s&gsjollies

20 hours ago, FangedRose said:

PCR testing before my cruise in July didn't stop some 300 passengers being isolated in their cabins. And those who were the ones who admitted to having symptoms,  and submitted to testing. Total numbers were probably double that. Testing was a waste of time and money, and added stress. 

That is really worrying and I expect you're right that many people choose to stay quiet rather than miss their holiday regardless of the affect it might have on others

Sadly I think we'll be staying away for quite some time

50 minutes ago, redrich103 said:

We are thinking of a 5 night from Southampton on Ventura in November, not been with P&O before so reading through this forum and saw some posts about masks were enforced on some recent cruises.

 

Am i correct in presuming that at the start of each cruise no masks are required and this would only be enforced if there was an outbreak on that cruise

 

Thanks

We asked P&O directly about this on the phone as there were problems on the ship when we actually booked and we hadn't been informed that there were now covid issues on some cruises. First they denied there were any issues but when we quoted the letter that people had been given on a cruise four days before we'd booked they eventually admitted that yes, there had been an outbreak of Covid and masks had been required. But they assured us that because between everyone disembarking and new people starting the next cruise the ship would be thoroughly cleaned so there was no issue. And it was up to passengers whether they wore masks or not and from what I've read today it sounds like most don't. We didn't go

On 10/16/2022 at 2:01 PM, zap99 said:

Most staff were wearing them on Britannia this morning, not sure if all were.  The highwaymen in the motorway services weren't.  £8 for 2 coffees.  Just like being back in St Tropez.

Cheaper than most in Rhodes - not a bargain (but lovely!)

On 10/16/2022 at 12:06 PM, Wonky said:

I possibly missed this elsewhere but a couple of days ago protocol changed for staff on board. No longer mandatory but still can if they want to. Don’t know if this is worldwide but we are on Ventura. Always a surprise when someone you see everyday has a moustache that you weren’t expecting 🤣

Im guessing you were on the cruise from Southampton with the great itinerary down past Spain and Portugal? I hope you had a great time and the weather was kind. We booked very late, then read about the recent Covid outbreaks on here, and decided not to go due to health issues and lost our money

Have to say though that I think this is madness by P&O to reduce mask wearing, as well as stop requiring the need to provide negative PCR tests before boarding, when there is no doubt cases are increasing noticeably across the country. Surely they have a responsibility to keep passengers safe? But instead they seem to be going out of their way to pretend that everything is fine and dandy and leave it up to everyone else to sort it out!

20 hours ago, picsa said:

Even when your life might depend on it?
 

Personally I would want such things in writing and I would ask them to either post it to me or tell me where I could find it on the website so I could read and understand it, rather than just assume and hope for the best.
 

If you read my original post you will see that I say we were naive and its been our own very expensive mistake - there are a lot of reasons that contributed to this happening on a personal level that I've not chosen to share and why we desperately needed a break. I really don't appreciate our errors being pointed out more than once in different blunt ways.

Thank you to the kind person who pointed it out and stuck up for me - your comments were irrelevant and were not constructive

12 hours ago, Snow Hill said:

I was there Christmas of 2004, we did the cable car to the gardens with the intention of doing the toboggan down, but there was an accident whilst we were in the gardens and the tobogganing was shutdown for the day. 

My daughter (23) was up for going on one but I'd read a few things about accidents and also don't have a great low back so enjoyed a lovely day in the gardens and grottos

Then we heard some people off a cruise asking a local lady in the kiosk whether she'd been on the toboggans and what she thought - she said "no too dangerous!" Hmmm

19 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

Does that include Ronaldo and his mum?  Joking apart the baskets were fun, although I've not done them since the cobbles went. Always been a fan of any cable cars or funicular worldwide and this one was very nice, particularly liked they helped my mother who was not very mobile and extremely frail.  It was her first cruise at the age of 80 and she'd never been on a cable car before either.  This became the first of many and a lovely memory for me as well.

Absolutely understand the enjoyment of the cable car - how exciting for her! I hope you had some time to go into the gardens at the top too, they were lovely although I was disappointed we missed orchid season. I got my mum to go on a cruise with me for her 80th as she's never flown and had never seen the southern med - she was blown away by real palm trees but would have been terrified in a cable car!

We've skied as a family many times and that part of the decision to miss the cable car as it wouldn't have been a novelty, plus my back isn't good at standing in lines and we'd seen the queues the day before. I'm wondering if you took her on the toboggan?!

