My take on staycation cruising with covid restrictions

[davecttr]

2 hours ago, Bobblehat71 said:

 

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.

Indeed, I wonder if there are any protocols for that situation, lots of passengers use public transport and in my case a private hire car. I have no doubt that the authorities don't want you travelling if you have tested positive. Or do P&O just want you out of the terminal door and you are no longer their problem. Advice on this matter is needed urgently.

[Bobblehat71]

57 minutes ago, Beckett said:

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

 

Thanks Jane,  Feeling much better so hopefully over the worst of it.

[davecttr]

More questions, say youo are isolated onboard the ship due to COVID, what happens when the ship gets back to Southampton, what protocols are in place to deal with a person shedding virus?

[Bobblehat71]

54 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Indeed, I wonder if there are any protocols for that situation, lots of passengers use public transport and in my case a private hire car. I have no doubt that the authorities don't want you travelling if you have tested positive. Or do P&O just want you out of the terminal door and you are no longer their problem. Advice on this matter is needed urgently.

 

Someone did offer to get us a taxi but not sure there would have been many takers 😂

[Bobblehat71]

I agree this is not a laughing matter , however it doesn't matter how many protocols you have in place, they will only get you so far. Its all about minimizing risk.

 

For example , Any any given time there must be at least 200 people inside the terminal waiting for the results of their Covid tests. So potentially that's 200 infected passengers. Someone has obviously worked out that, this is a risk worth taking. The alternatives are probably unworkable .eg having hundreds of people sat in their cars or huge queues of passengers standing outside the terminal 2m apart.

P&O for their part were great and we were kept well apart from fellow passengers when waiting for my results and leaving the terminal.

 

If we all want a return to cruising then we will have to be prepared to take some risks. 

[davecttr]

Ok, so it might end up with turning up at the local council HQ and saying what's your advice then as I don't fancy the £5000 fine for travelling by public transport all the way home. Or just leap on a train, actually 2 trains and 3 taxis and don't tell anyone!

 

Apologies for being rude, Very stressed out at present.

[Bobblehat71]

10 minutes ago, davecttr said:

Ok, so it might end up with turning up at the local council HQ and saying what's your advice then as I don't fancy the £5000 fine for travelling by public transport all the way home. Or just leap on a train, actually 2 trains and 3 taxis and don't tell anyone!

 

Apologies for being rude, Very stressed out at present.

 

No need to apologize, these are very stressful times.  I guess you would just have to jump on the train and do your best to minimize contact with anyone. It may not be what you would want to do but you do need get home some how.

[terrierjohn]

 

5 hours 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. 

Can you also claim against your travel insurance?

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, terrierjohn said:

 

Can you also claim against your travel insurance?

If you did that, I imagine that you would forfeit the fcc, and the insurance company would want written confirmation from P&O that no credit was issued.

[terrierjohn]

7 minutes ago, wowzz said:

If you did that, I imagine that you would forfeit the fcc, and the insurance company would want written confirmation from P&O that no credit was issued.

Do P&O offer FCCs for any positive tests in the run up to the cruise, or do they rely on your insurance to cover these occurrences.

[Mad4WDW]

7 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.  🤨

Sorry you didn't make it onboard, hope you're feeling better soon.

 

We only know that someone tested positive on the ship because it was my sisters next door neighbour! He tested negative at the terminal, developed a persistent  headache a day or so later then on the last day flu like symptoms. He had a second test on the ship which was positive.They quarantined him and his wife then he was let off the ship after all the other passengers had left. I would hope that they were able to trace and test any crew they interacted with. I wonder if they also trace any passengers they were near during their time onboard. 

[devonuk]

15 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Do P&O offer FCCs for any positive tests in the run up to the cruise, or do they rely on your insurance to cover these occurrences.

My insurance company specifically does not cover for this occurrence and gives guidance on how to ‘claim’ from the cruise line etc.  

[Bobblehat71]

1 hour ago, Harry Peterson said:

Up to a point, I'd agree - and I'd certainly agree that we need a risk-based approach.  But as things stand now, with the number of infections running at more than ten times what it was just a month ago (even before yesterday's big gamble takes effect) I'd argue that the balance of risk has changed - but not been addressed.

 

"cases per 100,000 people in the latest week 9 Jul-15 Jul. The average area in England had 424."
"cases per 100,000 people in the latest week 5 Jun-11 Jun. The average area in England had 40."

