Getting off the ship at ports

[wowzz]

11 minutes ago, daiB said:

Not sure where you get your facts as i am not aware of any cruise line ex UK going to other countries who are guaranteeing that trips will be normal. Some ships are visiting ports but only UK ports. The conditions at the moment are such that no one can be hard and fast about what will happen next.

Princess are saying that independent shore visits will be allowable when they shortly resume European cruises,  subject to local  regulations. 

[daiB]

50 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Princess are saying that independent shore visits will be allowable when they shortly resume European cruises,  subject to local  regulations. 

But not happened yet.

[Bazrat]

7 hours ago, daiB said:

Not sure where you get your facts as i am not aware of any cruise line ex UK going to other countries who are guaranteeing that trips will be normal. Some ships are visiting ports but only UK ports. The conditions at the moment are such that no one can be hard and fast about what will happen next.

Some of the Caribbean islands are now insisting on fully vaccinated passengers and crew, hence some of the American cruise line’s are cancelling cruises.

[Bazrat]

7 hours ago, wowzz said:

Princess are saying that independent shore visits will be allowable when they shortly resume European cruises,  subject to local  regulations. 

Subject to local regulations so in reality you might book a cruise with them and not stop at any ports.

[wowzz]

23 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

Subject to local regulations so in reality you might book a cruise with them and not stop at any ports.

Yes, but in all reality, do you think any cruuse line would proceed on a 14 day cruise that had no stops whatsoever, without offering the option of cancelling?

 In our case,  even if we were only to have two port stops instead of seven, we would still be happy to continue    

[davecttr]

A lot of the planned winter cruises involve Spain and Portugal and apparently at the end of July Spain extended the cruise ship ban indefinitely. I can find no information on Portugese policy. You can't have a cruise to Iberia if you can't stop there and that applies to Madeira/Canary Islands too.

 

What irritates me is P&O are still insisting on 90 day final payment

[davecttr]

42 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Yes, but in all reality, do you think any cruuse line would proceed on a 14 day cruise that had no stops whatsoever, without offering the option of cancelling?

 In our case,  even if we were only to have two port stops instead of seven, we would still be happy to continue    

They may be thinking 'can we get away with it'.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, Bazrat said:

Subject to local regulations so in reality you might book a cruise with them and not stop at any ports.

But at least you know the possible restrictions, P&O are not providing that clarity when you book shore excursions.

[wowzz]

9 minutes ago, davecttr said:

A lot of the planned winter cruises involve Spain and Portugal and apparently at the end of July Spain extended the cruise ship ban indefinitely

But that universal ban is no longer in place. Barcelona, for example,  allows cruise ships to visit.

http://www.latecruisenews.com/2021/08/16/royal-caribbean-makes-long-awaited-return-to-western-mediterranean-harmony-of-the-seas-is-the-first-oasis-class-ship-back-in-europe-sailing-7-night-cruises-from-barcelona-spain/

[davecttr]

That's promising but does it apply to Cadiz and the Canary Islands

[wowzz]

10 minutes ago, davecttr said:

That's promising but does it apply to Cadiz and the Canary Islands

Appears so.

[Eglesbrech]

9 hours ago, daiB said:

However i do tend to agree with most that we have no clarity regarding shore excursions. It does seem somewhat odd that you can go on a trip to a venue and be set loose but not walk off the ship. Someone has spotted something on the P&O website saying that the position regarding trips is constantly under review  including the trips already booked. So although they may be advertised as having “free time” this may not be a reality The truth is that no one knows for certain what is going to happen next week never mind in the next 3 months. I will now say what i have said for years I don’t care where the ship goes or if I get off. Therefore I shall completely enjoy my next 3 cruises on Ventura back to back to back.

I suppose we all have different ways of enjoying a cruise. Being stuck onboard with no ports or having to be constantly herded in a group tour as the only option to get off is not my idea of fun.
 

I accept that others like you just enjoy the ship experience. Have fun on Ventura.

 

If being stuck on the ship / herded is likely then I will not be paying balances 3 months in advance. I would hold on if this was reduced to 30 days when the reality of the situation may be more clear.

 

This may of course all be academic given the news reported today that the government are already hinting about fire breaks to reduce covid numbers.

 

Re the “free time” situation we came across a cruise tour for Marella while on a U.K. holiday. They were only permitted to leave the ship on bubbled ships tour but they were all meandering around the town independently after the initial castle tour. The badges were a dead give away. Other lines may of course be more strict.

 

 

 

 

[Technoman2]

I asked Guest Support the following questions and the answer is below.

 

I have 2 questions that i cannot seem to get a definative answer too.  Firstly will the PCR test that we have to take within 2 days of arrival back in the UK be organised or carried out by P&O before we leave the ship. Secondly some of  the organised tours give the impression that you are free to walk around the locations on your own after a guided tour is finished and make your own way back to the ship. If this is the case has the situation changed and will we be able to leave the ship and visit places on our own. Most of the organised tours that we would have wanted to book are already full so will P&;O be adding more tours. I for one dont want to book something until we know exactly what is happening which may mean booking tours when we are on the ship. we have been on several cruises with P&O and are really looking forward to getting back into cruising mode but as you can understand this covid situation is a worry for everyone.

Response:

Thank you for your email. Please accept our sincere apologies for the delay in our reply.

At present, we do not provide any testing post disembarkation. Please refer to local government guidelines for requirements.

