My take on staycation cruising with covid restrictions

[alpha whiskey]

1 minute ago, AndyMichelle said:

You know me so well... 😊

Andy 

Save us 2 places in the queue! 

[Camberley]

1 hour ago, Waju said:

Sadly Andy the MDR afternoon tea now comprises two finger sandwiches each and a small roll plus lots of cakes - all delivered to the table on a cake stand.  No crumpets or sausage rolls in sight 😕  Well that was our experience yesterday - I have to say though it was very good - just don't forget to book!

 

 

 

Oh now that sounds quite pitiful. How disappointing. 

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, zap99 said:

And a doner kebab on the way back from Brodies.🤣

My eldest son's favourite late night snack after he had walked home on a Saturday night finishing off his doner kebab was hula hoops and salad cream!!!!

[wowzz]

3 hours ago, AndyMichelle said:

get hot sausage rolls

Hopefully from Gregg's!

[hamrag]

3 hours ago, debsjc said:

Thanks for the interesting report.

Does anyone know what P&O's policy on masks will be after the UK rules change tomorrow? 

The UK rules don't change, it's England on its ownio once again!!

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, hamrag said:

The UK rules don't change, it's England on its ownio once again!!

At least Mrs Kranke is not making the decisions! 

[hamrag]

2 minutes ago, wowzz said:

At least Mrs Kranke is not making the decisions! 

Neither is blustering BoJo...totally out of his depth, no self awareness......

[wowzz]

28 minutes ago, hamrag said:

Neither is blustering BoJo...totally out of his depth, no self awareness......

That makes two of them !

[hamrag]

12 minutes ago, wowzz said:

That makes two of them !

I absolutely agree....Rishi is in the same league as Bojo! 😉

[Guest]

16 hours ago, Waju said:

We too got off this morning but hadn't heard that there was a covid case on board.  We had breakfast in Southampton before we boarded on Thursday and were saying you could easily pick something up then and it wouldn't show up on the pre-boarding test but symptoms would probably be just starting to show as you disembarked!

 

That said, we had a good time - didn't particularly like Britannia but that's a personal thing.  We found the food, whilst a much smaller menu, was good quality and we enjoyed every meal.  A couple of little niggles we had were when having a Costa coffee you no longer get a piece of cake unless you pay and there is no longer an afternoon tea selection in the Horizon buffer 😲.  You can get it in one of the MDR but it MUST be booked, it was really nice though and we had 9 scones/cakes/tarts between two of us!!

 

 

I’m sure last time I was on Britannia it was No pay= no cake policy. It shocked us as the last cruise we had been on was Celebrity and their cakes at the coffee shop are better than the Eric Lanlard ones, AND they are free/can have as many as you want.  Even when you buy a drink at costa, you can only get one cake per coffee! 
 

My Mum will be disappointed about the lack of afternoon tea in the buffet. That was one of our favourite parts! Nice to just grab a couple of things to have with a coffee around the pool. Wonder if this is just with the low guest numbers or whether it is here to stay. 

[Bobblehat71]

20 hours ago, Mad4WDW said:

We got off Britannia this morning from the 15th July 3 day cruise. There was a covid case onboard. 

 

I was supposed to be that cruise but tested positive at the terminal 😪   Failed the Lateral flow test and then had to have a PCR test.  Had no symptoms at all but have since had a bit of a cold. Didn't feel great all weekend so glad to have not been on board. Massively disappointed and frustrated at the time though as you can imagine.

Out of around 1500 people I cant believe that I was the only person in that terminal that day with Covid.  🤨

[davecttr]

9 minutes ago, Bobblehat71 said:

 

I was supposed to be that cruise but tested positive at the terminal 😪   Failed the Lateral flow test and then had to have a PCR test.  Had no symptoms at all but have since had a bit of a cold. Didn't feel great all weekend so glad to have not been on board. Massively disappointed and frustrated at the time though as you can imagine.

Out of around 1500 people I cant believe that I was the only person in that terminal that day with Covid.  🤨

Sorry about the bad luck. did they do the PCR test at the terminal and how did you get home?

[Waju]

19 minutes ago, Bobblehat71 said:

 

I was supposed to be that cruise but tested positive at the terminal 😪   Failed the Lateral flow test and then had to have a PCR test.  Had no symptoms at all but have since had a bit of a cold. Didn't feel great all weekend so glad to have not been on board. Massively disappointed and frustrated at the time though as you can imagine.

Out of around 1500 people I cant believe that I was the only person in that terminal that day with Covid.  🤨

Noooooo what bad luck!  Hope you're feeling a bit better now.

