okavango

The port buses work on a continous untimed loop ,you are never on the wrong bus as each one calls at all the terminals at the new port ,last year the drop off/pick up point was in front of the old terminal , cant remember fare but something like 3 euro return

Always been a problem with back to back including a repo , if the combination is not on the system not a lot booking agents can do ,there seems to be no way of doing a manual overide which would also mean having to come up with a unique cost which they havnt got the authority to do ,done it a few times in the past as two x cruise only and book your own one way flights ,but at the moment with the flight cancellation carnage i wouldnt book anything that wasnt the full package

Any spare water is usually gratefully recieved by the bands/musicians ,they have to pay for theirs

Do you mean the compulsary gratuities that no one knows how much they are ,no one knows who gets them , certainly the staff dont know ,theres nothing about them in their employment contract or anything shown in there salary statement (and yes i have seen both)

18 hours ago, judropg said:

I am also flying out next week and was experiencing the same issue checking in for the flight. I went to a TUI shop on Saturday, the girl tried and got the same error that I got and told me it was because there is a percentage of flights that have to be checked in at the airport. She said the online check in quota had been filled by the time we tried to check in. What with all the other palava involved to go on this trip it looks like we'll be getting up even earlier!! 

 

Online check in does nothing to save much time anyway , only real saving was pre pandemic if you had no check in luggage or the airport had self check in bag drop terminals

42 minutes ago, pennib said:

 

Hi everyone

In a couple of weeks we are flying to  Gran Canaria to board Explorer. Does anyone know if we have to collect our luggage from the airport carousel and then proceed to the transfer coach?  We are used to going on P&O cruises to the Caribbean and once you have put your luggage into check in at the airport you don’t see it again until it appears outside your cabin. This is a really good system and we were wondering if Marella have a similar arrangement.

thanks

No ,you collect

1 hour ago, paulatsea said:

Sorry - this has been asked and answered before - but I am still confused 

 

Marella in may - flying Gatwick to Dubrovnik then cruise 7 nights then 3 nights hotel then fly back. Visiting Croatia and Italy.

 

Assuming I don’t need a test on return - as things stand now 

 

1. do I need a preflight and or precruise test before the flight out ?

 

2. when do I fill in the passenger locator form ? 
before flight out ? 
 

3. do I put on the form it’s a cruise or a flight or can you put both on ?

 

4. assume I have to check and fill in Croatia and Italy entry forms as required before the flight ?

 

5. Two of us travelling together as a couple - do we need separate forms or can you add both of our details on one form ? Or forms ?

 

what is the point of a locator form if no testing on return is needed anymore  ? Madness surely ?
 

Confused as it’s a fly and cruise and can’t find anything specific to this that’s absolutely clear.

 

 Love to get this nailed and in my head !

 

 

Thanks 

 

paul

 

 

 

 

 

To be honest its totally pointless even thinking about such things at the moment , just look how much things have changed here over the last month ,anybody that can predict the situation in may wants to be getting some lottery tickets bought

16 minutes ago, cinnamon said:

One thing that annoyed me. Yesterday morning I bought a Flat White to go from Coffee Port before the tour. I was charged £2.50 because it was before 10.00. This is not advertised on the price board or Navigate app. If I get a chance I will tackle an officer about this. 

Aways been drinks packages valid 10:00 am through till 2:00am

2 minutes ago, ferretktf said:

It is a fit to embark test which, as it is self certified, you could get randomly asked to do another one at the port.

 

it is supposed to be checked by tui staff at flight check in though, but perhaps unless you specifically highlighted that you were flying out to join a cruise, it was overlooked

The check in staff are not interested ,its not required for the flight

1 hour ago, paulatsea said:

I thought the test you had to do after 9pm day before was a fit to fly test ? As another test is done at the port prior to embarkation ?  

It was done instead of the port one ,imagine the scenario ,no night before test ,you get to the ship ,you test positive ,you go in to quarintine ashore for however many days, you fly home.

Instead you test at home , you test positive ,you dont go anywhere

5 hours ago, cinnamon said:

On the coach from airport. No one checked our LFT at all yet.  Spanish health form checked plus vaccination certificate straight after Passport control. We were bussed from aircraft so took an hour to clear us through. 
 

Weather glorious. 22, blue sky and sunny 

The reason your LFT was not checked was because its not a fit to fly test ,its a fit to embark the ship test which is why it was it was not checked till ship check in

44 minutes ago, zap99 said:

When we flew back from Menorca in mid October, we didn't have to do a predeparture test to leave Spain, or get on the plane, just the vaccination proof and UK PLF.

Prior to the UK requirement for fit to fly tests for return it was only cruises that were affected by the spanish ruling, Menorca ????? , now it looks like along with the uk requirement being dropped the spanish authorities are not requiring tests for passengers disembarking to fly home from the canaries, which is good for reducing the chances of getting quarantined there but it means the flights are going to have a number of undiagnosed positive cases on board.

2 hours ago, cinnamon said:

Why would the Spanish authorities want us tested in order to leave their country?

