Cape Town to Cape Town in December

[Guerncruising]

“Is this the ‘new normal’?

It may well be and who knows? P & O saying that all passengers will have to undergo strict health checks before boarding, and what will travel insurance be like?

I feel that we will wait for a vaccine before we cruise again.

I do like the quiet with only three return flights a day Mon - Fri and none at the weekend except for post on Saturday. You can hear the birds sing!

 

 

 

[Travelcat2]

6 hours ago, Guerncruising said:

“Is this the ‘new normal’?

It may well be and who knows? P & O saying that all passengers will have to undergo strict health checks before boarding, and what will travel insurance be like?

I feel that we will wait for a vaccine before we cruise again.

I do like the quiet with only three return flights a day Mon - Fri and none at the weekend except for post on Saturday. You can hear the birds sing!

 

 

 

 

The "new normal" may be different but flights will no doubt resume when airports reopen.  In terms of P & O, this is an interesting case since they are owned by Carnival but are based in the U.K.  As you know, Regent is following CDC guidelines from the United States that is likely different than rules in your country.  I'd be interested in learning what strict health checks will be implemented.  I thought it was a good idea to test everyone prior to boarding until it was brought up that if someone tested positive, they would be stranded in the port of embarkation.  Even a note from your physician within a week of the cruise (a policy almost implemented on Regent), would not consider what you have been exposed to since taking the test (the airport, plane, etc.) 

 

 

[GrJ Berkshire]

2 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

The "new normal" may be different but flights will no doubt resume when airports reopen.  In terms of P & O, this is an interesting case since they are owned by Carnival but are based in the U.K.  As you know, Regent is following CDC guidelines from the United States that is likely different than rules in your country.  I'd be interested in learning what strict health checks will be implemented.  I thought it was a good idea to test everyone prior to boarding until it was brought up that if someone tested positive, they would be stranded in the port of embarkation.  Even a note from your physician within a week of the cruise (a policy almost implemented on Regent), would not consider what you have been exposed to since taking the test (the airport, plane, etc.) 

 

 

Not sure of your confidence, BA today laid off a quarter of workforce, making redundant 600 pilots. Boeing is laying off 10% of workforce. Not sure what will remain of the aviation industry in UK ! Already several regional airlines have gone.

Demand not expected to return for 4 years to pre-covid 19 levels.

[Travelcat2]

5 hours ago, GrJ Berkshire said:

Not sure of your confidence, BA today laid off a quarter of workforce, making redundant 600 pilots. Boeing is laying off 10% of workforce. Not sure what will remain of the aviation industry in UK ! Already several regional airlines have gone.

Demand not expected to return for 4 years to pre-covid 19 levels.

 

Agree with you completely about demand not returning for 4 years.  I did hear about BA but not Boeing (it will likely be on the news tonight).  I am more familiar with Boeing since one of their main plants is about 90 miles from our home.  Laying off employees is not something new.  They tend to do it for many reasons.  When the 737 MAX stopped production, they did a layoff then (we flew one of the "MAX" planes and they are beautiful - it is such a shame that they were unsafe and lives were lost).  Fortunately, once work returns, they call back the employees and they are functional very quickly.  Due to COVID-19, they closed the Boeing plant in this state and a percentage of the workers returned a little over.a week ago.  One can only hope that this happens with BA (an airline that we particularly like ....... well, perhaps it is the food that we like so much -- always enjoy a good British meal).  

 

One new item I heard today is that a U.S. based airline (did not hear which one) will not be selling middle seats in Coach and will hand out masks to every passenger  (although, so far, there is no requirement to wear them).  

 

 

[jhenry1]

Hope BA gets reorganized before Dec 25 as we are scheduled on a flight from Cape Town to London and then from London to Austin after our Africa cruise.

Edited April 30, 2020 by jhenry1

[GrJ Berkshire]

33 minutes ago, jhenry1 said:

Hope BA gets reorganized before Dec 25 as we are scheduled on a flight from Cape Town to London and then from London to Austin after our Africa cruise.

Another concern just surfacing in the UK is that BA is considering closing it's entire London Gatwick operation after covid-19. This is why I am more pessimistic about the flights element of future cruise trips, If BA are saying this you wonder how much of the aviation industry is going to survive this?

[jhenry1]

GrJ

Keep us posted on this. My concern has been the return from CapeTown on Christmas Day. 

[Travelcat2]

2 hours ago, jhenry1 said:

GrJ

Keep us posted on this. My concern has been the return from CapeTown on Christmas Day. 

 

We once flew home from Hong Kong on Christmas Day.  The crew were in very high spirits and we had a great time.  We have also flown internationally on New Year's Eve.  Very few people but we celebrated with Dom Perignon and they kept pouring until we asked them to stop.  There were few people on the plane.

 

As long as BA is flying, I don't think that Christmas Day will be an issue.  And, if they are not, Regent will put you on a different airline.  

[jhenry1]

Glad to get some reassurance.  Thank You  Travel Cat

[SusieQft]

Not quite the same, but I have flown domestically on Thanksgiving Day many times.  The planes and airports are not crowded, but friendlier than normal.  This way I get a better price and less crowded flight than in the days before and after the holiday.

[Travelcat2]

3 hours ago, jhenry1 said:

Glad to get some reassurance.  Thank You  Travel Cat

 

We are so excited for you to take that cruise.  South Africa is one of our top 5 places in the world (and Cape Town is amazing).  We came very close to booking your cruise but we want to sail on Explorer so we selected a cruise in November.  

 

Cannot help but tell a quick story.  Prior to boarding our flight to Cape Town, my DH had a gold crown come out.  I could not get him to a dentist until we returned to Cape Town.  He went in to the dentists office - they told me to go shopping and relax for an hour which I did.  When I returned he was finished and was told that it would be ready the next day and they would email us on the ship (we had two days in Cape Town after the cruise).  The new gold crown was done on time - it fit better than any crown that he has ever had - did not need any adjustments and the total cost was $800 (U.S.).   I'm not sure how it worked but the tax on that was refunded a couple of months later.

 

I did not want to do a safari.  As an animal lover, it would hurt me to see a "kill".  Thankfully, we did not see one (but did see a lion one day that was considerably thinner than the next day when his belly was full).

 

Hoping that both of our cruises are a "go".

[jhenry1]

That is amazing. We know that the dentist can do a great job in Africa. We both love animals also and truly looking forward to this experience. Things here in Texas are beginning to open up slowly . The nail salons and hair studios are still not allowed to open. I am really in need of help regarding hair and nails. This has been an awakening to make all of us realize how blessed we are . We take so much for granted .