Cancelling Cruises because of the C word

[staygulf]

27 minutes ago, Burgmeister said:

Sorry if this has been asked or spoken about but there has been a major flurry of posts since I last read this thread.

 

We are due to sail on Ventura on 28th March (having cancelled a trip to Hong Kong in February to avoid covid-19  ). My wife is covered by the FCO list  as she is taking medication to suppress her immune system but I am not sure what P&O mean by this "your refund will be subject to providing proof of your underlying medical condition" . I don't want to contribute to swamping P&O's phone lines if someone has already asked them the question. 

 

The exact wording on the FCO website "weakened immune system due to drug treatment or disease". Would a prescription be sufficient evidence in this case or would they require a letter from her doctor?

 

If they require a letter then we may not be able to get one to them before our departure date as the NHS down here isn't very quick and I can't imagine its getting any quicker given the current situation!

 

Stay safe everyone.

Even if your cruise goes ahead there is nothing to stop you cancelling. The cancellation is not dependent on a letter, only the refund is. So you could cancel and still get the refund when your letter is available. 

[devonuk]

22 minutes ago, Burgmeister said:

Thanks Andy

 

Our cruise goes to the exotic ports of Rotterdam, Zeebrugge and Cherbourg. I'm just wondering when the 3 countries involved will join others and ban visitors (or, at least, require 14 day isolation).

 

Hopefully P&O will suspend all cruises soon and that would make things easier.

I’ve just looked on the FCO site for health updates for Netherlands, Belgium and France and having done so I really can’t see this cruise going ahead 😞

[pinkpanther52]

Fred Olsen has taken the very sensible decision to cancel all cruise until the end of May.

 

Not sure why P and O will not do the same unless the management at Carnival don’t think UK cruisers are important. 

 

Thankfully I cancelled having only paid my deposit I can use it for up to a year on a new cruise but at the moment have absolutely NO inclination to do so.

 

Think P and O have lost a future customer 😡

[Vampiress88]

Is no one still holding out hope for holidays? 
 

I have about 5% hope left for my p&o April holiday and about 50% for Florida in May. 
 

there’s just no way of sustaining loss of revenue for these companies for such a long time. I’ll affect million of people just in the travel industry not to meantion the rest. 
 

I kinda feel like the panic and the crash in markets are going to impact us a hell of a lot and for a long time
 

 

[Burgmeister]

13 minutes ago, pinkpanther52 said:

Fred Olsen has taken the very sensible decision to cancel all cruise until the end of May.

 

Not sure why P and O will not do the same unless the management at Carnival don’t think UK cruisers are important. 

 

Thankfully I cancelled having only paid my deposit I can use it for up to a year on a new cruise but at the moment have absolutely NO inclination to do so.

 

Think P and O have lost a future customer 😡

But, as far as I can tell, Carnival haven't cancelled Carnival cruises either so it's not just British passengers that are being singled out by the company.

 

To be fair, they are offering cancellations (for FCC admittedly) so if you don't want to go there is a way around it. When the numbers add up (cost of cancelling vs cost of sailing nearly empty ships) or if sufficient pressure is brought to bear then they will suspend cruises. They can't win really. I've already seen people on these forums moaning that they can't go on their cruise because they are over 70 (and insurance is likely invalid due to FCO advice)

[Burgmeister]

2 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

Is no one still holding out hope for holidays? 
 

I have about 5% hope left for my p&o April holiday and about 50% for Florida in May. 
 

there’s just no way of sustaining loss of revenue for these companies for such a long time. I’ll affect million of people just in the travel industry not to meantion the rest. 
 

I kinda feel like the panic and the crash in markets are going to impact us a hell of a lot and for a long time
 

 

Don't want to bring you down but, given the appearance of Mr Trump yesterday its looking very likely that the US will add the UK to the banned list. Also, advisors to the UK government expect that, when this thing really takes off in the UK, 95% (IIRC) of cases will be in a 9 week period which, if that started today, would take us up to mid May. Whether restrictions would be lifted in time for your holiday (or whether the situation in the US would be out of control) I'm not sure. Hopefully it will be fine for you.

 

Not holding out much hope for the people winning tickets on Ant and Dec's plane though!

[Burgmeister]

27 minutes ago, staygulf said:

Even if your cruise goes ahead there is nothing to stop you cancelling. The cancellation is not dependent on a letter, only the refund is. So you could cancel and still get the refund when your letter is available. 

Ah, OK thanks. I wasn't sure about whether you had to get the refund all sorted before your departure date.

[Vampiress88]

4 minutes ago, Burgmeister said:

Don't want to bring you down but, given the appearance of Mr Trump yesterday its looking very likely that the US will add the UK to the banned list. Also, advisors to the UK government expect that, when this thing really takes off in the UK, 95% (IIRC) of cases will be in a 9 week period which, if that started today, would take us up to mid May. Whether restrictions would be lifted in time for your holiday (or whether the situation in the US would be out of control) I'm not sure. Hopefully it will be fine for you.

