Changes to Itineraries
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Topic author - Senior First Officer
- Posts: 4897
- Joined: January 2013
- Location: Kent
Changes to Itineraries
I'm convinced that, these days, the original itinerary at the time of booking nearly always undergoes some sort of material change by the time it comes to sailing.
For example, we're going on Oriana on Sunday.
The original itinerary, booked last year was
21 Aug - Southampton
22 Aug - At sea
23 Aug - Greenock
24 Aug - Portree
25 Aug - sail by Cape Wrath
26 Aug - Kirkwall
27 Aug - Stornoway
28 Aug - Belfast
29 Aug - Dublin
30 Aug - Cobh
31 Aug - sail by south Cornwall
1 Sep - Guernsey
2 Sep - Southampton
But it is now
21 Aug - Southampton
22 Aug - Guernsey
23 Aug - sail by South Cornwall
24 Aug - Ringaskiddy
25 Aug - Dublin
26 Aug - Belfast
27 Aug - Stornoway
28 Aug - Kirkwall
29 Aug - Kirkwall & sail by Cape Wrath
30 Aug - Portree
31 Aug - Greenock
1 Sep - at sea
2 Sep - Southampton
The only thing that has stayed the same is the 27 Aug visit to Stornoway!
I'm particularly disappointed with Cobh being replaced by Ringaskiddy. Ringaskiddy is an industrial port, not far from Cobh as the crow flies, but 20 miles by local bus.
Also, the overnight in Kirkwall does NOT make up for the over night in Charleston that was dropped from my last cruise!
For example, we're going on Oriana on Sunday.
The original itinerary, booked last year was
21 Aug - Southampton
22 Aug - At sea
23 Aug - Greenock
24 Aug - Portree
25 Aug - sail by Cape Wrath
26 Aug - Kirkwall
27 Aug - Stornoway
28 Aug - Belfast
29 Aug - Dublin
30 Aug - Cobh
31 Aug - sail by south Cornwall
1 Sep - Guernsey
2 Sep - Southampton
But it is now
21 Aug - Southampton
22 Aug - Guernsey
23 Aug - sail by South Cornwall
24 Aug - Ringaskiddy
25 Aug - Dublin
26 Aug - Belfast
27 Aug - Stornoway
28 Aug - Kirkwall
29 Aug - Kirkwall & sail by Cape Wrath
30 Aug - Portree
31 Aug - Greenock
1 Sep - at sea
2 Sep - Southampton
The only thing that has stayed the same is the 27 Aug visit to Stornoway!
I'm particularly disappointed with Cobh being replaced by Ringaskiddy. Ringaskiddy is an industrial port, not far from Cobh as the crow flies, but 20 miles by local bus.
Also, the overnight in Kirkwall does NOT make up for the over night in Charleston that was dropped from my last cruise!
Gill
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- Commodore
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- Location: Down Souf. The civilised end of the country :)
Re: Changes to Itineraries
It would be nice to know WHY it has changed.
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- Senior First Officer
- Posts: 3364
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- Location: Gower Peninsula, South Wales
Re: Changes to Itineraries
We are on QV on b2b and the itinerary has changed for each cruise TWICE! Now, neither bear any resemblance to the original itineraries, but as both involved Turkey, it's very understandable.
No matter, we're going for sun, sea and sand so what we have now is probably better!
No matter, we're going for sun, sea and sand so what we have now is probably better!
Gill
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- First Officer
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- Location: Gower, Swansea
Re: Changes to Itineraries
It would be interesting to know why the British Isles cruise itinerary has changed.
Lindsey
Lindsey
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- Commodore
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Re: Changes to Itineraries
Apart from the one changed port that looks largely to be going in the opposite direction, with most of the same ports but in a different order, which wouldn't unduly bother me.
I think one change over the years has been there are a lot more ships now so ports are much more crowded. The only change we had on our recent trip was for that reason, to dodge a very busy day at one port. We got all the same ports but with a change of an overmight stop. Maybe the reason for this one was similar and Cobh wasn't free on the new date?
I think one change over the years has been there are a lot more ships now so ports are much more crowded. The only change we had on our recent trip was for that reason, to dodge a very busy day at one port. We got all the same ports but with a change of an overmight stop. Maybe the reason for this one was similar and Cobh wasn't free on the new date?
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- Senior Second Officer
- Posts: 669
- Joined: December 2014
Re: Changes to Itineraries
Bit like Eric Morecambe playing the pianoMervyn and Trish wrote:Apart from the one changed port that looks largely to be going in the opposite direction, with most of the same ports but in a different order, which wouldn't unduly bother me.
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- Senior First Officer
- Posts: 2266
- Joined: January 2013
- Location: sarf London
Re: Changes to Itineraries
I get the feeling that the itineraries are published before the berths are booked - and then a bigger payer gets in first , so like a little mouse P&O scuttles to the back of the queue and rewrites its itinerary
Meg
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x
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- Senior Second Officer
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- Location: North East
Re: Changes to Itineraries
Some cruise lines run 7 day repeated cruises. So if it it Tuesday it must be Flamm. I suspect that this means they get 1 st choice of berth.
