P&O changes positive test coach policy

[Interestedcruisefan]

2 minutes ago, Pencil62 said:

After following this thread over the weekend, we've decided to cancel our booking with  Intercruises for our upcoming December cruise. Our Derbyshire based TA has kindly swapped it for some extra on-board spend.  We are now travelling with Eavesway for only slightly more than the obs. We are more reassured now as the lady who took our booking said although they were allowed to fill their coaches they have made a decision not to. She did however warn us that Public Health England state that all passengers on the coach will be denied boarding if one person tests positive. She also referred us to their Covid page on their website which is very informative.   Jacko.

Tbh it's not the coach company you are relying on

 

You are actually relying on the ability of your fellow coach passengers to use tests at home before boarding 

 

And how close to boarding the coach they all test themselves

 

I wouldn't allow myself that risk tbh

[Jukat]

1 hour ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Tbh it's not the coach company you are relying on

 

You are actually relying on the ability of your fellow coach passengers to use tests at home before boarding 

 

And how close to boarding the coach they all test themselves

 

I wouldn't allow myself that risk tbh

Eavesway policy is that you have test up to 24 hours prior to coach journey, upload result on nhs app, receive text or email back to confirm result & show this to driver before boarding coach. 

Assume intercruises the same but they don't have a written policy on these issues.

No guarantees with any of this but I would have more confidence with Eavesway as they have their own coach fleet & employ drivers. Intercruise sub contract to various different operators.

Anybody could be negative 24 hours before getting on coach but positive at port its the risk for all coach passengers. My concern is reports of pax not wearing masks on coach think they should be put off coach in that case. If unable to wear a mask use alternative transport.

[Interestedcruisefan]

15 minutes ago, Jukat said:

Eavesway policy is that you have test up to 24 hours prior to coach journey, upload result on nhs app, receive text or email back to confirm result & show this to driver before boarding coach. 

Assume intercruises the same but they don't have a written policy on these issues.

No guarantees with any of this but I would have more confidence with Eavesway as they have their own coach fleet & employ drivers. Intercruise sub contract to various different operators.

Anybody could be negative 24 hours before getting on coach but positive at port its the risk for all coach passengers. My concern is reports of pax not wearing masks on coach think they should be put off coach in that case. If unable to wear a mask use alternative transport.

I guess there are 2 different issues 

 

If someone is positive by the time the cruise starts wearing a mask on board will reduce the chance of them infecting you 

 

But you still won't be allowed to board will you? 

[Jukat]

1 hour ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I guess there are 2 different issues 

 

If someone is positive by the time the cruise starts wearing a mask on board will reduce the chance of them infecting you 

 

But you still won't be allowed to board will you? 

No seems boarding/ sailing for all will be refused. P&O had said previously that other passengers testing negative could still board. Now seems that PHE directing cruise company's to refuse boarding when one coach passenger tests positive as all classed as close contacts. However lady who had to disembark after 4-5 hours on board says P&O told her it was because of numbers on coach so no social distancing. P&O should be clarifying policy on this issue.

I've sent message to P&O for clarification on this so we can decide whether to continue with Eavesway or get a taxi down at significant cost & Eavesway on return journey. Sailing in early January so gives us time to see how things go in next few weeks, but with the huge transmission rates in UK I think there will be more risks with coach travel rather than less particularly after Xmas & New Year.

[CarlaMarie]

26 minutes ago, Jukat said:

No seems boarding/ sailing for all will be refused. P&O had said previously that other passengers testing negative could still board. Now seems that PHE directing cruise company's to refuse boarding when one coach passenger tests positive as all classed as close contacts. However lady who had to disembark after 4-5 hours on board says P&O told her it was because of numbers on coach so no social distancing. P&O should be clarifying policy on this issue.

I've sent message to P&O for clarification on this so we can decide whether to continue with Eavesway or get a taxi down at significant cost & Eavesway on return journey. Sailing in early January so gives us time to see how things go in next few weeks, but with the huge transmission rates in UK I think there will be more risks with coach travel rather than less particularly after Xmas & New Year.

 

I heard the same that technically the number of passengers on this coach should have been split between two. So they were in very close proximity to one another for a long period of time, in an enclosed space, and added to that passengers (and reports the driver also) were not wearing their masks then you can understand why PHE advised P&O to remove all passengers. We also don't know whether everyone showed their test result to the driver. The coach company and wheoever they are sub contracting out to really need to tighten up their protocols otherwise this will continue to happen and passengers need to follow the rules.

 

When my parents went on their excursion in Liverpool the coach driver knew how many passengers would be on his coach, knew who were travelling together and marked where people could sit to make sure everyone was distanced (and all had to wear masks).

 

[Guest ccpm]

Reading here has given me  lot of food for thought and I have now cancelled Eavesway. £25 cancellation fee. Booked CPS so only got myself to worry about testing wise.  

[Jukat]

5 hours ago, ccpm said:

Reading here has given me  lot of food for thought and I have now cancelled Eavesway. £25 cancellation fee. Booked CPS so only got myself to worry about testing wise.  

