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UK Gov set to ease measures


molecrochip
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On 10/24/2020 at 5:33 PM, Dermotsgirl said:

Returning to the helpful posts from Molecrochip and others, the P&O protocols will now come under closer scrutiny, if it's no longer just a theoretical possibility that a cruise from March 2021 could take place.

 

The essential issues for passengers interested in cruising under these conditions, accepting the restrictions, include as follows:

 

1) Can you purchase comprehensive travel insurance, including any medical conditions, which remains a pre-condition of travel?  This is important as P&O will not necessarily cover cancellation risk if the passenger is excluded via screening and/or could be affected by the current/new tiers (I.e. see current Welsh rules).  The answer to this question will be yes for some and no for others - including via the P&O suggested travel insurance company.

 

2) If you visit a country not on the "travel corridor list" then will you be definitely clear of post-return quarantine risk (currently 14 days)?

 

3) Are you willing to pay £40-90+, per passenger per port, to disembark?

 

4) Can you convince your credit card company to allow you to reclaim your deposit if the answers to 1-3 are no?  You might feel forced to go.

 

We see the point being raised about this is a holiday versus having no holiday at all.  To us, that's not quite the way we see it though. 

 

A traditional resort holiday, as we have enjoyed this year, does not necessarily offer the luxury of visiting multiple destinations, but there is no embargo upon movement, there is equivalent transmission risk if the research is accepted, and there is no additional issue for cruise cover should travel insurance be available?  Costs are comparable and manageable.   A safe corridor might also remove the possibility of quarantine. 🤔

 

Add on P&O's poor customer service if there is a problem...just imagine how badly the shore side operation would manage any genuine issues with Covid-19, based on their form in 2020 🤦...and it's a "no confidence vote" from us at the moment. 

 

But we are pleased for those who see it differently if this takes them back closer to a much missed holiday experience 👍

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No pager - a well reasoned post,  thank you.

Seems to ne that a cruise holiday  with the current protocols is no holiday at all.

We are off for 3 weeks on a land based holiday,  where we can go where we like, no need to wear a mask in our villa,  have meals delivered to our door,  for half the price of a cruise.  

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7 hours ago, wowzz said:

No pager - a well reasoned post,  thank you.

Seems to ne that a cruise holiday  with the current protocols is no holiday at all.

We are off for 3 weeks on a land based holiday,  where we can go where we like, no need to wear a mask in our villa,  have meals delivered to our door,  for half the price of a cruise.  

We’re with you and No Pager on this no interest in going on a cruise with these restrictions. We’ve still no restrictions at all here and will quite happily sit it out. With Spain announcing a state of emergency till May allowing regional governments to bring in more restrictions that must limit the destination options even further 

Edited by Manx buoy
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9 hours ago, wowzz said:

No pager - a well reasoned post,  thank you.

Seems to ne that a cruise holiday  with the current protocols is no holiday at all.

We are off for 3 weeks on a land based holiday,  where we can go where we like, no need to wear a mask in our villa,  have meals delivered to our door,  for half the price of a cruise.  

That's fine for those that can fly wowzz, but cruising to the Med is a much better option than driving there, and trains do not seem a good option for full time wheelchair users, and of course it's impossible to drive to the Canaries.

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31 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

That's fine for those that can fly wowzz, but cruising to the Med is a much better option than driving there, and trains do not seem a good option for full time wheelchair users, and of course it's impossible to drive to the Canaries.

Without being pedantic, you could drive to Cadiz,  and get the ferry to Arrecife,  so getting there by car is eminently feasible, but provably not really worth it for a holiday.

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I think this will be ok for some people. For me, I would be happy with this. I am off on March for a 4 nighter cruise to nowhere with Cunard, all sea days suits me perfectly, reduced passenger numbers means it shouldn’t be crowded anywhere, wearing a mask is no issue for me when I have to. 

 

In May I am off on a 10 nighter on a very small ship with my mum - 684 normal capacity, I would be surprised if we have more than 400 on board. Lots of stops, but due to my mum’s mobility there would have only been one port where we would have been able to easily gone ashore for a wander around - if we can’t do that, it’s no biggie. For the line we are going on for this cruise, the ship really is the destination for me, so 10 days on a very very nice small ship sounds like heaven to me. My mum has just had her cancer surgery postponed for the third time in 2 weeks due to Covid as she will need an ICU bed afterwards and she is going to really need a good relaxing holiday, there’s no way a little mask wearing is going to put us off. There has been a suggestion that the buffet on this line - which has always been a served buffet rather than self service, will change to you being presented at your table with a menu of items and you choose what you want and it is brought to you - I haven’t told my mum this yet. She is going to be overjoyed as she was concerned that her with her walker and a member of staff helping her was going to be obstructive for other people. This change is going to make using the buffet much easier for her. Some changes aren’t all bad for some people..