I noticed it as well in the Caribbean when most cruises are run like that. The regular ship gets in first.
I noticed it as well in the Caribbean when most cruises are run like that. The regular ship gets in first.
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- First Officer
- Posts: 1029
- Joined: January 2013
Re: Changes to Itineraries
Same itinerary in reverse wouldn't bother us at all.
Over the years we've experienced many major changes; had one last cruise and another on our recent Oriana cruise... not just in reverse but completely different ports so that all the port planning and preparation went west! (That is very important for our circumstances). If it's due to another large ship being in port on the same day, and you can easily find this out on a certain website, then I would welcome it, as the port and any places to visit will be far less crowded; that's a bonus IMO.
Over the years we've experienced many major changes; had one last cruise and another on our recent Oriana cruise... not just in reverse but completely different ports so that all the port planning and preparation went west! (That is very important for our circumstances). If it's due to another large ship being in port on the same day, and you can easily find this out on a certain website, then I would welcome it, as the port and any places to visit will be far less crowded; that's a bonus IMO.
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- Commodore
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Re: Changes to Itineraries
We were once bounced off the berth to tender instead for exactly that reason in Corfu.daib GC wrote:Some cruise lines run 7 day repeated cruises. So if it it Tuesday it must be Flamm. I suspect that this means they get 1 st choice of berth.
I noticed it as well in the Caribbean when most cruises are run like that. The regular ship gets in first.
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- Captain
- Posts: 12153
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- Location: Oxfordshire
Re: Changes to Itineraries
In my experience, they almost always cite "operational reasons" and go no further than thatWhynd1 wrote:It would be interesting to know why the British Isles cruise itinerary has changed.
Lindsey
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- Deputy Captain
- Posts: 5119
- Joined: January 2013
- Location: East Hull
Re: Changes to Itineraries
we have had a few port changes due to the weather, operational issues and the like but nothing that has been a major problem for us and nothing that would be a major disruption to our holiday
Nihil Obstat
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Topic author - Senior First Officer
- Posts: 4897
- Joined: January 2013
- Location: Kent
Re: Changes to Itineraries
There's three tender ports on this Oriana cruise we're doing.wolfie wrote:Same itinerary in reverse wouldn't bother us at all.
Already, the Monday in Guernsey seems in doubt, based on the weather forecast I've just seen.
If any ports are missed due to weather/tendering issues, there'll always be the thought that if they had kept to the original schedule, would we have got in to the port
Gill
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- Commodore
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Re: Changes to Itineraries
There are always "what ifs" in life Gill, but you'll probably never know. We did a Fjord and Iceland cruise where the Captain in consultation with shore side shuffled 4 ports based on a weather forecast. One passenger complained because they wanted to go to Torshavn on Friday, not Tuesday! But we got into all the ports. The forecast proved spot on and if we hadn't changed the order we'd have missed two and instead had two sea days in a Force 10.
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- First Officer
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Re: Changes to Itineraries
We also had a few tender ports on our recent Oriana cruise and tendering is always a hit or miss situation, no matter which part of the world you are in. We tendered at one port on our recent cruise where I thought that we wouldn't, compared to the same sea conditions on our last cruise, where we didn't but, the captain makes the decision and who are we to question him/her and their experience? If you cruise, you take the risk of missing a port or two. It's not the end of the world, especially on an itinerary which is easily doable again. How about missing the Cayman Islands, a one off for us but a place we desperately wanted to visit as friends of ours have links there and had arranged what would have been a great day out for us.Gill W wrote:There's three tender ports on this Oriana cruise we're doing.wolfie wrote:Same itinerary in reverse wouldn't bother us at all.
Already, the Monday in Guernsey seems in doubt, based on the weather forecast I've just seen.
If any ports are missed due to weather/tendering issues, there'll always be the thought that if they had kept to the original schedule, would we have got in to the port
Guernsey is always a doubtful tender port. I do hope that you make it because it is a delightful port of call.
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- First Officer
- Posts: 1029
- Joined: January 2013
Re: Changes to Itineraries
We also had a few tender ports on our recent Oriana cruise and tendering is always a hit or miss situation, no matter which part of the world you are in. We tendered at one port on our recent cruise where I thought that we wouldn't, compared to the same sea conditions on our last cruise, where we didn't but, the captain makes the decision and who are we to question him/her and their experience? If you cruise, you take the risk of missing a port or two. It's not the end of the world, especially on an itinerary which is easily doable again. How about missing the Cayman Islands, a one off for us but a place we desperately wanted to visit as friends of ours have links there and had arranged what would have been a great day out for us.wolfie wrote:Gill W wrote:There's three tender ports on this Oriana cruise we're doing.wolfie wrote:Same itinerary in reverse wouldn't bother us at all.
Already, the Monday in Guernsey seems in doubt, based on the weather forecast I've just seen.
If any ports are missed due to weather/tendering issues, there'll always be the thought that if they had kept to the original schedule, would we have got in to the port
Guernsey is always a doubtful tender port. I do hope that you make it because it is a delightful port of call. Just enjoy being on a ship and on a cruise which is now our mantra.