Aulanis

Currently Test requirement is that of the Cruise line. If you look at your cruise on Celebrity site you should find what They need. It can also vary depending on whether You are Fully jabbed & boosted according to what you are entitled to AT THE TIME you Cruise. We have been twice with Princess 2 jabs & a booster so Princess say for that to cruise from Southampton you need a LFT test within 3 days of boarding. We live in Preston so we travel down the day prior to sailing. We get our tests at Lloyds in Preston on the Thursday afternoon for a Saturday Cruise. We like that as if we test positive its seems better to find out at home 🙂 Having said all that the hope is that tests might be abandoned for most people by September. see here https://www.thestreet.com/investing/cdc-decision-means-for-royal-caribbean-carnival-cruisers-covid-testing-vaccines

Last twice we have been this year Southampton was pretty much gridlocked. I have heard other say that also some sat in a bar or stayed a bit lateri in their hotel until some of it had cleared. Some walked it - quicker than the taxi but you have to be fit enough to do that. Another consideration is that you dont say which cruise terminal - there are 4. https://www.cruisehive.com/the-essential-guide-to-all-southampton-cruise-terminals/41251 My guess is that rank taxis will be metered so if you get in a jam it can clock up. Maybe better to get a fixed price. If you are on the eastern dock terminals you can get service bus from the airport U1C https://www.southamptonairport.com/to-from/by-bus/ However the stop we have used is about 1 mile to the furthest berth. There maybe a stop that is nearer but we just use the one we know.

I certainly will, though it could take them some time, I will chase them up at some point. I didnt book direct and the TA is as bad as Princess in responding to even simple questions let alone problems. We have another cruise already booked in August so as it was ONLY! £60 for the taxi and no hotel I said I would accept OBC on that cruise. If I dont get a reasonable reply I will try an claim from the TA under abta ( Chocolate fireguard) Then threaten them with a Small claims court claim. Whilst they have enough small print to sink a ship ( Pun Intended) I think there should be something in this ( Maybe the service to answer Chat calls for help or the service to get us back to port on time. Failure to give adequate notice of Covid outbreak so perhaps many more cases than there should have been) We were on Sky 6 weeks before and the same thing happened - they didnt tell at all that there were cases and despite wearing a mask almost all the time caught covid as the other 3000 pax were not. Theatre was the worst. Doubt if anyone in Princess UK will have the say on refunds when we ( All Passengers)) were dumped off a ship in OZ at the beginning of the Covid outbreak all negotiations seemed to go via the US HQ Princess Promise – We Make It Right The promise of great service on your cruise vacation We’re so confident about our service, if you’re not satisfied, we’ll make it right, or we’ll refund the value of that service. That’s the Princess Promise.

Hi Maybe you should post your query in this thread https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/317-east-coast-departures/ In checking that you had not already done so I notice that you are ex military. Perhaps you are already aware but if not some cruise lines offer On Board Credit for ex military. Often this is assumed to be for US military but UK Military can apply also., so worth checking.

We had this problem - a few cruises and years ago and just ignored it. been back to the US at least twice since and were not stopped or queried. The whole ship was affected and one guy from Australia spent months trying to get it fixed. Dont know if he ever did. All seems a bit jobsworth when you consider the number of illegal immigrants they have.

not a recommendation but Avanti is in the same group as Staysure. IIRC Staysure wouldnt cover our pre existing but Avanti did ( at a price) WE have not had to claim - that is the real test.

Hi - please can anyone advise if discussion of Private tours at a meet and greet ( Princess) is still a NO NO! I recollect seeing a thread or warning somewhere on CC and someone even reporting an incident where the organiser was summoned after a meeting. This was all pre covid and I find it harder than ever to search for such things.

I would agree with what you are saying, I assume from your CC name you are from Northumberland/ Durham. We are from North West - Preston not as far but found ourselves in a similar position. Daft as it might sound it was lucky there was a rail strike as we held advance tickets which without the strike would have been useless and a total loss. I anticipated most of the problems and sent this "chat" checked as we left the ship and it was not answered 15 hours or so later. I will be sending a complaint to Princess as otherwise they will not be doing anything to improve. When the Captain first came on air regarding being an engine/generator short and unable to reach full speed he seemed to suggest it was something that they had no control over and thus we could not complain about it? OK it seems it is not an easy repair but they could have left Bergen hours before rather than put almost everyone under some stress. As well as delay the next cruise another 3000 unhappy pax. The ship being able to reach full speed would also be important should an emergency or severe weather occur. Wasnt that part of the problem with the Virgin ship that floundered off the Norwegian coast? There was also the detour at Lofoten Islands because the ship was TOO BIG to go through the inside passage??? I cant see there being ANY excuse for that faux pas. When we did get ashore at Southampton our luck improved. I had spent an hour or two looking for a hotel in Southampton or London but prices were crazy - travelodges that were not full were around £150 most were £200 I couldnt see Princess wanting to reimburse that. Got the local bus to the station and a train to Waterloo was sat in the station. They barely glanced at the tickets which were not for that time - . Took the tube to Euston and found the LAST Preston train had gone 30 minutes before. Spoke to a "helper" on the station and asked if we could go to Manchester instead. Reply was if you have a ticket you can try to get home any train any route adding that that was the last train. Had hoped we could then do a short hop to Preston which is normally served by 2 train companies but they had none running by the time we would get there. Well hotels were cheaper in Manchester so that seemed a plan, On the train I thought to ring the taxi people we use from time to time and yes they would send a car for us. £60 but still less than a hotel and we would actually get home. Got off the train and taxi arrived 15 minutes later. So got home around 7.30pm. I am going to ask Princess if they will reimburse the taxi fare.

