Decision date for Sept 25th cruises.

[Megabear2]

Indeed they wont travel to an existing red destination but as the list is reviewed 3 weekly it is quite conceivable you could be in say Barbados having flown there as green or amber, set off on your remaining 13 days in different locations only to find midway through your cruise you're actually sailing back to fly home from a now red destination.  Certainly cant see at present the contingency for that one and Britannia is crossing in October?

[tring]

57 minutes ago, cruisenewbie1976 said:

Whilst the uncertainty might be annoying, they're certainly not going to just abandon you at the end of the cruise and feed you to border force for failing to complete a passenger locator form. I totally accept that it would be helpful if they could explain what they're going to do though. 

 

 

Fred's Borealis returned from Iceland at the beginning of this week.  The ship was due in Monday morning, but they returned to the quayside the previous evening to allow passengers to access WiFi to fill in the passenger locator forms.  Does not mean that will happen with all cruise lines of course, but all cruise lines will have to make sure procedures are in place as you say.

 

TBH about a month ago I was very much of the opinion that Fred should have pulled that Icelandic cruise long ago, but criteria changed and they went, with no problems as I understand it, except from leaving Liverpool an hour or two late as some passengers were arriving without the necessary paperwork to sail to Iceland, so some delays at that stage.  I was proved very wrong there then, pulling the cruise would have been a great mistake and it became the first international cruise to leave the UK for 17 months.  

 

We were on the ship for the previous cruise and were speaking with a senior member of the bridge staff out on deck one day.  He was pleased all was sorted and they were set to sail as planned, but he did say it had taken a tremendous effort to get it all sorted, (even with the advantage of just having to deal with one country), so he felt it would be far worse if there were a number of countries on an itinerary.  I was thinking of Moley's comment some months back suggesting that the earlier cruises would likely only visit one country.  I can still see a number of itinerary changes to come, but will not be making any other predictions about whether a cruise will go ahead 🙂

 

We should at least be one more step closer to seeing how travel abroad will progress (in the short term) within the next day, but if that will spur the cruise lines to make some clear decisions remains to be seen.  Holiday companies always seem to get some advance warning of pending changes though, so I suspect they will have something up their sleeves already.

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by tring

[tring]

13 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Indeed they wont travel to an existing red destination but as the list is reviewed 3 weekly it is quite conceivable you could be in say Barbados having flown there as green or amber, set off on your remaining 13 days in different locations only to find midway through your cruise you're actually sailing back to fly home from a now red destination.  Certainly cant see at present the contingency for that one and Britannia is crossing in October?

 

I should think that the plans, which they will have to have in place, will include plan B arrangements to fly people back from another Island if necessary.  Just like  the agreement they have in place for certain ports to take any passengers who have contracted COVID, if needed.  The airline will be taking off from the UK and not be based in Barbados.  I have seen mention in the past that the Caribbean could actually be an easier area to cruise to on that basis, as there are so many options within a fairly small area.

 

I hope so anyway, as we are due to sail on Aurora to the Caribbean on 20th February and we would sort of like it to go.

Edited August 25, 2021 by tring

[cruisenewbie1976]

17 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Indeed they wont travel to an existing red destination but as the list is reviewed 3 weekly it is quite conceivable you could be in say Barbados having flown there as green or amber, set off on your remaining 13 days in different locations only to find midway through your cruise you're actually sailing back to fly home from a now red destination.  Certainly cant see at present the contingency for that one and Britannia is crossing in October?

They wouldn't offload you to a red country. That just simply wouldn't happen. They'll have a few days notice so could possibly cut the cruise short and take you back to Barbados for an early flight home. That, of course, would depend on airlines being able to rearrange too. But surely the most obvious answer would be to sail everyone back to Southampton on Britannia. If its home port is red listed, all subsequent cruises will be cancelled anyway. If they really do expect it to be red listed, I'd imagine they'll just cancel them all. But we're currently going off what the media are saying and we know how accurate they tend to be!

