Will ships be banned from sailing from British ports until after 17th May?

[shopaholic6]

Hi everyone,

 

I have (... well, had 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️) two one week cruises booked - one with Royal leaving 7th May and then one with P&O leaving 15th May both from Southampton. Now obviously due to the announcement this evening, I will not be able to go on either of these, but is there any chance whatsoever that the ship might still sail (with passengers who have flown to the UK and then cruise out of it)?  I suppose what I’m asking is, is there a possibility that I might be refused a refund of my deposit because the ship is still sailing? Or do you think ships will be prevented from sailing out of British ports - until after 17th May? Any help would be appreciated - thanks 😀

[Sunshine3601]

What announcement?

[shopaholic6]

10 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

What announcement?

In the UK it has been stated international travel will only be possible after 17th May - and even then not definitely on that date.

Edited February 22, 2021 by shopaholic6

[twangster]

If there is no international travel how would foreign passengers arrive in the UK to board the ship in the UK while you can not?

[shopaholic6]

13 minutes ago, twangster said:

If there is no international travel how would foreign passengers arrive in the UK to board the ship in the UK while you can not?

No international travel for people who live in the UK.  For some bizarre reason they still insist on letting people come here.

[heatherbelle]

Hi

 

the way I look at this, is, they have said they are waiting 5 weeks between each stage, as they need 4 weeks for the data from lifting  each stage to come through and then another week to analysis and decide if the next stage can happen.

 

so whilst they may make a decision by the 17/5 as to when international travel may be allowed for us Brits out of the U.K., they will need to allow another 5 weeks after the 12/6, to see if full reopening I.e. nightclubs being one of the last restrictions goes well, which would put that data set being available and analysed by mid July.

 

I cannot see international travel being allowed for us for recreational purposes until then.  Maybe business travel may be allowed earlier, if that makes sense, with lots of testing for going out and coming back into the U.K. plus quarantine on top, etc.  In addition we may be back to the travel corridor scenarios we saw last summer.

 

all along though the U.K. has had a no cruise policy in place, so that will be one of the last things to come back, we might be able to go to the EU, but they are behind in their vaccination programme, whilst us Brits may have had our first jab by the end of July, will other countries, US, EU etc.?  
 

Let’s hope the vaccine continues to do its job, so far so good.

 

 

[FionaMG]

14 minutes ago, shopaholic6 said:

No international travel for people who live in the UK.  For some bizarre reason they still insist on letting people come here.

But the vast majority of arrivals have to quarantine for 10 days and I doubt if they would lift the quarantine requirement before then, so I can't see many people flying into the UK 10 days before a cruise just to spend the necessary time in self isolation before sailing. My personal opinion is that it's much more likely those cruises will be cancelled and the cruise lines will gear up for a start after that date.

[shopaholic6]

1 minute ago, heatherbelle said:

Hi

 

the way I look at this, is, they have said they are waiting 5 weeks between each stage, as they need 4 weeks for the data from lifting  each stage to come through and then another week to analysis and decide if the next stage can happen.

 

so whilst they may make a decision by the 17/5 as to when international travel may be allowed for us Brits out of the U.K., they will need to allow another 5 weeks after the 12/6, to see if full reopening I.e. nightclubs being one of the last restrictions goes well, which would put that data set being available and analysed by mid July.

 

I cannot see international travel being allowed for us for recreational purposes until then.  Maybe business travel may be allowed earlier, if that makes sense, with lots of testing for going out and coming back into the U.K. plus quarantine on top, etc.  In addition we may be back to the travel corridor scenarios we saw last summer.

 

all along though the U.K. has had a no cruise policy in place, so that will be one of the last things to come back, we might be able to go to the EU, but they are behind in their vaccination programme, whilst us Brits may have had our first jab by the end of July, will other countries, US, EU etc.?  
 

Let’s hope the vaccine continues to do its job, so far so good.

 

 

yeah I think you are right 😀 thanks for replying, I agree the vaccine looks like the way out!

[shopaholic6]

Just now, FionaMG said:

But the vast majority of arrivals have to quarantine for 10 days and I doubt if they would lift the quarantine requirement before then, so I can't see many people flying into the UK 10 days before a cruise just to spend the necessary time in self isolation before sailing. My personal opinion is that it's much more likely those cruises will be cancelled and the cruise lines will gear up for a start after that date.

No I agree it’s highly unlikely they would, but just wanted people’s opinions on whether they thought it would be completely cancelled - I’m getting the general feeling that most people do!

[sgmn]

2 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

What announcement?

In England, Boris has given us a four step road map to come out of lockdown, starting with schools reopening on 8th March  and ending with lifting of all other restrictions on 21st June. 

My son's wedding was delayed from last August to this coming August. So happy they should get the wedding they have dreamed off 💞

 

BBC News - What's the roadmap for lifting lockdown?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-52530518

[Sunshine3601]

3 minutes ago, sgmn said:

In England, Boris has given us a four step road map to come out of lockdown, starting with schools reopening on 8th March  and ending with lifting of all other restrictions on 21st June. 

