kruzseeka

For many years prior to recent events, we always carried Boots anti viral foam with us on board. Although conscientious about hand washing and sanitizing on entering the MDR after pulling out chairs and handling the menu we would use the foam again before eating. Perhaps OTT for some but seemed to be a small thing to do to reduce the odds even if only slightly. We each have to take whatever precautions we see fit to ease our minds but nothing is more certain that some on board are a liability and like others we do our best to avoid situations where lax attitudes are rife.

I was appalled a few days ago to see an item on our local news. It was a clothes swap scheme to help people who were struggling. Great idea, working well. Until they interviewed a lady who was excited to have found a sparkly top. The reporter asked when she would wear it - without a moment's hestitation 'on a cruise' she replied. I just couldn't help but feel there must have been much more worthy recipients.

True - but our-pay out this year was 40x the premium for two of us. Of course we could have not bothered with the extra cover but it has gone half way towards paying for our next cruise and hopefully will allow us to visit the ports we missed this year. But as you say, personal choice. My concern though is that people who may wish to take advantage of this additional level of cover but are unaware that the standard travel insurance may not be providing it. And they, therefore, are not in a position to make an informed choice.

And with standard travel insurance, cruise cover, if available, will be generally be an up-grade i.e. an extra cost. I wonder how many people are cruising with insurance perhaps not realising cruise cover (cabin confinement, missed ports) isn't necessarily a given. We tend to be more aware because we read the forum but we have friends who use the same travel insurers as us but until very recently they hadn't bothered with the additional cruise cover - our experience of being confined to cabin on our last cruise and getting a payout certainly opened their eyes. They have bought it now!

The Lido in Santa Cruz is great - think the girls would love it. You can walk from the port. Turn left along the main road and look for the Concert Hall (shades of the Sydney Opera House - you can't miss it). The Lido is just past the Concert Hall (nice cafe round the back for drinks etc - it looks over towards the Lido.). https://parquemaritimosantacruz.es/ It was incredibly cheap when we last went. Have a good day whatever you decide to do. P.S. Sorry the link comes over in Spanish - can't see a way to change it or send the English version. So perhaps do a search yourself and select English from the start. Here's another link https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g187482-d4028343-Reviews-Parque_Maritimo_Cesar_Manrique-Santa_Cruz_de_Tenerife_Tenerife_Canary_Islands.html Here is a pic of the Concert Hall - the view is of the back - those windows open up and that's the cafe. You can just see a little bit of the Lido on the left of the pic. https://arquitecturaviva.com/works/auditorio-de-tenerife-9

We always ask for just one egg please - no problem. Hopefully if already plated up, the second egg doesn't go to waste, but I do agree being given more food than you can manage is off-putting and wasteful.

Thanks for that clarification.

I think too there has been some reports that it has to be applied at the time of booking. This never used to be the case as described by the OP - I just get the feeling that conditions are now being applied such that it may be refused. Just in case, when doing our last booking I asked for it to be applied from the get-go. It's not much, but if eligible, then it's worth asking.

Glad to help. I think you have a very good point re using aft cabins and access to the tiered stern. The corridor we were in was closed off at both ends so only crew accessed the area. I think things may have changed on that score now but at that time we were very obviously being 'isolated' and the ship lay-out would determine which areas they considered suitable to achieve that. Anyway have a great trip on Aurora - looks a great itinerary. We did something similar a few years ago and loved it. Will be interested on any feedback though - we're booked on her again next year. Enjoy!

From other reports i believe passengers are quarantining in their own cabin now but I understand where you are coming from in choosing a cabin. We were quarantined in July and had cabin A194. We were the first cabin in a closed off corridor of isolation cabins. We were the most forward of the run of around 10 -12 cabins so on that basis they probably went down to about A222. When we were disembarking (after all the other passengers had left the ship), there were other isolation passengers joining us from what appeared to be equivalent run of cabins on the starboard side - but that is supposition. I have no idea if other areas were used.

I've just looked - seems each evening's broadcast is available for 24 hours on the BBC South website so hopefully it will be possible to view it. I'm sure Megabear2 or one of us in the region will alert you should it make the programme. But as you say, it needs to be picked up nationally as it has implications for everyone who has a cruise booked with P&O (and Cunard and others?)

I shall be glued to South Today for the foreseeable! Good Luck!

And if the answer is 'Yes' at least have a follow up question asking if there is a cause for the cough/due to a medical condition

We asked at our local Primary School who were happy to take them - they said they would use them in craft projects. Not sure how, but they are clearly more imaginative and creative than me.

