How will passenger numbers on future P&O Cruises be reduced?

[ollienbertsmum]

20 hours ago, tring said:

 

We have a holiday booked to Nerja at the end of the year, so have been looking at details of their lockdown on the TA forum.  Seems the quarantine is for the duration of the current State of Alert (I think that is the term), which lasts until a date later in May at present.  Everything is being done on a regional basis, for instance Costa Del Sol was due to open restaurants/bars last Monday, but new cases in Malaga, Granada and Midjas has put then back down a level.  I have read on other posts that the overall plans are to open some hotels for domestic use in the next month or so, but international travel will not be expected until the autumn.  Again all dependent upon the virus state as with us.  We are not really expecting our November holiday to go ahead, or at least that it would be so different that we could claim it was a major change and cancel.  We wanted to hire a car and get out and about into inland parts etc. and we do not see that happening by November at present.  I think the Islands are affected less, including the Canaries, but personally I do not see then accepting a cruise ship in the near future.

 

When cruises do re start I could see there being a lot of itinerary changes with any long sea journeys gone.  There seems to be talk of various countries having reciprocal relaxing of rules - so perhaps countries in the same group would agree to accept any ill passengers, so they could be disembarked (Ireland and France already mentioned for us of course).   I am also thinking that over 70's may still be advised not to cruise by the FOC, so would not have insurance even if foolhardy enough to want to cruise so cruise companies could well cancel cruises booked by that age group.  It would also seem they would need to offer an option to cancel or at least get a FCC if you do not want to cruise under the new restraints and that alone could reduce the passenger numbers enough for social distancing.

 

 

 

I would not be booking anything for November that you cannot cancel.  

 

I am interested that your view of the first cruises is that they will not have long sea journeys.  I had assumed that the first trips would be “cruises to nowhere” where passengers board, enjoy the facilities of the ship and then disembark after a relaxing week.  The ship would lose important revenue in the form of tours but I cannot see any other way that they would cope with entering ports and potentially spreading the virus (to or from the port).  

 

Not a great picture for my home town which gets income from cruise passengers but I don’t think many of us would want a sudden 3000 people entering for the day.  

[tring]

1 hour ago, ollienbertsmum said:

 

I am interested that your view of the first cruises is that they will not have long sea journeys.  I had assumed that the first trips would be “cruises to nowhere” where passengers board, enjoy the facilities of the ship and then disembark after a relaxing week.  The ship would lose important revenue in the form of tours but I cannot see any other way that they would cope with entering ports and potentially spreading the virus (to or from the port).  

 

Not a great picture for my home town which gets income from cruise passengers but I don’t think many of us would want a sudden 3000 people entering for the day.  

 

I agree about possibility of cruises with a number of sea days, but by 'long sea journeys' I was thinking of long journeys away from land or more to the point somewhere that has agreed to take ill passengers if they fall ill on the ship.  Ships may want to stay near their home country, or perhaps have an arrangement with other countries for reciprocal arrangements to take any sick passengers.  Seems to be a lot of discussions between European Countries about allowing each other's nationals to travel.  I agree a lot of ports will not want cruise ships for some time to come, though I do wonder if it may become tours only and passengers not allowed to just roam around as they wish (sadly).  Would be easier to clean specific areas afterwards and keep tour groups away from the general population by separating off certain areas at certain times - may work in GIB.

 

We will see. 

[tring]

19 hours ago, zap99 said:

Why is it foolhardy to want to cruise,?. It may be foolhardy to cruise right now, but who can say what will happen over the next few months.

 

My previous post (if you look at my entire sentence) used the word foolhardy as a reference to over 70's who wanted to cruise if the FCO were advising over 70's against cruising.  I still maintain my view and also think that many (and probably most) posters on here will have the same view regards cruising against FCO advice being foolhardy.

 

What others think though is their opinion and they have the right to think and post what they wish.  I do object to my words being taken to mean something different though.

Edited May 16, 2020 by tring

[Eddie99]

Ugh - tours only!  No thank you.  An idea that might come to fruition though?
 

That would be another reason for me never to cruise again.  Imagine the marshalling and queueing to get the whole of the ship offloaded and on to coaches ... and the even more tortuous  process in reverse to get them back

Edited May 16, 2020 by Eddie99

[tring]

20 minutes ago, Eddie99 said:

Ugh - tours only!  No thank you.  An idea that might come to fruition though?
 

