Will P&O now delay announcements for future cruise pauses?

[Denarius]

4 hours ago, davecttr said:

over 20 million people over the age of 54 in the UK, over 30% of the population, and Saga are probably happy about their age policy

I have travelled with Saga several times over recent years, and am booked to cruise with them next May. A few days ago they e-mailed inviting me to participate in a short online survey. To paraphrase, the questions asked were

 

Would you be prepared to have the covid vacccine in order to cruise with Saga?

Would you support a policy of only allowing those who had been vaccinated to cruise?

Would such a policy make you more likely to book a cruise with Saga?

 

The writing is on the wall?

[wowzz]

As has been said,  given the Saga age limit, it would be a lot easier for them to implement a vaccine only cruise than P&O.  It would still be quite late next year though, before all the Saga age cohort would have had the opportunity to be vaccinated.

[davecttr]

15 minutes ago, Denarius said:

I have travelled with Saga several times over recent years, and am booked to cruise with them next May. A few days ago they e-mailed inviting me to participate in a short online survey. To paraphrase, the questions asked were

 

Would you be prepared to have the covid vacccine in order to cruise with Saga?

Would you support a policy of only allowing those who had been vaccinated to cruise?

Would such a policy make you more likely to book a cruise with Saga?

 

The writing is on the wall?

I would probably say yes to those questions, even at Saga prices

[Eddie99]

... and might rule out the Saga-permitted younger spouses/partners

[zap99]

5 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

You must have been watching a different briefing to me, I thought Whitty was more upbeat about the vaccination  especially once the AZ vaccine was approved. Also the information from the NHS was similarly much more positive about the  increasing roll out of centres once the AZ one can be offered.

I suppose it depends on whether one is a glass half or half empty type.

My wife saw the GP earlier this week. She said our practice were starting jabbing next week and are geared up to do 1000 a week. I don't know how many practices there are in the UK. If they are all jabbing and there are about 1000 in the UK, that's 1 million a week. Including all the hospitals and other venues, that's quite a lot by Easter.

[wowzz]

10 minutes ago, zap99 said:

My wife saw the GP earlier this week. She said our practice were starting jabbing next week and are geared up to do 1000 a week. I don't know how many practices there are in the UK. If they are all jabbing and there are about 1000 in the UK, that's 1 million a week. Including all the hospitals and other venues, that's quite a lot by Easter.

Don't forget that everyone needs two jabs, so your 1000 per week needs to be taken into context.1000 this week, but the same 1000 in three weeks time.

[zap99]

Just now, wowzz said:

Don't forget that everyone needs two jabs, so your 1000 per week needs to be taken into context.1000 this week, but the same 1000 in three weeks time.

One of the other posts said 1m a week, jabs, or people I don't know. As most folk on this board know more than me on just about every subject, I will bow to their greater knowledge.

[nosapphire]

25 minutes ago, Eddie99 said:

... and might rule out the Saga-permitted younger spouses/partners

It would also rule out all the dancers, the entire Saga orchestra, the shop and spa staff, many of the guest entertainers/lecturers/speakers, and most of the entertainers and officers - all of whom are expected to mingle with the passengers. That's before we get to the rest of the crew.

 

 

16 minutes ago, zap99 said:

My wife saw the GP earlier this week. She said our practice were starting jabbing next week and are geared up to do 1000 a week. I don't know how many practices there are in the UK. If they are all jabbing and there are about 1000 in the UK, that's 1 million a week. Including all the hospitals and other venues, that's quite a lot by Easter.

Think that initially it is only the larger practice with suitable facilities who will be starting.

Even our local hospital (which is a large one with a vast catchment area) is not expected to start yet.

The logistics of getting it all  up and running must be mind boggling, and I imagine that a lot of people will have to travel to areas new when they are called for their turn.

Mind you, the reports of how many people have already had their first jab suggest that things are certainly moving apace - and I would expect all to improve with practice. By the time we get called, it might well be all GP surgeries exactly the same as the influenza vaccine.

Edited December 17, 2020 by nosapphire
added

[frogsgirl]

we are on the Iona cruise to Norway April 2020, the below has just landed in my inbox and may be of interest:

 

Important Notification
*Important information - Pre existing medical requirements*
Iona
G111
7 nights
Terminal to be confirmed, Southampton, UK / 24 April 2021 Terminal to be confirmed, Southampton, UK / 1 May 2021
Passenger 1
  We are following all latest guidance to evolve our enhanced protocols to
protect the health and well-being of guests, crew and the communities we visit
once we begin sailing again. Unfortunately when we return we will be unable to accept guests who have the following medical requirements: Supplementary oxygen (including via oxygen concentrator), Mechanical ventilatory support (except for overnight CPAP for sleep apnoea), Dialysis. Within the 14 days prior to the
cruise: Have been unwell with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, have been in close contact with someone with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, have been advised to self isolate under a government Test and Trace system.
We are so sorry to have to make this change, but we need to follow new industry procedures for the protection of everyone on board. Any guest that is impacted by the requirement for supplementary oxygen, mechanical ventilatory support or dialysis will be given a full refund of monies paid to date for their bookings.

[davecttr]

Just got 2 of those emails for my May and September Norway cruises. Little do they know that the May one will probably be cancelled by me!

