UK short cruises summer 2021

[Minnie29]

Has anyone heard whether Princess will require all passengers to be vaccinated before allowing them to cruise on Sky or Regal this summer from Southampton?

Also what about any other protocols onboard and will these be released before the new cruises come on sale?

Will be interesting to see what itineraries and lengths of cruise these will be along with prices of course

[wowzz]

Unlikely that Princess will require passengers to be vaccinated, certainly they won't specify two vaccinations, as a large proportion of the population will not be eligible for the second vaccine by August.

I wouldn't get too excited about the itineraries - after all the ships will only be sailing into the Atlantic, or North Sea and back. They won't be stopping anywhere. 

Edited March 12, 2021 by wowzz

[Minnie29]

Will be interesting to see what the prices will be for the 7 night cruises, considering there will be no ports etc

[skynight]

I think a lot of the decisions will be based on and follow UK protocols. My opinion is that vaccination should be required to board for the next year or so, weather by government decision or cruise line decision. Cruise lines certainly do not want to deal with outbreaks on their ships. One way to minimize an outbreak is to require that all on board be vaccinated.  

[srpilo]

14 minutes ago, skynight said:

I think a lot of the decisions will be based on and follow UK protocols. My opinion is that vaccination should be required to board for the next year or so, weather by government decision or cruise line decision. Cruise lines certainly do not want to deal with outbreaks on their ships. One way to minimize an outbreak is to require that all on board be vaccinated.  

 

 

+ 1

 

[Minnie29]

I agree

I think vaccinations should be mandatory at least this year

 

[Lady Arwen]

21 minutes ago, Minnie29 said:

I agree

I think vaccinations should be mandatory at least this year

 

For crew and staff, as well as passengers

[Astro Flyer]

4 minutes ago, Lady Arwen said:

For crew and staff, as well as passengers

I also hope so although in yesterday’s Princess webinar they stated it would be very difficult to get all crew vaccinated. The availability of shots for crew would be based on the rules in their home countries which likely means they’ll be unavailable for awhile for crew.

 

They also confirmed that the summer UK cruises are for UK residents only.

[Lady Arwen]

5 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

I also hope so although in yesterday’s Princess webinar they stated it would be very difficult to get all crew vaccinated. The availability of shots for crew would be based on the rules in their home countries which likely means they’ll be unavailable for awhile for crew.

 

They also confirmed that the summer UK cruises are for UK residents only.

Yes, I also heard about crew vaccines.  Not sure how they resolve that issue.  I think it’s totally appropriate that the first cruises this summer will be for residents only.  My husband is a British citizen, but we reside in Canada, so not eligible.

[tert333]

1 hour ago, Minnie29 said:

Will be interesting to see what the prices will be for the 7 night cruises, considering there will be no ports etc

I am not sure if the UK only cruises will be the same as the general cruise, but they do have a general 7 night cruise for everyone on September 30, 2021.   It may give you an idea of what the cost will be.

[dides]

3 hours ago, Minnie29 said:

Has anyone heard whether Princess will require all passengers to be vaccinated before allowing them to cruise on Sky or Regal this summer from Southampton?

Also what about any other protocols onboard and will these be released before the new cruises come on sale?

It will be interesting to find out! More info is being released on the P&O short cruises next week so wonder if they will be aligned.

There was also a general video tweeted last night by Princess that before boarding, guests and crew can expect:

• COVID-19 testing
• Enhanced Screenings
• Health questionnaires
• Touch-free temperature checks

And that the process will be a quick and easy addition to embarkation, thanks to MedallionClass technology.

Edited March 12, 2021 by dides

[skynight]

3 hours ago, dides said:

It will be interesting to find out! More info is being released on the P&O short cruises next week so wonder if they will be aligned.

There was also a general video tweeted last night by Princess that before boarding, guests and crew can expect:

• COVID-19 testing
• Enhanced Screenings
• Health questionnaires
• Touch-free temperature checks

And that the process will be a quick and easy addition to embarkation, thanks to MedallionClass technology.

The 4 steps mentioned may be quick and easy, but I don't know how medallion class will help make it quick and easy. 