My son's wedding was delayed from last August to this coming August. So happy they should get the wedding they have dreamed off 💞

 

BBC News - What's the roadmap for lifting lockdown?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-52530518

That is Great News for the UK and your Son's Wedding.

 

[Baron Barracuda]

Ships may be allowed to sail from England but outside of the British Isles where will they sail to?  How much of Europe will be open to cruising?

[Billy Baltic]

I can’t see RC sailing anywhere in Europe in May or for months after that. At least not with paying customers on board. 

[mek]

Isn't this a good opportunity to travel within our own countries and help support our own economies regardless of where we live?

 I have November Caribbean cruise and hopefully that will happen, but until then and possibly after, I'm going to do some land trips within the US and help my country recover by supporting hotels, restaurants, etc.

I'm not saying that cruising isn't important to our economies, but right now since I can't travel internationally, I will be happy to help those in my country who have been hardest hit by Covid.

Perhaps if we all do that we can recover internally and then start traveling abroad again.

[sgmn]

4 hours ago, Billy Baltic said:

I can’t see RC sailing anywhere in Europe in May or for months after that. At least not with paying customers on board. 

I tend to agree with you, but thinking maybe a limited season, from mid July out of Southampton around the British Isles, or perhaps a travel corridor with The Canary Islands may work. The issue would be is there enough interest from British pax only to fill ships, probably not. 

[little britain]

5 hours ago, sgmn said:

I tend to agree with you, but thinking maybe a limited season, from mid July out of Southampton around the British Isles, or perhaps a travel corridor with The Canary Islands may work. The issue would be is there enough interest from British pax only to fill ships, probably not. 

I’d be very happy to do a round Britain cruise... would see places in Scotland I’ve never been to.... or cruise to nowhere ... the fjords are best seen from the sea after all! 
 

[Bloodgem]

27 minutes ago, little britain said:

I’d be very happy to do a round Britain cruise... would see places in Scotland I’ve never been to.... or cruise to nowhere ... the fjords are best seen from the sea after all! 
 

I agree as long as it's a 7 night cruise

[cublet]

Hello,

 

Well I've got 4 Fjord cruises booked this year (2021) and I anticipate only one of them sailing - all ex Southampton.

 

There are three Fjord cruises next year (2022) onto two of which I could L&S two of my current bookings.

 

Greece has said they would welcome tourists with a 'vaccine passport'.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[Trixie21]

I'm thinking July/August for cruises leaving from the UK.

Lots of factors to take into account - not least other countries willing to let cruise ships in and passengers disembark. A lot depends on the vaccine rollout in other countries as well , although things on that front look very hopeful here in the UK.

I have a Caribbean cruise booked for August combined with a few days stay in Florida pre cruise. I feel a little bit more confident about that after yesterday's road map,  but on balance I still think it won't happen. That one all depends on how things go in the US - the vaccine rollout seems to be going OK but so much else needs to fall into place. I won't be booking flights until there is some certainty (by which time they will probably be a fortune!).

 

[Tin can]

 

4 minutes ago, Trixie21 said:

I'm thinking July/August for cruises leaving from the UK.

Lots of factors to take into account - not least other countries willing to let cruise ships in and passengers disembark. A lot depends on the vaccine rollout in other countries as well , although things on that front look very hopeful here in the UK.

I have a Caribbean cruise booked for August combined with a few days stay in Florida pre cruise. I feel a little bit more confident about that after yesterday's road map,  but on balance I still think it won't happen. That one all depends on how things go in the US - the vaccine rollout seems to be going OK but so much else needs to fall into place. I won't be booking flights until there is some certainty (by which time they will probably be a fortune!).

 

 

We are the same except we are sailing out of New York in August.

 

Booked our flights a few months ago in the middle of it all and got an absolute bargain on business class. Only a good deal of course if if we sail and fly, on balance I think you have made the best decision to leave booking the flights.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 23, 2021 by Tin can

[Stokie33]

We were due to cruise out of Southampton on the 28th May, I've cancelled all of our cruise planner purchases this morning and now need to decide whether to pay and hopefully shift to next year or walk away 

[little britain]

2 hours ago, Bloodgem said:

I agree as long as it's a 7 night cruise

The CDC ruling on 7n cruises only applies to cruises that touch USA ports. 

[little britain]

54 minutes ago, Stokie33 said:

We were due to cruise out of Southampton on the 28th May, I've cancelled all of our cruise planner purchases this morning and now need to decide whether to pay and hopefully shift to next year or walk away 

I didn't think you had to pay in full to be allowed to L&S if RCI cancel the cruise?

You would not 'walk away' - you would still be entitled to an FCC for monies you had paid.

[Stokie33]

13 minutes ago, little britain said:

I didn't think you had to pay in full to be allowed to L&S if RCI cancel the cruise?

You would not 'walk away' - you would still be entitled to an FCC for monies you had paid.

As booked through a TA final payment is 02/03, are you still able to lift & shift as if so could move to the 22/05 2022

[Ourusualbeach]

16 minutes ago, Stokie33 said:

As booked through a TA final payment is 02/03, are you still able to lift & shift as if so could move to the 22/05 2022

You have to wait for Royal to cancel the sailing before you can lift and shift.