It was a ruling the spanish authorities brought in back in october ,anybody disembarking a ship back in to spain at the end of a cruise (even though you were only transiting to the airport) had to do a test the day before ,nothing to do with UK rules and did not apply to land based holidays ,tests were administered by the ship and not charged for

16 minutes ago, cinnamon said:

My Goddaughter and I are sailing on Explorer next Tuesday (11th) from Tenerife.

I know it is selfish, but I'm very glad that Boris has removed the need to test onboard before flying home.  My biggest fear had been testing positive that day and being put in a quarantine hotel on an island.  I have the Chronomics package arriving this afternoon.  Of course I need the LFT on Monday evening but in theory only now need LFT once home but will be getting a PCR for that.  I do hope I can use that and not need to pay more for a private LFT and waste the PCR.

 

 

Dont count your chickens ,pretty certain the spanish will still insist on the onboard test

4 hours ago, ferretktf said:

I'm on EX2 so Malaga 

 

Tests are tomorrow afternoon in Squid and Anchor 

 

If Boris scraps them, unlikely to have immediate effect so we will have to take them tomorrow and bide by the results! 

 

I'm still comfortable we will be ok and to reemphasize, we have had a great time.. We have just had to have our wits around us and been prepared to move places if necessary

What Boris does will probably make no difference ,the Spanish authorities had already brought in pre disembarkation in to spain tests back in october so unless they scrap them nothing will change for cruises

22 hours ago, lovetoholiday said:

I just wonder how easy or difficult it will be to upload the test result and receive the certificate.  Will there be internet access available on the ship?

The ship gives free internet access to the required sites for testing and PLF purposes , if you have access/spare data of your own you might find it works quicker though ,ships wifi easily gets clogged if a lot using it

1 hour ago, MX-Drew said:

I’m not saying the new measures are a hassle, far from it. All I’m saying is I need to know what to do so I can comply.

I was just meaning in general , not directed at anyone , i wouldnt worry too much at this stage about how to comply it will all be taken care of onboard , probably a bigger problem for hotel guests

Perhaps we should look on these new rules as a good thing rather than an hassle, it changes the anomaly of tested cruise passengers sharing planes with untested hotel passengers

6 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

Unfortunately that information is for TUI land based holidays. Form my experience Marella can be very different.

Since mid october it has been a requiremet for passengers to be tested before disembarking the ship back in to spain, this was handled free of charge by the ship with no paperwork involved by the passenger, so nothing has really changed for cruise passengers ,all it would need is some proof of this test to show at the airport

57 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

Where are you getting this information?

I ask as the final word is with the airline and or cruise company, but of course they can not undermine the local regulations but in my experience on 4 cruises this year go well beyond the required local requirements. 

Information is from personal experience ,cruise in august and another in october

40 minutes ago, MX-Drew said:

When I looked about a week or two ago it was £30 for 1 x fit to fly LF and 1 x day 2 LF. There was no mention of a PCR. Now it is £15 for a fit to fly LT and £30 for the day 2 pcr with no mention of a bundle and indeed it won't even let you select both to purchase at the same time!

Is that going to chronomics via the TUI link and entering a valid Marella cruises booking ref no ????????

For the purposes of cruises in europe it is not a "fit to fly test" ,it is a test purely to join the ship ,hotel flight passengers do not or did not need any test to fly as per local regulations.

As an afterthought what travel area were you checking for ?????

27 minutes ago, LLOM said:

Thankyou Okavango for your reply, I thought it sounded more expensive then when we purchased it before, but if we get a PCR from another company it will be at least £35 each, so really we will have to go with Chronomics.

To be honest not had any problems with chronomics ,used them twice and everything happened in a timely manner , pcr results within 28hr of them being picked up from our post box ,only one collection a day at 4:30pm ,results back by 8pm following day

14 hours ago, LLOM said:

Just had an email from Chronomics saying that we can upgrade our day 2 lateral flow to a PCR for £25 each, that would make it in total £110 ( £30 pp originally) I am sure we only paid £30 pp previously for 1x lateral flow and 1x PCR kit pp, so it doesn’t look as though we are getting any credit for the day 2 lateral flow kits that are no longer needed and will not be sent if we upgrade.

Before november it was £20 for 1 x l/f and 1 return pcr or £30 for 2 x l/f and i return pcr

43 minutes ago, Brummijam said:

Thanks Okavango.😉

We called TUI this morning and they told me the email that they sent to me stating that the outbound and inbound tickets were included was incorrect and we need to check in and download the inbound tickets a couple of days before we are due to travel back.🤷‍♂️
All sorted now hopefully.👍🙄

 

 

On the same trip as you Sunday , coming back probably just check in at the airport as in the old days

10 hours ago, Brummijam said:

Thanks for that friend.

I did work it out in the end but I don’t think it was as clear as it could have been.

when I checked in and downloaded flight tickets only outbound tickets printed so it looks like a call to TUI enquiries tomorrow.🤦‍♂️

At the moment you cant do the return flight check in online