On 10/3/2022 at 11:45 AM, majortom10 said:

Just be aware that when you get to the bottom of the toboggan run that the 2 who have expertly guided you down in perfect English will say how tiring and hot it is and they need a refreshing drink with their hands out for a tip.

We went to Madeira quite recently and decided to use a taxi up to Monte from out hotel on the far side of old town as there were three of us and it was a fair walk to the cable car (about 15 euros)

Our driver told us that the baskets are inherited through families and they are the best paid people on the island!

1 hour ago, picsa said:

I would find it hard to believe that direct phone bookings with P&O don't currently follow a similar script (when I booked direct with P&O some years ago by phone they certainly had the health question), but if the person who is complaining doesn't believe they were asked the questions and it wasn't simply a case of them assuming something to be the case when it is not, then as P&O record booking calls (or certainly did in the past as I had cause to make use of this due to a dispute about what was said) then they should ask P&O to check the recording.

The reason we booked by phone is that we had cruise credit from a cancelled trip plus compensation from a dreadful cabin, one on my account and one on my husbands, so we couldn't book online

My husband made the call when we booked. He said they read a long page about P&O current regulations and situations. Very hard to take in and so much information and he can't remember a lot of it. He says they definitely does not remember them saying or ask anything about whether we had any health issues that may be affected by any of the changes they might implement (whatever they may be). He certainly would have raised our immune suppressed status (both had 5 vaccines each!) but potential mask-wearing would have flagged my asthma issues, which is fine under normal circumstances. 

If you need to check boxes on a form or online about this its wrong that its not raised specifically on the phone and the lady who raised the fact earlier in the thread that not everyone has online access makes this all the more important!

We received an email that advised us to read P&Os policies etc but it's too late for us anyway even on health issues as we've had to pay fully. 

What does make us cross is when we phoned they kept quoting a couple of lines that must have been in the middle of the missive that we'd agreed to about making changes or bringing in measures to keep everyone safe. It seems their coverall get out clause

We are now going to get them to listen to our booking though 

12 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

I'm sorry this happened to you.  I note you took legal advice, may I ask who from and on which points please?  

 

I'm currently looking into the insurance issues with ABTA and the FCA so anything said might be of interest. Thank you.

We contacted Which Legal - they said that because it will be "cleaned" between trips, be it in a few hours, they are under no obligation to ask new passengers to ask people to wear masks when they join (or provide PCR's!)

But if you joined a tour 1/2 way round (we made friends with someone who managed to do this once on a Baltic cruise), and there is already an issue on board and they do not tell you, then you do have a case against P&O

We haven't even looked at our insurance as it's part of a yearly policy that covers cruises - something tells me we wouldn't be covered if we had Covid trouble onboard!

We plan on telling P&O tomorrow that we will not be going on the cruise and why. We also plan to put it in writing for the record - it will make us feel better if nothing else!

We only booked last week for the cruise departing this saturday on ventura to spain and portugal naively thinking people would need to provide PCRs to prove their current status, not just say "oh yes actually we came into contact with Covid within the last 10 days so we'll forgo this cruise and will no longer get any future cruise credit"

Then I came onto CC to check out the shore stops and stumbled on the covid outbreak on Ventura plus the issues with insurance should you be unlucky enough to catch covid onboard. After phoning P&O quick smart and within 24 hours, they denied there were any issues. They later agreed there was a problem but said there was no reason they should warn passengers that they might need to wear masks onboard. They say they're following government advice on Covid (!) and no chance of future CC

We're immune suppressed (wear masks when we need to) but with asthma too I find ongoing mask wearing hard work and would never have booked now. Also had missed that numbers were increasing in the UK somehow

After seeking legal advice we got nowhere, so we have decided to put it down as a big expensive mistake on our part, not worth putting ourselves at the increased risk and we also did not like the way we were treated on the phone. It took three calls and providing evidence we found on here to stop them saying things were heresy and were not happening on Ventura - we feel they continue to sell a near capacity cruise without passengers being fully aware of the current situation. It also shirks responsibility not to insist on customers providing PCRs to keep others safe and just serves to pretend there's no issue! We will never sail with the company again and it my be our nearly third and last cruise ever - shame

I hope everyone has a lovely time and stays well

1 hour ago, GSPG said:

But some people don’t care about passing the virus on.

