KnowTheScore

Just now, Bazrat said:

I beginning to think P&O is really not for you there are other cruise lines out there I am sure others on here will recommend a few for you.

just saying

It used to be fine.  Understand that I have done 30+ cruises with P&O over the past 15 years.

It's now the right time to make a switch imho.  Carnival have pecked away at the brand and service too much.

2 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

Depends your level of need to be entertained and your expectations in reality might not be attainable on any cruise ship

Nonetheless a part of the money you are being charged for is for on-board entertainment just as it is for food.  You can't opt out of that from a pricing perspective in which case there ought to be a decent level of entertainment and food standard.

For me personally those standards have dropped significantly and thus the value for money proposition has changed dramatically.

1 minute ago, Harry Peterson said:

Except that finding something else is now quite hard - it's mainly cheap, low-cost, poor quality 'entertainment'.

This totally.

The Horizon paper is abysmal.  Far too geared towards hooking people into (imo) silly sessions for weight loss, swollen feet treatments, aches and pains and a whole host of other scripted opportunities for the cruise line to sell you products and treatments.   Actual entertainment provided by P&O throughout the day is imo very lacking and what there is, is pretty poor.

Quizzes have become a joke, staff don't take them seriously, even the late evening syndicate quiz.   Music acts in lounges and bars are extremely variable and so on.  Problem is the entertainment staff now have to do all manner of additional tasks same as the other crew members so are stretched and always rushing off to the next event.  Cut backs everywhere you turn.

5 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

Strangely I never thought that it was obligatory to actually watch the bed making event,we have the ability to walk on by have a laugh and find something to occupy us.

the problem is you cannot please everyone no mater how hard they try.

Less possible if you are trying to have a nice relaxing coffee in the Costa bar at the bottom of the atrium when all the noise and nonsense starts.  Hey ho.

3 minutes ago, Clipper Chick said:

  I like both just Arcadia is my favourite ship 

Yep it's a nice ship and one of the more traditional with proper prom deck and a super Crow's Nest.   Unfortunately the old aor-con system is very harsh and causes problems for many people.  They call it "Cabin Cough".    Prices for Arcadia and Aurora appear to have risen sharply with the demise of Oriana which is regrettable.   Simple exploitation of a situation by Carnival imho.   They know there's a lot of traditional cruisers who favoured Aurora, Oriana and Arcadia and with one gone the demand allows them to charge more.  Problem is it is lots more.   Not worth it imo but each to their own.

9 minutes ago, Eglesbrech said:

I’ve only ever seen a bed making competition once onboard and it was part of a charity fund raising country fair type event onboard.

Happened on Ventura on this Christmas.  Bed making in the atrium.  Christmas entertainment indeed !

37 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

Weatherspoons that’s fine dining for me fish and chip Thursday with a pint yow cor beat it.

It is what it is.  Question is, is it worth paying £000s for that when you can walk down to your local and get the same thing?   It's about value for money.

2 hours ago, janieb1962 said:

Loving all these posts! I’ve been running up and downstairs finding all the stuff I’ve not got out yet !

Does Britannia have a shaver socket .. seem to remember not having anywhere to plug the electric toothbrush in .. maybe I’m wrong . Anyone able to confirm otherwise that’s the other thing I’ll have to pack the toothbrush plug 

Can't vouch for Britannia but all other P&O ships have 2 pin sockets in the bathroom for electric shavers and the like so if your shaver or other device has a standard 3 pin UK plug on it you need to bring a 2-pin adapter.

9 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

The people/passengers who reported flu-like symptoms were a Chinese passenger and her husband who had flown in from Hong Kong to join the cruise. So, I’ m thinking that those details largely contributed to the ‘lockdown’ while precautionary testing was undertaken.

As can be seen from the Coronavirus Questionnaire Form being imposed at Gibraltar that doesn't matter.   All they are asking is if anyone has experienced cold/flu symptoms and if the answer is Yes then it's no disembarkation.   Unless I've misunderstood that form but I don't personally think I have.   It's common sense.   If someone has symptoms then everything is on halt until they can determine whether or not it is Coronavirus.   If you are due in port then that day's wait to do the testing is going to effectively mean that the port is missed.

I iterate again, how many people generally go down with cold/flu symptoms during the course of a cruise.  It's usually quite a few imho and they will be spread across the duration of the cruise.   So this "song and dance" routine is going to affect multiple ports imho.  Depends on the size of ship and health of passengers generally.

22 minutes ago, mom says said:

Missed port= increased fuel costs  -  no it doesn't, the ship doesn't have to travel to land and continues onto the next port in the itinerary.  In addition whilst in port it is forced to switch to less polluting fuel but out at sea it can use the ordinary kind.

 

loss of revenue from shore excursions - In many (most?) ports people just walk off themselves anyway.

 

increased costs for food and other consumables - disagree.  Lots of people have breakfast on board then go out and make a point of coming back on board for lunch which they've already paid for.   Not me personally but loads do. 

