cruisenewbie1976

21 hours ago, davecttr said:

So do P&O add duty and VAT to drink prices whilst alongside on embarkation day?

No duty is payable by P&O for bar sales whilst alongside on embarkation day - 

Once passengers start boarding for an entitled journey on board a ferry or cruise ship

Where a cruise ship or ferry is departing on an entitled journey, the ship operator may start to sell stores for consumption on board once the passengers start to board. However, they must not sell stores for retail take away until the ship has left the port.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/excise-notice-69a-duty-free-ships-stores/excise-notice-69a-duty-free-ships-stores#ships---loading-excise-good-as-stores-in-the-uk

3 minutes ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

If Companies like P&O can do PCR tests onboard three days before arrival in Barbados why can't they do the tests onboard a couple of days before arrival in the UK ? These tests from what I can make out cost £43 per person with Randox  whereas P&O are charging £25 per person onboard. Whether this is to do with certification I don't know. But surely Barbados needs some sort of recognition that a passenger has had the test. All seems to me a bit of "Jobs for the boys" situation in the UK.

They probably could but that wouldn't meet the government criteria for the day 2 test. Has to be done between arriving back in the UK and the second day after arriving. I suppose they could do it once berthed in Southampton but can't imagine they'd want that sort of hassle on turnaround day. 

Just now, Interestedcruisefan said:

No I'm not saying we are at square one at all

 

So please don't misquote me

 

Square one is full lockdown in our homes, schools closed, all but essential shops closed, workplaces closed etc

 

We are a long way from that in the UK thankfully 

 

Other countries around the world were actually heading into those types of lockdowns again WITHOUT the new variant

 

The problem with overseas cruise holidays is that how we the UK and other countries actually avoid going back to square one is to restrict overseas travel in and out and before restricting it insisting on quarantine for arrivals in

 

Effectively ending tourism whilst they try and avoid bigger lockdowns

 

The fact is we don't have to be anywhere near square one for overseas cruises to be stopped 

 

Nor does the Caribbean or the rest of europe

 

Travel restrictions come in way before square one and are already happening

 

 

 

 

Its already in Australia! A country that is still refusing entry to pretty much everyone. The one thing we should really have learnt since delta came on the scene is that you can't stop this thing spreading by closing a few borders. 

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

Having just got off Sky Princess, I would say that currently P&O entertainment is far superior to Princess,  food is roughly the same,  with P&O having the edge, whilst service is definitely better on Princess. I know that Princess in the UK has been having supply issues,  but the food on our recent cruise was at times underwhelming. Previously I would gave agreed that Princess food was superior.

To the OP,  I would say that as long as you are happy to experience a totally British experience, with little in the way of recognition of any specific US requirements,  you will enjoy the experience. 

Your will also be confused as to why your fellow Brits convulse with laughter when the phrase          " Don't answer that Pike!"  is used, and also realise that when meeting anyone for the first  time time,  it is obligatory to mention the weather within the first minute of meeting. 

 

 

 

This was our experience too. Despite lots of people telling us that Princess was far superior to P&O, we noticed very little difference between the two lines. The buffet on Princess was particularly poor when compared to P&O. Having said that, it was a covid era cruise, so I'm willing to make allowances. Good points for Princess were the Princess plus package, which is a bargain, we loved the medallion app (when it worked) and the staff were exceptional. 

1 minute ago, Kizzysmom said:

Apologies if this has been asked already, but do we have  to book direct with P&O to use our FCC or can we call into a travel agent to book a cruise and use it that way....TIA

You can do either 🙂

16 minutes ago, phoenix1975 said:

Hi. I was just about to book a cruise on Ventura (N207) for next April and thought I'd check to see which cabins are available before phoning a TA. But the cruise has disappeared off the website. The cruises either side of this particular cruise are still showing but not this one. Any idea why it would have disappeared?

Sold out?

9 minutes ago, Bgees said:

Can I ask, if the tests are available to order from the 22nd, does that mean we can't do the PLF until the 22nd? It seems not much time when our cruise leaves the 23rd.

 

I am concerned that the IT might not hold out if there are hundreds of thousands of test being ordered and PLFs being entered on the same day.

 

Travellers will be able to order their lateral flow tests from 22 October, when a list of approved providers will be published on the gov.uk website.