 

November ‘21 I have no idea what protocols will be in place, but I will be in an aft suite going to Norway, the view is king and if we can’t go ashore that’s no biggie either. This cruise wouldn’t be the first to Norway where I haven’t gone ashore at all!

 

At this point not having to cook, clean, look at the same 4 walls and just chill seems like high luxury to me. I do now get excited when we go to the drive thru Costa!

 

The protocols will not suit everyone, but maybe those passengers who go first will be able to allay the fears and answer the questions of those who are more hesitant. I love sea days, I love being onboard, and the ship is the destination for me, the port has to be VERY alluring to tempt me to leave my chill zone. 

 

The beauty of cruising is that everyone wants a different thing from it, this is why there are different spaces onboard and different cabin types and even different tours offered - maybe the restart of cruising will be the perfect cruises for the stay aboards (of whom I am a founder member!). 

 

 

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21 minutes ago, ToxM said:

I think this will be ok for some people. For me, I would be happy with this. I am off on March for a 4 nighter cruise to nowhere with Cunard, all sea days suits me perfectly, reduced passenger numbers means it shouldn’t be crowded anywhere, wearing a mask is no issue for me when I have to. 

 

In May I am off on a 10 nighter on a very small ship with my mum - 684 normal capacity, I would be surprised if we have more than 400 on board. Lots of stops, but due to my mum’s mobility there would have only been one port where we would have been able to easily gone ashore for a wander around - if we can’t do that, it’s no biggie. For the line we are going on for this cruise, the ship really is the destination for me, so 10 days on a very very nice small ship sounds like heaven to me. My mum has just had her cancer surgery postponed for the third time in 2 weeks due to Covid as she will need an ICU bed afterwards and she is going to really need a good relaxing holiday, there’s no way a little mask wearing is going to put us off. There has been a suggestion that the buffet on this line - which has always been a served buffet rather than self service, will change to you being presented at your table with a menu of items and you choose what you want and it is brought to you - I haven’t told my mum this yet. She is going to be overjoyed as she was concerned that her with her walker and a member of staff helping her was going to be obstructive for other people. This change is going to make using the buffet much easier for her. Some changes aren’t all bad for some people..

 

November ‘21 I have no idea what protocols will be in place, but I will be in an aft suite going to Norway, the view is king and if we can’t go ashore that’s no biggie either. This cruise wouldn’t be the first to Norway where I haven’t gone ashore at all!

 

At this point not having to cook, clean, look at the same 4 walls and just chill seems like high luxury to me. I do now get excited when we go to the drive thru Costa!

 

The protocols will not suit everyone, but maybe those passengers who go first will be able to allay the fears and answer the questions of those who are more hesitant. I love sea days, I love being onboard, and the ship is the destination for me, the port has to be VERY alluring to tempt me to leave my chill zone. 

 

The beauty of cruising is that everyone wants a different thing from it, this is why there are different spaces onboard and different cabin types and even different tours offered - maybe the restart of cruising will be the perfect cruises for the stay aboards (of whom I am a founder member!). 

 

 

Fair enough, it will suit you and your mother and that’s great - hope she recovers quickly and that you both have a relaxing cruise. For us, the ship is never the destination as I’ve realised trying to find photos for Damien’s latest thread.  I take very few photos onboard and they seem to be very few and far between on our most recent cruises. Ports of call - a different story. I take hundreds of photos! 

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22 minutes ago, ToxM said:

At this point not having to cook, clean, look at the same 4 walls and just chill seems like high luxury to me. I do now get excited when we go to the drive thru Costa!

 

The protocols will not suit everyone, but maybe those passengers who go first will be able to allay the fears and answer the questions of those who are more hesitant. I love sea days, I love being onboard, and the ship is the destination for me, the port has to be VERY alluring to tempt me to leave my chill zone. 

 

The beauty of cruising is that everyone wants a different thing from it, this is why there are different spaces onboard and different cabin types and even different tours offered - maybe the restart of cruising will be the perfect cruises for the stay aboards

Your thoughts very much mirror my own. We also love just 'being at sea' and the ports of call are an added extra. I was interested in your remarks on Norway, as our next cruise is the Fjords at the end of June 2021. Once the proposed new cruising protocols were released  earlier we had the same knee-jerk reaction  to them as many others did, but since then Frank and I have sat and discussed them in great detail and we have decided that, providing we can buy a good, reasonably priced , covid inclusive insurance cover, we will go to the Fjords in June.