[cruisenewbie1976]

18 minutes ago, tring said:

 

Fred's Borealis returned from Iceland at the beginning of this week.  The ship was due in Monday morning, but they returned to the quayside the previous evening to allow passengers to access WiFi to fill in the passenger locator forms.  Does not mean that will happen with all cruise lines of course, but all cruise lines will have to make sure procedures are in place as you say.

 

TBH about a month ago I was very much of the opinion that Fred should have pulled that Icelandic cruise long ago, but criteria changed and they went, with no problems as I understand it, except from leaving Liverpool an hour or two late as some passengers were arriving without the necessary paperwork to sail to Iceland, so some delays at that stage.  I was proved very wrong there then, pulling the cruise would have been a great mistake and it became the first international cruise to leave the UK for 17 months.  

 

We were on the ship for the previous cruise and were speaking with a senior member of the bridge staff out on deck one day.  He was pleased all was sorted and they were set to sail as planned, but he did say it had taken a tremendous effort to get it all sorted, (even with the advantage of just having to deal with one country), so he felt it would be far worse if there were a number of countries on an itinerary.  I was thinking of Moley's comment some months back suggesting that the earlier cruises would likely only visit one country.  I can still see a number of itinerary changes to come, but will not be making any other predictions about whether a cruise will go ahead 🙂

 

We should at least be one more step closer to seeing how travel abroad will progress (in the short term) within the next day, but if that will spur the cruise lines to make some clear decisions remains to be seen.  Holiday companies always seem to get some advance warning of pending changes, so I suspect they will have something up their sleeves already though.

I just can't imagine the logistics of it all. Must be a total nightmare. The easy answer is clearly to cancel the cruises and hope for a swift return to normality. I suspect that was the feeling behind the initial pauses. But with that goal seemingly moving further away, I'm guessing it's a case of adapting to the current situation or them running out of money. 

[wowzz]

While we all enjoy speculating,  in the current environment there is really no point worrying, especially about countries going red. No cruise line is suddenly going to dump 3000 passegers on the quay and sail away. Worrying about costs that are not going to be incurred is a waste of nervous energy!

However,  I do agree that Caribbean cruising is far more problematic than Med cruising, where it is relatively easy to change itineraries at shirt nitice.

[Megabear2]

The trouble is I am nervous!  I want to support the cruise lines and cruising in general. However it's a two way thing, I dont want to be a cash cow keeping them going when they want my money months in advance but wont give me an idea of the product they're selling me. Of course they have difficulty and I'm sorry they do but individuals also have difficulty. Under 90 days terms the whole situation looks different to the one under 30 days.

 

Reading the quote about Fred's cruise I am hopeful for the European departures being mostly okay. The long Caribbean cruises of 35 nights etc are looking fairly hopeless and the fly cruises a downright minefield!  

[BestGuessed]

Our balance for the Britannia 25th September cruise is due for payment tomorrow and even under the 30days payment of balance term we don’t know what we will actually be paying for/getting for our money. 

A little proactive interaction from P&O would be helpful even if it is just a “We haven’t forgotten you and are working on it” type of communication.  To be reassured that they will be offering us alternative options would help our anxiety levels as at present we don’t know whether we can look forward to our holiday in a month’s time or not.🤷🏼‍♀️
Instead,  P&O seem to be actively avoiding communication which is shameful.

[wowzz]

9 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

The trouble is I am nervous!  I want to support the cruise lines and cruising in general. However it's a two way thing, I dont want to be a cash cow keeping them going when they want my money months in advance but wont give me an idea of the product they're selling me. Of course they have difficulty and I'm sorry they do but individuals also have difficulty. Under 90 days terms the whole situation looks different to the one under 30 days.

 

Reading the quote about Fred's cruise I am hopeful for the European departures being mostly okay. The long Caribbean cruises of 35 nights etc are looking fairly hopeless and the fly cruises a downright minefield!  

I understand your concern,  and agree that reducing the final balance date to 30 days would be of benefit.

However, if that does not happen,  you really have only three options, as I see it:

1. Cancel and lose your deposit 
2. Cancel and move your deposit to a future cruise 
3. Pay the balance,  on the reasonable assumption that P&O will not proceed with the cruise if UK health regulations are too onerous, in which case the cruise will be cancelled and you will  receive a refund (or FCC). 