You can do the PLF right up until the day you arrive back, so you'll have plenty of time. You'll need the covid test order number to complete the PLF, so you won't be able to do it until they're available. 

9 hours ago, neilbrunton said:

Can you drink it in you cabin onboard or do they keep it safe until disembarkation.

You can drink it in your cabin (and I think it's £35, rather than £30). They only keep your drink purchases back until the end of the cruise if they're duty free. And that's only so they don't lose out on bar sales! 

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

If you mean the pre-arrival test, yes the test will have to be provided by P&O - no other option really, given that they have to be supervised. I wonder how much P&O will  charge!   But the Day 2 test has to be booked independently. 

Pre arrival test doesn't need to be supervised. It can be a lateral flow test but you need to get the result certified and a certificate issued. 

2 hours ago, majortom10 said:

The prices of bottle of spirits on the room service menu for cabin consumption are not actually duty free just that they are eagerly priced and a good thing done by P&O. Duty free is purchased and not actually picked up on the last day of the cruise and are generally cheaper.

On an international cruise, P&O won't pay any duty on drinks sold for consumption on board. So they'll be making a huge profit on the bottles sold for people to drink in their cabin. Not so much profit at the mo though on UK cruises with having to pay the duty. 

51 minutes ago, sidekick180 said:

Hi everyone,

On Friday I completed the boarding passes for myself and the other half, but whilst completing the required information and adding photos etc. I noticed that neither of our middle names were showing where it states 'all given names' in the passport section. I tried to click on the box to edit and add our middle names, but it then pops up with a notification saying 'to edit, contact customer services'. I did try several times to get through, but absolutely no chance of getting through (I kinda knew this would be the case, based on other peoples posts about not being able to get through to P&O on the phones for hours).

I just wanted to ask if anyone that has already sailed, had the same problem, and if so, did it cause any problems when checking in at the terminal? Thank you in advance.

You don't need middle names on the booking so won't cause an issue at the terminal. 

3 hours ago, Bin man said:

Have looked at this before .Has anybody had any problems when travelling.? Supposed to match passport .Asked doctors to update record although middle name is on my nhs records .Doctors admin don't seem to want to play ball . If we sail in October on Iona International sailing will there be any problems boarding ship ? 

Middle name isn't needed - as long as first name and surname match, you're good to go. 

55 minutes ago, Les_ldh said:

How do you get home if you’ve travelled down (a considerable distance) by coach? I can’t find anything about those circumstances.

Most cruise lines seem to be arranging private transport back home for anyone who tests positive whilst on board, or at the terminal before boarding. I don't know if this is definitely the case for P&O. I saw that one of the cruise lines in America had used a private jet to transport someone home over there. 

5 minutes ago, Rebjon said:

Well what is the position if you arrive back in the UK and are positive? That's what I have been trying to find out.

You go home! You only have to go to a quarantine hotel on return from a red list country. 

29 minutes ago, Rebjon said:

I've asked P&O about testing 3 days before returning to the UK on their Autumn cruises and  after having to chase them a number of times having got replies like 'we will take all precautions on board'  they finally admitted that they don't know as 'the situation is fluid and its too early to say'. Why are they selling these cruises if they don't know? I wanted to know what would happen at Southampton if you tested positive 3 days before returning home. I don't much fancy a quarantine hotel at £4000 a go.

Why would you be in a quarantine hotel? 

3 hours ago, majortom10 said:

Anyone have any idea what time the evening shows in the theatre are on Regal's UK Seacation cruises.

We only had comedy shows in the theatre in the evenings on Regal (it was the "comedy" cruise though). Think they were at 8ish and 10. There was only one Princess  show - a Motown show - it was on twice on one of the afternoons..

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. 

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!

4 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

 

 

The Covid tests required for entry in and out of the UK. Marella are using the same company as their Tui package holidays arm which are quite heavily discounted.  Their website 

 

https://www.tui.co.uk/destinations/info/cruise-entry-requirements

 

lists each cruise and indicates what "test package" the individual needs.  Looking at each cruises listed (not the Caribbean itineraries which are not on there for some reason) the most expensive package is currently £90.00.

 

These are quite heavily discounted - a Boots day 2 test alone, for instance, is £78.00.  There are lists available from MSE website which are helpful in showing "cheap" tests for other providers.