[purplesea]

13 hours ago, frogsgirl said:

we are on the Iona cruise to Norway April 2020, the below has just landed in my inbox and may be of interest:

 

Important Notification
*Important information - Pre existing medical requirements*
Iona
G111
7 nights
Terminal to be confirmed, Southampton, UK / 24 April 2021 Terminal to be confirmed, Southampton, UK / 1 May 2021
Passenger 1
  We are following all latest guidance to evolve our enhanced protocols to
protect the health and well-being of guests, crew and the communities we visit
once we begin sailing again. Unfortunately when we return we will be unable to accept guests who have the following medical requirements: Supplementary oxygen (including via oxygen concentrator), Mechanical ventilatory support (except for overnight CPAP for sleep apnoea), Dialysis. Within the 14 days prior to the
cruise: Have been unwell with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, have been in close contact with someone with confirmed or suspected COVID-19, have been advised to self isolate under a government Test and Trace system.
We are so sorry to have to make this change, but we need to follow new industry procedures for the protection of everyone on board. Any guest that is impacted by the requirement for supplementary oxygen, mechanical ventilatory support or dialysis will be given a full refund of monies paid to date for their bookings.

 

I too have had the notification but our cruise isn't until the end of August 2021, so I imagine they are sending the updated information to everyone who has a booking/s made.

[davecttr]

14 hours ago, nosapphire said:

It would also rule out all the dancers, the entire Saga orchestra, the shop and spa staff, many of the guest entertainers/lecturers/speakers, and most of the entertainers and officers - all of whom are expected to mingle with the passengers. That's before we get to the rest of the crew.

 

 

I think all those categories will need to be vaccinated as part of their employment contract, otherwise there would be no point in asking the questions.

[wowzz]

Just now, davecttr said:

I think all those categories will need to be vaccinated as part of their employment contract, otherwise there would be no point in asking the questions.

The question remains : how do the crew/entertainers etc get a vaccine ahead of the rest of the population, and indeed, why should they? 

[davecttr]

1 hour ago, wowzz said:

The question remains : how do the crew/entertainers etc get a vaccine ahead of the rest of the population, and indeed, why should they? 

Saga will have to pay for it, money talks so there will be vaccine available. Answer to the second question is if they don't get the vaccine they don't get the job and someone who will get the vaccine will get the job instead.

[wowzz]

11 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Saga will have to pay for it, money talks so there will be vaccine available. Answer to the second question is if they don't get the vaccine they don't get the job and someone who will get the vaccine will get the job instead.

If it became apparent that Saga, P&O etc jumped the queue, in order that "rich' people could go on holiday, the public backlash would, quite understandably, be enormous.

You can imagine the headlines "People Die, but Cruises Go Ahead"

[Cathygh]

Only governments can buy and  distribute the vaccine, so it will down to the country where the crew love to decide on who gets it first

[terrierjohn]

33 minutes ago, Cathygh said:

Only governments can buy and  distribute the vaccine, so it will down to the country where the crew love to decide on who gets it first

P&O should be well placed then as India will be the world's largest producer of covid vaccines, and some are already in production.

[yorkshirephil]

5 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

P&O should be well placed then as India will be the world's largest producer of covid vaccines, and some are already in production.

Especially the Russian Sputnik vaccine.

 

[ann141]

2 hours ago, davecttr said:

I think all those categories will need to be vaccinated as part of their employment contract, otherwise there would be no point in asking the questions.

I agree with some of the other posters that you can't jump the queue if you pay for the vaccine.I think Saga have sent out the questionnaire to see if it would work as a marketing ploy to say passengers need to be vaccinated.It would give some reassurance to passengers and even if the crew weren't vaccinated it would mean more than half the ship was.The vaccine may not mean you won't catch the virus but that if you do it is likely to be in a milder form.If it means more people would choose Saga for that reason it would probably be worth them stipulating that, particularly as most of their passengers are in the right age group to receive the jab.

[joeecco]

I’ve received the email for my May Iona cruise but nothing for our July Azura cruise.. why is that I’m wondering.. 

[jaydee6969]

6 minutes ago, joeecco said:

I’ve received the email for my May Iona cruise but nothing for our July Azura cruise.. why is that I’m wondering.. 

I shouldn't worry about the emails, I have had them for our July 2021 Azura cruise and Iona 2022, as well as Arcadia 2021 and Britannia 2022 cruises.

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

P&O should be well placed then as India will be the world's largest producer of covid vaccines, and some are already in production.

That doesn't help with entertainers, front of house staff etc, most of whom are not from India.

[davecttr]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

If it became apparent that Saga, P&O etc jumped the queue, in order that "rich' people could go on holiday, the public backlash would, quite understandably, be enormous.

You can imagine the headlines "People Die, but Cruises Go Ahead"

I would not be surprised to find out that 'rich' people are already jumping the queue, and if the government decides it needs to allow it to protect the cruise industry it will happen

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, davecttr said:

I would not be surprised to find out that 'rich' people are already jumping the queue, and if the government decides it needs to allow it to protect the cruise industry it will happen

The cruise industry is not important enough for the government to decide it should take precedence over more important industries or individuals.

Given the choice of giving the vaccine to a bus driver or a cruise dancer, guess which one the public would think deserves the vaccine first?

[davecttr]

2 minutes ago, wowzz said:

The cruise industry is not important enough for the government to decide it should take precedence over more important industries or individuals.

Given the choice of giving the vaccine to a bus driver or a cruise dancer, guess which one the public would think deserves the vaccine first?

OK, I give in and I have more important problems to worry about like will I get my repeat prescription today or will it be another fiasco like last time.