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

[Billish]

1 hour ago, jeanlyon said:

My goodness, the last quote I got from Staysure was £567 for an annual multi trip..  Husband is 82 with 2 conditions including BP and I broke my hip this year.  I'm 74.  I suppose it depends on the conditions.

 

Jean, was that worldwide or just Europe ? Once you leave Europe the insurance premiums go up like a rocket.

[jeanlyon]

yes, I just realized mine was for Europe.  apologies.

[Megabear2]

Funnily enough just today bought a policy for my 82 year old aunt to join me on Aurora 1st April Canaries cruise. She has a few conditions, nothing untoward for her age. Staysure wanted £233 for the 12 nights and then directed us to Good to Go who have covered her for £188.  She was shocked as Staysure covered her 4 night August staycation for £46.

[zap99]

10 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Funnily enough just today bought a policy for my 82 year old aunt to join me on Aurora 1st April Canaries cruise. She has a few conditions, nothing untoward for her age. Staysure wanted £233 for the 12 nights and then directed us to Good to Go who have covered her for £188.  She was shocked as Staysure covered her 4 night August staycation for £46.

We have been using good to go for staycation cruises and now a med holiday. DW is on a waiting list for a fairly minor procedure. Most won't give cover at all. Big No. Gtg , no problem except would not cover cancellation costs if a procedure date , when given clashes with your holiday dates.

[Megabear2]

The whole thing is a minefield! GTG quoted £1,200 for my husband's worldwide policy without his winter sports cover while Staysure was under £600 with. For my aunt it was the other way round yet apart from age my OH has far worse conditions and more of them.

[Mrk2868]

On 10/2/2021 at 9:33 PM, Mrk2868 said:

Thank you for the link

 

On 10/2/2021 at 7:21 PM, mondas42 said:

https://www.covid19-testing.org/travel-testing?gclid=CjwKCAjwhuCKBhADEiwA1HegOTS0WIE9rfzm-xfTb0oG-TFv8V1VgKLscNMdlz_e7cIoQhpc3f4Z7BoCpmoQAvD_BwE
 

 

Just tried looking at the testing organizations on there.  For the where I live (East of England), there were only 5 options and the cost was £79 to £120+.  Hence a very expensive business 

[Mrk2868]

4 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

The whole thing is a minefield! GTG quoted £1,200 for my husband's worldwide policy without his winter sports cover while Staysure was under £600 with. For my aunt it was the other way round yet apart from age my OH has far worse conditions and more of them.

No Offense but please can you start a new topic for cruise insurance.  This topic is meant to be about COVID testing for Caribbean Cruises.

[Megabear2]

None taken! The link appears to have wandered since Interestedcruisefan asked several questions on both testing and insurance, perhaps the host could cleverly split the two as I am not the only poster here on insurance replies?

 

Regarding test centres I think most people are going to have to travel for these unfortunately. My nearest ones are 30 miles away and also cost around £100.

 

I always was afraid these costs would occur and have been banging on P&O's door about being honest with customers before expecting them to part with their full balances. They chose not to do so unfortunately.  No consolation but it could have been far worse with PCR tests being required for a whole series of ports.  What I dont understand is the onboard PCR test is clearly subsidised and I cannot understand why P&O didn't make an arrangement with a company for a reduced cost pre-departure test. It's now a bit like having been thrown to the wolves!

[Mrk2868]

19 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

None taken! The link appears to have wandered since Interestedcruisefan asked several questions on both testing and insurance, perhaps the host could cleverly split the two as I am not the only poster here on insurance replies?

 

Regarding test centres I think most people are going to have to travel for these unfortunately. My nearest ones are 30 miles away and also cost around £100.

 

I always was afraid these costs would occur and have been banging on P&O's door about being honest with customers before expecting them to part with their full balances. They chose not to do so unfortunately.  No consolation but it could have been far worse with PCR tests being required for a whole series of ports.  What I dont understand is the onboard PCR test is clearly subsidised and I cannot understand why P&O didn't make an arrangement with a company for a reduced cost pre-departure test. It's now a bit like having been thrown to the wolves!

Totally Agree that P&O should make an arrangement for pre-departure tests.  

 

Just been looking at visit Barbados (https://www.visitbarbados.org/covid-19-travel-guidelines-2021).  Look like we are getting away lightly in that they normally require an additional PCR test when you land, in addition to the pre-departure PCR Test.  Both have to be PCR tests, and cannot be self-administered.  They are very adamant about the latter point.  So I suspect won't be leaving the ship in Barbados except to travel to/from the airport!

[Megabear2]

The P&O destination guide currently states no test required on board but you can only take a ship organised excursion. Quite a few of the ports state this.

[Castle25]

It will be interesting to see how well organized the airport is in the uk before leaving as you will have a plane load of people waiting around to get the LF tests results before they will be allowed thru security - i hope, in my case, LGW, allocate enough space for people to hang around with plenty of distancing,  as someone will test positive at some stage and that will need to be delicately managed.

I dont recall reading - but am happy to be contradicted -  that you have to arrive at the airport any earlier than usual, which is always 3 hours for me, but P&O need to tell customers to arrive in plenty of time to get the LF test done and get thru security.  Maybe emails will go out near the flight date but by then some people could have already booked non refundable transport

[Mrk2868]

47 minutes ago, Castle25 said:

It will be interesting to see how well organized the airport is in the uk before leaving as you will have a plane load of people waiting around to get the LF tests results before they will be allowed thru security - i hope, in my case, LGW, allocate enough space for people to hang around with plenty of distancing,  as someone will test positive at some stage and that will need to be delicately managed.

