Iona - 12th - 19th Feb - Is it likely to go ahead?

[johnnylikely]

So we have an overnight at Rotterdam, but currently for the UK we have to quarantine for 10 days upon entry into the Netherlands...

Anyone any idea what could happen- a replacement port or something?

[Purdey16]

Hi Johnnylikely.  I’m on same cruise, had a very extensive email from P&O today but no mention of this , just passenger locator forms, ,I’ve heard le harve been replaced earlier in cruises but I’m not worrying over it because we’re not getting off at all for the first week, (on b2b) I’m sure if this is still in place P&O will dock else where , after all we can’t stay there for 10 days I’ll miss my next cruise 🤔

[LifeonMars]

1 hour ago, johnnylikely said:

So we have an overnight at Rotterdam, but currently for the UK we have to quarantine for 10 days upon entry into the Netherlands...

Anyone any idea what could happen- a replacement port or something?

 

The Dutch authorities have announced that starting from February 2, more facilitated entry rules will apply to persons travelling from high-risk areas.

 

“From February 2, 2022, travellers with a booster shot are not required to be quarantined if the traveller received the booster shot at least seven days before the trip to the Netherlands,” 

 

see

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/netherlands-to-lift-quarantine-requirement-for-travellers-who-receive-a-booster-dose/

 

Edited January 28, 2022 by LifeonMars

[johnnylikely]

31 minutes ago, LifeonMars said:

 

The Dutch authorities have announced that starting from February 2, more facilitated entry rules will apply to persons travelling from high-risk areas.

 

“From February 2, 2022, travellers with a booster shot are not required to be quarantined if the traveller received the booster shot at least seven days before the trip to the Netherlands,” 

 

see

https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/netherlands-to-lift-quarantine-requirement-for-travellers-who-receive-a-booster-dose/

 

OOoh thx!

[LifeonMars]

On 1/28/2022 at 5:29 PM, johnnylikely said:

OOoh thx!

 

See the itinerary has now changed , Hamburg now cancelled  with  Zeebrugge on 13th Feb, Rotterdam on  14/15Feb with Le Have on 17th Feb

[Foody]

Oh really! Thanks for the information, where did you read this? 

[johnnylikely]

18 minutes ago, Foody said:

Oh really! Thanks for the information, where did you read this? 

Email sent!

 

Due to operational reasons, we have been made aware that our call to Hamburg can no longer go ahead. To ensure that you can enjoy your time ashore, we have replaced Hamburg with Le Havre. We have also made a few changes to the order of your itinerary to be able to accommodate this.

Your new itinerary is as follows –
Date                    Location                 Arrival Time         Departure Time
12-Feb-2022       Southampton          06:00                     19:00
13-Feb-2022       Zeebrugge              10:00                     18:00
14-Feb-2022       Rotterdam               06:15    
15-Feb-2022       Rotterdam                                             19:00
16-Feb-2022       At Sea                  
17-Feb-2022       Le Havre                 07:00                     20:00
18-Feb-2022       At Sea                  
19-Feb-2022       Southampton          07:00    

All pre booked shore experiences for Hamburg will automatically be cancelled and refunded to you. A revised shore experience programme for Le Havre will be available on My P&O Cruises.

In addition to this, French COVID-19 regulations stipulate that guests may only proceed ashore if they can meet the following protocols:

1 - If more than 210 days (calculated from the day you arrive in Le Havre) have passed since the full completion of a vaccination course, a booster vaccine will also be needed and must be administered a minimum of seven days prior to travel. 

2 - All guests 12 to 18 years old must be fully vaccinated* to go ashore. *The definition of fully vaccinated is defined as having completed a two-dose COVID-19 vaccination course or single dose Janssen COVID-19 approved by the MHRA or WHO.

3 - All guests will require an antigen test 24 hours prior to arrival in Le Havre. The test will be provided on board at a cost of £18 per person.  

We apologise for this change and can’t wait to see you on board, creating unforgettable holiday memories.     

Best wishes

The P&O Cruises team

[johnnylikely]

What's up with Hamburg?

Does anyone know the entry requirements for Netherlands? Can we go ashore and to venues freely?

Edited February 3, 2022 by johnnylikely

[LifeonMars]

38 minutes ago, johnnylikely said:

What's up with Hamburg?

Does anyone know the entry requirements for Netherlands? Can we go ashore and to venues freely?

I believe you can enter Netherlands freely as long as you have had a booster jab 7 days before entering otherwise you have to Isolate on entering  you need to fill out a quarantine declaration And have proof of vaccination also a negative test . Another £18 for P&O no doubt 

Edited February 3, 2022 by LifeonMars

[LifeonMars]

Not to sure if you need negative test though if fully vaccinated with booster.

https://www.government.nl/topics/coronavirus-covid-19/visiting-the-netherlands-from-abroad/mandatory-negative-test-results-and-declaration/mandatory-when-travelling-from-a-high-risk-country

Edited February 3, 2022 by LifeonMars

[Olliethehound]

I am also puzzled as to what the operational reasons are for the dropping of Hamburg from the itinerary. Le Havre seems a poor substitute which will mean less distance covered and as pointed out a further test (at cost) to go ashore. Most disappointing for me is the swapping of the day in Zeebrugge meaning that we will have to re complete the Belgian PLF’s. 😕

[johnnylikely]

4 minutes ago, Olliethehound said:

I am also puzzled as to what the operational reasons are for the dropping of Hamburg from the itinerary. Le Havre seems a poor substitute which will mean less distance covered and as pointed out a further test (at cost) to go ashore. Most disappointing for me is the swapping of the day in Zeebrugge meaning that we will have to re complete the Belgian PLF’s. 😕

Oh jeez thanks for pointing that out! Lordie! New PLFs galore!