Canaries/Norway/Baltic? You never know...... perhaps sometime.

Thanks. Good to hear from you and I'm so pleased it all worked out well happy v. I'd been thinking of you and hoping you enjoyed your visit to the Cinque Terre - also that you found the cruise experience everything you hoped for. Sounds as though it was! It was strange how apprehensive I was to put my toe in the water again. I enjoyed our cruise too (until it was somewhat curtailed) and now feel more relaxed about going again - but that's not until next June. Have you got anything else in the pipe-line?

What bugs me is that P&O can refuse boarding on the basis of such poor information. If you do tick that you have a cough should there not be a follow up question to at least be able to declare a medical condition which causes that? Not all coughs are viral infections and some are the result of a permanent medical condition. Of course they are making the Health Declaration a pointless exercise as anyone who is aware of this situation will of course tick 'No'. This is in addition to those who haven't bothered taking a Covid test or would lie about being positive if they have. But the most appalling aspect is that they say they will deny boarding to anyone without adequate insurance when it's impossible to get cover for this contingency. Including from their own recommended insurance partner! On that basis everyone should be denied boarding irrespective of their health. Talk about duplicitous! P&O are either totally incompetent in terms of foreseeing the problems they are creating, completely heartless in their treatment of their customers or cynically trying to cover their backs when in fact the loopholes are evident for all to see - at least to those who follow these boards and other social media which are highlighting the problem. Sadly many will be unaware. But I for one will not be booking any more cruises with them until some resolution to their one-sided approach is found - kick you off your cruise, no medical verification for the reason, no refund, almost certainly no insurance claim cannot be a sustainable trading position! I wish Megabear2 every success in highlighting this issue. And thank you for your efforts. The sooner it hits the press the better.

Well that's a fly in the ointment! Other options? The home tests through a firm which verifies the result? For security I'd go to one which does the video'd testing in case the insurers may say someone else did the test. (Could be a get-out for anyone who decided they didn't want to go for some reason and could find someone positive to do it for them!!!!)

Just checked that testing centres in our area are still doing certified testing and I could theoretically get an appointment today or tomorrow. It costs around £30 but if i tested +ve in the days before a cruise i might be tempted to get an externally verified test as proof - it would perhaps be worth it to be be more certain of an insurance pay out.

Sorry can't answer that one. We were on a 12 day cruise and developed symptoms on day 6 and 7 so certainly picked it up on board.

We had a letter from the ship detailing our date of testing positive (as determined by the ship's medics) and time in quarantine. It specifically stated that we may need it for insurance purposes.

And you too! Off on Sunday iirc. Have a wonderful time. 😉

Yes received FCC and insurance pay-out. We were very surprised and as we hadn't cruised since before the pandemic, hadn't realised that FCC were paid out at that time. Yes there was a daily set amount in the policy (additional cruise cover) and a maximum payment quoted. From your experience it seems we were very lucky. I must check the policy to see if changes have since been made but this was only in August so fairly recent though of course the FCC situation has now changed.

We were isolated on an Aurora cruise a couple of months ago. I tested positive and was told I must go to an isolation cabin immediately. My husband tested negative and was given a choice. He was told he could either accompany me or stay in our original cabin in which case he was free to wander around the ship, go ashore (though not on any excursions), not use the buffet and here, our recollections vary: he thought he could use the dining room but I was fairly sure he was required have to have room service for his meals. Anyway he elected to come with me. The next day he didn't feel well so the ship's medics came to test him and he too was +'ve. At that time they were still doing FCC but when calculating that they counted 6 days for me but only 5 for my husband i.e. didn't count the first day he was with me but testing negative. I wonder if this is muddying the waters inasmuch as in our case and possibily some of the examples we've seen reported, the negative person had a choice - go into isolation with their partner or potentially continue with their holiday. I can see how they would then not include the second (negative) passenger in the FCC as they weren't required to isolate (although whatever choice was made the nature of the holiday for a couple is ruined). Our insurers adopted the same approach for the pay-out for cabin confinement - 6 days for me and 5 for my husband although, like me, he was in isolation for 6 days - but day 1 was his choice and not enforced. (We had taken out cruise extension cover with our travel insurers.) We were lucky in this respect but I wonder how long insurers who do offer this as part of the Covid cover will continue to do so. It's certainly not low risk for them with the number of cases rising. I think the safest bet at the moment for cruise lines are 7 day cruises so they can off-road passengers before they run into too many problems with passengers needing isolating.

And what is even worse no refund for the difference paid for a Select Fare booking! That should be a given.