 

Not holding out much hope for the people winning tickets on Ant and Dec's plane though!

gotta try and hold onto some hope 

 

virgin will let us transfer holiday (obviously it’s more expensive though) to end of September and Disney say they will do the same with our pass but hubby doesn’t want to do that. I just don’t know what to do for the best at all. 
 

seems like it’s all a game of chance at the moment and it’s depressing me so I’m trying to hold out the hope. 
 

ive already told the kids we can’t go on either holidays now. They said they are upset put we can go a different day. Just hoping it all blows over soon and I can surprise them. Cruise isn’t important but the Disney one is for us 

[dorsetlad]

21 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

Do we know for certain that P&O are offering refunds for over 70s cancelling?

Yes, they've offered it to me for our August Arcadia cruise.

[Mu22]

P&O Posted the following on Twitter this morning

 

 

 

Edited March 14, 2020 by Mu22

[indiana123]

Not just relevant to PO but generally, we have a question that we think is important regarding the logistics.

 

We think we may be missing something and you lot can sort it.

 

If we suspect we have it then we are being asked to self isolate and rightly so.  BUT we cant see anything saying it is compulsory to report it.  Therefore how can authorities know how many people locally, nationally or worldwide have it or what course it is taking?

 

 

[Burgmeister]

7 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

gotta try and hold onto some hope 

 

virgin will let us transfer holiday (obviously it’s more expensive though) to end of September and Disney say they will do the same with our pass but hubby doesn’t want to do that. I just don’t know what to do for the best at all. 
 

seems like it’s all a game of chance at the moment and it’s depressing me so I’m trying to hold out the hope. 
 

ive already told the kids we can’t go on either holidays now. They said they are upset put we can go a different day. Just hoping it all blows over soon and I can surprise them. Cruise isn’t important but the Disney one is for us 

Oh, absolutely you need to hold out hope. My daughter said yesterday that Disney was closing its Florida parks from tomorrow but I can't remember how long they have said the closure will be for. Presumably not long, at least initially.

[Vampiress88]

2 minutes ago, indiana123 said:

Not just relevant to PO but generally, we have a question that we think is important regarding the logistics.

 

We think we may be missing something and you lot can sort it.

 

If we suspect we have it then we are being asked to self isolate and rightly so.  BUT we cant see anything saying it is compulsory to report it.  Therefore how can authorities know how many people locally, nationally or worldwide have it or what course it is taking?

 

 

they don’t. They aren’t testing the masses for it so the mortality rate is based on the people confirmed have it. 
 

we could have had it before Christmas and not known. Lots were off with a “terrible cold” then. 
 

apparently experts in the USA were testing people who had died from what they wrote as pneumonia but they are finding the corona.   
 

Never know who to believe though. 

[Burgmeister]

5 minutes ago, indiana123 said:

Not just relevant to PO but generally, we have a question that we think is important regarding the logistics.

 

We think we may be missing something and you lot can sort it.

 

If we suspect we have it then we are being asked to self isolate and rightly so.  BUT we cant see anything saying it is compulsory to report it.  Therefore how can authorities know how many people locally, nationally or worldwide have it or what course it is taking?

 

 

This is definitely an issue. It would provide useful data for any future outbreaks of any virus if it were tracked properly. Unfortunately I think this is an opportunity missed

[AndyMichelle]

6 minutes ago, indiana123 said:

Not just relevant to PO but generally, we have a question that we think is important regarding the logistics.

 

We think we may be missing something and you lot can sort it.

 

If we suspect we have it then we are being asked to self isolate and rightly so.  BUT we cant see anything saying it is compulsory to report it.  Therefore how can authorities know how many people locally, nationally or worldwide have it or what course it is taking?

 

 

The guidelines seem to be, if you have symptoms, call 111 first, then self isolate. I guess that's where the numbers come from. 

Andy 

[Vampiress88]

1 minute ago, Burgmeister said:

Oh, absolutely you need to hold out hope. My daughter said yesterday that Disney was closing its Florida parks from tomorrow but I can't remember how long they have said the closure will be for. Presumably not long, at least initially.

yes they have closed Disney world a day after they did Disneyland. 
it’s till the end of March currently. Will all depend on if things get extended or not. Problem is no one knows. It could be weeks or months. Maybe the rate will slow like China is currently enough to resume and I suppose none of these companies want to close if they don’t have to. 
 

I wouldn’t be surprised if p&o only cancel

in blocks of two weeks as I would assume they can only shut the cruise up to the point the ports are closed. 

[Burgmeister]

26 minutes ago, Burgmeister said:

But, as far as I can tell, Carnival haven't cancelled Carnival cruises either so it's not just British passengers that are being singled out by the company.

 

 

Actually, it appears that they have suspended US operations as have RCCI I believe. But are RCCI (or anyone else for that matter) still operating out of Southampton or is P&O going it alone at the moment?