I'm waiting for a response from P&O as to whether policy is automatic now to refuse all coach pax if one tests positive. Lady booted off ship told it was because intercruise coach was too full so all considered close contacts. Will make decision when we get a response ( if ever). We will book taxi to take us down to port = 295 miles & 5 hour journey & cost will be cheaper than 2 rail fares. We will keep our Eavesway coach booking for return journey home.

Only niggle I have is that local taxis sometimes unreliable where we live!!!

[Malcolm142]

Can you drive? If so what about a one way car hire?

[Jukat]

23 minutes ago, Malcolm142 said:

Can you drive? If so what about a one way car hire?

In this area can't pick car hire up at weekends, unbelievable  even national company's have no weekend pick ups anywhere near us.  We sail on Monday 3rd immediately  after New Year so we would need to hire car during week before. Prices are far dearer than taxi. I know another couple who are near to us travelling to port on same day but different ship so if they decide not to use intercruise coach to travel down cost of taxi/mini bus could be be relatively  cheap compared to other options. We could drive but car parking for 35 nights is still dearer than taxi. Train is dearer & line closed into Southampton on 2nd for repairs. All a bit of a nightmare, will be Eavesway depending on what P&O policy is now or taxi/ mini bus. We are veering to taxi as coach will be travelling immediately after people mixing over Xmas & new year, so i think chances of positive result at port for someone likely to be higher.

We will not be going out NYE we are locking down as we want to get on this cruise as had 3 cancelled.

[emam]

2 hours ago, Jukat said:

All a bit of a nightmare, will be Eavesway depending on what P&O policy is now or taxi/ mini bus. 

 

Is it Eavesway or Intercruises which is the one P&O offer complimentary from here.

[Jukat]

39 minutes ago, emam said:

 

Is it Eavesway or Intercruises which is the one P&O offer complimentary from here.

P&O use intercruises coach travel. Eavesway also go to port but not as part of P&O complimentary coach travel. 

[Guest ccpm]

I hope everyone can get sorted out for the best transport solution for them. However I can't tell you how much stress my decision to drive down has taken off me. Its about 5.5 hours which I don't really want to drive (the coach was 7+) but I am stopping near where I used to live in a cheap travellodge the night before and doing the last lap early on the day of the cruise.

[Les_ldh]

27 minutes ago, ccpm said:

I hope everyone can get sorted out for the best transport solution for them. However I can't tell you how much stress my decision to drive down has taken off me. Its about 5.5 hours which I don't really want to drive (the coach was 7+) but I am stopping near where I used to live in a cheap travellodge the night before and doing the last lap early on the day of the cruise.

I know exactly how you feel as I’ve been really stressed about this (and the PLF) as well. I don’t have my own car so I am booked on the coach, but am very nervous about it. I’ve looked into every other conceivable option for travelling down, but all of them would have added around 50% to the cost of my cruise. All I can do is cross my fingers and hope nobody on the coach tests positive. I hate not being in control, but there’s nothing else I can do.

 

Hope you have a great cruise.

Les

[Interestedcruisefan]

50 minutes ago, Les_ldh said:

I know exactly how you feel as I’ve been really stressed about this (and the PLF) as well. I don’t have my own car so I am booked on the coach, but am very nervous about it. I’ve looked into every other conceivable option for travelling down, but all of them would have added around 50% to the cost of my cruise. All I can do is cross my fingers and hope nobody on the coach tests positive. I hate not being in control, but there’s nothing else I can do.

 

Hope you have a great cruise.

Les

I sympathise greatly

 

It was enough of a concern just hoping me and my wife weren't positive when we drove down to southampton alone

 

We both breathed big sighs of relief when we got the texts saying we were negative ! 

 

Let alone worrying about another coachload alongside you

 

It's almost worth a celebration party for the coach when you all get on board !!

 

Must be a huge concern for the cruise lines as well tbf

 

To be at risk of losing upto 50 passengers at the very last minute due to just a single positive 

 

On a 1,000 capacity cruise thats 5 per cent of their passengers I assume they have to refund/credit in one go!

 

They must be looking at what can be done to reduce this risk for all concerned 

 

 

Edited October 20, 2021 by Interestedcruisefan

[CarlaMarie]

1 hour ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

I sympathise greatly

 

It was enough of a concern just hoping me and my wife weren't positive when we drove down to southampton alone

 

We both breathed big sighs of relief when we got the texts saying we were negative ! 

 

Let alone worrying about another coachload alongside you

 

It's almost worth a celebration party for the coach when you all get on board !!

 

Must be a huge concern for the cruise lines as well tbf

 

To be at risk of losing upto 50 passengers at the very last minute due to just a single positive 

 

On a 1,000 capacity cruise thats 5 per cent of their passengers I assume they have to refund/credit in one go!

 

They must be looking at what can be done to reduce this risk for all concerned 

 

 

 

They may have to ask passengers to test themselves the day of travel before boarding the coach, rather than asking them to test in the days before. But then you are still relying on the coach company to adhere to a strict protocol, plus your fellow passengers. 

