Caribbean Cruises will need both negative PCR Test & to be fully vaccinated

[Megabear2]

Short answer, No!

[Shipsareus]

Neither did we. Had plenty of other emails saying you can book your seats - that wasn’t possible, or check in is open - that wasn’t possible either.

Nothing about the PCR test requirement and nothing in the junk mail.

[Bazrat]

We received an email explaining what was required, we booked our pcr tests received the confirmation code and completed our plf and even booked our seats, we are not alone in completing all the stages on another site dedicated to the TA the bulk of them have completed the above steps, it as been a long drawn out procedure but we are living in difficult times.

[Mrk2868]

9 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

We received an email explaining what was required, we booked our pcr tests received the confirmation code and completed our plf and even booked our seats, we are not alone in completing all the stages on another site dedicated to the TA the bulk of them have completed the above steps, it as been a long drawn out procedure but we are living in difficult times.

Re PCR test was this for the flight out to Barbados or the return to the UK?  My understanding is that the PLF is associated with the return to UK. 

 

Do you mind me asking who you used for the PCR test?  A lot of the ones I have come across assume you self administer the test - this neither acceptable to P&O or the Barbados authorities.  

 

Unfortunately I have booked directly with P&O which means I haven't got a friendly TA to talk to, or a TA web site to use

[bee-ess]

Sadly we have decided that we are not going to the Caribbean this season, we were due to go on Jan 1st but have decided to switch to a Caribbean cruise in Jan 2023. Just too much that can go wrong at the moment and don't feel 100% safe so far from home at this time. Also we don't feel that with all the testing and not being able to go ashore independently at all the ports it will just not be as enjoyable as normal.

Edited October 27, 2021 by bee-ess

[Shipsareus]

On 10/11/2021 at 10:35 PM, Mrk2868 said:

Re PCR test was this for the flight out to Barbados or the return to the UK?  My understanding is that the PLF is associated with the return to UK. 

 

Do you mind me asking who you used for the PCR test?  A lot of the ones I have come across assume you self administer the test - this neither acceptable to P&O or the Barbados authorities.  

 

Unfortunately I have booked directly with P&O which means I haven't got a friendly TA to talk to, or a TA web site to use

We have booked our PCR.  for travel to Barbados with Boots. Not all branches administer it - our closest is at Preston.  The cost is £79

We have booked our 2 day return LFT. with project screen at a cost of £22.

Both companies are on the government website.

 

 

[d7wa9]

Be careful because the first email P&O sent out said it must be done within 72 hours prior to travel.. they sent another one out yesterday saying it must be done within 72 hours of landing in Barbados, which is confirmed via the government website. We had to change our test time.

[Castle25]

18 hours ago, Shipsareus said:

We have booked our PCR.  for travel to Barbados with Boots. Not all branches administer it - our closest is at Preston.  The cost is £79

We have booked our 2 day return LFT. with project screen at a cost of £22.

Both companies are on the government website.

 

 

we have booked PCR with Express test at LGW for £59 and Dante Lab for LFT at £18 - needless to say the LGW test will be 3 days before the flight - not same day....

Edited October 28, 2021 by Castle25

[Shipsareus]

39 minutes ago, Castle25 said:

we have booked PCR with Express test at LGW for £59 and Dante Lab for LFT at £18 - needless to say the LGW test will be 3 days before the flight - not same day....

 

39 minutes ago, Castle25 said:

we have booked PCR with Express test at LGW for £59 and Dante Lab for LFT at £18 - needless to say the LGW test will be 3 days before the flight - not same day....

 

39 minutes ago, Castle25 said:

we have booked PCR with Express test at LGW for £59 and Dante Lab for LFT at £18 - needless to say the LGW test will be 3 days before the flight - not same day....

This is a blooming nightmare. We fly on the Saturday and Boots say 48 hours for the test results and so we have booked Wednesday  afternoon which is less than 72 hours before we fly, but more than 72 hours of us landing. We booked it on the basis of the information by P &O at the time of booking.
so stressful - hope it’s worth all the hassle ! 

[Shipsareus]

5 hours ago, d7wa9 said:

Be careful because the first email P&O sent out said it must be done within 72 hours prior to travel.. they sent another one out yesterday saying it must be done within 72 hours of landing in Barbados, which is confirmed via the government website. We had to change our test time.

We’ve just seen this on the government website. Coincidentally our test is on the Wednesday as we fly on the Saturday. 
 

[Mrk2868]

Just discovered that when you get to the airport the P&O free lateral flow test takes places away from the airport.  With Gatwick it's miles from the North Terminal!  What are P&O playing at.  I just assumed the testing would be done in the terminal building.  As there is not a lot of time at the airport to get everything done even arriving 3 hours beforehand.  

[Megabear2]

How do they get you there, surely not another communal bus?

[Mrk2868]

21 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

How do they get you there, surely not another communal bus?

I believe so!

[Castle25]

12 hours ago, Mrk2868 said:

Just discovered that when you get to the airport the P&O free lateral flow test takes places away from the airport.  With Gatwick it's miles from the North Terminal!  What are P&O playing at.  I just assumed the testing would be done in the terminal building.  As there is not a lot of time at the airport to get everything done even arriving 3 hours beforehand.  

will have to wait and see what happens to the first lot of people flying out next weekend.  So what happens to people turning up close to the airport check in time?

