Itinerary change Aurora R817

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Gill W
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Itinerary change Aurora R817

#1

Post by Gill W »

Just about 4 and a half weeks until our USA and Canada cruise, and we've been notified of an itinerary change.

Quebec and Sydney(Nova Scotia) have been swopped round, so Quebec will be the last port, and it'll be six sea days back to Southampton, rather than five.

The reason for this is quite novel - The Canadian Government has decided to enforce speed restrictions in the Gulf of St Lawrence, due to a high number of endangered North Atlantic Right Whales in the area. Makes a change to 'too many ships in port'
Gill

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david63
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Re: Itinerary change Aurora R817

#2

Post by david63 »

The same (well similar) change with Arcadia J813 - leaving Quebec early afternoon instead of late afternoon.

I do believe that it is more important to protect a critically endangered species of whale than spend time in a port, after all you can always revisit a port but once the Right Whales become extinct that will be the end of them.

I hope P&O are ready for the compo claims - I bet that there will be many who have only gone on the cruise to visit Quebec and loosing a couple of hours will ruin the entire cruise.


Quizzical Bob
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Re: Itinerary change Aurora R817

#3

Post by Quizzical Bob »

A few years ago we did the North American trip on Aurora and it was a disaster. We missed three out of nine ports. Mind you, we had an extended stay in Quebec City which was not much use to anybody since all the trips had already been done. Seven sea days in a row on the way back got a bit tedious too.

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Popeye The Sailorman
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Re: Itinerary change Aurora R817

#4

Post by Popeye The Sailorman »

david63 wrote: 16 Aug 2018, 16:07
The same (well similar) change with Arcadia J813 - leaving Quebec early afternoon instead of late afternoon.

I do believe that it is more important to protect a critically endangered species of whale than spend time in a port, after all you can always revisit a port but once the Right Whales become extinct that will be the end of them.

I hope P&O are ready for the compo claims - I bet that there will be many who have only gone on the cruise to visit Quebec and loosing a couple of hours will ruin the entire cruise.
Did you receive an email about the change? We don't seem to have had anything...

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david63
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Re: Itinerary change Aurora R817

#5

Post by david63 »

Popeye The Sailorman wrote: 17 Aug 2018, 10:10
Did you receive an email about the change? We don't seem to have had anything...
Yes - did you book through a TA or direct with P&O?

If through a TA then they will have been informed and should have passed the information on to you!


AileenB
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Re: Itinerary change Aurora R817

#6

Post by AileenB »

Quizzical Bob refers to a "disaster" of a trip on Aurora a few years ago. We were also on this cruise in 2011. The only disaster might have been if the captain sent passengers ashore in tenders in thick fog (Rhode Island).Or leaving Quebec earlier to have to take shelter in the St Lawrence like the QM2. Or, it might have been the captain trying to get the through the notoriously difficult and extremely narrow entrance to St John, Newfoundland in high winds and seas. The ship missed Bar Harbour because the ship had a breakdown in Portland and had to stay for an extra day ...mostly because the ship could not sail on until the repair was checked over by Lloyds. I'd rather lose a port or two than the captain or the cruise company took any risks with the ship and its passengers and crew. :-)


Quizzical Bob
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Re: Itinerary change Aurora R817

#7

Post by Quizzical Bob »

AileenB wrote: 17 Aug 2018, 17:44
Quizzical Bob refers to a "disaster" of a trip on Aurora a few years ago. We were also on this cruise in 2011. The only disaster might have been if the captain sent passengers ashore in tenders in thick fog (Rhode Island).Or leaving Quebec earlier to have to take shelter in the St Lawrence like the QM2. Or, it might have been the captain trying to get the through the notoriously difficult and extremely narrow entrance to St John, Newfoundland in high winds and seas. The ship missed Bar Harbour because the ship had a breakdown in Portland and had to stay for an extra day ...mostly because the ship could not sail on until the repair was checked over by Lloyds. I'd rather lose a port or two than the captain or the cruise company took any risks with the ship and its passengers and crew. :-)
Yep, that sounds like a disastrous cruise to me.

The weather and swell at St. John's were relatively benign when we sailed past but by then the captain had experienced a bad time at Portland. There was a failure of a control board as we were leaving the dockside and as you rightly say this had to becreplaced and approved. The replacement was actually in the ship's stores. Something is wrong with the management systems.

We eventually visited St John's later on Crown Princess. The entrance is 80 metres wide but Aurora is a smaller ship than Princess.

Now you might think it was just bad luck in which case we've had a lot of bad luck with missed ports on P&O. We have now jumped ship.


