Who has decided to take a summer staycation cruise?

[seapals2]

11 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Selbourne - your comments are absolutely spot on. There is no way that any cruise company would operate against government advice. Getting insurance is no problem, as the cruises will be operating within government guidelines.

Agree .. but ...right now there has been no change published to the FCDO advice on cruise travel.  
So we book .. knowing the advice as it stands is against cruise travel.  I think it’s a loophole that insurance companies will exploit. 
The old saying is true ... if you have to ask ... you’re not covered.  
Giving it no more thought until I have answers .. but thanks for your advice on the matter.  

[wowzz]

4 minutes ago, seapals2 said:

Agree .. but ...right now there has been no change published to the FCDO advice on cruise travel.  
So we book .. knowing the advice as it stands is against cruise travel.  I think it’s a loophole that insurance companies will exploit. 
The old saying is true ... if you have to ask ... you’re not covered.  
Giving it no more thought until I have answers .. but thanks for your advice on the matter.  

So, everyone that has booked a holiday for the end of this year, or next year will not, in your opinion,  be covered by their insurance policy. 

Well, my insurance company doesn't agree with you,  as,  I suspect do most others. It's the situation when you travel that is relevant, not the situation at time of booking.   

[Selbourne]

Just now, terrierjohn said:

...and you don't get fed and entertained either.

We don’t go on holidays for entertainment John! That’s why we don’t go to holiday camps or resort hotels and when on a cruise the things we enjoy are the ports, the food and some of the talks, but rarely the ‘entertainment’. As for food, Premier Inn breakfasts are fantastic (albeit at extra cost). Before my wife was disabled we used to stay in top end hotels, but struggle with them now as very few have good enough accessible bedrooms with wet rooms etc. When planning a touring holiday of Scotland we gave up trying to find suitable accommodation, so booked fully accessible bedrooms in Premier Inns, which were fantastic. We had breakfast there but in the evenings dined out in local restaurants, all of which were highly rated on review sites and the Michelin guide and we had some truly fantastic meals. Total outlay less than staying in a conventional hotel on a DBB basis and a much better overall experience. Most of our land based holidays are private holiday cottages though as we prefer those to hotels. 

[wowzz]

10 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

...and you don't get fed and entertained either.

But at £30 a night for two, you can easily be fed and "entertained" (debateable at times) for far less than the P&O staycation cruise prices.

[wowzz]

14 minutes ago, Gettingwarmer said:

Don’t want to fly.

Fair enough - but it does reduce your options if you want some winter sun.

[davecttr]

PANIC - I have just checked the P&O site and can't find the phone number for booking direct

 

edit - apologies, it is in the brochure

Edited March 21, 2021 by davecttr

[Bazrat]

24 minutes ago, wowzz said:

But at £30 a night for two, you can easily be fed and "entertained" (debateable at times) for far less than the P&O staycation cruise prices.

True but it is not to everyone’s tastes spending that kind of money, but in my case I worked particularly hard for mine and now in my latter years we are going to enjoy it.

[seapals2]

28 minutes ago, wowzz said:

So, everyone that has booked a holiday for the end of this year, or next year will not, in your opinion,  be covered by their insurance policy. 

Well, my insurance company doesn't agree with you,  as,  I suspect do most others. It's the situation when you travel that is relevant, not the situation at time of booking.   

yes I agree ... I am presuming we are covered for our cruise next year as by then all present FCDO advice we can expect to be lifted and anything else is right now unforeseen and unknown.  

It’s the particular short cruise in July which may well be booked and paid for before they get round to changing the wording to allow UK only cruises that concerns me.  
if I need to cancel before the wording is changed.. will I be covered 🤷‍♀️   
Going to play it safe and wait for the advice to be clarified.  

[wowzz]

7 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

True but it is not to everyone’s tastes spending that kind of money, but in my case I worked particularly hard for mine and now in my latter years we are going to enjoy it.

I totally agree with you, and we are going to enjoy our retirement as well.

But, given a finite amount of money, we just prefer to spend ours where we can be warm, and enjoy the local attractions, either as part of a cruise, or as a land based holiday. Spending a similar amount on a ship in the Irish sea in August does not appeal. 

Having said that, I'm sure you'll have a great time, and I hope the sun shines. I'm just going to spend the same amount of money for guaranteed sunshine! 

 

[Bazrat]

28 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I totally agree with you, and we are going to enjoy our retirement as well.

But, given a finite amount of money, we just prefer to spend ours where we can be warm, and enjoy the local attractions, either as part of a cruise, or as a land based holiday. Spending a similar amount on a ship in the Irish sea in August does not appeal. 

Having said that, I'm sure you'll have a great time, and I hope the sun shines. I'm just going to spend the same amount of money for guaranteed sunshine! 

 

Hahahaha we thought that on one trip to Florida we was on a small island off the coast only one way on or off we was told if the siren started get out,  so we sat there for two days waiting for it to pass us by, the second time we was in Orlando when the hurricane hit the coast and they put us in lockdown for nearly two days, so to be safe we went to Menorca and they got hit by gale force winds so the weather is what it is come rain or shine we make the beat of it.

[seapals2]

15 hours ago, seapals2 said:

P&O taking bookings from tomorrow.  Anyone decided to sail.   Have you checked with your insurers.  The FCDO advice remains unchanged.  Are we covered if we decide to book.   P&O will refund if the sailings are cancelled but what if we need to cancel for any reason.  
 