And should vulnerable’s actually be on there if they are putting themselves at serious risk of illness.

which is exactly why P&O should be making customers provide clear PCR tests or ones they do on site to protect other passengers! It would make a huge difference

1 hour ago, Sleeptastic said:

Just dug out the letter from the captain (25th September) which stated ‘……. You are required to wear a Face Mask that covers your nose and mouth when moving around indoors on board…..’  From memory this arrived in our cabins shortly after the announcement that he made earlier on the same day. Hope this gives you the info you needed..

Thank you so much - this is from Ventura I'm assuming. Have to say that although we were assured that "everything will be cleaned down thoroughly so the next cruse will be perfectly safe from Covid", its hard to imagine how this the case when it comes and goes within the day and everything runs on aircon?

We were definitely niaive with our last minute booking but expected to be asked for a PCR proving our status before going on board after all their red Covid warning instructions on their booking  site. It is not realistic expecting people to be honest about not boarding if they've come into contact with Covid etc when people know they're going to lose everything but putting their hand up, and I imagine many will keep their heads down ...P&O are shirking their responsibility by not testing, potentially ruining peoples holidays as well as their health

17 hours ago, Selbourne said:

The requirement to wear masks on Ventura appears to have been unique to the last cruise. Ventura has just left Southampton on her next cruise. Those on board have NOT been asked to wear them. No mention at check in, no on board announcements and no notices. Suspect some may voluntarily choose to wear them, but according to those on board, nobody has been seen wearing one yet!

Were you on the cruise who got a letter telling you about mask wearing? and was it a request or a definite instruction please - I cannot get a definitely answer on this but the above is very helpful thank you

On 9/29/2022 at 10:46 PM, picsa said:

Then there is the issue of introducing it before the cruise started then that would be a significant change to the T&Cs for someone to be required to wear a mask for someone who it is impossible to do as they would have to forfeit their cruise unless P&O allowed the exemption.

Edited Thursday at 10:47 PM by picsa

When my husband phoned P&O again yesterday (we only booked next Saturdays trip last wednesday  (it wasn't at sale price) - he was informed that although P&O now agree that mask wearing is "optional" on Ventura's current cruise, they say things will be cleaned and off we'll go to Spain and Portugal as planned next weekend. All will be hunky dory and "no masks when we board!" I've said before why we've decided we do not want to risk going and P&O have said absolutely no way we can do anything about it despite all this happening within 24 hours

I am still trying to find out on here if anyone will show me the part of the letter that's been  given to the guests on board Ventura (or those on Brittania) saying that mask-wearing is "compulsory" as P&O office are saying that's untrue. Secondly I think I also read that someone said that shore trips are already cancelled but I'm not sure if this is true? - if yes, there must be a reason for this and we certainly weren't notified. The shore trips were specifically what appealed and we wouldn't have booked with this knowledge

We've decided that we definitely won't be going and are speaking to Which on Monday for advice, so just want to try and get a few facts before then. P&O are refuting things we've read here (maybe they haven't been updated?) but a lot of this must have been a thing when we booked and that's our issue

On 9/29/2022 at 8:31 PM, yoj13 said:

 

There is no doubt about it, it is a fundamental piece of information and I honestly do think P&O are aware of the situation on their ships.  Can your husband remember whether that information was given or not but I suppose, it would be your word against theirs at the end of the day.   We have almost decided not to go, it's just not worth it.  Then when I've read that all the excursions on this latest trip have been cancelled,  well, it's just another warning  sign to me anyway.

It was categorically NOT mentioned when we booked on Wednesday afternoon (for 8/10) but when I phoned within 24 hours and I was assured what I was reading here was basically not true, I was told that they blurb about continually P&O monitoring things to keep things safe that we'd agreed to when we booked on the phone, covered them and whatever covid measures they needed to take

But Graham phoned again yesterday and said about the new instruction for passengers to wear masks on Ventura and Britannia and why weren't we told when booking? The lady agreed we should have been informed (!) but kept him on hold while checking things out. 

Graham was told the whole fleet was told that it was "recommended that passengers wear masks", not just Ventura and Britannia. Does anyone know whether this is true or not please or whether the instruction was "enforced mask wearing" as I thought I've read earlier?

