Docking and all aboard times

[Quixote]

Would anyone on the forum happen to have the 'docking' and 'all aboard' times for the ports to be visited by the Arvia on the Aug 4th trip?

Thanks in anticipation.

[Stephen]

You will get an approximate idea from your itinerary what time the ship will arrive and depart port. Actual all aboard time will be announced on the day.


Welcome to the forum Quixote

[Mervyn and Trish]

Yes welcome. The precise times are never published ahead as they can be affected by so many factors, weather for one. On some cruises even the days of visiting different ports can be changed at short notice. On one cruise we did, for example, we visited all the parts planned but their order was changed to successfully avoid a storm. On another port days were shuffled to avoid congestion in one of them.

[barney]

Yes welcome. The precise times are never published ahead as they can be affected by so many factors, weather for one. On some cruises even the days of visiting different ports can be changed at short notice. On one cruise we did, for example, we visited all the parts planned but their order was changed to successfully avoid a storm. On another port days were shuffled to avoid congestion in one of them.

Ditto for us in January leaving Madeira Merv.
There was a storm on the way so we left at 4.30 instead of 9.30.
I expect a few on private trips were piddled off but safety first.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Yes P&O trips are usually more expensive but you know the ship won't leave you behind if they're late back and that if ports calls are altered the trips will be rearranged or refunded. If booking private trips there are no such guarantees and a need to carefully check the T's and C's.

[barney]

We’ve actually missed Fuerteventura two years running due to high winds.
Last January, the skipper tried three times to get in before aborting and we had a sea day. It was actually lovely and warm just very windy.
We did chat to a couple who missed their private tour. They were hoping to get a refund but don’t know if they ever did.

[Quixote]

Many, many thanks to all who responded!

[Stephen]

Your welcome. Happy cruising

[Whynd1]

Whatsinport.com shows timings.

[Mervyn and Trish]

Whatsinport.com shows timings.

But is provisional and often wrong because of changing plans and conditions. In fact it once told me the time Oceana was arriving in a port I was at on a land holiday when in fact she was 3000 miles away!

[towny44]

Whatsinport.com shows timings.

But is provisional and often wrong because of changing plans and conditions. In fact it once told me the time Oceana was arriving in a port I was at on a land holiday when in fact she was 3000 miles away!

P&O is way out of step with most of the other cruise lines who seem willing to provide both arrival and departure times for all their cruise ships.
I don't believe this has anything to do with any worries that these times might not be met, but is most likely to be aimed at heightening passenger concerns about missing "the boat" if they don't go with the ships shore excursions.

[Onelife]

Whatsinport.com shows timings.

But is provisional and often wrong because of changing plans and conditions. In fact it once told me the time Oceana was arriving in a port I was at on a land holiday when in fact she was 3000 miles away!

P&O is way out of step with most of the other cruise lines who seem willing to provide both arrival and departure times for all their cruise ships.
I don't believe this has anything to do with any worries that these times might not be met, but is most likely to be aimed at heightening passenger concerns about missing "the boat" if they don't go with the ships shore excursions.

Good point John…I wouldn’t bet against there being some truth in that.

[Mervyn and Trish]

I would. Having been on Cunard, Princess and Saga ships all of which arrived or departed at very different times from those anticipated, or not at all. The sea is master, not P&O or anyone else.

[Onelife]

I would. Having been on Cunard, Princess and Saga ships all of which arrived or departed at very different times from those anticipated, or not at all. The sea is master, not P&O or anyone else.

I’m sure you are right about that Sir Merv, but from a commercial perspective I can see that it does have possibilities.

[david63]

P&O is way out of step with most of the other cruise lines who seem willing to provide both arrival and departure times for all their cruise ships.

P&O are not alone with that as Cunard do the same - well only Cunard in the UK, if you go on the Spanish Cunard site then arrival and departure times are shown for all cruises. Where is the logic in that?

[towny44]

I would. Having been on Cunard, Princess and Saga ships all of which arrived or departed at very different times from those anticipated, or not at all. The sea is master, not P&O or anyone else.

But the other lines DO quote predicted docking and departure times, so why are they not as concerned as P&O seem to be about misleading their passengers?
However in all the 40 odd cruises we have sailed I could probably only count on less than one hand the number of significantly late arrivals. Departures can be delayed for any number of reasons, but rew people are bothered because there is generally sufficient slack in the system, especially nowadays when the number of ports has reduced, for the time to be made up by the the Captain.
So you have still not answered the question, why don't P&O show an approximate time, like all other lines do, rather the silly and misleading, early morning, late afternoon rubbish.

