Who has decided to take a summer staycation cruise?

[welshy74]

5 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Not having a smartphone with internet access all this talk of apps for vaccination verification worries me. Hope the government and cruise lines realise that there are people out there without such access.

With everything going digital now, why don’t you get a very cheap smartphone?   Unfortunately the way business is going it is not catering for the few who don’t own such technology.  Even ships are going down this route where apps are needed on board.  

[PORT ROYAL]

8 minutes ago, welshy74 said:

With everything going digital now, why don’t you get a very cheap smartphone?   Unfortunately the way business is going it is not catering for the few who don’t own such technology.  Even ships are going down this route where apps are needed on board.  

Tesco mobile has some good phones and reasonable deals

Ensure you or Tesco switch off all the roaming apps, leaving you to switch on those wished as these apps eat into your free time big time.

From £7.50 per month.

Edited April 20, 2021 by PORT ROYAL
Apps

[Windsurfboy]

Don't even need any data or monthly contract. Just use it on Wi-Fi at home , or anywhere with free WiFi. 

 

Alternative is a basic tablet , use on WiFi and use your old phone for making calls

[tring]

4 hours ago, Bertie Doe said:

In the unlikely event of P&Os computer not recognising BTB cruises, there is one other course of action possible and that is to contact P&O themselves. Probably more reliable than a TA.

 

If you have booked through a travel agent, P&O will not speak to you directly and even if they did, you would still have to go to the travel agent to make any alterations to your booking.  It is for the agent to get the situation clarified and dealt with - that is what they are paid for. 

[Dermotsgirl]

22 hours ago, Son of Anarchy said:

Seafarers are exempt, but have to self-isolate.

 

Personally, I don't necessarily consider all the crew on a cruise ship to be seafarers (ie the hotel side of things).  However, the UK definition of a seaman includes: "every person (except masters and pilots) employed or engaged in any capacity on board any ship".

 

 

I do wonder how it’ll be viewed if P&O recruit from India for these cruises.

 

Mostly, seafarers perform their roles at sea, away from the general population.  Whereas the crew, especially hotel workers and food and beverage staff will be in direct contact with the passengers.

 

it looks very bad in India right now, and I don’t think it’ll look good if P&O try and bring over Indian nationals to crew the ships under the guise of seafarers. It could be construed as trying to circumvent the rules. 
 

 

 

[Son of Anarchy]

17 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I do wonder how it’ll be viewed if P&O recruit from India for these cruises.

 

Mostly, seafarers perform their roles at sea, away from the general population.  Whereas the crew, especially hotel workers and food and beverage staff will be in direct contact with the passengers.

 

it looks very bad in India right now, and I don’t think it’ll look good if P&O try and bring over Indian nationals to crew the ships under the guise of seafarers. It could be construed as trying to circumvent the rules. 
 

 

 

The rules as to who is or isn't a seaman is defined in section 313(1) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995.   Which includes: "every person (except masters and pilots) employed or engaged in any capacity on board any ship", a direct quote from the legislation.  Not circumventing the rules - merely applying them.

[Pink-belle]

37 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I do wonder how it’ll be viewed if P&O recruit from India for these cruises.

 

Mostly, seafarers perform their roles at sea, away from the general population.  Whereas the crew, especially hotel workers and food and beverage staff will be in direct contact with the passengers.

 

it looks very bad in India right now, and I don’t think it’ll look good if P&O try and bring over Indian nationals to crew the ships under the guise of seafarers. It could be construed as trying to circumvent the rules. 
 

 

 

I don’t agree with this at all.  Being an Indian National is nothing at all to do with spreading coronavirus.  Travelling from India currently is.  From Friday anyone arriving from India in the UK will need to be in a quarantine hotel.  As long as those rules aren’t broken, and I don’t for one moment think they would be, then the nationality of those working on board should not be our concern. 

[Pink-belle]

Princess have posted a video message of Commodore Nick Nash, I always enjoy listening to him when onboard.  Cruise ships are being used to get the crew.  Makes perfect sense, quarantine and retraining where necessary.

[majortom10]

2 hours ago, welshy74 said:

With everything going digital now, why don’t you get a very cheap smartphone?   Unfortunately the way business is going it is not catering for the few who don’t own such technology.  Even ships are going down this route where apps are needed on board.  

