Topic: P & O Med Fly Cruises?

QUOTE:

I dont quite know why they found the fly cruise not cost effective when you consider that OV were using chartered aircraft flying non stop compared to other med based cruises who often use convoluted aircraft routes because they have some deal with one particular company. I agree it does leave a gap in the market but MSC and Costa seem to be expanding rapidly and there are also many RC and Princess med cruises. At the more expensive end, Cunard have some fly cruises out of Civitavechia or Venice going to the eastern Med area.
Brian

I agree Brian MSC & Costa are certainly into newbuilds at the present but I don't honestly see them becoming a major player with UK cruisers, certainly with the P&O followers.

They have got an awful lot of work to do if you read the reviews, there are far too many 'never agains'. I think they will always be considered the Marmite to the Brit Cruisers.........Wilba

The key phrase is 'british ambience'. Costa and MSC no way and the american lines are,well, american!.

QUOTE:

P&O do sail to the Eastern Med from Southampton. In fact we are going to the Black Sea on Oriana later this year. Last year we went to Cyprus, Turkey, Rhodes and Egypt all from Southampton. Ok not 14 days but 18 days.
Brian

Hi Brian
I quoted 14 days.
JC

QUOTE:

I agree Brian MSC & Costa are certainly into newbuilds at the present but I don't honestly see them becoming a major player with UK cruisers, certainly with the P&O followers.

They have got an awful lot of work to do if you read the reviews, there are far too many 'never agains'. I think they will always be considered the Marmite to the Brit Cruisers.........Wilba

I dont need to read the reviews. I have done one Costa cruise, fortunately it was only five days. I shall not be repeating the experience but nevertheless they may pick up a few people. MSC are in a slightly higher league and may do well when they start sailing from Southampton next year. It will be interesting to see how a private company owned by one man, Gianluigi Aponte, competes with the corporate giants of Carnival, RCI and NCL. Hopefully it will help to keep prices competitive. Although MSC is a privately owned company, if you count their commercial ships as well, they have around four times as many ships as Carnival. This link makes interesting reading.... MSC - Story - english ..
Brian

Might be interested - but only if we didn't have to travel cattle air.

I've done a couple of cruises with MSC and their ships are great. The food in the MDR was excellent too. They even have port-intensive itineraries with some week long cruises having no days at sea at all! These are all factors that will appeal to OV cruises.

However MSC is let down by the flights they organise and the transfers. For a sailing from Genoa we had flights into Nice and back out from Turin, both of which were long transfers. The deals they now offer will provide flights at a substantial additional charge and they are unable to confirm flight details at the time of booking, which has so far prevented me from booking with them again.

The dining is also chaotic with the buffets a scrummage at breakfast and lunch and the MDR full of semi wild children on an evening.

A shame really as they serve fantastic risottos!!!!;)

I am so pleased to see that companies are considering basing ships in the Med. The long cruise from Dover or Soton in winter is just a non starter. I like to cruise with Fred Olsen, but the ships being based in the UK make it impossible to cruise with them risking the Bay of Biscay from September to April

QUOTE:

P&O do sail to the Eastern Med from Southampton. In fact we are going to the Black Sea on Oriana later this year. Last year we went to Cyprus, Turkey, Rhodes and Egypt all from Southampton. Ok not 14 days but 18 days.
Brian

Hi Brian
I did quote 14 days in my comment.
Just looked at Eastern Med P+O for 3rd Sept and noticed it is a 20 day cruise with 12 sea days/7 ports of call,OK if you like sea days,i like cruising for ports of call,i suppose they could do it in less than 7 days if there was NO port of call.
That's why i said they cant get to the Eastern Med/Black Sea on 14 day cruises,+ back ( unless you lose some ports of call)from Southampton.
I would prefer x2 7 night fly/cruises with 10 ports + 2 sea days.
Each to their own i say.
JC

I can think of nothing better than sailing PO from Southampton, no packing into airports herded onto planes, just simply boarding and then off for lunch ect. I hope Richard is right and it will be a family friendly ship stationed in the Med this will make up for the loss of OV. There are longer cruises which PO offer if cruisers wish to sail further into the Med.

For those of us living in the norh, flights from local airports are always an alternative to the journey to Southampton.