There may be other options available - others might want to add them.

[Active8]

28 minutes ago, BestGuessed said:

Our balance for the Britannia 25th September cruise is due for payment tomorrow and even under the 30days payment of balance term we don’t know what we will actually be paying for/getting for our money. 

A little proactive interaction from P&O would be helpful even if it is just a “We haven’t forgotten you and are working on it” type of communication.  To be reassured that they will be offering us alternative options would help our anxiety levels as at present we don’t know whether we can look forward to our holiday in a month’s time or not.🤷🏼‍♀️
Instead,  P&O seem to be actively avoiding communication which is shameful.

I agree, I’m also travelling on the same cruise and it is getting a bit stressful with the lack of communication.  I appreciate its a massive challenge with moving goalposts but other lines have managed to put some info out. I’m hoping they will decide to sort out all testing requirements like TUI have. 

Edited August 25, 2021 by Active8

[Dermotsgirl]

From my point of view, no cruise is worth getting stressed about, and I would find it stressful handing over several thousand pounds for an unknown experience.

 

If my payment due date was coming up and there was no information forthcoming, I would move the cruise to a date in the future. That would give me more peace of mind.  From previous experience during the pandemic, it feels much better when the decision is made.

 

in Megabear’s situation, I’m fairly sure that Megabear said that they haven’t yet booked. In that case, if the thought of making a booking was making me nervous, I simply wouldn’t book. Indeed, I’m not booking any cruise which involves paying extra money, for some time to come. I will at least wait and see what happens when international cruising restarts, and will probably wait until I’ve actually sailed on one of my scheduled cruises, to make sure Covid era cruising is right for me.  Therefore I’m not even considering booking a new cruise until next summer 
 

 

[terrierjohn]

3 hours ago, tring said:

 

I should think that the plans, which they will have to have in place, will include plan B arrangements to fly people back from another Island if necessary.  Just like  the agreement they have in place for certain ports to take any passengers who have contracted COVID, if needed.  The airline will be taking off from the UK and not be based in Barbados.  I have seen mention in the past that the Caribbean could actually be an easier area to cruise to on that basis, as there are so many options within a fairly small area.

 

I hope so anyway, as we are due to sail on Aurora to the Caribbean on 20th February and we would sort of like it to go.

Whilst your Aurora cruise might take place, I think the fly cruises could face major disruption if one of the routine stops goes red. It will be far easier to substitute, or cancel, a one off port stop. However the logistics of replacing a routine stop, especially if it is used for any regular supplies, will cause major re-scheduling problems, and arranging flights to and from a different Island would be horrendous.

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by terrierjohn

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, BestGuessed said:

Our balance for the Britannia 25th September cruise is due for payment tomorrow and even under the 30days payment of balance term we don’t know what we will actually be paying for/getting for our money. 

A little proactive interaction from P&O would be helpful even if it is just a “We haven’t forgotten you and are working on it” type of communication.  To be reassured that they will be offering us alternative options would help our anxiety levels as at present we don’t know whether we can look forward to our holiday in a month’s time or not.🤷🏼‍♀️
Instead,  P&O seem to be actively avoiding communication which is shameful.

You should be grateful that your balance payment is only due now, we are on the next cruise starting on 9th October and had to pay our balance in early July and, whilst I would like some clarity, I realise how difficult it must be for P&O to give any definitive information which is not likely to be subject to regular amendments in the current situation.

[L751]

31 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

You should be grateful that your balance payment is only due now, we are on the next cruise starting on 9th October and had to pay our balance in early July and, whilst I would like some clarity, I realise how difficult it must be for P&O to give any definitive information which is not likely to be subject to regular amendments in the current situation.

We are going on the 9th Oct getting worried, p and o are being very quiet 

[tring]

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

Whilst your Aurora cruise might take place, I think the fly cruises could face major disruption if one of the routine stops goes red. It will be far easier to substitute, or cancel, a one off port stop. However the logistics of replacing a routine stop, especially if it is used for any regular supplies, will cause major re-scheduling problems, and arranging flights to and from a different Island would be horrendous.