Because I never use a mobile phone so not prepared to pay for a contract to allow me to use apps and internet. It isnt just about buying actual phone it is paying a monthly amount for something I would never used. My current phone was last topped up over 12 months ago with £10 it still has £3-41 left.

[davecttr]

2 hours ago, Windsurfboy said:

Don't even need any data or monthly contract. Just use it on Wi-Fi at home , or anywhere with free WiFi. 

 

Alternative is a basic tablet , use on WiFi and use your old phone for making calls

I have a basic smart phone which does not have a phone SIM so it connects to the internet via WiFi. I bought it to run the WiFi app which Marella now have on their latest ships and it runs the NHS COVID venue registration App. I also check out forums and news whist drinking my coffee. It now has the other NHS app as well, the one which shows your vaccination details.. You can make emergency calls on it as well without having a phone contract.

 

My mobile phone is a Doro model with large buttons and a small screen, PAYG via EE, perfect for making calls and texts.

[Bertie Doe]

On 4/17/2021 at 8:15 AM, davecttr said:

Take a look at this video of how MSC are cruising in the Med

 

 

The ship has a 6000 capacity and only 1400 passengers aboard

Only one speciality restaurant open!

Thanks for re-posting B's MSC video. Their hygiene and Covid protocols are thorough and very re-assuring. We're looking at the Virtuosa cruise on 3rd July, calling at Greenock, Belfast and Liverpool. It's only 4 hours to get to Southampton by train or car. If we go, it'll be our first with MSC and our first in a ship of this size.

[nosapphire]

3 hours ago, PORT ROYAL said:

Tesco mobile has some good phones and reasonable deals

Ensure you or Tesco switch off all the roaming apps, leaving you to switch on those wished as these apps eat into your free time big time.

From £7.50 per month.

I have a Doro for phone calls, and a small basic Samsung smartphone. Both on Asda payg sim cards - just either use or top-up every 6 months to keep live, no contract, no minimum, no tie-in. £10 each lasts a year.

[Dermotsgirl]

1 hour ago, Son of Anarchy said:

The rules as to who is or isn't a seaman is defined in section 313(1) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995.   Which includes: "every person (except masters and pilots) employed or engaged in any capacity on board any ship", a direct quote from the legislation.  Not circumventing the rules - merely applying them.

What I’m getting at is how it may be viewed. 
 

The question is, is it a good look to bring Indian nationals to work in the U.K. in customer facing roles, bearing in mind the scale of the Covid outbreak in India, and the apparent infectiousness of the Indian variants. 

No doubt the crew members would be quarantined etc,  but not sure it would be looked on favourably by the general public 

 

And if it goes pear shaped, the press would have a field day 

[davemorton]

6 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

What I’m getting at is how it may be viewed. 
 

The question is, is it a good look to bring Indian nationals to work in the U.K. in customer facing roles, bearing in mind the scale of the Covid outbreak in India, and the apparent infectiousness of the Indian variants. 

No doubt the crew members would be quarantined etc,  but not sure it would be looked on favourably by the general public 

 

And if it goes pear shaped, the press would have a field day 

Looks like they are already here from India, saw a post else where with a pic of the crew getting off a coach in S/ton to get onto Britannia earlier today.  

[Dermotsgirl]

1 hour ago, Pink-belle said:

I don’t agree with this at all.  Being an Indian National is nothing at all to do with spreading coronavirus.  Travelling from India currently is.  From Friday anyone arriving from India in the UK will need to be in a quarantine hotel.  As long as those rules aren’t broken, and I don’t for one moment think they would be, then the nationality of those working on board should not be our concern. 

The red list regulations state that only British and Irish citizens can travel to the U.K. from India.

 

The Indian crew clearly aren’t U.K. or Irish nationals, so I’m not sure that it would be viewed very favourably by the general public if some sort of exception is made for cruise companies, especially as India is in the midst of a terrible wave of the pandemic possibly driven my a new variant 
 

Personally, I don’t care what nationality the crew is, especially as I’m not sailing on any of these cruises.

