Yorkypete

Yep. We sail on a Sunday on Britannia on 18th Sept and all our nearby Lloyds are closed on a Saturday. The reason is that most in our region are attached to Doctors surgeries which are closed on a Saturday.

Due to the problems P&O are having in Norway I would now only book on the Iona if I just wanted a 7 day cruise. That seems to be what they are running now.

I regularly watch the vloggers just to see what is happening between cruises but recently I have been turning them off. Most of them seem to be mainly talking about food and drinks and showing what they are eating. I am wondering why, as some seem to eat four or five meals a day, they are not too fat to fit in their cabins and why they are not permanently drunk. Each to their own but not for me.

Cannot dock in Bergen either. One of my favourite ports in Norway. I cannot believe that Iona and Arvia were designed for Norway. What would be the point when they are severley limited for the ports? They are too big and the continual building of larger and larger ships will be the eventual downfall of the cruise industry.

Thanks. We have never been advised about getting one . We only have the full insurance which we were told is all that is needed. Incidentally it would seem that not all countries are covered as Norway is not included.

Sorry to hear about your troubles and hope the outcome is positive. I would just like to ask what a GHIC is. We have never heard of it. We had the old EHIC but that is now defunct I believe.

Presumably the same increase in cruisers as they are part of the general public.

The open topped boats belong in the Moby Dick era!

It is easy to be comical about a serious subject. All I can suggest is look up Randox on Wikipedia and elsewhere .

It does look as though Iona is not able to tender. From what I heard the exits are not in the right position for it. I may be wrong on that but there must be a reason it cannot tender.

It is not a question of ignoring them as they are meaningless. It is possible(but unlikely) that everyone who boards a vessel is positive making the tests a waste of money and time.

I only care about being ripped off for needless things.

It is not only my opinion. The media think it as do many doctors. I can have a test in the morning before travelling and have caught it before tea time. When the passengers board a ship many will have covid or be infected so what use were the tests? They only show the 'now' factor not the future. Explain how they are meaningful?

How are they actually minimising the number who catch it whilst onboard? The tests are totally meaningless and there are no restrictions in place to prevent the spread.

Amazing that there were only a few 'private' companies recommended and the cruise lines would not accept the equally efficient free ones..You will not find the name of a particular politician involved but many of them refuse to say where their private money comes from. Could some have investments in the testing companies making a fortune from the public?

I could believe this IF the cruise companies showed it is safe by publishing figures on how many people on a cruise actually catch covid. A number of people onthe forum have said they tested positive on return and that is just the tiny number on the forum. It cannot be safe when the number of cases is growing rapidly wordwide.

All this may not happen as Iona seems to suffer from wind problems.... As do I ......but I still manage to go into the ports!!!!😄

Actually they can as covid is growing rapidly again with the new strains.

I was contemplating buying some shares but that was a month ago. Now, I am not so sure. Covid is growing again and the NHS is in trouble. Many countries are suffering more at present and I can see that some of them will be introducing new restrictions in the near future. One of our favourite countries, Malta, has seen deaths increase and current infections rising from 2500 to 7500 in three weeks!. As the cost of living is still increasing and we now have no Government then many will not be able to afford cruising. Another aspect is that as the companies build bigger ships there will be many ports which will be restrictive to them. All in all I am not very nconfident of the survival of some companies.

There seems to be a lot of confusion at present, as usual with these NHS postings/info. In our area Doctors are so busy that they are not offering vaccines now. Pharmacies have not the staff to do these or tests. Hospitals are so overwhelmed that even people with serious illnesses have to wait several hours to see anyone so hospitals are not doing it.It is easy to refer to NHS posts but a damn site harder to actually do anything.. Both myself and my wife have had three vaccinations but no sign of the second booster being available in the next few months meanwhile the number of local cases is shooting through the roof as the new wave hits us. Anyone who believes covid is over is either stupid or cares little for his fellow man.

Must be an area thing then.

I did not say your P&O requirements are wrong. The schools have stopped the vaccinations. At my grandsons school there are very few children aged 12 vaccinated, nor were any vaccines offered at his previous junior school. I am sure that private vaccinations are available at a cost but local doctors are not doing them anymore, at least in our area.

Your info on children being tested is not quite 100% accurate. My grandson is 12 and has had covid twice after moving to senior school, and only about ten weeks apart.. The local senior schools have now said the vaccinations for 12 year old and over has now stopped (virtually before it even started!) and therefor no young people in the area will have the vaccination. Certainly there is no procedure for 5+ children to have it..

Sorry but I have not missed the point. As far as I am concerned the post by Ardennais was a review. If you see a review of a cruise you are bound to compare it to your own. That is natural but a review is a review NOT a comparison. As to 'baked beans' compared to' spaghetti hoops'...well I mean ! Does anyone compare a cruise liner with a rowing boat?