Or it could be Regional Pricing Initiative which covers a multitude of better offers available if you live in and are booking in the US. Some lines dont allow US TAs to book for non US citizens. There are ways round this but its at your own risk. They also throw in the ABTA / ATOL thing - if a US TA goes bust I think you would lose out, but perhaps you are looking only at booking direct with the line, in which case it would depend on the line's policy whether you could book or not. You also have to factor in currency rates and costs.

You need to read the health pages that will be on the royal caribbean website but things could change before September. Also different destinations may have different requirements. The number of days before will depend on your exact vaccination status at the time. The type of test will be the same , at the moment Princess ask for observed LFT if one is "up to date " with all jabs that you are eligible for. We used Lloyds. If there is a roll call for your cruise nearer the sail date there should be quite a few posts regarding jabs and tests

There is a test centre on the Miami dock -I read about it as we were thinking of a cruise in November but have done nothing about it. Main problem is that for most US people it will be "free " but paid for from insurance. The website is here https://www.miamidade.gov/global/initiatives/coronavirus/covid19-location.page?Mduid_covid19-location=cov1634051968887569 They have an email and contact form for enquiries if anyone want to try it. As with sailing from the UK not sure I would want to get to the dock before testing There may also be a facility at the airport - need to check if it is airside quoting US$79 which seems a bit steep compared to some Uk outlets but not far off the charge on the dock at Southampton. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjq0sHG3I_4AhXUa8AKHbzXB7AQFnoECAQQAw&url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.miami-airport.com%2Fcovid-19-testing-available-daily-at-mia-starting-may-21%2F%23%3A~%3Atext%3DThe%20facility%20is%20open%20daily%2Ccan%20be%20emailed%20upon%20request.&usg=AOvVaw0hBAkamBwradK61-lkC5Cc Hope that link works I will try it after posting.

I would simply ask next time you are on a cruise?- - Future Cruise desk -take all your cards. There is an old thread here that has opinions We recall the letters to say something like you can buy the letters is US$ or In GBP75 but this is from 3or 4 years back and dont recall if you could buy one for say AUS150. WE pay in GBP as we live in UK and pay in GBP for cruises booked through either UK TA or direct with Princess irrespective of the currency on board. The OBC you get is tailored to the On Board currency.

Short answers: given with the proviso that these can change at any time. 1. No 2. Not sure what you mean - - You select a time you want to board on the Medallion app When you reach the dock if you dont have a test you need to tell them straight away They send you a short distance away to a temporary test site - take the test - you will be directed to seats for waiting ( separate area) If test is negative (good) you then rejoin the checkin system. 3. Neither - it is charged to your on board account US60 per person ( LFT) Padded answer Maybe read this post I did for someone on a Aug 11 cruise I am on https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2773252-aug-12-2022-island-princess-iceland-greenland-cruise-16-nights/?do=findComment&comment=63245301 You should also be reading the protocols and Q&As for UK cruising here: https://www.princess.com/plan/cruise-with-confidence/cruise-health/frequently-asked-questions/uk-southampton-cruises/ I was going to quip that your cruise will not be so far off by the time you have read them then I spotted that they changed something on 19th May so I will have to read them as well LOL.

Hi @jocap thanks - we had shaken off the idea of the walk off and have asked princess about booking first self arrangements and going a bit later. WE were aiming for the 10. 15 train as we dont have as far or as slow to go as you. However if you look at the avanti site its not going to be easy whatever and July is the same May see if evesway coaches have any seats left. https://www.avantiwestcoast.co.uk/travel-information/plan-your-journey/planned-engineering-works?year=2022&month=6 Where are you from? I am from Cockermouth and DW is from Frizington but we have been down here for 40 odd years

Not normally but with a 5/6 hour train journey ahead of us I might 🙂 Yes, that might work but as I said , on our cruise last week the calling of the groups closed down for a period so I dont know if they would even let walk offs ,walk off or people from earlier groups leave. Reason for holdup was just given as congestion Thankyou both for your replies I have sent the query to Princess but we may have to get our train tickets before they reply. 😞

Here's an easy question but only if you know the answer 🙂 Disembarkation on on our cruise last week was pretty good for us. This was in Southampton UK. We had to catch a train to Manchester around noon so we were not affected by a half hour behind schedule announcement. For our next cruise we would prefer to catch an earlier train which if a similar delay kicks in might make it a bit difficult. So back to the question- First item on the list of groups is Walk Off - Time 7.15am That is far too early for us ,we need a decent breakfast for the 5/6hour journey home. When it says Walk Off 7.15am, is that just the earliest you can walk off, does it mean we have to go at 7.15 or can we ask for that ( so we take our own luggage) but just walk off at say 8.15am. When they were calling the groups they did seem to backtrack and say e.g " Now calling groups Gold3 and Pink1 that means there should be no-one left in Green Purple Yellow & Black and if there are you should be leaving now." Sorry pic is a bit blurred but will give the general idea.