 

 

Yes I can see problems with Barbados would be a great problem for the season, especially the until Christmas as not much would change that quickly.  When I made the response it was to someone who was getting very concerned of being flown back from a red venue so I was just thinking of the immediate situation.  You are quite right though and I would also think the fly cruise season will just not start in the first case, though what on earth they will do with Britannia, which is already up and running does seem quite a problem?  Perhaps try to base her in The Canaries as the islands seem to have had less problems than mainland Spain, or other Med Countries, though I am not up to date with that currently.  Malta is currently green as well.

 

One thing that does come to mind is that last minute changes of that scale will result in a lot of people cancelling cruises, therefore some good prices on newly scheduled autumn cruises methinks.  Any replacements would not be easy to arrange last minute either, except in practise, P&O will already be well on the way to getting any proposed replacements be in the bag I should think.

 

They may sell some UK cruises, but not something that would appeal to us as the winter progresses.

 

Edited August 25, 2021 by tring

[Megabear2]

2 hours ago, Dermotsgirl said:

From my point of view, no cruise is worth getting stressed about, and I would find it stressful handing over several thousand pounds for an unknown experience.

 

If my payment due date was coming up and there was no information forthcoming, I would move the cruise to a date in the future. That would give me more peace of mind.  From previous experience during the pandemic, it feels much better when the decision is made.

 

in Megabear’s situation, I’m fairly sure that Megabear said that they haven’t yet booked. In that case, if the thought of making a booking was making me nervous, I simply wouldn’t book. Indeed, I’m not booking any cruise which involves paying extra money, for some time to come. I will at least wait and see what happens when international cruising restarts, and will probably wait until I’ve actually sailed on one of my scheduled cruises, to make sure Covid era cruising is right for me.  Therefore I’m not even considering booking a new cruise until next summer 
 

 

You are right re P&O, however I do have a 28 day Cunard cruise still booked. I moved my P&O Caribbean to December 2022 last week. The European cruise I want to travel on with my family is the second Iona cruise.

[Dermotsgirl]

37 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

You are right re P&O, however I do have a 28 day Cunard cruise still booked. I moved my P&O Caribbean to December 2022 last week. The European cruise I want to travel on with my family is the second Iona cruise.

Is the Cunard cruise the Christmas one on QM by any chance? My friends are on that one, and they have to pay sometime in September. I would be very surprised if they pay, as they have been very cautious so far - for example they haven’t been out for a meal so far, just can’t see them doing such a long cruise at this time. 

[wowzz]

3 hours ago, L751 said:

We are going on the 9th Oct getting worried, p and o are being very quiet 

I'm not sure what you expect them to say?

They know no more than you do.  

We have an end of October cruise booked - I don't expect to know anything until the end of September. 

All the cruise lines are walking a tight rope. They could cancel every cruise for the next 6 months, which would be ruinous for them, or wait until the last possible minute, in the hope that they could sail as normal.

Perhaps we, as individuals should make our own decisions. If you are worried, move your cruise to 2023, if you want to see what happens,  sit tight! 

 

[yorkshirephil]

11 hours ago, wowzz said:

I'm not sure what you expect them to say?

They know no more than you do.  

We have an end of October cruise booked - I don't expect to know anything until the end of September. 

All the cruise lines are walking a tight rope. They could cancel every cruise for the next 6 months, which would be ruinous for them, or wait until the last possible minute, in the hope that they could sail as normal.

Perhaps we, as individuals should make our own decisions. If you are worried, move your cruise to 2023, if you want to see what happens,  sit tight! 

 

Ultimately it is our decision, and a lot have made the decision, however there are things that P&O could do to help, extending the 30 day balance facility would  help. I know from our facecloth event that several couples have cancelled/moved the cruise we moved, simply because they were not willing to commit the finance. There was a post yesterday saying that someone had a email from P&O stating that allowing people off the ship without  taking a P&O tour would not happen before 31st Dec. I am a bit dubious about this and would want to see an announcement from P&O. However it has caused uproar with lots of people saying they are not willing to accept those conditions, which I wouldn't if it is true. Then of course they can't get through to P&O on the phone to make alternate arrangements. 

