Covid on Iona

[Megabear2]

3 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

I have read that that on certain occasions it's the port authority that has insisted the pax are disembarked and not the onboard medical officer. Wiould that negate that proviso?

Avril

Avanti and Staysure both said looked at on case by case basis in this scenario, one of the better replies.

 

Also Redsquirrel59 said he was covered because the cruise line (Fred) wrote a letter to support the offloaded passenger. Unless confirmed otherwise I assume it will be case by case.

[Interestedcruisefan]

6 minutes ago, Adawn47 said:

I have read that that on certain occasions it's the port authority that has insisted the pax are disembarked and not the onboard medical officer. Wiould that negate that proviso?

Avril

Yep theres another question

 

Plus wasn't it public health england who insisted the non positive coach passengers at Southampton had to disembark

 

It's not always going to be the medical officer who says you have to get off a cruise ship

 

And you could be anywhere in the world

 

That proviso in that insurance could be very expensive 

 

No way could I leave my wife in quarantine anywhere if she was positive and I was negative

 

Regardless of what a medical officer says 

 

 

 

Edited October 20, 2021 by Interestedcruisefan

[Megabear2]

I've just telephoned Avanti again - they were my husband's insurers until 5 October.  Quarantine with non positive partner /cabin sharing would be covered strictly on a case by case basis, no guarantee but must be medically certified and a medical expert has to remove you not an official or the cruise line.They only pay on a positive PCR test for medical.  They stated if your partner is seriously ill and being hospitalised you would be allowed to accompany them but not into quarantine 

 

Quarantine of any sort resulting from any third party contact such as bubbles on tours, coaches, tables on board etc would not under any circumstances be covered.

 

They were very thorough and called the underwriting team while I listened in. The lady I spoke to said she was not aware of what had been happening with offloading but she now expected an avalanche of calls. She doubted many of her customer service or sales colleagues had heard either and would pass the information from the underwriters through their system. She also mentioned their sister company which is of course Staysure.

 

[Megabear2]

Okay guys, looks like I'm on!  Just received:

 

Quote

 

Dear 
Thank you for your further email and I am sincerely sorry for the delay in response and I am sorry to further add to your worry at this time.

I have had the same response from Holiday Extra's and therefore this is with management now so that I have a comprehensive answer to give you.  I will expedite this now and hopefully we can have a chat tomorrow with my findings?

If this is okay please can I have the best telephone number to contact you on? If still no answer I will update you anyway via email.

Once again I am sincerely sorry for the delay.

Warmest regards

 

Unquote

 

I'm travelling today and have suggested tomorrow afternoon for the call.  Obviously I'm going to discuss fully but does anyone want anything else said about all this ?
 

[watsonbeau]

Quite a few issues to ask, including if it makes any difference who it is that makes you disembark - cruise line, ships medic, port authorities, PHE etc

 

re emailing the carnival exec address - would it be an idea if we all sent the same questions if a list were put on here plus any of our own as well ?

 

 Thank you for your hard work.

[Megabear2]

I think now I've got it passed up the ladder as many as possible should email their concerns. If the Executive Office knows we are all au fait with what's happening and can show we are generally worried and considering our options they may take it more seriously.

 

Now that I have "an audience with the Pope" I dont want it thought I am alone. This is probably the one opportunity to push for proper answers and solutions. I wont give up or surrender but would quite like some troops behind me!

[jeanlyon]

What the email for paul Ludlow?

 

It's OK. found it in my email list.

Edited October 20, 2021 by jeanlyon

[jeanlyon]

I have emailed.

[Megabear2]

Thank you. I'm worried they might just think it's me moaning!

[Swanseasailor]

16 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Thank you. I'm worried they might just think it's me moaning!

I Have also Emailed thank you Megabear2 for your hard work, its frightening to think there are probably thousands of people currently sailing who don't have appropriate cover. I for one certainly don't my cruise is not until February 2022.

[lujaha]

31 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Thank you. I'm worried they might just think it's me moaning!

Can you give me the email address please.  We're going on 31st October!  Thanks for doing all this.

[Megabear2]

Here you go:

 

Executive.Correspondence@carnivalukgroup.com

 

 

[lindyloo22]

I have just emailed. Not very good at writing down what I want to say but I think I got me point across.

[lindyloo22]

Forgot to say thank you Megabear2  for all your hard work I wish I had a way with words like you I’m much better when I can talk to people.

[Megabear2]

Thank you for your kind words! Years of practice working for lawyers and politicians I'm afraid. Never use one word when you can use a hundred!

 

  Putting me on the telephone will be interesting ...

[lujaha]

34 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Here you go:

 

Executive.Correspondence@carnivalukgroup.com

 

 

The deed is done.  I think I babbled on a bit, but hope I got the point across.  Good luck for tomorrow.

[ann141]

Can I add my thanks Megabear

[Interestedcruisefan]

Here's my prediction

 

Megabear gets offered a free round the world cruise (fully insured) all expenses paid every year for the next ten years (no Covid tests required at any stage)

 

Plus fresh towels and a chocolate on her pillow every night included !

 

In return for not asking any more difficult questions!

 

Sadly we might never hear from her again !