That would be another reason for me never to cruise again.  Imagine the marshalling and queueing to get the whole of the ship offloaded and on to coaches ... and the even more tortuous  process in reverse to get them back

 

I totally agree and is not something we would want, but there are people who do a lot of tours and may well bite.  It is usually taken as standard in SPB for instance - though our choice was to do a river cruise and land holiday there, so we needed to get visas and had lots of freedom.  We later did a 'tour' from Arcadia in SPB with free time in 3 different locations and had a great time because we knew our way around and, more to the point, had done our research about what we wanted to do.  There were people on the free time tour who were moaning about it saying there was not enough around the drop off points - I think they were too scared to venture more than a couple of hundred yards, which IMO defeated the whole point in doing the 'on your own' tour.

 

I do not fancy a lot of other things touted about cruises when they re start, including wearing masks, lack of more relaxed self service meals and being restricted in how to move around the ship.  We do not normally go to the shows, so would not miss them and would enjoy having empty tables around us in a bar though - could be very relaxing and would not be bothered by large groups talking loudly.

Edited May 16, 2020 by tring

[zap99]

25 minutes ago, tring said:

 

My previous post (if you look at my entire sentence) used the word foolhardy as a reference to over 70's who wanted to cruise if the FCO were advising over 70's against cruising.  I still maintain my view and also think that many (and probably most) posters on here will have the same view regards cruising against FCO advice being foolhardy.

 

What others think though is their opinion and they have the right to think and post what they wish.  I do object to my words being taken to mean something different though.

Why is it foolhardy to weigh up the evidence and decide things for yourself. All 4 home countries have different advice. You can't travel in South Wales,but you can in North Devon. Are the people who travel in North Devon foolhardy ?.But don't fret. If my end of August cruise on Iona goes ahead I will be on it. When I am looking at the fjords slipping by, rest assured I won't be worrying that anyone thinks I'm being foolhardy. I wonder how many others will be on board. Gary will be.

[tring]

28 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Why is it foolhardy to weigh up the evidence and decide things for yourself. All 4 home countries have different advice. You can't travel in South Wales,but you can in North Devon. Are the people who travel in North Devon foolhardy ?.But don't fret. If my end of August cruise on Iona goes ahead I will be on it. When I am looking at the fjords slipping by, rest assured I won't be worrying that anyone thinks I'm being foolhardy. I wonder how many others will be on board. Gary will be.

 

If you have a cruise which goes ahead in August, chances are you booked that prior to the virus emerging in the way it has and you would therefore be insured.  If however you are travelling against FCO advice at the time, you could be finding yourself with some very large bills to pay as you insurance would not pay up, even if taken out at an earlier date.  I am also not convinced that P&O would really be happy to have you on board if you are traveling against FCO advice - but who knows given P&O is what it is.  However each to their own - yes you have every right to take what risks you choose to take, and you have the right to mention it.

 

You did seem to be criticising my opinion in your previous post though and I also feel I have as much right to state my opinion as you have to state yours.

Edited May 16, 2020 by tring

[zap99]

Just now, tring said:

 

If you have a cruise which goes ahead in August, chances are you booked that prior to the virus emerging in the way it had and you would there fore be insured.  If however you are travelling against FCO advice at the time, you could be finding yourself with some very large bills to pay and I am not convinced that P&O would really be happy to have you on board if you are traveling against FCO advice.  However each to their own - yes you have every right to take what risks you choose to take, and you have the right to mention it.

 

You did seem to be criticising my opinion though and I also feel I have as much right to state my opinion as you have to state yours.

I think as well. My insurance covers for new trips as well, but not cancellation. Our options differ.

[tring]

19 minutes ago, zap99 said:

I think as well. My insurance covers for new trips as well, but not cancellation. Our options differ.

 

I am sure you will find that all normal travel insurance policies will exclude cover if you travel against FCO advice - that is the point that would invalidate your policy in such an instance and would even invalidate against any claim, not just COVID related ones.  Perhaps worth a full read of your policy.

 

I understand there are policies that will cover for instances when you travel against FCO advice but they will exclude relevant things and they are specialised policies.  For instance it was possible to get insurance to travel to Sri Lanka last year when the FCO advised against travel, but they excluded paying up for anything terrorist related, including any medical needs because of terrorism.  So may be possible to take out a similar policy which would cover for all things that are not COVID related, but as I say they are specialised policies from non standard suppliers which you would need to search for and is unlikely to be your current insurance.

Edited May 16, 2020 by tring

[zap99]

4 minutes ago, tring said:

 

I am sure you will find that all normal travel insurance policies will exclude cover if you travel against FCO advice - that is the point that would invalidate your policy in such an instance and would even invalidate against any claim, not just COVID related ones.  Perhaps worth a full read of your policy.