 

Berthing fees vary but can be huge in popular ports maybe shaving $100,000 or more off their costs.

 

1 hour ago, Bazrat said:

So the bottom line after reading some of the posts on here is that P&O is Butlins at sea,as I have never been to Butlins that’s one off my bucket list so on our next cruises with P&O we can sit back with a drink and regret all the things we have missed out on.

 

Yep, just like Weatherspoons back home

Not really.  How many people develop cold/flu during the course of a cruise.  Say a 3000 pax ship?

I would guess it's a few hundred over the course of 2 weeks or more.   Some walk on board with it.  Others catch it along the way.   Medical protocols don't worry about colds and ILIs they just leave people to get on with it and it happily spreads around the ship.   Coronavirus is being treated differently, different protocols resulting in the impacts we have been discussing.

Everything comes down to how long it takes to test a person showing symptoms.    If there is a rapid test of say minutes or even an hour or so then things would certainly be better.  Until then, my concerns stand.  I can see ports being missed which of course plays into the cruise line's hands.   Missed port = no berthing fees.  Profits.

When considering Travel Insurance for cruises take account of 2 important aspects

1.  The value covered for clothes.  For many policies it is absolute peanuts and would never cover the cost of a lady's range of dresses and shoes let alone anything else.  So ensure that your policy covers many £100s or £1000s for clothes.

2.  The cost of HELICOPTER EVACUATION in case of medical emergency.

More and more people are being helicopter lifted off ships and the cost of this is enormous, probably around £80,000 just for the heli ride.

The P&O Cruise small print tells passengers to ensure that their policy covers 2 million for such eventualities.

It's VITAL that you check your policy for this because if you do have to be air lifted and your policy only covers peanuts then you are personally in for an enormous, possibly life changing bill.

I was having a lay in one morning on a ship as it pulled into the Greek port at Cephalonia.

I was woken by shaking which I assumed was the ships thrusters in operation but once I got up I was told that we had actually moored in the bay hours earlier and that in fact there had been an earthquake.   Absolutely nothing to worry about.

It's not force majeur if a cruise line already knows that there is going to be disruption to a cruise because of ordinary bouts of cold/flu illness.  It's wilful ignoring of that fact and selling people a cruise experience that they know will be compromised due to the protocol mandates currently in operation.

13 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

 No. But my concerns go way beyond that.

Likewise.

Once you're quarantined you enter a different world, controlled by higher powers.   Where will you end up?

In some hospital in a foreign country being tested until you can be cleared?

Transferred to a military facility for the duration?

Stuck in the ship's medical centre?

Being treated in a way you don't want?

etc etc

More and more threads on this topic !

To answer OP

NO I'm not worried about getting Coronavirus, though 100% I would prefer to tackle it and get through it whilst at home with all my natural remedies and comforts than trying to do it on a cruise ship.

But YES I am extremely concerned about the huge likelihood that any cruise in now going to be disrupted by people presenting with ordinary cold/flu symptoms which will result in the cruise line isolating and testing the person until they are cleared and in the meantime passengers will not be allowed to disembark at ports (imo).   This is what we saw with the Costa Smeralda in Italy.

Since there are ALWAYS going to be people displaying cold/flu symptoms it seems to me a nailed on certainty that you are going to miss ports.   So the question is really do you want to spend £000s on a trip that is far more likely to see you miss multiple ports than normal?  

And as you say there is also the smaller chance that there is an actual bout of Coronavirus on board in which case the entire ship becomes a floating quarantine vessel. 

Each to their own but not for me I think.   If I'm paying £000s I don't want to waste it on a trip that in all seriousness is destined to not be able to deliver normal experience.

and so it begins . . . .

the great ping pong of "no it's not our liability it's someone else's" as Coronavirus spreads across the globe, no-one willing to foot the massive bills for loss of revenues that are sure to occur.

22 minutes ago, 2wheelin said:

All of their scenarios could be possible but the probability of all those stars lining up for them is pretty darn small.

Sorry but that's really a nonsense.  We have seen plainly with the Costa Smeralda that any passenger presenting with cold/flu like symptoms gets quarantined and the passengers are refused permission to disembark until the affected person is cleared of Coronavirus.

It's a nailed on 100% certainty that on EVERY cruise there will be people with cold/flu symptoms and therefore it follows that it is a nailed on certainty that every cruise is going to be impacted in the same way.   Can you remember any cruise where there wasn't at least one passenger coughing and sneezing ?

1 hour ago, JennyB1977 said:

 No more worried about Corona than the regular flu. Nor am I worried about the precautions. I cruise to be on the ship as much as for the itinerary. So if a port or two were closed to the ship, no biggie.

Can sympathise with that and that's normal cruising, you do get to miss an odd port sometimes, but the world we are currently in is far from normal cruising.  If there is a bout of Coronavirus on board then you are missing all your ports, no question, and as can be seen by the current predicament of the Diamond Princess it sounds like you'll be confined to cabin.  Maybe endurable if you have a balcony cabin, less so if you are couped up inside for the duration and again I pose the question would people genuinely volunteer to spend £000s on a holiday if it's potentially going to end up like that?

