Topic: P & O Med Fly Cruises?

The possibility of P&O Cruises moving ships to operate fly/cruises in the Mediterranean has not been ruled out.
The suggestion came from Carnival UK commercial director and former P&O Cruises managing director Nigel Esdale.
He was responding to questioning from leading cruise agents and journalists at the launch of the 2O1O Carnival UK Cruise Report.
Esdale said he would "not rule out" moving ships to the Med, adding that the company will continue to look at new opportunities.
The group's lone Med fly-cruise brand Ocean Village is shutting down at the end of the summer after a decision to move its two ships to P&O Cruises in Australia.
While US sister company Carnival Cruise Lines is basing new big ship Carnival Magic in Barcelona for summer 2O11, the exit of Ocean Village leaves a gap in the group's portfolio.
But Esdale said the company had the ability to move ships around "to ensure we can grow all segments of the market".
P&O Cruises has yet to release details of 2O11 itineraries.

Hi
Yipee!!! more fly/cruises from the Med.Just love them:D
JC

sounds a great idea!

Something HAS to fill the fly/cruise gap -- upto 2,000 pax a week on Ocean Village ships , all to be *homeless* next season ............. :mad: I dont think Southampton departures can take that amoiunt on ships sailing from there......

QUOTE:

Something HAS to fill the fly/cruise gap -- upto 2,000 pax a week on Ocean Village ships , all to be *homeless* next season ............. :mad: I dont think Southampton departures can take that amoiunt on ships sailing from there......

Plus with the sailing time from Southampton you can't just do a week in the Med with P & O so fly cruises would fill a gap in the market and appeal to more prospective cruisers who might not fancy being "stuck" on a ship for a fortnight or 16 days!

Of course, with the £ heading south, a big advantage could be a Med fly cruise with (£) sterling onboard currency and P & O drink prices.

What about those that that can't or won't fly, how about Eurostar/TGV charters to the ships?

QUOTE:

Plus with the sailing time from Southampton you can't just do a week in the Med with P & O so fly cruises would fill a gap in the market and appeal to more prospective cruisers who might not fancy being "stuck" on a ship for a fortnight or 16 days!

Hi Shelley
I agree,a travel writer in one of the magazines i picked up in Southampton said.
The problem with sailing from Southampton is limited Med itineraries as the ships can only reach Western Med + back in 14 days so missing out on many Eastern Med highlights, as i said on another thread that's why i like fly cruises.
Yes im banging the drum again for flying to the Med/Adriatic to pick up cruises.
JC

I cant see the point of sailing to Med from Soton .. not for a week .. but on a fly cruise its not a prob .. why dont some of these shipping people wake up a bit and give people what they want , a choice ......

QUOTE:

I cant see the point of sailing to Med from Soton .. not for a week .. but on a fly cruise its not a prob .. why don't some of these shipping people wake up a bit and give people what they want , a choice ......

The argument from the major cruise lines would be that there is enough choice out there.

Don't forget that Carnival own OV, P&O, Costa, Princess, Cunard, Seabourn Cruise Lines, Holland America Lines plus carnival and most of those (excepting P&O) have ships permanently in the med.

NCL, MSC & RCI also have ships going from various ports on 3 to 7day itineraries so they don't actually need OV or P&O home porting in the med, no matter how much we the British cruiser would like a British ship in the med.

Thomson being British but small will be where most OVuk cruisers end up, but do we want small old ships? ~ I don't anymore, my tastes and that of my children have matured, plus the fact this year their prices seem to have risen dramatically!

Surely One of the big boys out there could give us that OV feel on a fairly modern ship without too much effort.

Speaking some German I keep being tempted by Aida (~ that's where the whole OV cruise experience came from in the first place!) but they don't seem to want cruisers from outside of Germany very much akin to OV being completely British!