We've decided not to go as we would both need to wear a mask throughout due to being immune suppressed (and would make breathing hard due to current asthma trouble). I just want to check the facts as at the moment P&O are saying they did not need to tell us at the time of booking (and did not know anyway)

We've had a lot going on and really needed a break, had a stack of cruise credit that P&O were pushing us to spend fast, and stupidly just thought about the attraction of sailing from Southampton and the lovely itinerary - probably a very stupid and expensive mistake!

2 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

I'm sorry you are in a predicament. Unfortunately no cruise is guaranteed as mask free as if there are any outbreaks the rules can change immediately whi h is what has occurred on Ventura and Britannia's current voyages.

 

No one can say positively that a cruise will not be affected.

`I think the thing that's upsetting is all the Covid questions and responsibilities that flash up on the screen to us when we were checking availability, yet bookings are still being actively being taken for a ship that may well still have staff on board who will be suffering from the current Covid outbreak. If the booking office aren't aware it's because they haven't been informed but we really think that we should have been told that mask wearing if mandatory and testing should therefore be mandatory and proof of it needed before boarding 

Personally I think masks are great for protecting myself (and others!) and have used one throughout when I've gone into shops or crowded places. But I do want to be informed of higher risk and should have the choice to avoid it before booking. Not wearing a mask because of asthma issues will just leave me even more vulnerable and is not an option

21 hours ago, Megabear2 said:

21 hours ago, Funboy said:

Latest is a circular from the Director of Health services, Carnival U K. To say masks must be worn at all times due to large numbers of new cases.

Not going too well with this new no testing or masks then.  Ventura also under compulsory mask mandate. Interesting its come from ashore rather than onboard.  

After booking on the phone only yesterday for an October 8-18th cruise to spain/portugal only yesterday and were told absolutely about the mask-wearing situation, I phoned up earlier after reading this and the Ventura posts. I was told they were just heresay.

I told them we are both immune suppressed but I also have asthma and have trouble wearing masks (since getting Covid!)  and would never had booked and put myself in that situation had we been informed - they said they knew nothing at all in the booking office which is why we weren't informed when we booked but their "adopting protocol to protect everyone onboard" covers them. They also said it might be an optional/advisory thing.

No refund or delayed booking. Now feel we've been hoodwinked and am very concerned

8 hours ago, yoj13 said:

Due to our circumstances I won't be an unhappy passenger because I simply can't be on-board, disappointing as that maybe.  Unfortunately, not only P& O take a while to make decisions, but with only 8 days before we are scheduled to leave, time is not on our side.

Meanwhile, I'll talk to P&O, Hope for the best and keep checking into CC.  Thank you again for assistance so far.

24 hours ago we booked to go on Ventura on 8th October down Spain and Portugal for 10 days. I've come on CC for the first time in ages to get some info and stumbled on this thread

I've just got off the phone to P&O and apparently they know nothing of mask-wearing on Ventura or any other ships because of Covid - oh and there are absolutely no refunds or transfers available.

My husband and I are immune suppressed and I'm asthmatic and have had numerous chest infections since Covid at the end of last year. Wearing a mask for a long time is difficult and for this reason alone we would never have booked a cruise at this time had we been informed about the mask-wearing - would they really not know? They said there's a line about "adapting protocol to protect everyone on board" that they would have read to my husband on the the phone that covers them, but I said its a fundamental piece of information a customer should know before booking a 10 day cruise if it is a situation happening on their ships! 

(I wear one at home going into shops etc so agree they're a good thing in principle)

Any advice anyone please

wg golf - glad to hear you were lucky with your tenders and reckon I'll find a bar with a good view of the queue! 

Re Stag and Hen parties - hadn't even crossed my mind (starting to wish we'd booked a longer trip ...) But it should provide some good spectator sport and for once being stuck right at the front at the top of the ship on the pool deck might just be a good thing!

OP here - thank you so much for the helpful input above especially DC. And will have my eyes open for puffins! We usually like to be independent but after reading the various potential issues, and as it was meant to be a relaxing weekend, I reckon we're going to have to opt for one of the ships trips to guarantee getting ashore in reasonable time if the weather's OK - just the cheapest one probably - a town walk at about £30 a head. 

I had no idea there had been any replies here besides the first couple (got an email notification once) but nothing since . Can anyone tell me what I'm going wrong please - there must be something I'm not doing. And, so I'm sorry I stirred the hornets nest re the tender issue. I got my info from reading various reviews (maybe happy people didn't write reviews?) However my Mum's now also told me on her UK cruise they diverted to France because of bad weather and didn't even try the Channel Islands!