In a scenario without Coronavirus on board but when someone has cold/flu symptoms then I presume (could be wrong) that you'll miss every port until that person and any subsequent cold/flu cases are cleared of Coronavirus.

As previous poster suggested the potential for disruption and a crappy holiday is somewhat exponential.

1 hour ago, leaveitallbehind said:

Based on our past experience on a ship with reported noro cases, only those suspected of being directly affected would actually be quarantined to their stateroom.  Extra measures are taken with food service at the buffets, typically with staff serving v self service.  Other than that, it is business as usual on board.  

That's all well and good for Norovirus as it's generally transmitted through touch, people touching hand rails, lift buttons and so on.

In respect of Coronavirus which may be airborne then sitting in your cabin with an airconditioning system you can't ever turn off is a very different prospect.   It means imo that one by one people will go down with the virus.  Just my opinion.

I most certainly wouldn't want to be stuck on a quarantined ship waiting to be infected and even if you managed to escape being infected you've basically spent £000s on a cruise which turns out to be nothing more than a prisoner ship.   One wonders also what happens to all the passengers once they come back home.  Presumably they all get transferred to some holding/military facility for days until they get the all clear.  

Case in point as we speak:

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/04/asia/coronavirus-japan-cruise-intl-hnk/index.html

"The ship, the Diamond Princess, ended its planned 14-day itinerary early and is currently docked off the coast of Yokohama, not far from the Japanese capital. Medical officials are going room-by-room to check each guests' temperature and medical condition, Japan's health ministry said in a statement. Several passengers have reported feeling ill, and the tests to check if they contracted the virus will take four to five hours, the ministry said.

11 minutes ago, Zombatar said:

Interesting thoughts so here is my take on the situation: 

 

Imagine a 7 day cruise leaves the UK and day one or two a passenger develops coronavirus like symptoms. The ship will not be allowed into its next port so as pointed out previously it will cruise around until the tests are carried out. Now the nightmare scenario, the sick passenger has got the virus. Cruise ship immediately returns to its home port where all passengers and crew will have to be quarantined, which will be difficult with a small liner and impossible with the big ones at up to 7000 including crew. The only thing I can see happening is that the cruise ship will become a quarantine vessel, anchored off shore with nobody allowed on or off. God knows how they will manage to get supplies on board!!

 

I am sure you will all reply that it could never happen here, this is Britain and we are too civilised to allow that sought of thing. You will say that I am simply scaremongering  but..... "what if"?

 

Peter

Yep this is a very possible reality and has already happened.

"The ship, the Diamond Princess, ended its planned 14-day itinerary early and is currently docked off the coast of Yokohama, not far from the Japanese capital. Medical officials are going room-by-room to check each guests' temperature and medical condition, Japan's health ministry said in a statement. Several passengers have reported feeling ill, and the tests to check if they contracted the virus will take four to five hours, the ministry said.

Yep your points are . . . on point.   The choices for cruisers are limited.   The problem is that we are right at the outset of the Coronavirus outbreak.   The number of cases expected by end of this month are huge.

https://www.wired.com/story/scientists-predict-wuhans-outbreak-will-get-much-worse/

"The models they constructed predict a dire start to February: further outbreaks in other Chinese cities, more infections exported abroad, and an explosion of cases in Wuhan. “In 14 days’ time, our model predicts the number of infected people in Wuhan to be greater than 190,000,” the authors write."

This thing is going to get much worse before it gets better and as a simple result of that I can see no option for maritime ports than to increasingly refuse entry to ships and/or to refuse passenger disembarkation permission.   I am actually seriously considering cancelling a cruise that I have already paid for simply because I don't want to end up a prisoner on the ship, confined to the ship and unable to get off at ports or even worse to find the entire ship quarantined because there's an outbreak of Coronavirus on board and then find that all passengers are quarantined.  Just not worth it.

36 minutes ago, groovechick said:

Coloured baggage tags or something to help you identify your luggage quickly in the sea of bags at Southampton when you disembark, esoecially if, like ours, your lugge is black Somsinite, so looks identical to everyone else's.

Just buy bright yellow suitcases (Samsonite do plenty).   You can spot these from a mile away even as you come down the escalator into the baggage hall.   No messing.

Don't forget. . .

mobile phone chargers

laptop chargers

Plenty of medications (preferably natural) for any illness whilst on board

Fresh lemons and fresh ginger to make proper hot toddies (whiskey from the bar, honey from buffet area)

Your eReader/Kindle if you have one and charger and load with plenty of books to read

A large bag to put dirty laundry in

Washing powder/tablets if you intend doing laundry

Shaving adapters for men and shaver/razors

In terms of documents:

Cruise tickets

CPS sheet

Travel Insurance sheet

Passports

Spending money like Euros etc

and of course always . . . .

A roll of duct tape !