[david63]

why don't P&O show an approximate time, like all other lines do, rather the silly and misleading, early morning, late afternoon rubbish.

It is not as if those times are not known - the berths at the ports are booked years in advance. Many local port websites show the arrival and departure times for P&O ships.

It's not as if P&O say to a port "we will be bringing a ship into and out of your port sometime on [enter date]"

[Mervyn and Trish]

My point was those times quoted on the local port websites are often wrong because they are estimated so far ahead. I don't see it as helpful for any line to quote times which prove to be inaccurate. It just leads to complaints when people make arrangements based on them. I well remember an Aurora cruise where due to the weather the order of ports was shuffled and we successfully avoided a storm and made every port, but on different days. One passenger was heard to moan "I didn't want to be in Torshavn on Tuesday, I wanted to be there on Friday".

[towny44]

My point was those times quoted on the local port websites are often wrong because they are estimated so far ahead. I don't see it as helpful for any line to quote times which prove to be inaccurate. It just leads to complaints when people make arrangements based on them. I well remember an Aurora cruise where due to the weather the order of ports was shuffled and we successfully avoided a storm and made every port, but on different days. One passenger was heard to moan "I didn't want to be in Torshavn on Tuesday, I wanted to be there on Friday".

You're still not getting the point Merv, those sort of issues do happen to all cruise lines and some passengets will moan, but P&O are the only ones who don't quote the anticipated times.

[Stephen]

At the end of the day I think we can sum it up as ‘everything is subject to change’.

[Mervyn and Trish]

My point was those times quoted on the local port websites are often wrong because they are estimated so far ahead. I don't see it as helpful for any line to quote times which prove to be inaccurate. It just leads to complaints when people make arrangements based on them. I well remember an Aurora cruise where due to the weather the order of ports was shuffled and we successfully avoided a storm and made every port, but on different days. One passenger was heard to moan "I didn't want to be in Torshavn on Tuesday, I wanted to be there on Friday".

You're still not getting the point Merv, those sort of issues do happen to all cruise lines and some passengets will moan, but P&O are the only ones who don't quote the anticipated times.

No, you're not getting my point. If P&O are the only ones not quoting times that are in many cases pure fiction that is in my view a good thing, not a bad thing. In my view the ones getting it wrong are those quoting times which turn out to be inaccurate. How does that help anyone?

And BTW it's not only P&O. Just checked Cunard and their timings are also vague!

[Mervyn and Trish]

At the end of the day I think we can sum it up as ‘everything is subject to change’.

Absolutely. The only accurate arrival time is the time you actually arrive. And the only REALLY important time is the last aboard time as posted at the gangway.

[david63]

quoting times that are in many cases pure fiction

But the times quoted are the times that the berth is booked for at that port so they are not fiction but the anticipated times. Obviously events on the day, and sometimes the previous day, can affect those times but they are still the time that the berth is being paid for.

Just checked Cunard and their timings are also vague

As I said before only on the Cunard UK site - on the Spanish site actual times are show.

This quoting vague times appears to be a Carnival UK thing.

[Mervyn and Trish]

quoting times that are in many cases pure fiction

But the times quoted are the times that the berth is booked for at that port so they are not fiction but the anticipated times. Obviously events on the day, and sometimes the previous day, can affect those times but they are still the time that the berth is being paid for.

Times anticipated often 2 or more years ahead but rarely if ever amended, even when changes are made. So not really any use to anyone trying, for example, to book private tours. Not really any use even to the accountants because I doubt the cruise lines get a refund if they turn up late, or not at all! I quote again the example of Oceana having "anticipated times" listed for arrival in Funchal on the port website when in fact she was in the Caribbean. That's about as fictional as it gets! Or our QV cruise last year having listed times to be in Dun Laoghaire when in fact we were arriving 12 hours earlier than "anticipated" in Liverpool. I would never ever recommend anyone to book anything or plan anything based on times quoted on cruise or port websites. Hence my view that those lines that do post times are just setting themselves up for disappointments and complaints. I'm quite happy to be told the time the night before, or even on the day if things change. Avoids my life being ruined.

Stephen's very first answer was spot on in my view.

[Stephen]

Compo form anyone.