jake 26

1 hour ago, molecrochip said:

The big game changer is if this 20 minute detection test works. This could allow pre-boarding and post-excursion testing.

So what happens if pax test positive in foreign ports?

P&O would have to notify the port authorities, and make provision for the quarantining and treatment for those affected, and probably face the fact that future ports on the itinerary will deny visiting.

I can't see the worldie happening in January.

Having read a lot of the requirements that the CDC demand following the current no sail order regarding crew health checks, health reporting procedures, quarantining etc it would mean large scale continuous testing of all passengers for coronavirus.

That would entail proper on board lab facilities, very large quantities of PPE, and enhanced medical facilities to deal with that testing.

Every respiratory malady like a common cold would have to be tested.

P&O state they comply with CDC and WHO requirements so I think it's too soon for such a long voyage, particularly as the UK scientists have expressed concern about the winter flu season re Covid 19.

Received a full refund to my credit card today.

Sailing date April 11, booked direct.

Applied for refund March 23rd.

I didn't contact P&O at any time. I was planning S75 action but decided to wait a bit longer.

Prebooked shorex and dining still outstanding but that claim was made later.

35 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

Okay. 6 week return trip. P&O have stated that all cruises are cancelled up to July 31st. Ventura should be back in the UK by mid July at the latest if she departs May 16th or 17th. After this pandemic it's only right that the crew go home for much needed R&R with their families. When cruising begins again the airports will also be open so P&O can fly in the replacement crew as usual. That to me doesn’t necessarily mean that there will be no more cruises until next year. That depends on covid19. 

Avril 

The pandemic won't be over until next spring. Professor Whitty has already highlighted the threat of a second wave as the northern hemisphere flu season starts in the autumn.

Airports will be strictly limited on social distancing and there is talk of quarantining incoming flight pax, so I can't see cruises starting properly for at least 9 months in the UK.

5 minutes ago, wowzz said:

In that case  P&O must have decided that cruises won't restart until much later in the year, if at all. 

 It looks that way as they are repatriating a large number of Indian crew from Cunard and P&O to their homeland. Apparently the voyage will take 21 days.

The UK government is rightly very concerned over a second wave of the virus occurring in our flu season so my guess is that Carnival UK will restart next spring.

30 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I think I prefer to listen to Jenny Harries assessments of these comments. Yesterday she seemed to be saying that Covid19 patients can take a few weeks to develop antibodies, so that could account for the anecdotal evidence that some people have been infected twice.

 

Doctor from WHO saying that a second positive test is seemingly caused from dead lung cells in the healing process and not a reoccurrence of the disease.

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

I really struggle to believe the staffing excuse, only because of the distinct lack of passengers receiving refunds. 

If that is the case, they seem to be doing very little to address it and it will get a lot worse. 

I believe a tactical decision has been made to hold on to money as long as possible, but hopefully we will start seeing the cheques arriving soon. 

Andy 

I agree, the staffing excuse doesn't wash. If it was true there would be clear evidence of the flow of refunds, but there is practically none that we know of. If there is a trickle then it is so small and slow that the waiting time will rise exponentially so that it will run into years for some.

Well it's coming up to the 45 days they said I would be refunded by, and nothing so far, so I am now looking to claim under Section 75 from my credit card company for our April 13 day Aurora cruise. I booked direct with P&O.

I feel that P&O are being economical with the truth on refunds as none appear to be happening so, as they don't appear to want to communicate with their loyal customers, I will take alternative action.

I believe the CMA are looking into the travel firms refund reluctance this week.

15 minutes ago, Eddie99 said:

In a nutshell

 

I think we older cruisers should quite possibly abandon thoughts of resuming our favourite holiday, ever..This will get sorted, one way or another, in time but all that time we are getting older, more vulnerable, possibly less mobile, possibly troubled by other medical conditions 

 

That’s without even mentioning the problems of health/travel insurance

 

It was nice while it lasted.  I’m so glad we did what we did when we did

I totally agree with you.

I think it's over, but it's been truly fabulous and we feel very lucky to have seen so much, from Alaska to Cape Town, Belfast to Brisbane and many wonderful places along the way in this beautiful world.

Great memories, and met some lovely people from many nations. As my old mum said ' Don't let life pass you by, don't regret'.

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

Just realised 4th July was meant to be Iona fest... 