 

[Guest ccpm]

2 hours ago, Les_ldh said:

I know exactly how you feel as I’ve been really stressed about this (and the PLF) as well. I don’t have my own car so I am booked on the coach, but am very nervous about it. I’ve looked into every other conceivable option for travelling down, but all of them would have added around 50% to the cost of my cruise. All I can do is cross my fingers and hope nobody on the coach tests positive. I hate not being in control, but there’s nothing else I can do.

 

Hope you have a great cruise.

Les

Thank you so much. I like the coach but had already been stressed by the length of the journey from Norwich. I had just sorted that by driving halfway leaving my car at my brothers then coach from Northampton (3hrs) then along comes the implications of a passenger testing positive. I do totally sympathise with you as you have no option. Stay as safe as you can and hopefully all will be well and you will have a good cruise.

 

Like you my next hurdle is the PLF. I must admit this seemed a good idea when I booked it a few days ago. Not so sure now but fingers crossed. 

[Jukat]

This is a response from P&O to my question as to whether all pax would be automatically excluded from boarding ship if one pax on coach tested positive. Mask up & ensure that coach company have limited number on coach to ensure social distancing seems key issue to me!!! P&O have not mentioned coach companies responsibilities in this response but we will be confirming with Eavesway that they will ensure that they have limited numbers on coach.

 

 

Hi , thank you for your message. Covid protocols, including mask wearing need to be adhered to on coach transport to the ship, failure to do this may result in denied boarding if a someone on the coach has tested positive prior to embarkation. Best wishes.

[zap99]

On 10/19/2021 at 12:30 PM, ccpm said:

Reading here has given me  lot of food for thought and I have now cancelled Eavesway. £25 cancellation fee. Booked CPS so only got myself to worry about testing wise.  

Leaving our hotel in Spain last week, we got a cab to the airport as we didn't fancy sitting on the coach with 50 other passengers. Not much choice about the plane though.

[Guest ccpm]

I think one of the most worrying elements of driving down by coach for me was the time it would be before P&O arranged a return coach or taxi. 3 hours for me back to Northampton, likely to be between 12midnight and 1am from previous reports. Transport by taxi, if I could find one, then to my brothers house 25 miles away, where I would have no option but to drive myself home (Brother and family off to Brighton for a few days after dropping me to the coach) another 3.5 hours home. Just seemed so undoable especially on your own. Now if I test positive just get CPS to bring my car back and off home.

 

Actually wondering if all the worry was for nothing. Might they pause cruising again if figures get worse? 

[Interestedcruisefan]

35 minutes ago, ccpm said:

I think one of the most worrying elements of driving down by coach for me was the time it would be before P&O arranged a return coach or taxi. 3 hours for me back to Northampton, likely to be between 12midnight and 1am from previous reports. Transport by taxi, if I could find one, then to my brothers house 25 miles away, where I would have no option but to drive myself home (Brother and family off to Brighton for a few days after dropping me to the coach) another 3.5 hours home. Just seemed so undoable especially on your own. Now if I test positive just get CPS to bring my car back and off home.

 

Actually wondering if all the worry was for nothing. Might they pause cruising again if figures get worse? 

A RC cruise in Hong Kong has just disembarked 1,000 passengers before the cruise even set sail after just one of the crew tested positive !!

 

Spectrum of the Seas

 

Every country doing its own thing right now

 

You can't predict anything tbh

[Interestedcruisefan]

https://www.cruisehive.com/royal-caribbean-forced-to-cancel-spectrum-of-the-seas-cruise/58346

 

Here's the link

 

Government decision

[terrierjohn]

5 minutes ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

https://www.cruisehive.com/royal-caribbean-forced-to-cancel-spectrum-of-the-seas-cruise/58346

 

Here's the link

 

Government decision

But China has the strictest rules in the world  they have already cancelled next years F1 GP because they are worried about importing covid cases. Strange really when they were the ones who set this darned virus free in the first place.

[Dermotsgirl]

1 hour ago, ccpm said:

I think one of the most worrying elements of driving down by coach for me was the time it would be before P&O arranged a return coach or taxi. 3 hours for me back to Northampton, likely to be between 12midnight and 1am from previous reports. Transport by taxi, if I could find one, then to my brothers house 25 miles away, where I would have no option but to drive myself home (Brother and family off to Brighton for a few days after dropping me to the coach) another 3.5 hours home. Just seemed so undoable especially on your own. Now if I test positive just get CPS to bring my car back and off home.

 

Actually wondering if all the worry was for nothing. Might they pause cruising again if figures get worse? 

I think the only way P&O would pause cruising again is if the government told them to......... and that seems unlikely at the moment! I don't think P&O would do it voluntarily, and they need to get money into their coffers.  However, perhaps a really Covid winter would delay plans to get the other ships up and running 

[Interestedcruisefan]

29 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I think the only way P&O would pause cruising again is if the government told them to......... and that seems unlikely at the moment! I don't think P&O would do it voluntarily, and they need to get money into their coffers.  However, perhaps a really Covid winter would delay plans to get the other ships up and running 

Lots of different countries with lots of different governments each with their own issues and agendas to manage

 

Out of the hands of cruise lines

 

Clearly anything involving China government is at big risk based on the Hong Kong decision