UK staycation cruise details launched

[terrierjohn]

3 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Hopefully P&O will insist that everyone has to  be vaccinated, as has Saga. Indeed I hope pubs, restaurants, hotels, cinemas etc also insist on vaccinations. Plus, of course airlines. 

 

I do hope your right wowzz, since I agree with everything you say.  Unfortunately I suspect that the civil liberties lobby in the UK will move heaven and earth to try and prevent it.

[AnnieC]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

Hopefully P&O will insist that everyone has to  be vaccinated, as has Saga. Indeed I hope pubs, restaurants, hotels, cinemas etc also insist on vaccinations. Plus, of course airlines. 

 

It seems almost inevitable that some sort of vaccination passport, probably under another name, will be introduced, probably by the government. Whether we will all need a 'passport' simply to go into Tesco or a pub, or it will be reserved for overseas travel, is a long way above my pay scale.

 

Without going into old arguments, the rush for the vaccination centres will be a wonder to behold.

[Cathygh]

My Azura cruise at the end of September is scheduled to go ahead but I wonder if it will as it's a fly cruise? It's a waiting game.

I will book a round Britain cruise, but I don't expect there to be any port calls

Cathy

[Britboys]

1 hour ago, Host Sharon said:

Odd wording - 'A series of short UK holidays'. My immediate thought was that they were going to offer land holidays 🙂  Round-Britaincuises sounds much more appealing.

But if they are offering 2- 3 night short breaks Sharon, they won't go "round Britain" - and you know what some folks are like 😄. The wording they have chosen does, I guess, cover all eventualities.

[Britboys]

59 minutes ago, ann141 said:

I wonder if P and O may start with a couple of short breaks  staying on the ship in Southampton and offering excursions from there- Winchester, New Forest etc .More like a hotel?That would perhaps explain the wording.

Not sure about this. I think they are going to want people on the ship as much as possible to rake in the maximum amount from the on-board revenue centres.

[Ardennais]

13 minutes ago, Britboys said:

But if they are offering 2- 3 night short breaks Sharon, they won't go "round Britain" - and you know what some folks are like 😄. The wording they have chosen does, I guess, cover all eventualities.

Would Home Waters work better?

[Britboys]

7 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

Would Home Waters work better?

I like it - but may be a bit too maritime and not mean much to the new breed of cruiser P&O are trying to attract...

[zjc]

34 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Hopefully P&O will insist that everyone has to  be vaccinated, as has Saga. Indeed I hope pubs, restaurants, hotels, cinemas etc also insist on vaccinations. Plus, of course airlines. 

 

So are you suggesting that just because I am the last in the priority group for vaccines I shouldn't be allowed in any restaurants, hotels, cinema and should lock myself in my home despite the fact my risk from COVID is less than 1%?

 

No Way! 

[tring]

1 hour ago, Lily lady said:

When are 2023 cruises released, to possibly use fcc.

 

I rang a certain agent who are big with P&O yesterday and they say they have had notice from P&O that Arvia cruises will be released in April, but not even had notice they are ready to launch the other cruises yet.  Hence later in April expected for those.

 

They have been told Cunard are planning to release next batch, but no dates given as yet. So they are expecting an earlier release for Cunard, though not before late March at earliest.

 

I suspect release expectations have been moved back since Molecrochips last comments.  Perhaps today's revelations also explain why he fell quiet, or was silenced.

 

Edited March 3, 2021 by tring

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, zjc said:

So are you suggesting that just because I am the last in the priority group for vaccines I shouldn't be allowed in any restaurants, hotels, cinema and should lock myself in my home despite the fact my risk from COVID is less than 1%?

 

No Way! 

I'll re-phrase that. By the end of July, with a following wind, every adult in the UK should have been offered the vaccine. So, from August, those that have declined the vaccine, other than for specific medical conditions, should, as far as possible, not be allowed to mix with the rest of the population.

Seems perfectly reasonable to me, and I am a libertarian at heart! 

[tring]

28 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Not sure about this. I think they are going to want people on the ship as much as possible to rake in the maximum amount from the on-board revenue centres.

 

Excursions must yield a lot of profits.

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, tring said:

 

Excursions must yield a lot of profits.

If you look at the prices of cruise excursions from all lines, "a lot of profits" is an understatement. I would estimate at the very least a 100% mark up.