At present, our policy is to restrict any disembarkation from the ship to P&O official excursions only, with no free roaming before or after these planned excursions. This policy is currently set to be in place until the end of this year and is being reviewed regularly in accordance with updates to government guidelines.

Should you have interest in booking an excursion that is sold out, please give us a call on 03453 555 111 to register your interest and we will add you to the waiting list. Should we receive enough guests on the waiting list, we can arrange additional excursions.

I hope this information has helped to answer your enquiry and we look forward to welcoming you on board.
 

Hope this helps a bit.

[Son of Anarchy]

Thanks for posting this Technoman2.  Well, if this stays the same to the end of the year, then it looks the shore time we'll be getting on our December cruise will be going up the Rock in Gibraltar.

 

Might just upgrade to a balcony for the other days as well.

[terrierjohn]

From Technoman2s response from P&O, it looks as though the majority of shore excursions already booked will be severely curtailed as to content, in fact those booking a beach trip are going to be very disappointed that all they are likely to get is a view from a coach window.

[wowzz]

I am at a loss to understand why two sister companies ( P&O and Princess) have diametrically opposite policies with regards to shore excursions.

The only reason that I can think of is pure profit maximisation.

[davecttr]

35 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I am at a loss to understand why two sister companies ( P&O and Princess) have diametrically opposite policies with regards to shore excursions.

The only reason that I can think of is pure profit maximisation.

Unless they are conducting virus trials to compare virus infection rates with the two approaches.

[davecttr]

Some Norwegian posts are open to cruise ships. AIDAcara is en route from Hellesylt to Geiranger and had visited that port before. May be promising for Iona's summer season next year.

[wowzz]

8 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Unless they are conducting virus trials to compare virus infection rates with the two approaches.

I can't possibly see that hapoening. 

[daiB]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

From Technoman2s response from P&O, it looks as though the majority of shore excursions already booked will be severely curtailed as to content, in fact those booking a beach trip are going to be very disappointed that all they are likely to get is a view from a coach window.

This is what I was referring to in my post yesterday. Which takes away the argument about free time on trips v getting off the ship and wandering.

[jaydee6969]

51 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Some Norwegian posts are open to cruise ships. AIDAcara is en route from Hellesylt to Geiranger and had visited that port before. May be promising for Iona's summer season next year.

 

Just tying up in Geirangerfjord.  Had already been into Hellesylt to drop passengers on excursions.  Seen a few ships popping up on the cam in recent weeks.

 

Just booked a Princess cruise for half term week after following information regarding getting off the ships.  Fingers crossed no lockdown!!

 

 

[tring]

3 hours ago, davecttr said:

A lot of the planned winter cruises involve Spain and Portugal and apparently at the end of July Spain extended the cruise ship ban indefinitely. I can find no information on Portugese policy. You can't have a cruise to Iberia if you can't stop there and that applies to Madeira/Canary Islands too.

 

What irritates me is P&O are still insisting on 90 day final payment

 

Many Spanish ports are now open.  Fred running a couple of Spanish cruises in September and all ports, including a couple I had not previously heard of, were willing to have passengers go ashore independently as well, when we last heard at end of last week.  Can all change though and we will be kept informed once on the ship what the situation will be for each port at that current time - but can change until arrival date and will have to be the same for P&O, even if they do not stop passengers going ashore themselves.

 

All a matter of what our Government, as well as the other countries government and even the individual ports decide.

 

Middle of last week.  Fred had said 4 Spanish ports on one cruise were only allowing excursions, yet three others would allow pax ashore independently.  All those ports then said to be allowing independent exploration by end of last week as I mentioned above.

 

Edited September 7, 2021 by tring

[P&O SUE]

On 9/6/2021 at 11:26 PM, daiB said:

However i do tend to agree with most that we have no clarity regarding shore excursions. It does seem somewhat odd that you can go on a trip to a venue and be set loose but not walk off the ship. Someone has spotted something on the P&O website saying that the position regarding trips is constantly under review  including the trips already booked. So although they may be advertised as having “free time” this may not be a reality The truth is that no one knows for certain what is going to happen next week never mind in the next 3 months. I will now say what i have said for years I don’t care where the ship goes or if I get off. Therefore I shall completely enjoy my next 3 cruises on Ventura back to back to back.

Thats what I think, that the trips will be moderated by the time we get to cruise.

[P&O SUE]

On 9/7/2021 at 10:08 AM, davecttr said:

Some Norwegian posts are open to cruise ships. AIDAcara is en route from Hellesylt to Geiranger and had visited that port before. May be promising for Iona's summer season next year.

I'm seriously considering changing my 14 night med cruise to a 7 day Norway one at least we’d get scenic views and be able to explore the new ship.

[davecttr]

1 hour ago, P&O SUE said:

I'm seriously considering changing my 14 night med cruise to a 7 day Norway one at least we’d get scenic views and be able to explore the new ship.

Next summer the Iona itinerary between 21 May and 3 Sept is Stavanger, Olden, Geiranger, Haugosund.

 

Stavanger is a coastal city, Olden is 65 miles inland up the fjords, Geiranger is 70 miles up the fjords and Haugosund is a coastal town with not much to do in town. So two days of scenic fjord cruising with lots of mountains. The cruises before 21May and after 3Sept substitute Alesund, a coastal town, for Geiranger so you get only half the fjord cruising. There is always the chance of course that a surprise change of itinerary will take place after you have paid your final balance!.

 

Norway is my favourite destination so I have booked 21 May and 3 September clear of the school holidays.

Edited September 8, 2021 by davecttr