[Purdey16]

Tell me about it , headaches all round in my household, having ports dropped and changed around on both cruises, trying to do the two information on both is hard work following all the rules and test we need in the canaries 🤦‍♀️

[terrierjohn]

13 minutes ago, Olliethehound said:

I am also puzzled as to what the operational reasons are for the dropping of Hamburg from the itinerary. Le Havre seems a poor substitute which will mean less distance covered and as pointed out a further test (at cost) to go ashore. Most disappointing for me is the swapping of the day in Zeebrugge meaning that we will have to re complete the Belgian PLF’s. 😕

I thought it was because Germsny is refusing to allow foreign cruise ships to berth in Hamburg.

[tring]

5 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I thought it was because Germsny is refusing to allow foreign cruise ships to berth in Hamburg.

 

Thanks John.  We are not on Iona, but have a similar cruise in March  which includes Hamburg.  We can only hope that changes in the next couple of weeks or so.

 

[LifeonMars]

50 minutes ago, tring said:

 

Thanks John.  We are not on Iona, but have a similar cruise in March  which includes Hamburg.  We can only hope that changes in the next couple of weeks or so.

 

Hopefully M207P  😉

[ajsadventures]

We are going on the 12th for our first ever cruise and our itinerary shows we are going to Hamburg still ? 

[Olliethehound]

Hi AJS, the website shows Hamburg still, but we received an email yesterday notifying the change. This is pasted into the post of johnnylikely above. Ultimately there is little that can be done and changes happen. Just a little disappointing that Hamburg isn’t included and that Le Havre will incur extra cost to go ashore. 
I am sure however that you will still have a great time, it’s our first time on Iona but we have cruised with P & O a few times previously.  You can be reassured that P & O on board is a different experience to their shore based customer service. 

[ajsadventures]

1 hour ago, Olliethehound said:

Hi AJS, the website shows Hamburg still, but we received an email yesterday notifying the change. This is pasted into the post of johnnylikely above. Ultimately there is little that can be done and changes happen. Just a little disappointing that Hamburg isn’t included and that Le Havre will incur extra cost to go ashore. 
I am sure however that you will still have a great time, it’s our first time on Iona but we have cruised with P & O a few times previously.  You can be reassured that P & O on board is a different experience to their shore based customer service. 

 

1 hour ago, Olliethehound said:

Hi AJS, the website shows Hamburg still, but we received an email yesterday notifying the change. This is pasted into the post of johnnylikely above. Ultimately there is little that can be done and changes happen. Just a little disappointing that Hamburg isn’t included and that Le Havre will incur extra cost to go ashore. 
I am sure however that you will still have a great time, it’s our first time on Iona but we have cruised with P & O a few times previously.  You can be reassured that P & O on board is a different experience to their shore based customer service. 

Many thanks I will look out for the e mail . 

I assume the excursions we have booked in Rotterdam automatically would get changed to suite the new itinerary?

We are excited to get on board for our first cruise no matter where it goes.......

[LifeonMars]

14 hours ago, LifeonMars said:

Not to sure if you need negative test though if fully vaccinated with booster.

https://www.government.nl/topics/coronavirus-covid-19/visiting-the-netherlands-from-abroad/mandatory-negative-test-results-and-declaration/mandatory-when-travelling-from-a-high-risk-country

Found this on P&O Website, although any thing could change. 

https://www.pocruises.com/content/dam/po/pdfs/A-Z-destination-entry-requirements-guide-1-Feb-2022.pdf

VIEW THE GUIDE (PDF)

VIEW THE GUIDE (PDF)

[Fionboard]

Itineraries changing all over the place. Lisbon being dropped and my neighbours have two stops in Italy dropped from next week's cruise. All because of covid requirements. Might as well just do "mystery cruises"  as you don't know where you are going to end up!

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, Fionboard said:

Itineraries changing all over the place. Lisbon being dropped and my neighbours have two stops in Italy dropped from next week's cruise. All because of covid requirements. Might as well just do "mystery cruises"  as you don't know where you are going to end up!

Portugal have announced that pre-arrival testing is to be stopped, but no date given as yet. Hopefully by March onwards,  Portugal at least,  will be back on the itineraries.  

[tring]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

Portugal have announced that pre-arrival testing is to be stopped, but no date given as yet. Hopefully by March onwards,  Portugal at least,  will be back on the itineraries.  

 

I do wonder why pre-arrival testing is stopping port calls as they are well equipped to do them, though I agree that may be the reason.  I wonder if that means P&O do not want to test most people in case they see a covid problem that they prefer not to know about, though that would seem very short sighted, considering they would hope to continue sailing.

 

Edited February 5, 2022 by tring

[Fionboard]

4 hours ago, tring said:

 

I do wonder why pre-arrival testing is stopping port calls as they are well equipped to do them, though I agree that may be the reason.  I wonder if that means P&O do not want to test most people in case they see a covid problem that they prefer not to know about, though that would seem very short sighted, considering they would hope to continue sailing.

 

Absolutely the reason lines do not want to test!

[ohnonotmeagain]

I agree, if they don't test,  they don't know who's positive,they  can't declare the figures, off load with all the problems that involves, don't get poor social media and all that involves.All appears well etc etc.....Ignorance is bliss???? Not really  short sighted just slightly economical with the truth,not lying just your asking the right questions!!