Edited October 29, 2021 by Castle25

[Interestedcruisefan]

We love Caribbean cruises

 

Part of the charm is the laid back vibe if these holidays etc

 

It's become very clear to me there's way too much stress, hassle and uncertainty involved with trying to cruise the Caribbean currently

 

Hopefully by 2023 it will have settled down

[Marmaduke]

If you have passed the P & O Lateral Flow test and been allowed to check in for the flight to Barbados, are you going to be kept in some sort of a bubble at the airport before boarding?  No sneaking off for a coffee or visiting the duty free shop ?

[Castle25]

Any update from any cruisers who went out from gatwick at the weekend?  where is the ltf test taken?

 

[Cruisemeister2002]

After giving my bank account a heart attack this morning having paid my balance for a future cruise I posed the question of the Lateral Flow Test required when returning from the US and Caribbean. I was under the impression that I had to do a test two days before returning. But according to the lady from P&O that I spoke to she said that the Lateral Flow Test has to be done no later than two days after disembarkation. Perhaps I should consult Confused. Com ?

[wowzz]

43 minutes ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

After giving my bank account a heart attack this morning having paid my balance for a future cruise I posed the question of the Lateral Flow Test required when returning from the US and Caribbean. I was under the impression that I had to do a test two days before returning. But according to the lady from P&O that I spoke to she said that the Lateral Flow Test has to be done no later than two days after disembarkation. Perhaps I should consult Confused. Com ?

The rukes are quite clear- you need to do a Day 2 test within two days of returning to the UK. You will need to submit a Passenger Location Form,  which requires you to enter the reference number of your Day 2 test. 

[Bartswife]

7 hours ago, Castle25 said:

Any update from any cruisers who went out from gatwick at the weekend?  where is the ltf test taken?

 

I have read on other forums that you have to take a bus from the terminal to a testing centre quite a distance away. We are flying from a different airport whose details haven’t been given out anywhere I can find and when I contacted P&O I was told I would be notified with detailed instructions in due course.

 

[Marmaduke]

 

14 hours ago, Bartswife said:

I have read on other forums that you have to take a bus from the terminal to a testing centre quite a distance away. We are flying from a different airport whose details haven’t been given out anywhere I can find and when I contacted P&O I was told I would be notified with detailed instructions in due course.

 

If you are not allowed to check in until you get a negative result from this airport test do you have to take all your luggage with you on the bus to the testing centre ?

[Guest]

I’m in a few social media groups for P&O and have read first hand accounts. Very mixed dependent on the airport.

 

Both Gatwick flights took off within 30 mins of scheduled departure time, with people saying the drive thru testing was quick and took 30 mins max. 
 

Both Manchester flights took off over an hour late (one was 1h40 late). People were saying the testing took over an hour, and check in was a nightmare. Some lady said by the time she had checked in it was time to go to the gate. 
 

A lot of people were saying that check in took so long as some people had not printed/filled out all the relevant documentation. The flights took off so late as it took so long to check everyone in. 

No mention of the bus situation at Gatwick, but I had read that some people were dropped off at the testing centre in a taxi and got the shuttle back.

 

We fly Christmas Day and are staying overnight before hand. We had booked parking for 15 nights, but the car park won’t let you exit and re-enter. So we have had to move hotels, use their parking for the 1 night and then drive to our parking next to the terminal. We tried to amend the parking into two bookings, but it was going to cost and extra £150. Absolute nightmare. 

 

Edited November 9, 2021 by Guest

[firsttimer086]

2 hours ago, Glitterati said:

Both Manchester flights took off over an hour late (one was 1h40 late). People were saying the testing took over an hour, and check in was a nightmare. Some lady said by the time she had checked in it was time to go to the gate. 

 

Well that's spoiled my day 🙂

Do you know where the LFT is done for Manchester airport? I'm already fuming over having my flight moved from Birmingham to Manchester anyway, how much worse can it get.

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, firsttimer086 said:

 

Well that's spoiled my day 🙂

Do you know where the LFT is done for Manchester airport? I'm already fuming over having my flight moved from Birmingham to Manchester anyway, how much worse can it get.

Let’s hope they get their act together by the time you go! 
It is done at the Train station- it’s connected to T2 by a walkway- no bus needed. 

[Mrk2868]

On 11/8/2021 at 7:19 AM, Castle25 said:

Any update from any cruisers who went out from gatwick at the weekend?  where is the ltf test taken?

 

At Gatwick The LFT test was taken at an offsite parking location at the next motorway junction further south than the Gatwick Airport one.  APH Parking from memory.  To get there you have to walk to Bus Stop 6 which is a good 5 minutes walk from the Premier Inn North Terminal.  Luckily P&O had laid on lots of buses to take you to the test site.  So no waiting in the cold at the windswept bus stop!  Each Bus can take about 16-18 people plus lots of luggage space if needed.  Personally we left our luggage in the hotel room.  The whole process took just over an hour.  The journey each way is about 15 minutes plus 15 minutes wait test result.  
 

As for check in and security delays I did not see any evidence of them but we had paid premium economy.  Got impression this was a big issue at Manchester Even if you had paid extra for premium. 

 

Something I should add is that there is drive thru option at Gatwick for people in cars.  That looked very quick with no queues. But no good if came on public transport.  Then it’s Bus Stop 6. 
 

Sent from Britannia currently in Bonaire.  

Edited November 9, 2021 by Mrk2868