 

Lol

[Electra 7]

6 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Okay guys, looks like I'm on!  Just received:

 

Quote

 

Dear 
Thank you for your further email and I am sincerely sorry for the delay in response and I am sorry to further add to your worry at this time.

I have had the same response from Holiday Extra's and therefore this is with management now so that I have a comprehensive answer to give you.  I will expedite this now and hopefully we can have a chat tomorrow with my findings?

If this is okay please can I have the best telephone number to contact you on? If still no answer I will update you anyway via email.

Once again I am sincerely sorry for the delay.

Warmest regards

 

Unquote

 

I'm travelling today and have suggested tomorrow afternoon for the call.  Obviously I'm going to discuss fully but does anyone want anything else said about all this ?
 

thanks for all your hard work you have been amazing I will e-mail now just wondered if you could ask would we defo have to self isolate in separate rooms because that scares me more than the cost

[Golfwidow100]

Thank you Megabear2 for your continued efforts and hard work. I have just emailed stating my concerns as I am booked on Iona in the next few weeks. I used Holiday Extras, despite the high cost of the policy in comparison to my previous policies with their competitors, for what I thought was peace of mind. Sadly I no longer have that. Still we will do all we can prior to boarding and whilst on board to keep ourselves as safe as possible and minimise the risk of being offloaded. 

 

[Rebjon]

15 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

The insurance issue is now coming to light down under:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2808391-travel-insurance-for-covid-when-on-a-cruises/

 

From Seabourn site my question to North America has produced this:

 

"There is at least one travel insurance company that offers an optional feature that provides some reimbursement for quarantining. It also offers CFAR and interruption for any reason components. Not cheap though, and both only at 75%. Depends if one wants maximum risk protection. Time sensitive to 14 days and 21 days after first payment for trip made. I'm not sure I can mention the company ."

 

So it seems a rare commodity in North America as well and not as I thought something readily available.

 

My opinion (for what it's worth!) is that worldwide there is a problem.  In the rush to get passengers back all but a few lines have decided to lull the customers into a false sense of security by pointing to Covid insurance policies which are unfortunately lacking in some respects but sound good until you look deeper and need to use  them.

 

Naively the cruising community has trusted the messages boldly displayed on websites and literature and we all believed our favourite cruise line would not lie to us, or at least not intentionally.  To draw a weird comparison, how many of us thought as we watched on the television news people scrabbling outside Northern Rock to get their money, well thank goodness my bank isn't like that ... Brand loyalty is highly valued by companies for that exact reason. 

 

Flying by the seat of their pants the majority of lines seem to be happy to hope only small numbers will be affected and they can keep a lid on the real situation by suppressing news via social media, the press and forums such as this. 

 

We have heard from Redsquirrel59 that there is a possibility some of those offloaded with him may be having some difficulties, but we probably won't hear the outcome for these people even if it's good. Keeping the lid on a possibly explosive situation at this stage will be relatively cheap to the cruise lines. The real test will come as numbers creep up and distances to home increase. 

 

Until the world starts to hear from someone with the opposite experience to Redsquirrel59 we can't truthfully consider our individual positions and this is good for the cruise lines as a public who aren't aware there may even be a problem will blindly carry on booking happy in their ignorance.

 

For me personally it's fairly easy now to decide, I dont think I'm going to get a straight answer! The next step is most likely to be to press the cancel button on all but one of these cruises, I'll leave you to guess which one ...

 

Whether deliberately or not P&O lulled its customers into a false sense of security by talking about on-board quarantine cabins. There was no mention about the possibility of being off loaded until people on forums like this mentioned that it was happening.

[watsonbeau]

Yes I have emailed Carnival CEO office too.  Let's hope this goes somewhere.

 

I made a point of asking them what their stance would be as regards -

 

• support once both parties have been disembarked ashore 
• the quarantine costs of person B, either by full reimbursement or a reasonable contribution given that it is very likely that no insurer will accept such a claim (Person A +ve so covered by medical)
• any contribution to lost section of the voyage by way of FCC or other voyage credit.

Fingers crossed.

 

[Interestedcruisefan]

1 hour ago, Rebjon said:

Whether deliberately or not P&O lulled its customers into a false sense of security by talking about on-board quarantine cabins. There was no mention about the possibility of being off loaded until people on forums like this mentioned that it was happening.

They may well not have known this would have to happen

 

We are learning about Covid every week

 

Theres new variants to deal with

 

Talk of bringing restrictions back

 

Before long cruising may have new restrictions still

 

I don't think the cruise lines have lured anyone tbh

 

Think they are having to make things up as they go along 

[Megabear2]

Thank you all for your kind comments. I'm very grateful for your faith in me and hope I can do you all justice! 

 

I am preparing a document with as many questions and comments as possible.  I am currently away from home but have a 2 hour train journey back tomorrow so will work on it whilst travelling.  Let's hope all these emails bring some joy for everyone.

 

[Megabear2]

2 hours ago, Interestedcruisefan said:

Here's my prediction

 

Megabear gets offered a free round the world cruise (fully insured) all expenses paid every year for the next ten years (no Covid tests required at any stage)

 

Plus fresh towels and a chocolate on her pillow every night included !

 

In return for not asking any more difficult questions!

 

Sadly we might never hear from her again !

 

Lol

Fat chance - I will probably end up barred from all Carnival ships forever ...