My view is that it's not the brightest idea for P&O to do an over-nighter to somewhere with a "questionable" landing record (and then on a Sunday) - my fault for not checking things more carefully - but didn't think I could go too wrong on a one-night trip. I also agree there should be transparency about the potential conditions at the port - I saw a senior man fall flat on his face being helped onto a tender in very mild conditions and customers have a right to be informed.

Bazral - do I understand right that P&O changed the actual days of your trip near the travel date because of the weather? If so, thanks for the warning and we'd better keep that time clear. 

We've booked a two-night mini trip from Southampton to Guernsey to use up some credit I was issued after big cabin/noise issues I had on a two week cruise. I normally plan my travels carefully but though a day in St Peters Port would be lovely and would play it by ear. Now I am reading horror stories about tenders, and then we've just noticed our visit is on a Sunday (10th May) and most of the shops and some sites are going to be shut - why would they do that for a one-day trip and how did we miss it before booking?  

So, I have a couple of questions ...

1 How to meet a timed non-P&O tour? 

As a lot of things are going to be shut, we would maybe like to pick up a tour of some sort to get a flavour of the island, but we don't usually take ship tours preferring to pick up things with smaller groups on shore (or go it alone). How do you go about getting off the ship for a timed tour that's not P&O? We once made the mistake of being honest on our first Norwegian cruise in Russia and suddenly got sent from the middle to the very back of a very long line! Seems the tender system is v poor here and don't want to spend the day stressing

2 If we don't pick up a trip, can anyone recommend anything they've done on a Sunday that they've enjoyed besides sitting in the pub

Fingers crossed for fair weather and thanks for your ideas

Sarah

I've just been looking up my COMPO letter from P&O relating to this complaint as it needs to be used soon (2 years from issue) and this post popped up in my search. Although old, thought its worth an update in case it helps others ...

Always kick up stink during the cruise if you have serious cabin trouble - I made numerous trips to Reception during two weeks, which was right by our cabin, but discovered most of these were not logged even though they knew me by name (against policy). Seems they all should have been and normally this would have meant immediate escalation by the Reception Manager. Luckily the Manager did come to my cabin twice so knew I had trouble but had also asked Reception inbetween-times if they'd had any more complaints from me and they'd said "no"!

Demand to see the Manager if things are on-going. It was another passenger who told me how to get it sorted right near the end and I got moved on day 11/12. 

After returning, I was offered some compensation after my string of complaints about the noise in the single room (apparently "the refit would sort everything out" -  I suggested a reduced price would have been appropriate if they knew about the problems!) I said it was very little when I'd ended up having to sleep in the afternoons to get through the shore trips (quieter) and missed organised events because of it - they upped the offer. Not huge but better than nothing. Has to be booked within two years but not taken in that time.

Re the "Detox" package - full refund due to very iffy selling techniques and the company was very shocked by some of what I witnessed him doing with other ladies in the gym to get sales plus his fat-shaming style of selling! Luckily there were another lady there (who I told Management about) - she was obviously well under his spell,had bought 3 months worth of the product and was telling me how wonderful it was all going to be! I really pity her as he was telling her how wonderful she was going to look and how slim! Selling should never be carried out in offices behind closed doors either. Definitely against their selling guidelines and think his days were numbered - fingers crossed.

So, it's well worth perusing any such issues (best done on the ship with a Manager if possible), just hope I'm luckier next time round, get some sleep and am not so gullible!

Englishlady - just drafted spa letter. Obvs tiredness my issue but querying cooling off period and sold under uncomfortable circumstances in small back office when I just thought I was up there to sort out something else! And diet info given when I asked for it as he was telling me he was late for his next appt (so knew deal was sold and sealed!), and v rushed/scant med questions as we were leaving. Not professional and under the P&O umbrella.

Dave - wish you'd reviewed them!

We couldn't find anything before booking, and as Mum and I wanted our own rooms and were away for two weeks decided some natural light would be good (which I think was probably right). I'll make sure I do a room review for others and the Manager himself did refer to the refit in March 18 ... as for the noise (karaoke etc), they have their own policy but didn't seem to follow it. And of course I had ear plugs in throughout but just didn't work. Shame as it was a lovely trip otherwise