Can't see any of it happening, but wondered why that specific date has been given to terminal staff as a probable return date? 

Andy 

I wonder if it's to coincide with the end of the current furlough period which was to run from the beginning of April for 3 months.

Yes I've received two, latest one today regarding query last year, which was previously answered satisfactorily.

No wonder we're not getting refunds yet if this is the sort of chaos they're in.

4 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

What they didn't do was to quarantine just those showing symptoms as they do, sometimes quite successfully, with norovirus.  This must apply to crew as well, which was probably the main factor in keeping the spread of infection going, especially on Diamond Princess.

Apparently the testing also showed a number of people who were asymptomatic so, while showing no symptoms, they were free to wander the ship possibly infecting areas by touch.

11 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

Indeed. And one of the scientists advising the government was talking on Radio 4 this morning about social distancing having to continue for several months yet - that’s absolutely inconsistent with cruising as we now know it.  Doubtless there are ways of modifying it, and I imagine Carnival are working hard on that right now.

The US CDC director has said, in announcing the latest ' no sail order ' that there is clear evidence that the cruise ship environment exacerbates the spread of the virus, and after widespread testing of the Grand Princess and the Diamond Princess it was found that the 'attack rate ' was high, higher in fact than in household and city environments.

The CDC is calling for the cruise industry to address the many issues that this raises including on board social distancing.

10 hours ago, Pentlands said:

Yes it is

Foreign Office

@foreignoffice

Travel update : The Foreign Office indefinitely advises against all non-essential global travel

Thanks, I missed it.

Indefinitely means an unspecified time, which applies to the FCO advice statement because they have removed the previous 30 day period.

Some of the media have decided to use the word to give the dramatic impression that the advice is never ending, although indefinitely is not used in the advice statement.

48 minutes ago, lindyloo22 said:

I’ve not seen it either on the news,  just what I read on another social site

I suspect it is just speculation.

I can't see any of the cruise lines making that statement.

I can however see the FCO advice to people of 70 and over remaining in place until measures are in place to safeguard cruises from covid 19, and that could be next year or beyond.

1 hour ago, Broadside said:

 

 

 

P and O have stated in their own media releases they are now acting on ABTA's advice and guidance

 

There are many reports of P and O and Travel Agents being obstructive and misleading about offering a full cash refund to customers

 

P and O changed their policy about refunds for people unable to travel due to govt advice at the time.

 

P and O are currently ( for over two weeks ) unable to refund prebooked excursions and restaurant bookings on non cancelled cruises.

 

FCC's are already happening! A lot of the posts are about what protections, if any ,a FCC has and if they are even the same as a potential " ABTA protected credit note " if people want to make their free choice to take one.

 

 

ABTA's advice and guidance seems sound as offering an FCC alternative to a cash refund helps protect the industry. So P&O are offering a 100% cash refund or 125% FC C when they cancel a cruise.

I can't comment on 'many reports' of obstructive and misleading behaviour by P&O and TAs as I haven't seen any.

P&O did make a change but the fact that people could cancel their cruise of their own volition and opt for a FCC instead, before P&O cancelled is a merit in my book.

I'm aware of the glitch in prebooked items refunds, but if you book online you receive a receipt with a transaction no. So you can follow that through to a refund solution when things settle down. I'm in the same position with prebooked excursions and restaurant reservations, but if they aren't refunded with my cruise refund I shall follow it up using the receipt data.

FCCs are happening and hopefully it will help in the industry's recovery, but  conjecture about their validity is not helpful without substance to back it up.

22 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Applied for my cash refund just now. Be interesting to see if I get my refund by May 29th.

I am aware that I will be told by other posters that I should be demanding payment in 14 days, but in these times I believe a little tolerance is needed.

I agree that tolerance is needed. Getting uptight and demanding payment in 14 days is pointless.

They clearly have a procedure in place.

We were due to sail April 11th. I was notified it was cancelled soon after the statement of cancellations was made. I completed the web refund which acknowledged receipt and said 45 days.

 Some days later I received a cancellation notification document, which said I would receive a cancellation invoice which would include cancellation charges but to ignore those. That arrived last week.

So it seems the refund process is in motion.

I still don't understand all the posts about ABTA and FCCs. That may happen but, currently, as far as P&O is concerned, it's 'fake news'.