[wowzz]

5 hours ago, skynight said:

I think a lot of the decisions will be based on and follow UK protocols. My opinion is that vaccination should be required to board for the next year or so, weather by government decision or cruise line decision. Cruise lines certainly do not want to deal with outbreaks on their ships. One way to minimize an outbreak is to require that all on board be vaccinated.  

No need for UK citizens to be vaccinated for the "no stops" cruises. And why should there be? No different to going to a UK hotel for a week. 

And I am on Sky for 2 weeks in October/November  - no need for a vaccine then either. 

[sandancer]

We are on the same cruise. The cruise line might not require us to be vaccinated but the countries we visit might. 

[wowzz]

1 hour ago, sandancer said:

We are on the same cruise. The cruise line might not require us to be vaccinated but the countries we visit might. 

True. We've both had our first jab, and will have had our second well before October.

[CCFC]

Where does it say they will be cruises to nowhere?

[dides]

21 minutes ago, CCFC said:

Where does it say they will be cruises to nowhere?

That term hasn't been used by the cruise lines - just "coastal cruises". We shall see!

[wowzz]

49 minutes ago, dides said:

That term hasn't been used by the cruise lines - just "coastal cruises". We shall see!

Which is pretty clear  - no ports of call.

[dritan]

I'm also assuming that children will be "allowed", as obviously they won't be able to  be vaccinated.  It's interesting that they have mentioned 3, 4 and 7 night cruises.  Unbelievably my hubby seems open to the idea ( it usually takes him a month to come round to agreeing to any holiday) and suspect these sailings will go like Glastonbury tickets when they are released. If no ports, then I would definitely plump for a 3/4 night cruise, anything longer would be too much for me. 

If these are available in August, for example, I expect most adult UK residents will have had both doses.  ( I'm in my 40s and hoping to get the first dose in April)

[wowzz]

21 minutes ago, dritan said:

I'm also assuming that children will be "allowed", as obviously they won't be able to  be vaccinated.  It's interesting that they have mentioned 3, 4 and 7 night cruises.  Unbelievably my hubby seems open to the idea ( it usually takes him a month to come round to agreeing to any holiday) and suspect these sailings will go like Glastonbury tickets when they are released. If no ports, then I would definitely plump for a 3/4 night cruise, anything longer would be too much for me. 

If these are available in August, for example, I expect most adult UK residents will have had both doses.  ( I'm in my 40s and hoping to get the first dose in April)

I'm sure children will be allowed - commercial suicide otherwise- although obviously not Arcadia or Aurora if they are sailing.

You are right about the demand. Lots of people have had their cruuses cancelled, and have loads of FCC to use up. However, I think those expecting a bargain will be disappointed! 

[dides]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

I'm sure children will be allowed - commercial suicide otherwise- although obviously not Arcadia or Aurora if they are sailing.

You are right about the demand. Lots of people have had their cruuses cancelled, and have loads of FCC to use up. However, I think those expecting a bargain will be disappointed! 

We are also reviewing our annual travel insurance prior to booking  - P&O are saying they require specifc Covid and cruise cover as a pre-requisite to boarding.

[wowzz]

4 hours ago, dides said:

We are also reviewing our annual travel insurance prior to booking  - P&O are saying they require specifc Covid and cruise cover as a pre-requisite to boarding.

Yes, and most insurance companies provide this.

You just need to check as some policies provided as part of a bank account do not.

 

[CCFC]

23 hours ago, wowzz said:

Which is pretty clear  - no ports of call.

Ive done an Atlantic coastal and a Californian coastal, both of those had lots of stops.

[wowzz]

7 minutes ago, CCFC said:

Ive done an Atlantic coastal and a Californian coastal, both of those had lots of stops.

Fair point. However the UK coastal cruises will not have any port stops - indeed Princess are calling them Seacations. 

[CCFC]

4 hours ago, wowzz said:

Fair point. However the UK coastal cruises will not have any port stops - indeed Princess are calling them Seacations. 

I cant see anywhere that Princess calls them Seacations, can you point me in the right direction for that quote please. I can see cruises stopping at maybe Falmouth, Guernsey, Belfast and Liverpool. If you can drive from one city in the UK to go to Southampton whats to stop you sailing from Southampton back to say Liverpool?