 

My concern with P&O and Cunard has been (and remains) their failure to date to advise how any required tests will be handled by them.  For instance return to the UK requires the locator form with Covid test bookings and results but it has to be uploaded.  From my previous experience on Britannia the wifi will be insufficient for guests to do this themselves.  I have also repeatedly asked if they are making arrangements with specific companies in the way Marella, Celebrity and RCL have done but to date no reply.

 

My worry is we are all locked into these cruises, particularly the Caribbean itineraries, with no idea how how P&O are going to help us through the minefield.

 

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. 

I'm due to go to Spain in October (not on a cruise) and I won't be making any arrangements for testing more than 2 weeks in advance as the rules could be totally different by then. I think that's the difficulty of with current situation. Everyone wants to know exactly how things will be on X date but no one knows. 

41 minutes ago, BouncingWheel said:

We were also on Regal a few weeks back and although there were many British crew it still felt very American to us - different people will always have different opinions. I would go on Princess again but prefer the P&O style (which some Princess passengers people feel is rude/unhappy/miserable crew but I think is more reserved politeness).

 

I would say if you see a bargain and willing to try then go for it Selbourne.

Yeah, now you mention it, I was sick of saying hello to every single crew member that we walked past, by the end of the third day 🤣

4 minutes ago, bobstheboy said:

No duty free but VAT free. Reliable source, which I'll be able to see for myself when I board on

Saturday !

 

Ah OK, thought you were on now. Almost time!

Hmmmm interesting. Must have something to do with the waters you're in then, rather than the duty free rules, that require a call at a port. The guidance is all over the place, what with the changes since Brexit, so it's difficult to make head nor tail of it. 

1 hour ago, bobstheboy said:

Me  again ! Just speaking to someone who was on last week and the shops were VAT free.

Hi, hope you're enjoying! Was it just a 20% off in the shops offer though (and advertised as a no VAT gimmick) or actually VAT free? 

Duty free spirits and cigarettes? Because that was said to be open too. 

Like I said, I'm no VAT expert so not certain of that aspect. But I am certain on the duty free 🤣

31 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

We haven’t considered them Wowzz TBH. We have to have a fully accessible balcony cabin or suite now, which does reduce choice considerably. We have stuck with P&O as, unlike some people, we actually like the ‘Britishness’! An Americanised experience wouldn’t be for us. 
 

As we still have reservations about the ‘post Covid’ cruise experience (with all cruise lines, not just P&O), our next cruise will probably be a 7 day Fjords cruise, which restricts our choice even further!

We were recently on Regal and it's pretty British at the moment.  Probably a more diverse mix of cabin stewards, waiters etc than P&O; our cabin lady was from Mexico. But all the entertainment staff that we came across were British. It seems as though Carnival UK is running the show whilst they're operating from Southampton. Even the menus have more British style options. The only American aspect we noticed was that everything was in dollars. Other than that, it could easily have been a P&O ship (I have already come under fire for suggesting such a thing on a Princess forum 🤣).

4 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Thank you for that. I know that the majority of UK tourists in places like Spain are having tests done locally,  probably because the system is simpler and cheaper than the one you describe.

Without being judgemental,  I do wonder if everyone on a cruise would be capable of going through the protocol you describe - and would the ship wifi system cope?

They're £29, so not too bad. You just have to remember to order them in time so that you can take them with you. It's the day 2 tests that are a killer, price wise.

Yeah, I imagine most on a cruise would probably want someone to do the test for them. 

Wasn't there something in the guidance that suggested those returning from an international cruise wouldn't need a test to enter the UK, providing the cruise had started in the UK? Logically I'm not sure why that would be the case, but I'm sure I heard about it. Could be totally wrong though! 

5 minutes ago, wowzz said:

My understanding is that you cannot use self administered tests for the purposes of entry to the UK.  Princess have alreasy stated that they will be administering the appropriate test on board. P&O will have to do the same.   

I would be more concerned about thousands of passengers trying to log on and complete the Passenger Location forms! 

You can use self administered tests for entry into the UK. You just need to have the test result certified. You can buy a lateral flow test from various government approved companies, take a photo of the result alongside your passport, upload it to their system, and they send you the necessary certificate to get back into the UK.