 

Other than another pause in Cruising I'm not sure the Cruise lines could do much more. If you still get infected passengers onboard after being fully vaccinated and having preboarding tests then I think you either stop cruises or let the passengers decide if they are prepared to take the risk. Ultimately this is where we will end up. P&O have been quite sensible in only having 3 and 4 day cruises as it doesn't give the virus enough time to spread widely and if it did the passengers are likely to be on their way home before they start getting symptoms.  7 and 14 day cruises are going to be a challenge.

 

Hats off to that passenger who came forward to be tested on the ship . I'm sure there are plenty of others who would have just carried on with their holiday.

[Harry Peterson]

5 minutes ago, Bobblehat71 said:

 

Other than another pause in Cruising I'm not sure the Cruise lines could do much more. If you still get infected passengers onboard after being fully vaccinated and having preboarding tests then I think you either stop cruises or let the passengers decide if they are prepared to take the risk. Ultimately this is where we will end up. P&O have been quite sensible in only having 3 and 4 day cruises as it doesn't give the virus enough time to spread widely and if it did the passengers are likely to be on their way home before they start getting symptoms.  7 and 14 day cruises are going to be a challenge.

 

Hats off to that passenger who came forward to be tested on the ship . I'm sure there are plenty of others who would have just carried on with their holiday.

I agree.  There’s not a lot P&O can do about it.  Passengers, or potential passengers, just have to weigh up the risks, and those risks are currently more than ten times higher than they were just a month ago.

 

And in a month, the likelihood is that it will be two or three times more, now that all the restrictions have gone.

 

People will simply have to weigh up the risk and make a choice.

[Bobblehat71]

13 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

I agree.  There’s not a lot P&O can do about it.  Passengers, or potential passengers, just have to weigh up the risks, and those risks are currently more than ten times higher than they were just a month ago.

 

And in a month, the likelihood is that it will be two or three times more, now that all the restrictions have gone.

 

People will simply have to weigh up the risk and make a choice.

 

The biggest problem at the moment is that nobody knows what the risks actually are. For example . I've currently got Covid. Fortunately I've not suffered anything worse than a small dose of Flu. So for me the risk from Covid is virtually Nil. This is also likely to be the case for a big percentage of the population. 

The problem for Cruises is a large proportion of the customer base may be at more of a risk of getting  more than just a touch of Flu. eg. Underlying health conditions , Older age group etc. 

Cruise companies are not going to want to keep all these testing procedures in place for long as its no doubt expensive and will be effecting bookings. 

[sandancer]

We booked 2 seacations. We have taken the first one and we felt very safe with all the precautions being taken on board. I actually felt safer than shopping in a supermarket. The second one is on Britannia at the end of August. My concern is now that we have “freedom” the cruise lines will relax the restrictions so that more people are encouraged to book. i.e. people who don’t want to wear a mask and were put off by that may now be willing to cruise. Same with vaccinations.  In 6 weeks time will P&O still only take fully vaccinated guests. I would love to ask P&O customer service these questions but it is almost impossible to speak to anyone by phone. 

[thornegirl]

3 hours ago, sandancer said:

We booked 2 seacations. We have taken the first one and we felt very safe with all the precautions being taken on board. I actually felt safer than shopping in a supermarket. The second one is on Britannia at the end of August. My concern is now that we have “freedom” the cruise lines will relax the restrictions so that more people are encouraged to book. i.e. people who don’t want to wear a mask and were put off by that may now be willing to cruise. Same with vaccinations.  In 6 weeks time will P&O still only take fully vaccinated guests. I would love to ask P&O customer service these questions but it is almost impossible to speak to anyone by phone. 

We were on the 1st July Britannia cruise and asked this question regarding the protocols after the 19th July , the member of staff said that all the protocols would stay the same on all the staycation cruises with no changes. 

[TheGinBoy]

I can't see cruise lines dropping restrictions any time soon. Especially not as cases continue to rise at the rate they are.

 

There's *so much* riding on cruise lines to get it right, and not receive hugely negative press like they did last year. It's in their interest to keep us all as safe as possible, as well as ours.

 

And let's be honest, it's not that much effort to wash your hands and put as mask on as you walk around the ship.

[terrierjohn]

4 hours ago, Harry Peterson said:

I agree.  There’s not a lot P&O can do about it.  Passengers, or potential passengers, just have to weigh up the risks, and those risks are currently more than ten times higher than they were just a month ago.