 

All I’m commenting on is the optics of bringing in customer facing crew from India at time time.

 

 

[Dermotsgirl]

6 minutes ago, davemorton said:

Looks like they are already here from India, saw a post else where with a pic of the crew getting off a coach in S/ton to get onto Britannia earlier today.  

Do you have a link? 
 

Just curious to see what it says.

 

Perhaps they’ve been rushed here to beat the Friday deadline.

 

 

[welshy74]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

Because I never use a mobile phone so not prepared to pay for a contract to allow me to use apps and internet. It isnt just about buying actual phone it is paying a monthly amount for something I would never used. My current phone was last topped up over 12 months ago with £10 it still has £3-41 left.

You don’t need a contract.  You can buy a cheap tablet for next to nothing.  If it’s your choice to refuse to work with such technology then your loss.  

[majortom10]

38 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

The red list regulations state that only British and Irish citizens can travel to the U.K. from India.

 

The Indian crew clearly aren’t U.K. or Irish nationals, so I’m not sure that it would be viewed very favourably by the general public if some sort of exception is made for cruise companies, especially as India is in the midst of a terrible wave of the pandemic possibly driven my a new variant 
 

Personally, I don’t care what nationality the crew is, especially as I’m not sailing on any of these cruises.

 

All I’m commenting on is the optics of bringing in customer facing crew from India at time time.

 

 

India being on the red list doesnt come into force until Friday so anyone arriving before that does not have to isolate/quarantine.

[majortom10]

4 minutes ago, welshy74 said:

You don’t need a contract.  You can buy a cheap tablet for next to nothing.  If it’s your choice to refuse to work with such technology then your loss.  

"Refuse to work with such technology" get off your high horse there are many people who dont even own a PC or smartphone so stop being so arrogant. Not a case of refusing to work I dont live my life being run by a smartphone and dont need a mobile phone except for emergencies. 

Edited April 20, 2021 by majortom10

[davemorton]

40 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

Do you have a link? 
 

Just curious to see what it says.

 

Perhaps they’ve been rushed here to beat the Friday deadline.

 

 

Not sure if this will work...  https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/buhaysacruiseship

[Ardennais]

11 minutes ago, welshy74 said:

You don’t need a contract.  You can buy a cheap tablet for next to nothing.  If it’s your choice to refuse to work with such technology then your loss.  

That’s very harsh in my opinion. I know of dozens of people who don’t have such technology and wouldn’t know how to deal with it even if they had a smart phone. 

[welshy74]

5 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

"Refuse to work with such technology" get off your high horse there are many people who dont even own a PC or smartphone so stop being so arrogant. Not a case of refusing to work I dont live my life being run by a smartphone and dont need a mobile phone except for emergencies. 

Covid had propelled business to use such technology.  I’m just saying it as it is.  This is the future and it’s your choice to keep up with it, and I’m no young Gen Z who is glued to my devices.. I don’t get it either.  I’ve had to teach my elderly dad how to use a smartphone because he acknowledges the need for it in the 2020s!!

[welshy74]

Just now, Ardennais said:

That’s very harsh in my opinion. I know of dozens of people who don’t have such technology and wouldn’t know how to deal with it even if they had a smart phone. 

Yes it’s a tad harsh but it’s also fact!! This is what’s happening and big business is not willing to accommodate the small minority who won’t use technology.  

[PORT ROYAL]

10 minutes ago, welshy74 said:

Covid had propelled business to use such technology.  I’m just saying it as it is.  This is the future and it’s your choice to keep up with it, and I’m no young Gen Z who is glued to my devices.. I don’t get it either.  I’ve had to teach my elderly dad how to use a smartphone because he acknowledges the need for it in the 2020s!!

Same with my Mother, she now loves seeing as speaking to every member if the family.  She feels part of their lives, despite COVID 

[Ardennais]

8 minutes ago, welshy74 said:

Yes it’s a tad harsh but it’s also fact!! This is what’s happening and big business is not willing to accommodate the small minority who won’t use technology.  

It’s not a small minority though, and anyway, minorities also have their rights. 
You just can’t exclude people overnight based on their ability or inability to use modern technology. It will take years to filter through - like the argument with cash, cheques and cards.