[zap99]

12 hours ago, wowzz said:

I'm not sure what you expect them to say?

They know no more than you do.  

We have an end of October cruise booked - I don't expect to know anything until the end of September. 

All the cruise lines are walking a tight rope. They could cancel every cruise for the next 6 months, which would be ruinous for them, or wait until the last possible minute, in the hope that they could sail as normal.

Perhaps we, as individuals should make our own decisions. If you are worried, move your cruise to 2023, if you want to see what happens,  sit tight! 

 

Your do nothing at the moment seems the best route. We have a Iona Canaries booked for October 2022. We could bring that forward if things free up. We get back from our next Iona staycation just in time for the September Grant Shapps traffic light update. Any snap decision can wait til then. A quick fly cruise/ hotel break may be tempting.

Edited August 26, 2021 by zap99

[Megabear2]

Well the Executive Office have been busy! Following the email I copied here yesterday this second one has arrived very promptly this morning!

 

QUOTE

 

Thank you for your e-mail and for responding to me.

I do appreciate the information regarding your specific queries are currently not shown on the link I have referred to. As mentioned in my previous response, we are currently working with the relevant authorities in respect of the protocols for our international holidays and please be assured once the information is finalised our website will be updated and communications will be sent to our guests.

At this time I am not aware of the PCR requirements during the voyage and whether these costs will be charged to our guests or included as part of the voyage. However, as mentioned above these queries are currently being reviewed.

In respect of the balance due date, this still remains at 90 days prior to the voyage or this may be earlier when booking with a travel agent. I have passed your feedback in this regard to our executive team.

I am sorry again that I do not have the answers to your queries at this time.

 

UNQUOTE

 

This reply is from the same person and refers to both my P&O and Cunard queries and is signed on behalf of both companies. This indicated to me that both my enquiries (sent two weeks apart) have been patiently waiting while they discuss things. Ironically I had already moved my P&O cruise in the interim while waiting for an answer.  The 90 days refers to my Cunard Caribbean cruise.

[rumbalizw]

On 8/23/2021 at 6:07 PM, wowzz said:

You are correct. 

Megabear is scare mongering.

Thousands of people are flying to Spain and the Canaries every week, with no testing required.

That's right. My daughter went to Spain last weekend, no tests to go out if 2 x jabs and their Spanish Health Form, and coming back an Antigen, a day 2 test booked for over here , and our passenger location form. 

[zap99]

23 hours ago, Active8 said:

I agree, I’m also travelling on the same cruise and it is getting a bit stressful with the lack of communication.  I appreciate its a massive challenge with moving goalposts but other lines have managed to put some info out. I’m hoping they will decide to sort out all testing requirements like TUI have. 

Unfortunately we had our TUI holiday cancelled for next month. If things open up, we may book another one at short notice. The was they have taken on the testing requirements at a reduced cost is a credit to them. P&O could copy that.

[tring]

16 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Unfortunately we had our TUI holiday cancelled for next month. 

 

Can I please ask which country you had hoped to visit and has it just been cancelled today?

 

Edited August 26, 2021 by tring

[zap99]

1 hour ago, tring said:

 

Can I please ask which country you had hoped to visit and has it just been cancelled today?

 

It's a little bit involved. We were going to Minorca with TUI which happened to be on a BA flight from Gatwick and we booked in about April. BA cancelled the flight from Gatwick and rescheduled from Heathrow. As BA executive members BA informed us and we were OK with that, still with me ?🤣. We couldn't select seats until TUI released the tickets. As I hadn't heard anything from TUI after a few weeks I contacted them. As their ABTA and ATOL didn't detail BA flights from Heathrow, they told me they could cancel the holiday and refund the money in 10 days. I bit their  hand off and have now had a full refund. The interesting point is that 6 weeks later, TUI have the same holiday on sale using their own planes from Gatwick at about £200 pp cheaper. So the crux is we can still go if we chose, or can book something else. A result as it turns out.

Edited August 26, 2021 by zap99