Bobblehat71

No Simple answer to this relatively simple question  I'm afraid so its going to be down to everyones individual experiences and preference.

Personally I always book direct when I can. Not fussy about booking specific rooms and I've always had good service when needed direct from the cruise operator. I've always found any additional agent discounts / perks to be fairly insignificant and they can just add another layer of complexity the booking process.

However if I'm booking a fly cruise (non P&O) then I will use an agent as it massively simplifies the process and good hotel/flight package deals can be had.

I also had a positive PCR test at the terminal on the 15th July.

Don't think it was ever reported to the NHS as I never had any follow from them or track and trace etc.

Whatever the price is on your booking confirmation. If its significantly lower you could move your deposit to a future cruise or could just cancel and rebook at the lower price.

If you driving and parking at the port g. CPS Parking etc. Then I would aim to get to the drive through test centre around 12:30.  If you getting a taxi from the Hotel then get to the terminal around 12:45pm.

As Graham said disembarking is usually around 8am at the latest. If you've not got huge suitcases then I would just keep hold of them and carry them off the ship yourself. Saves you hanging around, trying to find your cases. 

 Have a great trip and start saving for your next one.

(There will be a next one 🤣)

2 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

Correct the final salary pension some of us never got the opportunity to have, even though we kept the wheels of industry turning.

Some of us still are keeping the wheels of industry turning and will be for sometime 😪

Bring on the big ships and all inclusive drinks !!  I think Arvia could do with a few waterslides and a go-kart track to 🤣

7 minutes ago, rumbalizw said:

Was the 18th and i am sorry to hear that you tested positive and missed your cruise. I hope you are getting better now x x 

Yes all good now, thanks for asking. 

To be honest, after we got over the initial disappointment I was glad not to have made it onboard as it would have been a pretty miserable few days.  May try again in a couple of weeks. 😀

2 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

To be fair to our younger cruising generation (and I speak as a Boomer), our generation may have had outside toilets, no central heating, lino and maybe rugs on the floors, ice on the inside of the windows, no fitted kitchens and tin baths in the kitchen - but we also had free university education (not just tuition fees but also living grants), a sufficient supply of houses enabling many to buy their own houses on marriage, and enough local authority rental housing to accommodate those who couldn't. 

 

Very few homeless people then, jobs were secure, and final salary pension schemes were common.

 

We bought our first place in outer London (West Wickham) without any parental help in our very early twenties, and so did most of our friends - almost unheard of now.

 

I think we are very much the favoured generation.

You forgot those nice Final Salary Pensions that so many of my fellow cruisers are so keen to tell me about over dinner 🤬

5 hours ago, rumbalizw said:

I was in another site group and one couple ,the husband tested positive at port . They took him off for a PCR test which took an hour to come back positive again so he and wife were sent home .

If that was the 25th then it may well have been me. 🙂

If not then I'm not surprised that I wasn't the only one. 

Thanks for the replies. 

Sounds like I need to try both or retire so I can do a round trip 😁 

For those that have done them. Which is better East to West or West to East?

I'm currently looking at a 15 Day East to West . I'm thinking having the weather get better each day as you sail towards the Caribbean is preferable to it potentially getting worse on the way back to Southampton in March/April.

Down side is the flight home as I think sailing home would be a nicer way to finish a holiday. 

Any thoughts much appreciated.

I'd say your a couple of bottles of wine short 😉

Have a great time!

1 hour ago, delgirl said:

How long do you have to wait in line at mayflower cruise terminal for your test. Is it quite quick or lots of queues. Asking because going weekend (regal princess, can't ask there as it is 1st cruise for princess seacations.) Have an arrival time of 11.45-1215 to get to ocean terminal so don't want to get to mayflower too early as don't want to hang around.😁

We had a boarding time of 1:15pm . Got to the test centre around 12:45pm and only had a 5 minute wait in the queue. Very efficient.

We usually have inside cabins. We have had a couple of balconies and enjoyed them but we would rather spend the additional premium usually charged for Balconies on additional cruises or other holidays. 

That said we have just booked two cruises with Balconies on both. Got them for £75/night and £65/night so it was a bit of no brainer.😀

If you've only got a couple of days I would recommend staying near Waterloo.

Pretty much all of the main attractions are Walk-able from there along the River. 

1 hour ago, Windsurfboy said:

The risk of a double vaccinated person chacting it is one quarter of the un vaccinated,  so less than one quarter of national rate if about half are double jabbed then it will be one eigth, if the national rate has gone up by a factor or 10 so has the risk for vaccinated. 

 

Given one in a hundred minimum have it nationally  . So  amongst a 1000 vaccinated passengers there will be one or two with covid. Lateral flow test will catch some but not all. 

We actually have proof that your theory is correct.   🙂

I unfortunately/fortunately tested positive at the port on the 15th July and was denied boarding. However it was also reported that on the same cruse someone tested positive on the ship and had to be isolated.

  I did think at the time that it was incredibly unlikely that I was the only one out of about 1800 people passing through the terminal that day that was positive. 

23 minutes ago, wowzz said:

But do you really think the cruises will still go ahead if that is the case? How will P&O do the testing required prior to rhe ship returning to the UK? 

As  I understand it the rules regarding testing before returning from Amber list countries for those who that have been fully vaccinated have now been (or are soon to be) relaxed. ie. No testing or quarantine  required.

However you would still have the issue of insurance cover . Even though as we have said, cover is available for travelling to Amber list countries I cant see any cruise company making it a condition of travel. Its not widely available and as we have seen from some of the insurance threads on here its likely to be too expensive or unavailable to a large section of the customer base. 