I dont recall reading - but am happy to be contradicted -  that you have to arrive at the airport any earlier than usual, which is always 3 hours for me, but P&O need to tell customers to arrive in plenty of time to get the LF test done and get thru security.  Maybe emails will go out near the flight date but by then some people could have already booked non refundable transport

Very good points.
 

Today is exactly a month till i travel and still no email from P&O.  

[Castle25]

found this buried away

At the airport

Please arrive at the airport in plenty of time as you’ll need to take a complimentary COVID-19 antigen test (organised by P&O Cruises) which can take up to an hour. Your negative result will be checked alongside boarding passes, Health Declaration confirmation emails, vaccination statuses, evidence of Barbados Immigration and Customs form and PCR results for all guests so please have your paperwork ready! Once these checks have been satisfied, you’ll complete another Health Declaration. Don’t worry, we’ll have P&O Cruises representatives on hand to guide you through.

[wowzz]

4 minutes ago, Castle25 said:

found this buried away

At the airport

Please arrive at the airport in plenty of time as you’ll need to take a complimentary COVID-19 antigen test (organised by P&O Cruises) which can take up to an hour. Your negative result will be checked alongside boarding passes, Health Declaration confirmation emails, vaccination statuses, evidence of Barbados Immigration and Customs form and PCR results for all guests so please have your paperwork ready! Once these checks have been satisfied, you’ll complete another Health Declaration. Don’t worry, we’ll have P&O Cruises representatives on hand to guide you through.

Blimey ! Is it really worth the hassle ?

[Mrk2868]

40 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Blimey ! Is it really worth the hassle ?

Not sure it is, but P&O won’t let us defer the cruise without loosing a lot of money!   I wish we could defer it. 

[downsmead]

On 10/4/2021 at 4:20 AM, Megabear2 said:

I believe Celebrity and RCI also required in person PCR tests for their staycation cruises. There was very many posts on the respective boards regarding logistics for these.  Might be worth a read for help in locating venues to use?

Celebrity pay for the pre cruise PCR and give you a code to book with their supplier. Their supplier is Eurofin. Alternatively you can arrange your own and claim up to £100 back per person (eg. Boots the chemist).

We cancelled our November P&O Caribbean sailing before final payment.

Edited October 5, 2021 by downsmead

[Mrk2868]

16 hours ago, downsmead said:

Celebrity pay for the pre cruise PCR and give you a code to book with their supplier. Their supplier is Eurofin. Alternatively you can arrange your own and claim up to £100 back per person (eg. Boots the chemist).

We cancelled our November P&O Caribbean sailing before final payment.

So does beg the question why can’t P&O do something similar?  

Still no email received from P&O confirming the PCR requirements. When I get a chance I will attempt to ring them!

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, Mrk2868 said:

So does beg the question why can’t P&O do something similar?  

Still no email received from P&O confirming the PCR requirements. When I get a chance I will attempt to ring them!

I thought that P&O had already confirmed the PCR requirements ? Each passenger is responsible for arranging their own Day 2 test. Seems pretty straightforward.

[Guest]

49 minutes ago, wowzz said:

I thought that P&O had already confirmed the PCR requirements ? Each passenger is responsible for arranging their own Day 2 test. Seems pretty straightforward.

It would be helpful if they provided a list of preferred test centres. There are so many fake ones out there! 

[terrierjohn]

1 minute ago, Glitterati said:

It would be helpful if they provided a list of preferred test centres. There are so many fake ones out there! 

That's probably why they don't make recommendations, since they would be just as fallible as joe public in knowing the reputable ones.

[yorkshirephil]

23 hours ago, wowzz said:

Blimey ! Is it really worth the hassle ?

No. 

[wowzz]

13 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

It would be helpful if they provided a list of preferred test centres. There are so many fake ones out there! 

If you are talking about the Day 2 tests, you can do them at home.

 

[Mrk2868]

8 hours ago, wowzz said:

I thought that P&O had already confirmed the PCR requirements ? Each passenger is responsible for arranging their own Day 2 test. Seems pretty straightforward.

I’m not talking about post cruise day two PCR tests but rather the one that has to be done before catching the flight to Caribbean. It’s Barbados/P&O that set the criteria not UK government.  

 

NB I believe from November the Day 2 post cruise day 2 test can be a cheaper lateral flow test. Might save a few pennies. 

[wowzz]

13 hours ago, Mrk2868 said:

NB I believe from November the Day 2 post cruise day 2 test can be a cheaper lateral flow test. Might save a few pennies. 

The government are talking about you having to video yourself taking a LFT and streaming it to a medical professional.  It could end up costing more !

[Mrk2868]

I finally got through to P&O, and asked why P&O had not formally told myself and many other fly/cruisers that they will an healthcare administered PCR test.  They claimed that an email was sent on 11th September but I can find no such email anywhere on my email system.  I pointed that other cruise companies were providing such tests free of charge or at least on a subsidized basis.  And I asked what will happens at the airport if customers have had the wrong type of test.  Will they be refused boarding?  As far as I know the 5th November departures are the first flights of the winter fly cruise season.

 

TBH they did not seem that bothered.  I guess the call centre staff are very overloaded. 

 

My booking is direct with P&O.  Have others received an email from them?  All other emails from P&O are getting through without a problem.