Avril

 

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Agree, the ship is not our destination either, although I enjoy being on board.  These new protocols wouldl ruin it for me, so it;s a no-no for us as well.  Frankly with the situation in France and Spain, can't see if happening anyway.

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15 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Agree, the ship is not our destination either, although I enjoy being on board.  These new protocols wouldl ruin it for me, so it;s a no-no for us as well.  Frankly with the situation in France and Spain, can't see if happening anyway.

There is still at least 6 months to go before cruises would start, so things  could and will change by then, and we might even have a vaccine, so I can only see things getting better and am already excitedly looking forward to July on Britannia.

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26 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

Your thoughts very much mirror my own. We also love just 'being at sea' and the ports of call are an added extra. I was interested in your remarks on Norway, as our next cruise is the Fjords at the end of June 2021. Once the proposed new cruising protocols were released  earlier we had the same knee-jerk reaction  to them as many others did, but since then Frank and I have sat and discussed them in great detail and we have decided that, providing we can buy a good, reasonably priced , covid inclusive insurance cover, we will go to the Fjords in June.

Avril

 

Norway is so beautiful and the sailing and out of the ports were stunning. When we went there on Britannia I took my parents and my sister and made it very clear from the start that I wasn’t going to be going ashore but of course they were welcome to as when I am cruising with my husband he drags me ashore (the only time I wasn’t dragged ashore but I dragged him was Venice and Kotor!). I love the ship when it is empty and most passengers are ashore. My sister took my parents ashore, I sat in the crows nest with a never ending supply of coffee and a great book, I was happy and they were happy. 

 

Maybe we look at this restart with limited access to ports as those who love the ship experience keeping the line “afloat” (excuse the pun!) ready for those who enjoy the shore experience when that can become more readily available. 

 

It will happen, there has been very encouraging news today about the roll out of vaccines (which is another can of worms, but my feeling is if you want to travel or cruise in any capacity, a vaccine will be mandatory), and we may be on a faster route to things being a little more how we remember them

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I enjoy sea days, and my.travel insurance covers Covid. The mask wearing has become less of an issue, as I’m now used to it. The fact that a table for two will be easy to get is a plus.

 

in theory, it would seem that I’m all set to cruise.

 

But in reality, I still have no desire to cruise. It’s no longer going to be the carefree holiday that I knew and loved. It will be a much more regimented experience and I don’t want to spend £1000s on this lesser experience. I’m not  interested in doing any activity which would require an invasive test before hand, not to mention the possibility of more testing throughout the cruise. That is simply not a holiday.

 

Then there’s the situation regarding going ashore. I have nothing against excursions, and normally book a few each cruise. However, many ports are easy to DIY, and I would find it very frustrating to have to book an excursion to do a walking tour of a port, in the knowledge that I could otherwise have just wandered off the ship.

 

Although I have loved cruising and I miss it a lot, I will stick to holidays in the U.K. for the foreseeable future,  until there have been a lot of changes to our current predicament.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Dermotsgirl said:

The fact that a table for two will be easy to get is a plus.

 

Whilst you are right that there will be lots of tables for two, even with reduced passenger numbers, I imagine that it will be a logistical nightmare trying to cater for couples only in the MDR.

And, to be frank, I don't really want to be limited to a table for two for the duration of the cruise. Mrs W and I share a table for two the rest of the year - we enjoy the social aspect of cruising, and I can tell our fellow diners my joke!

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17 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Whilst you are right that there will be lots of tables for two, even with reduced passenger numbers, I imagine that it will be a logistical nightmare trying to cater for couples only in the MDR.

And, to be frank, I don't really want to be limited to a table for two for the duration of the cruise. Mrs W and I share a table for two the rest of the year - we enjoy the social aspect of cruising, and I can tell our fellow diners my joke!

With you on that one. Much as my wife and I enjoy each other’s company most of the year, it’s always a pleasure to meet others for lunch and dinner in the MDR, and without that cruising for us loses a lot.

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2 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

With you on that one. Much as my wife and I enjoy each other’s company most of the year, it’s always a pleasure to meet others for lunch and dinner in the MDR, and without that cruising for us loses a lot.

That is probably a bigger issue for us than not being able to go ashore independently, but still not a deal breaker.

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2 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

Your thoughts very much mirror my own. We also love just 'being at sea' and the ports of call are an added extra. I was interested in your remarks on Norway, as our next cruise is the Fjords at the end of June 2021. Once the proposed new cruising protocols were released  earlier we had the same knee-jerk reaction  to them as many others did, but since then Frank and I have sat and discussed them in great detail and we have decided that, providing we can buy a good, reasonably priced , covid inclusive insurance cover, we will go to the Fjords in June.

