovery etc ... ?

Just saying :thumbdown:
That got me thinking and I cannot think of one port we have missed which has not been weather related. Apart from Le Havre on our last cruise which was cancelled due to a dockers strike.

So in 40+ Cruises that is none. We must be very lucky or you are very unlucky.


Just saying.

:) 8-) 8-)
Same here Dai. In more than 200 days with P & O we have missed 2 ports. Both weather related. Maybe ports close when they hear Moby is aboard. Just saying too......
Last edited by Mervyn and Trish on 14 Nov 2017, 17:18, edited 1 time in total.


daib GC
Senior Second Officer
Senior Second Officer
Posts: 666
Joined: February 2013
Location: North East

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#20

Post by daib GC »

Manoverboard wrote: 14 Nov 2017, 13:26
daib GC wrote: 14 Nov 2017, 10:10
Manoverboard wrote: 13 Nov 2017, 16:20
We have regrettably ' missed ' quite a number of Ports with P&O for reasons that were not weather related, yet we missed none at all when cruising with Festival, Ocean Village, Costa, Celebrity, Princess, Fred, Voyages of Discovery etc ... ?

Just saying
That got me thinking and I cannot think of one port we have missed which has not been weather related. Apart from Le Havre on our last cruise which was cancelled due to a dockers strike.

So in 40+ Cruises that is none. We must be very lucky or you are very unlucky.
Luck doesn't come into it .... unfortunately.

Of those missed or time reduced the majority were, for us, on World Segments or places that were ( for P&O ) off the beaten track. So, young Dai, could it be that your 40+ cruises were all visiting the Caribbean Islands rather than Lesbos, Buenos Aires or Chennai etc ? :lol:

Just asking :wave:
Well All from Southampton 100+ ports from honningsvag to Yalta to Quebec’s ant the Caribbean. I am so sorry non of mine were cancelled and yours were.

User avatar

Manoverboard
Ex Team Member
Posts: 13014
Joined: January 2013
Location: Dorset

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#21

Post by Manoverboard »

You P&O boyos do stick together, I bet if you both went on a cruise and P&O cancelled ALL the Ports you wouldn't opt to tell us.

:lol: :wave:
Keep smiling, it's good for your well being


daib GC
Senior Second Officer
Senior Second Officer
Posts: 666
Joined: February 2013
Location: North East

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#22

Post by daib GC »

Manoverboard wrote: 15 Nov 2017, 09:45
You P&O boyos do stick together, I bet if you both went on a cruise and P&O cancelled ALL the Ports you wouldn't opt to tell us.

:lol: :wave:
No I would tell you how much I enjoyed my cruise without those interfering ports. I would brag about it. Our second cruise only got to two out of 4 ports, weather related problems, we had a great cruise. Even in the force 10/11.

I did not even mind Princess missing Genoa.

Happy cruising.

User avatar

Mervyn and Trish
Commodore
Commodore
Posts: 15262
Joined: February 2013

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#23

Post by Mervyn and Trish »

Manoverboard wrote: 15 Nov 2017, 09:45
You P&O boyos do stick together, I bet if you both went on a cruise and P&O cancelled ALL the Ports you wouldn't opt to tell us.

:lol: :wave:
Well I do hope that's not even a hint of dishonesty Moby, because that would be a foul slur for which I hope the Modplods would duly reprimand you! :thumbup:

For clarity, however, under cross examination, the two we missed were Vigo when the wind was so strong we couldn't get off the berth in Lisbon, the previous port of call, so we stayed overnight. The next day it still took two tugs at full stretch at 90 degrees to the ship to get us off and keep us clear until under way and through the bridge. And Malaga on the Azura maiden when the port was actually closed to all be local ferries. On that day we proceeded to Palma where we had a replacement call with a full programme of tours arranged at short notice.
Last edited by Mervyn and Trish on 15 Nov 2017, 15:11, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar

JillD66
Second Officer
Second Officer
Posts: 229
Joined: February 2013

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#24

Post by JillD66 »

We had 3 ports changed in October on the Oriana cruise to Venice - oops sorry make that Trieste!

Apparently Venice was fog bound and so we spent a long day in Trieste - which enabled people who wanted to see Venice to travel 2hrs/3hrs by train and same time back! Disappointing for us who were expecting to dock at Ravenna, which was cancelled, and visit the Ferrari museum at Maranello.

Third port to be cancelled was Kotor - a beautiful place accessed by tender - due to some bad weather in Southern Italy.

However, we were then informed that the Oriana would be staying in Catania Sicily for 2 days again due to the weather. Please note that we had already been to Messina, 50 miles further north a few days previously. Mutiny was very close!

An additional port was squeezed in before Gibraltar and a half day was spent in Cartagena which was excellent.

Now, without boasting - we have been on a fair few P & O cruises and have probably only had 3 port changes in many years. We appreciate that "the safety and comfort of all guests" is paramount but surely some of the changes could have been better managed. Perhaps Sicily offered extra cheap port rates for 2,000 unexpected "guests" or is that a bit cynical?

If the cruise had been advertised as 3 days in Sicily - we would have booked a different one!

User avatar

Kenmo1
First Officer
First Officer
Posts: 1963
Joined: January 2013

Re: why is an advertised port of call changed

#25

Post by Kenmo1 »

JillD66 wrote: 15 Nov 2017, 16:29
If the cruise had been advertised as 3 days in Sicily - we would have booked a different one!
We were also on that Oriana cruise, Jill. In my review I did say that it was difficult to decide whether Messina or Catania is the most dismal. It certainly made us appreciate where we live but I suppose if you live that close to a volcano which could erupt at any time, you don't bother spending too much money on your accommodation and you learn to ignore the graffiti. I did read one review on another forum which called Catania 'a hell-hole' ---I thought that was a bit over the top-- just 'hole' would have summed it up nicely. ;)

We did book the cruise for Ravenna and Kotor as we really wanted to go there. I was very disappointed but I resisted the urge to join in the rumblings in the launderette. There were all sorts of rumours and moans about the changes. Still, we will have to book another cruise to try to visit them.

Return to “Cruise Specific Discussion”