 

And in a month, the likelihood is that it will be two or three times more, now that all the restrictions have gone.

 

People will simply have to weigh up the risk and make a choice.

Which particular risks are ten times higher, and how have you assessed this?  For fully vaccinated passengers the risk is probably static, unless or until you reach a point where there is a majority of infected passengers on board, which hopefully the current pre cruise testing regime should prevent.

[jaydee6969]

1 hour ago, TheGinBoy said:

I can't see cruise lines dropping restrictions any time soon. Especially not as cases continue to rise at the rate they are.

 

 

There are rumours circulating on other websites and reported, that P&O are going to be slightly relaxing the rules from the 25th August.  I have found nothing official from P&O, but this is allegedly direct:-

 

P&O Cruises and Cunard

A statement said: ‘We continue to develop our health and wellbeing protocols in line with the preferences of our guests and guidance from global medical and public health experts, as well as UK Government agencies. 

‘From July 25, 2021, face masks will only be required when moving around communal areas and within the theatre, there will be no restrictions on dining party size and social distancing will reduce to one metre.’

A spokesperson added that there would be no change to the rule requiring a seven-day gap between any UK getaway cruises, including back-to-back bookings.

 

[Harry Peterson]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

Which particular risks are ten times higher, and how have you assessed this?  For fully vaccinated passengers the risk is probably static, unless or until you reach a point where there is a majority of infected passengers on board, which hopefully the current pre cruise testing regime should prevent.

This map shows 7-day case rate per 100,000 people.

The default view shows data by local authority. Zoom in for more local data.

 

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/interactive-map/cases

 

The vaccines are not 100% effective, so the risk  (whatever that risk might be in percentage terms) increases in proportion to the number of cases.

 

Each person will assess his/her own risk, but the problem for cruise companies is that they have to try to calculate some sort of generalised risk.  Not easy, but I'm sure the background infection rate will be one of the determinants.

 

 

[terrierjohn]

40 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

This map shows 7-day case rate per 100,000 people.

The default view shows data by local authority. Zoom in for more local data.

 

https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/interactive-map/cases

 

The vaccines are not 100% effective, so the risk  (whatever that risk might be in percentage terms) increases in proportion to the number of cases.

 

Each person will assess his/her own risk, but the problem for cruise companies is that they have to try to calculate some sort of generalised risk.  Not easy, but I'm sure the background infection rate will be one of the determinants.

 

 

But it won't be 10 times higher, and with most passengers double jabbed, and all passengers tested prior to boarding, as others have said a cruise ship is far safer than a trip to ASDA, despite all the petri dish warnings.

[Harry Peterson]

14 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

But it won't be 10 times higher, and with most passengers double jabbed, and all passengers tested prior to boarding, as others have said a cruise ship is far safer than a trip to ASDA, despite all the petri dish warnings.

The risk, John, will still be 10 times higher if the number of infections in the community is 10 times higher.

 

What that risk is, however, depends on whether you’re vaccinated, with which vaccine, whether you wear a mask, what type, whether others wear masks, how much contact you have with others………….an endless series of variables.

 

And the difference between Asda and a cruise ship is twofold. You don’t normally spend several days at a time in Asda, and you can walk out if you choose to.

[zap99]

8 minutes ago, Harry Peterson said:

The risk, John, will still be 10 times higher if the number of infections in the community is 10 times higher.

 

What that risk is, however, depends on whether you’re vaccinated, with which vaccine, whether you wear a mask, what type, whether others wear masks, how much contact you have with others………….an endless series of variables.

 

And the difference between Asda and a cruise ship is twofold. You don’t normally spend several days at a time in Asda, and you can walk out if you choose to.

The risk is 10 times higher of catching it. Obviously a big worry in your circumstances, but for many, Covid will be a minor illness, so a risk they are prepared to take to regain some semblance of normality.

[terrierjohn]

3 minutes ago, zap99 said:

The risk is 10 times higher of catching it. Obviously a big worry in your circumstances, but for many, Covid will be a minor illness, so a risk they are prepared to take to regain some semblance of normality.

I still dont agree with his 10 times higher figure, there are areas of the country where the infection rate is very low, and I would argue that a cruise ship with the current testing regime and requirement for full vaccination is more like those areas than the 10 times average he suggests.