FCO advises against all cruise travel, today

[jeanlyon]

Hmmm, I definitely don't read that as "river cruising is OK".  It doesn't actually say so.  Not that it bothers me.  We did a river cruise and did not enjoy it at all.  Dinner was far too early and I found there was little to do.

[Adawn47]

30 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Hmmm, I definitely don't read that as "river cruising is OK".  It doesn't actually say so.  Not that it bothers me.  We did a river cruise and did not enjoy it at all.  Dinner was far too early and I found there was little to do.

I did think at one point that the continuing and never  discussed nor reviewed,  blanket ban on cruises (British money going to an American company ) would ensure that the British holidaymaker would spend their money here instead. Then hundreds of people were allowed to pile onto planes and fly out to various European destinations. Now we can go river cruising in Europe and spend it there as well. 

Avril 

[cruisenewbie1976]

1 hour ago, jeanlyon said:

Hmmm, I definitely don't read that as "river cruising is OK".  It doesn't actually say so.  Not that it bothers me.  We did a river cruise and did not enjoy it at all.  Dinner was far too early and I found there was little to do.

CLIA also understands it to be the case. 

[Adawn47]

3 hours ago, cruisenewbie1976 said:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/river-cruising-cruises-holiday-foreign-office-advice-a9622686.html%3famp

Thanks newbie,  I knew I'd read that somewhere today. I was begining to think I'd dreamt it. That's why I was so annoyed in my last post. I'm thinking there's another agenda at work here re cruising. 

Avril 

[jeanlyon]

Yep, says it there, but not on Foreign Office site.  Hey ho.  Don't think I'm cruising anywhere anytime soon.

[BrianI]

This is what it says on the FCO site.

 

Cruise ship travel means staying overnight for at least 1 night on a sea-going cruise ship with people from multiple households

 

Although it does not mention river cruises the words “sea going” to me would exclude river cruise boats.

 

Brian

 

 

[Adawn47]

39 minutes ago, jeanlyon said:

Yep, says it there, but not on Foreign Office site.  Hey ho.  Don't think I'm cruising anywhere anytime soon.

I've just posted on the Portsmouth thread that FCO are to trial four short British Isles cruises in September from Portsmouth,  Liverpool and Glasgow. Read it online tonight on a cruise news site. 

Avril 

[Adawn47]

I've found more details on cruise & ferry.net. It's Hurtigruten's Roald Amundsen. More details about the places visited too.

Avril 

[No pager thank you]

2 hours ago, Adawn47 said:

Thanks newbie,  I knew I'd read that somewhere today. I was begining to think I'd dreamt it. That's why I was so annoyed in my last post. I'm thinking there's another agenda at work here re cruising. 

Avril 

The cynic in me Avril says that the association that many international cruise lines have with "flags of convenience" and making limited contributors to the national tax base will not help them get much leverage with the FCO.  There are all sorts of priorities being balanced at the moment.

 

"Staycations" and reciprocal air bridges, particularly across the EU have the immediate effect of supporting the beleaguered travel and hospitality sector.  The same is not quite true of cruise ships (from an incoming perspective).

 

Obviously river cruising is much safer than international cruise ships as there is no social distancing, large group association or air purity and ventilation issues...🤔🤑

[Jim Cox]

Is there any real difference, social distancing wise, between river and sea cruises?

[wowzz]

6 minutes ago, Jim Cox said:

Is there any real difference, social distancing wise, between river and sea cruises?

I think No Pager was being ironic!

[terrierjohn]

10 hours ago, No pager thank you said:

The cynic in me Avril says that the association that many international cruise lines have with "flags of convenience" and making limited contributors to the national tax base will not help them get much leverage with the FCO.  There are all sorts of priorities being balanced at the moment.

 

"Staycations" and reciprocal air bridges, particularly across the EU have the immediate effect of supporting the beleaguered travel and hospitality sector.  The same is not quite true of cruise ships (from an incoming perspective).

 

Obviously river cruising is much safer than international cruise ships as there is no social distancing, large group association or air purity and ventilation issues...🤔🤑

I can't remember the exact figures, but I think the cruise industry adds around £10bn to the UK economy, and accounts for several thousand (maybe 40,000 from memory) jobs.  So could be quite an influential lobby to the FCO.

[wowzz]

4 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I can't remember the exact figures, but I think the cruise industry adds around £10bn to the UK economy, and accounts for several thousand (maybe 40,000 from memory) jobs.  So could be quite an influential lobby to the FCO.

John, your memory is pretty good

https://www.cruisetradenews.com/cruise-contributes-billions-to-uk-economy/

However,  the report was produced by the cruise industry, so not exactly impartial.   

[No pager thank you]

11 minutes ago, wowzz said:

John, your memory is pretty good

https://www.cruisetradenews.com/cruise-contributes-billions-to-uk-economy/

However,  the report was produced by the cruise industry, so not exactly impartial.   

Quite agree that this is a powerful lobby John, although, without having the exact figures to hand, this is much smaller than the wider travel and leisure sector in this country or the wider value of the package tour sector.  That lobby is broader.  The figures are not quite impartial as you say Wowzz

Edited July 17, 2020 by No pager thank you
Typo

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, No pager thank you said:

Quite agree that this is a powerful lobby John, although, without having the exact figures to hand, this is much smaller than the wider travel and leisure sector in this country or the wider value of the package tour sector.  That lobby is broader.  The figures are not quite impartial as you say Wowzz

I'm also never quite clear about what " contributes to the economy" means ? As I see it, ii is just cash that circulates due to the business  involved. You can just as easily say that the cocaine trade contributes £5 bn to the UK economy! 

[cruisenewbie1976]

5 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I'm also never quite clear about what " contributes to the economy" means ? As I see it, ii is just cash that circulates due to the business  involved. You can just as easily say that the cocaine trade contributes £5 bn to the UK economy! 

Assuming that the dealers declare the income on their self assessment return 🤣

[No pager thank you]

8 minutes ago, cruisenewbie1976 said:

Assuming that the dealers declare the income on their self assessment return 🤣

I'm not sure that the concept of FCCs exist in that section of the economy 🤣

[wowzz]

23 minutes ago, No pager thank you said:

I'm not sure that the concept of FCCs exist in that section of the economy 🤣

Future Cocaine Credit ?

[Son of Anarchy]

22 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Future Cocaine Credit ?

Worth more than what PandO have waiting for me to spend!

[jake 26]

The US CDC has extended it's No Sail Order, due to expire July 24th, to September 30th.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, No pager thank you said:

Quite agree that this is a powerful lobby John, although, without having the exact figures to hand, this is much smaller than the wider travel and leisure sector in this country or the wider value of the package tour sector.  That lobby is broader.  The figures are not quite impartial as you say Wowzz

Agreed the wider tourist economy is much bigger, but I imagine cruising is included in their total, and I suspect that cruisings direct contribution to the UK economy is a much higher percentage than that of the package tour sector.

[mickrory]

1 hour ago, jake 26 said:

The US CDC has extended it's No Sail Order, due to expire July 24th, to September 30th.

Just seen that. Thought they'd have gone to 31/12/20 with Covid19 crisis in California and Florida.

[jeanlyon]

Nah, it will all have "faded away by then" 😂

[davecttr]

1 hour ago, jeanlyon said:

Nah, it will all have "faded away by then" 😂

It will all be over by xmas, apparently

[AnnieC]

Where have I heard that before?😟