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cruise-ship-travel

Finally found this in print 

https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/uk-will-permit-domestic-cruises-to-resume-as-early-as-may-17

Not sure why it hasn’t been amended on the gov.uk website which still has the original advisory against all cruise travel. 

 

[reef112]

The P&O website is now showing the summer cruises - Showing prices for inside cabins too now.
On the specific one I'm looking at on Iona, prices start from £679.
 

[Selbourne]

7 hours ago, Bazrat said:

True but it is not to everyone’s tastes spending that kind of money, but in my case I worked particularly hard for mine and now in my latter years we are going to enjoy it.

I think that you may have misunderstood the point, which was that a room in a modern Premier Inn is better equipped and more comfortable than a cabin on a P&O ship. Clearly the two aren’t really comparable, as one is a land based hotel and the other on a cruise ship travelling to different places with food and entertainment, but the point was made as someone had likened P&O cabins to boutique hotels, which I felt was a stretch!

 

 I’m sure that we all worked hard for our money, whatever jobs we did. I was a director of a large household name company and although now retired I am still a higher rate tax payer, so I haven’t used Premier Inns because I can’t afford better, but because they offer great accessible rooms that I can’t get even in many hotels that cost ten times as much. On many of our P&O cruises we have had suites, because we have valued the extra space and the benefits that they offer but equally, even though I am very fortunate that I can afford the best things in life, I still enjoy getting great value for money! Some of the Premier Inn accessible rooms that we have stayed in at around £30 a night have been bigger and better than P&O suites that have cost us £500 a night, so that sort of bargain is very much to my taste!

[Selbourne]

40 minutes ago, reef112 said:

The P&O website is now showing the summer cruises - Showing prices for inside cabins too now.
On the specific one I'm looking at on Iona, prices start from £679.
 

Interesting that they are selling inside cabins as there had been speculation (fuelled by the fact that the ‘from’ prices were all balcony cabins) that they wouldn’t be using them. Hopefully that makes these cruises more affordable for those who are happy with inside cabins. 
 

I hope that everyone wishing to book one of these cruises is successful today and I look forward to reading the reviews once these cruises happen, especially Iona as we hope to do a Fjords cruise on her in the future, having been booked on her maiden cruise. 

[davecttr]

The website may well crash at 8.30. i am logged in and ready to go, refreshing the site every minute or so 🤞

[shopaholic6]

Typing fingers at the ready ......... 😀😀😀

[Snow Hill]

7 hours ago, seapals2 said:

Finally found this in print 

https://www.maritime-executive.com/article/uk-will-permit-domestic-cruises-to-resume-as-early-as-may-17

Not sure why it hasn’t been amended on the gov.uk website which still has the original advisory against all cruise travel. 

 

The Government commissioned report on travel won’t be available until after 12 April, so unlikely anything will be updated until after that report is published. Also the dates quoted are the earliest dates, so they could be pushed back. 

Edited March 22, 2021 by Snow Hill

[showingdiva]

Only allocated cabins , 100% single supplement and a 15% deposit.

 

No thanks.

Edited March 22, 2021 by showingdiva

[pete14]

The suite we had booked for the original Iona maiden (9 days to Norway) was priced at pretty much the same as the 7 night cruise to nowhere new maiden and our 14 night cruise to Barcelona and back scheduled for November 2021 is cheaper. No cruise to nowhere maiden for us.

[JP82]

I said when these were announced, if it was Iona or Britannia, I would be all over them... However, being in the 30-39 bracket for Vaccinations, I still am not clear on when I will be getting mine.

 

So I think as much as I want to be booking one I will wait and hope that they are still showing some availability on the later ones when I have an idea of I will be done in time.

 

Meanwhile if rumours of MSC running more than the Magnifica amount to something, especially if it is a Meraviglia or Seaside class, then that will be surefire booking for me.

[Cathygh]

Just booked Britannia 1st July and Iona 21 August 

My TA rang me at 8.30 on the dot. Brilliant service

Cathy

[davecttr]

Still no luck on the website

 

still looping when you select book early saver

 

still no luck, toasted a hot cross bun

Edited March 22, 2021 by davecttr

[Beckett]

16 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

Just booked Britannia 1st July and Iona 21 August 

My TA rang me at 8.30 on the dot. Brilliant service

Cathy

Fantastic Cathy. Now you've really got something to look forward to - and not too long to wait. Bon Voyage! Jane.x

[Selbourne]

21 minutes ago, pete14 said:

The suite we had booked for the original Iona maiden (9 days to Norway) was priced at pretty much the same as the 7 night cruise to nowhere new maiden and our 14 night cruise to Barcelona and back scheduled for November 2021 is cheaper. No cruise to nowhere maiden for us.

That’s a shame Pete. We were booked on the original Iona maiden cruise as well. Out of interest, how much were they asking for a suite on the maiden ‘cruise to nowhere’?

[Selbourne]

The email that I have just received from P&O states that these cruises will operate at reduced capacity, which is reassuring if the weather is poor as they should feel less packed inside than they would usually on bad weather sea days. Has anyone heard what the capacity is for these cruises? I also wonder if they will scrap Club dining on Britannia and make all restaurants Freedom? I’m just wondering how Club would work if people can’t share with others, yet still turn up at just two set times?