3 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Exactly - you would have to quarantine the entire ship until everyone had been tested.

The way I can't stop talking, you would have to! LOL

4 minutes ago, AnnieC said:

A world beating track and trace system?🤣

Good luck with that one then! 🙂

Just now, wowzz said:

And what do you do with all the other passengers and crew that they were in contact with?

How would you even know which passengers they were?  Think of how many people you chat with while cruising, sometimes just fleeting moments.

2 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I think you are right. Even on one ship, it's going to take a while to put everything in place and then test it to make sure the systems are robust, before any paying passengers come on board.

 

It would seem that it's no longer enough just to keep announcing another batch of cancellations every few weeks, in the hope that things return to normal.  There are going to be fundamental changes to cruising - I think they will also need to change their itineraries. Maybe shorter cruises closer to home will make people  feel more confident.  

Absolutely agree with you.  I don't personally care where the ship goes as long as it sails out of Southampton.

Sorry, posted on wrong cruise line. LOL

1 hour ago, emam said:

 

This has come up on my phone. I haven't read it all yet and can't copy the site link. It's in the Southern Daily Echo.

 

4 August 20More News >

Biggest ever UK cruise ship Iona to join P&O fleet before autumn

I know, I have seen that, but we still don't have a date. LOL

So, can we get back to guessing when Iona will be delivered now? LOL 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

21 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

I do wish people would accept that both the cruise lines and the govt will be looking very hard at how soon they can put together safety procedures that enable the FCO  advisory to be withdrawn. 

I think most people are doing that.  It would be potential suicide (in more ways than one) to sail on a ship which is flouting the advice (and I'm sure no cruise line would do that anyway).  No insurance is a big deal.

1 hour ago, terrierjohn said:

I don't believe that cruise lines need anyone to "allow" them to sail, just as long as they meet all current maritime legislation, and I am hoping that the CLIA is in regular contact with the correct govt depts, in order to develop safe protocols that will enable the FCO to lift its blanket ban on cruising.

Hmm. They do need to be "allowed".  As you said, the FCO have to lift its blanket ban on cruising to allow cruising to sail. 

7 minutes ago, zap99 said:

After about 25 cruises ( we will both get the naughty step for mentioning the number of cruises )this was the first time for us from Civitaveccia. I hope the last. If we do that again ,we will factor in a taxi. About 120 Euro I think. Barcelona is good and Venice is ( was?) Good. It seems like Athens may be an embarkation port soon for a few cruise lines.

I find it strange that people are offended if someone has cruised more than them.  I have many friends that have cruised WAY more than us, at least in the hundreds.  I don't know what there is to get upset about, we did our first cruise once too, and hopefully we can give advice (if asked for).  I agree Barcelona is a great port to embark, easy taxi ride.  Venice can be tricky.

1 hour ago, zap99 said:

We sailed from Civitaveccia on RCI last September. We transferred by train. Not the favourite of my DW. After a bit of a struggle, I had to help her carry the cases up the stairs at the station.🤔

The biggest problem with Civitaveccia is that it is so far from the airport.  We try to avoid embarking there at all costs.  In fact, we must be quite good at it, as, of 40 cruises, we've never embarked there. 🤣

1 hour ago, molecrochip said:

With Costa being predominantly Italian passengers, I’d expect they could resume ahead of P&O as the virus is about a month ahead on their timescale.

 

This may be the first we see of any new Carnival Corp group wide health measures.

Sea Dream and Hurtigruten have both completed their first cruises.  Different, smaller types of ships, but hopefully it's a sign of getting back to some sort of normality.  Whatever that may be at the moment!

I know this thread is P&O Iona, but this is interesting and might be relevant.  Costa Cruises currently running an Ad......

"All those “say cheese!” moments are about to come back! And your smiles onboard will be brighter than ever."

Sounds like an announcement could come soon?  Maybe?  I'm sure when once comes back, they all will.  Could be wishful thinking. LOL

2 minutes ago, ozzysdad said:

I dont mind, back up is Azura for two weeks in April.

We haven't booked anything else.  Our plan is to book last minute once things start to get back to normal (if Iona doesn't sail).

24 minutes ago, ozzysdad said:

We are due onboard on the 24th October which if it gets the go ahead will be the Maiden I'm more hopeful than optimistic.

I think we're all hopeful.  I am keeping fingers crossed for the sailings before ours.  Let you lot be the guinea pigs. ha ha

37 minutes ago, purplesea said:

We were due to sail yesterday.

Oh no! That's tough. 😞

33 minutes ago, No pager thank you said:

2nd attempt is Christmas/New Year.

 Really hope you get to go.  We did a few in our early days of cruising.  Love Christmas on a ship.

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

Doesn't all this depend on whether P&O actually takes delivery of Iona in the first place?

Yes, of course, everything depends on delivery.  Can't go anywhere if they don't have the ship! 🙂

12 minutes ago, Eddie99 said:

A week today 😢

Oh, so sorry to hear that.  Have you re-booked?  We are still debating whether to pay our final payment next month.

Just curious, when is everyone due to sail on Iona?  We've probably all mentioned it at some time or another but wondering who is due to be on the earliest cruises?  We are scheduled for 14 November 2020.

29 minutes ago, Britboys said:

Sorry but I think you had better prepare yourself...  The Oceana rumours are getting stronger.

I guess you could be right.  The oldest are vulnerable.  Such a shame though.

31 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

No because Carnival are buying it not P&O, however it could be possible they might decide to allocate it to another of their cruise lines, but I doubt it.

No idea how much re-branding would cost, but surely they wouldn't do that with a brand new ship?

41 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

Its not true. The funding is in place.

 

P&O would rather loose any other ship (with the possible exception of flagship Britannia), even multiple ships, than let someone take Iona away.

 

Oceana on the other hand.... 

Blasphemy!!!!!!  We love Oceana, our favourite ship.  Been on Ventura, Britannia, Azura, with Iona booked.  But up to now, still love Oceana best. 🙂

9 minutes ago, sddsddean said:

Bravo bravo bravo (which means someone has been good at lighting fires!)

Simon

 

That's the one.  Thankfully not heard it too often.  Alpha is much more common sadly.

5 minutes ago, brian1 said:

I'd tell Gary to cross off "relight my fire" on his repertoire.

I have no idea whether Gary was due on our sailing or not.  Not bothered either. LOL  But it does worry me whenever there is a code call for fire on a ship (forget what the code is). 🙂