 

I understand there are policies that will cover for instances when you travel against FCO advice but they will exclude relevant things and they are specialised policies.  For instance it was possible to get insurance to travel to Sri Lanka last year when the FCO advised against travel, but they excluded paying up for anything terrorist related, including any medical needs because of terrorism.  So may be possible to take out a similar policy which would cover for all things that are not COVID related, but as I say they are specialised policies from non standard suppliers which you would need to search for.

I think you jump to conclusions. There is specialist risk insurance that many large international companies provide for their staff. Perhaps you also understand self insurance

 I don't wish to play bay and ball on this subject, let's just agree to disagree.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, tring said:

 

My previous post (if you look at my entire sentence) used the word foolhardy as a reference to over 70's who wanted to cruise if the FCO were advising over 70's against cruising.  I still maintain my view and also think that many (and probably most) posters on here will have the same view regards cruising against FCO advice being foolhardy.

 

What others think though is their opinion and they have the right to think and post what they wish.  I do object to my words being taken to mean something different though.

I imagine just about everyone would agree that travelling against FCO advice is a non starter, but the restriction will be lifted at some point, and I would guess well before September, maybe as early as July.  Of course when cruising will resume is also a big unknown at present.

[Turn the Tide]

Most people seem very pessimistic about a vaccine being made available any time soon, but I have a feeling one will be with us sooner than you think. This would be good news because I cannot see how social distancing could be maintained at all on a cruise ship. The lifts, corridors to cabins, restaurants, theatres and communal areas would all be virtually impossible areas to keep 2m apart. Having every other cabin vacant wouldn't in my view, achieve anything. When I say "soon" for a vaccine though, it won't be this year so I'd be surprised if any cruises sail in the remainder of 2020 unless they significantly reduce passenger numbers on them.

[Ginb56]

We have a cruise booked for the end of this Sept and currently have no intention of now going - travel insurance we took out over a year ago no longer covers for Covid and unless P&O add clause cover for this, it’s a no-no for us to take the risk. We’ve also got a deluxe cabin booked so without a hefty discount on the £4K+, we have no wish to inevitably be restricted about where to go, what to do, mask wearing, reduced ports etc - as not the relaxing cruise experience we booked. Not interested in just a generous extra OBC either as we’ve already got a good OBC deal.
Not a word from P&O yet about further cancellations in 2020 (or a policy on price reduction on any remaining bookings) so we’re having to bide our time until mid June balance due. We don’t want to take FCC as we’ve no intention of cruising again for a couple of years, if at all - but if we can’t get a refund, then we’re over a barrel. 
All uncharted waters for cruising of course....

[pepperheart]

On 5/16/2020 at 8:45 AM, ollienbertsmum said:

 

I would not be booking anything for November that you cannot cancel.  

 

I am interested that your view of the first cruises is that they will not have long sea journeys.  I had assumed that the first trips would be “cruises to nowhere” where passengers board, enjoy the facilities of the ship and then disembark after a relaxing week.  The ship would lose important revenue in the form of tours but I cannot see any other way that they would cope with entering ports and potentially spreading the virus (to or from the port).  

 

Not a great picture for my home town which gets income from cruise passengers but I don’t think many of us would want a sudden 3000 people entering for the day.  

 

[pepperheart]

I know we are talking about cruises but a lot of the problems would appley if people were going on holiday in the uk and if cruise ships did a cruise to nowhere they would be no less safe then going to the uk and staying in a hotel there BUT you would have more chance of better weather.

[the english lady]

On 5/12/2020 at 8:01 PM, grapau27 said:

I agree with what others have said it is far too early to speculate.

The bar prices is one area P&O could look at to increase their profit margins as they are significantly cheaper than the American cruiselines.

True, but the old type cruisers have never seen drinking as the main part of a cruise (not as much as the "new type" of cruiser they were aiming at. The older ones can either not drink so much because of age and or medication. If the PAYG prices were upped to any degree people would probably just stop drinking. One of the reasons the drinks package does not sell like hot cakes is because the package cost a lot more than what people are spending.

If they decided to go down the american path ref drinks we would probably stop cruising as I really do not see the point of me/us paying for the few .

[the english lady]

Well listening to the daily updates and reading the news. If there is a workable vaccine made it will probably not be until next year. 

However I think countries as a whole are beginning to realise you cannot shut a country down for months on end. Both for mental health and financial reasons. Countries just cannot afford it. 

At some stage all countries will have to start opening up and getting back to work. I would imagine they would want to do that before the winter sets in (so you don't get covid19 and the seasonal flu going around together), so that when the 2nd spike comes it is more manageable. As more people go out and about more will get it..but hopefully there will be enough immunity building up that it is not the disaster it is this year.