[Britboys]

4 minutes ago, tring said:

 

Excursions must yield a lot of profits.

I agree but it depends whether pax would have access to their own cars whilst on board. If they have, they might prefer to do their own diy excursions.

[JP82]

With two aborted attempts at P&O Cruises this last year under my belt now, I am all for this idea.

 

My preference would definitely be for Iona or Britannia, as I am a fan of modern and large ships (don't hate me). And I hope they are considering this as an opportunity to finally show off Iona, but time shall tell... Will deffo keep an eye on all of this.

 

 

[ann141]

I think also some people would stay onboard and spend money.I wonder if they may offer the hotel experience for 2 or 3 nights on Iona to let people try her out.I think they will offer round britain cruises, (probably not on Iona)just that they may offer this experience for the first few times?They would be able to have rigorous testing set up in Southampton and the chance to disembark anyone who displayed symptoms almost immediately

[wowzz]

Just had an e-mail from a TA that states that the new summer cruises will not have stops - i.e. cruises to nowhere. 

 In order to take an easy return to normal, P & O will be offering some mini cruises around our coastline (no  stops) for the summer months and more details and costs will be announced later in the month. All summer cruises/holidays at sea will commence from Southampton.

Be interesting to see if that is confirmed by other TAs in due course.

Edited March 3, 2021 by wowzz

[SarahHben]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

Just had an e-mail from a TA that states that the new summer cruises will not have stops - i.e. cruises to nowhere. 

 In order to take an easy return to normal, P & O will be offering some mini cruises around our coastline (no  stops) for the summer months and more details and costs will be announced later in the month. All summer cruises/holidays at sea will commence from Southampton.

Be interesting to see if that is confirmed by other TAs in due course.

That would make our decision an easy one if there’s no stops on  U.K. cruises. We would use our deposit towards a 2023 cruise if that were the case.

[terrierjohn]

2 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Just had an e-mail from a TA that states that the new summer cruises will not have stops - i.e. cruises to nowhere. 

 In order to take an easy return to normal, P & O will be offering some mini cruises around our coastline (no  stops) for the summer months and more details and costs will be announced later in the month. All summer cruises/holidays at sea will commence from Southampton.

Be interesting to see if that is confirmed by other TAs in due course.

If true they wont be as attractive as a longer round Britain cruise, especially for passengers living in the north.  However if they based  Iona in Liverpool I would certainly be interested in a short cruise experience.

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, terrierjohn said:

If true they wont be as attractive as a longer round Britain cruise, especially for passengers living in the north.  However if they based  Iona in Liverpool I would certainly be interested in a short cruise experience.

John, they have already said that Iona won't be cruising until October.

[Britboys]

11 minutes ago, ann141 said:

I think also some people would stay onboard and spend money.I wonder if they may offer the hotel experience for 2 or 3 nights on Iona to let people try her out.I think they will offer round britain cruises, (probably not on Iona)just that they may offer this experience for the first few times?They would be able to have rigorous testing set up in Southampton and the chance to disembark anyone who displayed symptoms almost immediately

I've no desire at all to sail on Iona but if they sold a 2-night stay aboard in Southampton at a reasonable cost, I might book it just to see what her interiors are like!

[emam]

So attire is jumpers and rain coats to sit out on deck.

[lindylooellalouise]

13 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

If true they wont be as attractive as a longer round Britain cruise, especially for passengers living in the north.  However if they based  Iona in Liverpool I would certainly be interested in a short cruise experience.

We would also be interested in short cruises from Newcastle or Liverpool just not viable for us to travel to Southampton for a couple of days

[ToxM]

11 minutes ago, emam said:

So attire is jumpers and rain coats to sit out on deck.

Still better than being stuck at home

[wowzz]

9 minutes ago, lindylooellalouise said:

We would also be interested in short cruises from Newcastle or Liverpool just not viable for us to travel to Southampton for a couple of days

P&O have already said that these cruises will begin and end in Southampton.

[tring]

1 minute ago, lindylooellalouise said:

We would also be interested in short cruises from Newcastle or Liverpool just not viable for us to travel to Southampton for a couple of days

 

That would be our opinion and P&O said all will be from Southampton

 

Fred will follow suit though and had put such cruises on for this spring from Liverpool and Dover on his new ships.  Will be interesting what he puts on for the summer, the now cancelled ones included scenic cruising in Western Scotland from Liverpool.