AileenB
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Re: Itinerary change Aurora R817

#8

Post by AileenB »

Thanks for the laugh, Mr Bob! I always have a chuckle at those passengers who think they know more about navigation, sea state implications and general safety considerations than the ship's captain. The captain did have a bad time in Portland ... having to listen to passenger "engineers" who thought they could repair the ship!!! Really???


Quizzical Bob
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Re: Itinerary change Aurora R817

#9

Post by Quizzical Bob »

AileenB wrote: 18 Aug 2018, 08:46
Thanks for the laugh, Mr Bob! I always have a chuckle at those passengers who think they know more about navigation, sea state implications and general safety considerations than the ship's captain. The captain did have a bad time in Portland ... having to listen to passenger "engineers" who thought they could repair the ship!!! Really???
I am indeed a Chartered Engineer. I also know a lot about sea states and ships. I also know a badly managed company when I experience one.

But I don't want to get into a rerun of the debate about this particular cruise. I just wanted to point out that Quebec City has it's limitations.

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Mervyn and Trish
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Re: Itinerary change Aurora R817

#10

Post by Mervyn and Trish »

Quizzical Bob wrote: 18 Aug 2018, 23:00
AileenB wrote: 18 Aug 2018, 08:46
Thanks for the laugh, Mr Bob! I always have a chuckle at those passengers who think they know more about navigation, sea state implications and general safety considerations than the ship's captain. The captain did have a bad time in Portland ... having to listen to passenger "engineers" who thought they could repair the ship!!! Really???
I am indeed a Chartered Engineer. I also know a lot about sea states and ships. I also know a badly managed company when I experience one.

But I don't want to get into a rerun of the debate about this particular cruise. I just wanted to point out that Quebec City has it's limitations.
And hold a Master's Certificate? I don't know what your business is QB but I presume you are very good at it. How would you feel if a Sea Captain came in and said "I hold a Master's Certificate and know quite a lot about engineering, so I can run your company better than you"? :thumbdown:

I don't want to restart the debate either but I'd rather leave the decision making to the Captain than the passengers. :thumbup:
Last edited by Mervyn and Trish on 19 Aug 2018, 11:40, edited 1 time in total.


AileenB
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Re: Itinerary change Aurora R817

#11

Post by AileenB »

For Mervyn and Trish :clap:

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barney
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Re: Itinerary change Aurora R817

#12

Post by barney »

Ever so slightly off subject but I remember one cruise where the Master Robert Camby had a hell of a job docking in Gibraltar because of the wind.
I think this was on Oriana.
It took a good hour and he said afterwards that he was very near to giving up.
I'd always trust the Captain to do what is best.
Afterall, he has to live with the consequences, as did Captain Schettino of the Concordia
Empty vessels .. and all that

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Popeye The Sailorman
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Re: Itinerary change Aurora R817

#13

Post by Popeye The Sailorman »

david63 wrote: 17 Aug 2018, 11:07
Popeye The Sailorman wrote: 17 Aug 2018, 10:10
Did you receive an email about the change? We don't seem to have had anything...
Yes - did you book through a TA or direct with P&O?

If through a TA then they will have been informed and should have passed the information on to you!
Hi booked through Bolsover and they just emailed with the itinerary change .. :)


Quizzical Bob
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Re: Itinerary change Aurora R817

#14

Post by Quizzical Bob »

Mervyn and Trish wrote: 19 Aug 2018, 11:39
Quizzical Bob wrote: 18 Aug 2018, 23:00
AileenB wrote: 18 Aug 2018, 08:46
Thanks for the laugh, Mr Bob! I always have a chuckle at those passengers who think they know more about navigation, sea state implications and general safety considerations than the ship's captain. The captain did have a bad time in Portland ... having to listen to passenger "engineers" who thought they could repair the ship!!! Really???
I am indeed a Chartered Engineer. I also know a lot about sea states and ships. I also know a badly managed company when I experience one.

But I don't want to get into a rerun of the debate about this particular cruise. I just wanted to point out that Quebec City has it's limitations.
And hold a Master's Certificate? I don't know what your business is QB but I presume you are very good at it. How would you feel if a Sea Captain came in and said "I hold a Master's Certificate and know quite a lot about engineering, so I can run your company better than you"? :thumbdown:

I don't want to restart the debate either but I'd rather leave the decision making to the Captain than the passengers. :thumbup:
That’s not what I said and not what I implied.

I may not be qualified to captain a ship but I know when a company is being well run and I know when I’m being told porkies.

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