Autumn cruises still have a few hurdles to negotiate yet.

8 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Does that also include cover for leisure travel, I thought it was just for business or essential travel.

I assume it also includes leisure as I was offered it when I took out my insurance a few weeks ago. I didnt take it at the time but may be handy for Med/Canary island Cruises from Southampton this Autumn if Spain stay on the Amber list.

Just incase anyone needs it Staysure currently offer an add on to your policy that allows for travel against Covid related FCO advice . eg. It will cover you for travel to Amber/Red Countries . 

13 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

I agree.  There’s not a lot P&O can do about it.  Passengers, or potential passengers, just have to weigh up the risks, and those risks are currently more than ten times higher than they were just a month ago.

 

And in a month, the likelihood is that it will be two or three times more, now that all the restrictions have gone.

 

People will simply have to weigh up the risk and make a choice.

The biggest problem at the moment is that nobody knows what the risks actually are. For example . I've currently got Covid. Fortunately I've not suffered anything worse than a small dose of Flu. So for me the risk from Covid is virtually Nil. This is also likely to be the case for a big percentage of the population. 

The problem for Cruises is a large proportion of the customer base may be at more of a risk of getting  more than just a touch of Flu. eg. Underlying health conditions , Older age group etc. 

Cruise companies are not going to want to keep all these testing procedures in place for long as its no doubt expensive and will be effecting bookings. 

6 minutes ago, bobstheboy said:

Good morning, isn't it hot !! I can sleep but my other half is struggling, sleeping in another bedroom with a fan blowing all night, which would drive me mad !

 

The Hamilton driving debate, well I've seen a lot worse go unpunished but we are in an age of safety comes first, rightly, so the penalty was fair and he overcame it, great race.

 

Now a little favour from those of you that drive to Southampton. We are on the Iona Sunshine Cruise, departing on the 28th August, the dreaded Bank Holiday weekend. Driving down from Penistone, near Barnsley the day before, Friday. We are setting of early, 6am, to avoid traffic, but the route, bearing in mind it is Friday and Bank Holiday is my concern. One direct route would take me past Silverstone, but it is the British Motor Cycle weekend, so will want to avoid. Another would use the Fosse Way, M40 and down, another would be M1, M25, M3, longer but according to the AA site about the same driving time. I am even thinking about going the day before and stopping on the way.  Any suggestions will be welcomed. Thanks.

 

Stay safe.

 

 

Personally I would take the M1,M25,M3 . As you say there is likely to be traffic and restrictions around silverstone which would rule out the direct route through there. The other route around the M42/M40  could also be busy with people trying to get to Silverstone from the North and West.

I'd take a flask and some extra sandwiches whichever route you take 😉

1 hour ago, Harry Peterson said:

Up to a point, I'd agree - and I'd certainly agree that we need a risk-based approach.  But as things stand now, with the number of infections running at more than ten times what it was just a month ago (even before yesterday's big gamble takes effect) I'd argue that the balance of risk has changed - but not been addressed.

 

"cases per 100,000 people in the latest week 9 Jul-15 Jul. The average area in England had 424."
"cases per 100,000 people in the latest week 5 Jun-11 Jun. The average area in England had 40."

Other than another pause in Cruising I'm not sure the Cruise lines could do much more. If you still get infected passengers onboard after being fully vaccinated and having preboarding tests then I think you either stop cruises or let the passengers decide if they are prepared to take the risk. Ultimately this is where we will end up. P&O have been quite sensible in only having 3 and 4 day cruises as it doesn't give the virus enough time to spread widely and if it did the passengers are likely to be on their way home before they start getting symptoms.  7 and 14 day cruises are going to be a challenge.

Hats off to that passenger who came forward to be tested on the ship . I'm sure there are plenty of others who would have just carried on with their holiday.

10 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Ok, so it might end up with turning up at the local council HQ and saying what's your advice then as I don't fancy the £5000 fine for travelling by public transport all the way home. Or just leap on a train, actually 2 trains and 3 taxis and don't tell anyone!

 

Apologies for being rude, Very stressed out at present.

No need to apologize, these are very stressful times.  I guess you would just have to jump on the train and do your best to minimize contact with anyone. It may not be what you would want to do but you do need get home some how.

I agree this is not a laughing matter , however it doesn't matter how many protocols you have in place, they will only get you so far. Its all about minimizing risk.

For example , Any any given time there must be at least 200 people inside the terminal waiting for the results of their Covid tests. So potentially that's 200 infected passengers. Someone has obviously worked out that, this is a risk worth taking. The alternatives are probably unworkable .eg having hundreds of people sat in their cars or huge queues of passengers standing outside the terminal 2m apart.

P&O for their part were great and we were kept well apart from fellow passengers when waiting for my results and leaving the terminal.

If we all want a return to cruising then we will have to be prepared to take some risks. 

54 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Indeed, I wonder if there are any protocols for that situation, lots of passengers use public transport and in my case a private hire car. I have no doubt that the authorities don't want you travelling if you have tested positive. Or do P&O just want you out of the terminal door and you are no longer their problem. Advice on this matter is needed urgently.

Someone did offer to get us a taxi but not sure there would have been many takers 😂

57 minutes ago, Beckett said:

So sorry to read this.  You must have been absolutely gutted!  Reading further down it seems that you have been assisted well and I hope you don't suffer too much with Covid.  Best wishes.  Jane.x

Thanks Jane,  Feeling much better so hopefully over the worst of it.