They did say they had come up with something that seemed to stop the virus going onto/into the lungs , which is where the severe problems seem to start.

I have not mentioned cruising at all yet as until the ways and means of "normal" life are sorted you will not have a working economy , which is what you need going forward.  Even holidays in the UK may be a problem as at the moment it is probably not the wisest thing to have hoards of people descending on different areas.

I do still have a rather hefty investment in a cruise next year, so hold out a small amount of hope that something will be in place so "normal life " continues  by then.

[Harry Peterson]

2 hours ago, the english lady said:

Well listening to the daily updates and reading the news. If there is a workable vaccine made it will probably not be until next year. 

However I think countries as a whole are beginning to realise you cannot shut a country down for months on end. Both for mental health and financial reasons. Countries just cannot afford it. 

At some stage all countries will have to start opening up and getting back to work. I would imagine they would want to do that before the winter sets in (so you don't get covid19 and the seasonal flu going around together), so that when the 2nd spike comes it is more manageable. As more people go out and about more will get it..but hopefully there will be enough immunity building up that it is not the disaster it is this year.

They did say they had come up with something that seemed to stop the virus going onto/into the lungs , which is where the severe problems seem to start.

I have not mentioned cruising at all yet as until the ways and means of "normal" life are sorted you will not have a working economy , which is what you need going forward.  Even holidays in the UK may be a problem as at the moment it is probably not the wisest thing to have hoards of people descending on different areas.

I do still have a rather hefty investment in a cruise next year, so hold out a small amount of hope that something will be in place so "normal life " continues  by then.

I'd agree with you on all of that.  Life has to go on, the economy has to be revived, and we can't shut a whole country down (indeed, the whole world) to save the lives of a very small percentage of people likely to be seriously affected by the virus.

 

People will start to understand that, and that the vast majority of people will just contract the virus and get over it.  A vaccine would make it easier, but even without a vaccine that's what's surely going to happen.

 

All a matter of public perception and understanding, but public understanding of the statistics behind this, or anything else, isn't great.

[Clodia]

Well my 87 year old mother has definitely had the virus. She is a diabetic so you'd think she would be a greater risk. She has a week of being unwell, but described it as a mild illness. Now she knows for certain she feels a lot safer going out shopping.

[pete14]

Just now, Clodia said:

Well my 87 year old mother has definitely had the virus. She is a diabetic so you'd think she would be a greater risk. She has a week of being unwell, but described it as a mild illness. Now she knows for certain she feels a lot safer going out shopping.

Pleased your mother is feeling better. Out of interest, was she able to access a test to confirm that her illness definitely was Covid?

[Adawn47]

Posted in error. 

Edited May 19, 2020 by Adawn47

[my marina bay]

CLAUDIA- glad to hear your mum is better. A guy near us also recovered from a bad dose. He was hospitalized for three weeks but is fine now gave me a wave on the way to supermarket. He's 77 and has dialysis 3 times pw. Friends neighbour also home after a week in hospital. She has COPD is 75 and still smokes! 

[AndyMichelle]

3 hours ago, pete14 said:

Pleased your mother is feeling better. Out of interest, was she able to access a test to confirm that her illness definitely was Covid?

One of the guys who works for me has had a test, all clear fortunately. 

His wife works in retail and booked a test and was allowed to take one fellow family member as well. 

They are becoming more readily available. 

Andy 

[AndyMichelle]

7 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

I'd agree with you on all of that.  Life has to go on, the economy has to be revived, and we can't shut a whole country down (indeed, the whole world) to save the lives of a very small percentage of people likely to be seriously affected by the virus.

 

People will start to understand that, and that the vast majority of people will just contract the virus and get over it.  A vaccine would make it easier, but even without a vaccine that's what's surely going to happen.

 

All a matter of public perception and understanding, but public understanding of the statistics behind this, or anything else, isn't great.

It has always been a balancing act.. 

The mindset of waiting for a vaccine could mean many don't leave the house for a very long time. 

Most will be as sensible as they can, the rest will do as they please... 

Andy 

[Josy1953]

31 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

It has always been a balancing act.. 

The mindset of waiting for a vaccine could mean many don't leave the house for a very long time. 

Most will be as sensible as they can, the rest will do as they please... 

Andy 

You are absolutely right the biggest problem will be the covidiots who will do as they please and possibly infect those of us who are being as sensible as we can about trying to get out and about because the potential for mental health issues is real if we stay isolated until there is a vaccine.