19 hours ago, sidekick180 said:

Excuse my ignorance, but has anyone yet had a cruise cancelled and been told by P&O categorically, that they will refuse to give a full cash refund. Or, is everyone assuming that because refunds have not been forthcoming so far, they will not ever see their money? Maybe I am missing something, but as this corona virus is all very new, perhaps refunds will start getting paid soon.

I have seen no evidence that P&O have stated that they will refuse to honour a request for a full refund for a cruise that P&O have cancelled.

I have applied for a refund on our cancelled Aurora cruise and had the brief acknowledgement saying it will be paid within 45 days, and have since received a cancellation invoice (which contained non applicable charges) which indicates to me that the refund process is in motion.

Given the current unprecedented situation I am happy to wait as P&O have a lot of customers to deal with from the cancelled cruises across the fleet.

There seems to be a lot of conjecture that ABTA are seeking rule changes to protect the industry, but there is currently no evidence to indicate that P&O are applying those changes to current cancellations. Whether that will apply to forthcoming cancellations remains to be seen.

2 hours ago, Pentlands said:

Don't forget to check how  you would be fixed for travel insurance. Annual policy holders are being told by some that if they move a cruise it will be tyreated like a new booking and CV19 excluded.

 

Yes it will be a new booking, and my insurer has advised that CV 19 will not be covered on bookings made after 18 March 2020.

We are in the Torbay area of South Devon, and currently it seems the number of cases is fairly low, although there have been 2 deaths from it recently at Torbay hospital.

The main supermarkets were stripped by panic buying in the past week, but the message seems to be getting through, and things yesterday were almost back to normal.

In the main people seem to be looking out for one another, and trying to maintain social distancing.

The general concern in this area, Dawlish, Teignmouth, Torquay, Paignton etc is that Easter is approaching and we are usually overrun with visitors, but this year could be far worse with the restrictions on overseas travel. A large percentage come from the West Midlands, and London which are Covid 19 hotspots. There have been appeals to the many second home owners to stay in their main home town, but I doubt if many will take notice. Some caravan parks are closing because of the virus threat, as a bad outbreak could swamp our NHS facilities. Plus the fact that when they all arrive they decimate the supermarkets.

I hope people are sensible, but many seem to lose their respect for others when they are on holiday, and 'I can do what I want' is often evident.

We hope we are wrong and everyone will need the Government advice but I fear not. 

2 hours ago, majortom10 said:

I have had a recent communication with one of the biggest cruise TAs in the UK about my cruise booked with them in May and decrease of recent FCC policy and he has told me to not act at the moment and to wait until closer because there is "slim to none" chance of my cruise going ahead and would then get a full cash refund. Obviously cruise lines are hoping you will accept FCC so they dont have to refund in cash so they can guarantee future bookings and not decrease cash flow. There is also the chance that if you commit yourself to FCC and current prices you will be worse off because cruise prices in 2021 will have to be lowered to get business and interest back in cruising.

I think there is a lot of common sense in that advice.

We thought hard about what to do about our April cruise on Aurora which is cancelled, and decided that a refund rather than FCC is the best option because we feel that our interest and confidence in cruising is compromised by the current situation. We have other P&O cruises booked but will look at the way we feel nearer to the time, and as the day to day situation is changing hourly it is impossible to know how the future will pan out.

So when it all goes back to normal many people will be reticent to book for various reasons, one of which is the bad press that cruising has attracted, and I think there will be low prices and sweeteners to attract customers back.

24 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

 

 

I called my 88 year old gran to see if she was worried. She said no. And still wants us for lunch Sunday. She says it’s only killing off the old and the weak, seems the perfect virus to cull of the population. And it’s not stopping her coffee/cake mornings or bridge. Maybe is cos she’s been on her own now two years she’s getting cynical but she’s of the mind if she goes she does. She feels fine and doesn’t want to sit in the house alone just to avoid everyone. 

 

 

Absolutely brilliant!

4 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

I am not the only one.  There are loads of folk on FB who have received nothing.  My friend is also Gmail, so it's not that either.

We go April 11th and haven't had one. Probably working their way through the by day of travel

59 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

 

Mean while it has just been announced thatover 70s with underlying health issues in the Uk are now advised not to go on cruises

Cathy

The statement was 'over 70 OR with underlying health issues'