Avril

 

Agree with you on this. Love sitting on our balcony or in our room just looking at the sea. We have a very scenic cruise booked for July in the Fjords and will enjoy being looked after and fed and enjoying the views. A table for two is fine as we keep very much to ourselves. Never go to the shows but do enjoy bands, orchestra and duos etc.

Edited by Gettingwarmer
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3 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

Agree, the ship is not our destination either, although I enjoy being on board.  These new protocols wouldl ruin it for me, so it;s a no-no for us as well.  Frankly with the situation in France and Spain, can't see if happening anyway.

Agree

For me the ports are the destination, the ship provides accomodation and the means of getting there. As someone who has been cruising since the early 1990s, I have long since visited most of the sights usually visited on ships tours. I have no wish to see them again and again, neither do I wish to stay onboard. But as they say, the first time you go somewhere you see the sights, thereafter you see the city. I obtain my pleasure seeing the city, not being herded around on ships tours. And if the latter were to be the only option available then cruising would no longer be for me.

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16 minutes ago, Denarius said:

Agree

For me the ports are the destination, the ship provides accomodation and the means of getting there. As someone who has been cruising since the early 1990s, I have long since visited most of the sights usually visited on ships tours. I have no wish to see them again and again, neither do I wish to stay onboard. But as they say, the first time you go somewhere you see the sights, thereafter you see the city. I obtain my pleasure seeing the city, not being herded around on ships tours. And if the latter were to be the only option available then cruising would no longer be for me.

Totally agree with you, it is very true when you say you see the sights and then the next time the city as that is exactly what we do.  I go to great lengths finding hidden off the beaten track places which are not too touristy but rewarding to visit.

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14 minutes ago, Denarius said:

Agree

For me the ports are the destination, the ship provides accomodation and the means of getting there. As someone who has been cruising since the early 1990s, I have long since visited most of the sights usually visited on ships tours. I have no wish to see them again and again, neither do I wish to stay onboard. But as they say, the first time you go somewhere you see the sights, thereafter you see the city. I obtain my pleasure seeing the city, not being herded around on ships tours. And if the latter were to be the only option available then cruising would no longer be for me.

Absolutely.  No right to roam, no cruising in our book.

 

Perhaps unusually, we’ve never ever taken ships’ tours - partly because of the ludicrous cost, and partly because it means no freedom and as you say being herded around. No pleasure in that.

 

Civitavecchia to Rome and Livorno to Florence were the only exceptions, and they were transport only, still grossly overpriced, but safer than the alternatives in the event of transport problems and delays getting back to the ship.

 

As things stand I can’t see us cruising again for quite a long time.  Freedom to explore cities on our own is an essential, as is dining with others.

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1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Whilst you are right that there will be lots of tables for two, even with reduced passenger numbers, I imagine that it will be a logistical nightmare trying to cater for couples only in the MDR.

And, to be frank, I don't really want to be limited to a table for two for the duration of the cruise. Mrs W and I share a table for two the rest of the year - we enjoy the social aspect of cruising, and I can tell our fellow diners my joke!

We prefer to share a table with others and prefer the team quizzes to the individual so not sure if they will take place.However despite the changes we will probably cruise fairly soon after they re start because I love exploring new places.The biggest negative is that we may have to go on ship excursions rather than explore independantly but as I prefer not to fly, it is a case of cruising, rail holidays or UK holidays and we hope to do all 3 next year

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3 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

There is still at least 6 months to go before cruises would start, so things  could and will change by then, and we might even have a vaccine, so I can only see things getting better and am already excitedly looking forward to July on Britannia.

June is Celebrity Alaska for us and Iona in August. I hope you realise by now that optimism is really frowned upon. That's why I'm not going to tell about cruises starting this year.🤔

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58 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

Agree with you on this. Love sitting on our balcony or in our room just looking at the sea. We have a very scenic cruise booked for July in the Fjords and will enjoy being looked after and fed and enjoying the views. A table for two is fine as we keep very much to ourselves. Never go to the shows but do enjoy bands, orchestra and duos etc.

Alaska in June and the Fjords in August. We know that the cruise companies and ports will adjust there protocols to make things as safe and enjoyable as possible. If that means masks and ships tours, that's what we will accept and will make it as enjoyable as we can. As in every other year , we will do cruises, self drive to Europe, package holidays etc and enjoy them all. Stay locked up indoors? Not a chance.

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Bad news from the USA. With just days to go before the CDC's "No Sail" order was about to expire, the agency has issued a warning advising U.S. travelers to defer all cruise travel. Only applies to travel from US ports so does not directly affect P&O, but could have a persuasive effect on our own FCO. ☹️

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