[Waju]

31 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

I’m sure last time I was on Britannia it was No pay= no cake policy. It shocked us as the last cruise we had been on was Celebrity and their cakes at the coffee shop are better than the Eric Lanlard ones, AND they are free/can have as many as you want.  Even when you buy a drink at costa, you can only get one cake per coffee! 
 

My Mum will be disappointed about the lack of afternoon tea in the buffet. That was one of our favourite parts! Nice to just grab a couple of things to have with a coffee around the pool. Wonder if this is just with the low guest numbers or whether it is here to stay. 

May be paying for cake at Costa is a Britannia thing then.  On my last P&O cruise (Aurora Feb 2020) you could always choose a cake or tart to go with your coffee.

 

Just tell your Mum to remember to book afternoon tea and she won't be disappointed but I know what you mean - I used to like to grab a cuppa and a scone and eat it outside🙂

[zap99]

11 hours ago, hamrag said:

The UK rules don't change, it's England on its ownio once again!!

Anyone from the UK can go down to Southampton and join the ship. As long as they have had both their dozzies.🤣

[Bobblehat71]

10 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Sorry about the bad luck. did they do the PCR test at the terminal and how did you get home?

 

Yes , they have a couple of cubicles set up next to the information desk in the terminal to do the PCR tests. They didn't really seem to know what they were doing . I just got a text saying to contact a member of staff . I tried 3 but they just didn't know what I was supposed to do . Even at the information desk it took them a while to figure out what was supposed to happen next. They finally sorted out the PCR test and we had to wait about an hour for the result. However about 10 minutes after taking the test someone from Customer services had already decided what my result was going to be and gave me a letter saying sorry we wont be letting you on the ship!

 

Fortunately I was driving and had used CPS . They got our cases of the ship and returned my car so we could drive straight home. Would have been a complete nightmare had we been on a coach or train etc.  

With Covid now running rampant and with little regard for how careful you are or how many Jabs you have had, I would recommend everyone try and self isolate for a few days before your cruise if you dont want to end up in the same position.

[zap99]

10 hours ago, hamrag said:

Neither is blustering BoJo...totally out of his depth, no self awareness......

Politics was banned on here a good while ago.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Waju said:

May be paying for cake at Costa is a Britannia thing then.  On my last P&O cruise (Aurora Feb 2020) you could always choose a cake or tart to go with your coffee.

 

Just tell your Mum to remember to book afternoon tea and she won't be disappointed but I know what you mean - I used to like to grab a cuppa and a scone and eat it outside🙂

Sorry, worded that badly! You could always get a cake, but only if you bought a coffee! 
 

I will let her know! Those tea cakes used to be lovely. And the little savoury wraps. 

[Bin man]

High Bobblehat 71 sorry to hear you missed your cruise and thanks for imformation what happened in your case could I ask if you now have to claim through your insurance for your money or were you given any advice what would happen to your booking 

[Bobblehat71]

15 minutes ago, Bin man said:

High Bobblehat 71 sorry to hear you missed your cruise and thanks for imformation what happened in your case could I ask if you now have to claim through your insurance for your money or were you given any advice what would happen to your booking 

 

Have been told that we will get a full future cruise credit added to my account. The kind people at CPS have also told us the will credit us for the parking .Which is great. 

[Bin man]

Thankyou for reply good to hear you are sorted hope you get a cruise soon many thanks 

[sandancer]

4 minutes ago, Bobblehat71 said:

 

Have been told that we will get a full future cruise credit added to my account. The kind people at CPS have also told us the will credit us for the parking .Which is great. 

Rotten luck but at least both companies are being helpful. 

[Bobblehat71]

3 minutes ago, Bin man said:

Thankyou for reply good to hear you are sorted hope you get a cruise soon many thanks 

 

Already looking at a few in Autumn but not booking until this 3rd Wave calms down a bit! With so many countries on and off the green/amber lists its just not worth parting with the money. We were planning  to book the IONA Med cruise on the 25th September but they want full payment now for a cruise that may not even happen. 

[Bobblehat71]

6 minutes ago, sandancer said:

Rotten luck but at least both companies are being helpful. 

Thanks ,

Yes , Both have been great. 

[Beckett]

3 hours ago, Bobblehat71 said:

 

I was supposed to be that cruise but tested positive at the terminal 😪   Failed the Lateral flow test and then had to have a PCR test.  Had no symptoms at all but have since had a bit of a cold. Didn't feel great all weekend so glad to have not been on board. Massively disappointed and frustrated at the time though as you can imagine.

Out of around 1500 people I cant believe that I was the only person in that terminal that day with Covid.  🤨

So sorry to read this.  You must have been absolutely gutted!  Reading further down it seems that you have been assisted well and I hope you don't suffer too much with Covid.  Best wishes.  Jane.x