[Harry Peterson]

27 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

yes they have closed Disney world a day after they did Disneyland. 
it’s till the end of March currently. Will all depend on if things get extended or not. Problem is no one knows. It could be weeks or months. Maybe the rate will slow like China is currently enough to resume and I suppose none of these companies want to close if they don’t have to. 
 

I wouldn’t be surprised if p&o only cancel

in blocks of two weeks as I would assume they can only shut the cruise up to the point the ports are closed. 

This doesn't look like a matter of weeks, I'm afraid (unless the virus suddenly decides to go away).  More a matter of months.  I hope I'm wrong, but I can't see much prospect of any normality returning until at least September - and possibly even later than that.  Frankly, though, I'm far more worried about the NHS being unable to cope, as predicted by the PM, than travel.

 

Sir Patrick Vallance, the Government's chief scientific adviser, said the crisis in the UK could last as long as six months, from the point that "sustained person-to-person transmission" is confirmed. 

 

“You can think of it as roughly two to three months from an outbreak of sustained person-to-person transmission up to the peak - and two to three months after the peak to decline again is the timeline we would be thinking of.” 

Edited March 14, 2020 by Harry Peterson

[davecttr]

Have a look at this link I found yesterday. It explains what the government are doing but the Cobra press conference 'sombrero' graph did not have the blue line. I think the restrictions may last a very long time.

 

Apparently China is lifting restrictions slowly while building more critical care beds and converting factories to produce ventilators. Are they waiting for an effective vaccine?

 

www.ox.ac.uk/news/2020-03-09-individual-response-covid-19-important-government-action
 

Edited March 14, 2020 by davecttr

[indiana123]

Andy.. what prompted my question was we are sure we saw on TV  that we are not to call 111 unless we get bad respiratory symptoms or if we have  suspected symptoms that don't subside in seven days ie most cases unreported.

 

Did anyone else see it, or are we mistaken?

 

[isdoo]

25 minutes ago, Burgmeister said:

Actually, it appears that they have suspended US operations as have RCCI I believe. But are RCCI (or anyone else for that matter) still operating out of Southampton or is P&O going it alone at the moment?

 

Celebrity Apex is still scheduled to sail end of March, beginning of April from Southampton. 

Edited March 14, 2020 by isdoo

[davecttr]

2 minutes ago, indiana123 said:

Andy.. what prompted my question was we are sure we saw on TV  that we are not to call 111 unless we get bad respiratory symptoms or if we have  suspected symptoms that don't subside in seven days ie most cases unreported.

 

Did anyone else see it, or are we mistaken?

 

Yes, that is the advice I saw on the TV

 

Don't swamp 111 unless you are really ill.

[Javert1969]

1 hour ago, pinkpanther52 said:

Fred Olsen has taken the very sensible decision to cancel all cruise until the end of May.

 

Not sure why P and O will not do the same unless the management at Carnival don’t think UK cruisers are important. 

 

Thankfully I cancelled having only paid my deposit I can use it for up to a year on a new cruise but at the moment have absolutely NO inclination to do so.

 

Think P and O have lost a future customer 😡

 

Am I correct in thinking that the clause that you must take the FCO at least 48 hours in advance doesn't apply if you are over 70 or health conditions?  We are supposed to go on Ventura on Tuesday and I'm trying to figure out whether we have to call them today.

 

At this point, I guess I am 99% sure that all P&O cruises are being cancelled.  My view is that they are only announcing the cancellations at the last minute in the hope that people will take the credit offer in the meantime.

 

Either way, the official FCO webpage is pretty clear that if you have Asthma you are advised not to cruise, and according to my understanding that's enough to invalidate your travel insurance.  I spoke to a rather rude guy from my travel insurance company last night who initially told me, wrongly I suspect, that if we had paid the upgrade for the medical condition we could still go.  When I asked him if I would be insured if the FCO advised not to travel, he then sort of admitted that but told me I should get a refund directly from the holiday company and not to be bothering him - obviously he had had a bad day.

[Little Mell]

11 minutes ago, Javert1969 said:

 

Am I correct in thinking that the clause that you must take the FCO at least 48 hours in advance doesn't apply if you are over 70 or health conditions?  We are supposed to go on Ventura on Tuesday and I'm trying to figure out whether we have to call them today.

 

At this point, I guess I am 99% sure that all P&O cruises are being cancelled.  My view is that they are only announcing the cancellations at the last minute in the hope that people will take the credit offer in the meantime.

 

Either way, the official FCO webpage is pretty clear that if you have Asthma you are advised not to cruise, and according to my understanding that's enough to invalidate your travel insurance.  I spoke to a rather rude guy from my travel insurance company last night who initially told me, wrongly I suspect, that if we had paid the upgrade for the medical condition we could still go.  When I asked him if I would be insured if the FCO advised not to travel, he then sort of admitted that but told me I should get a refund directly from the holiday company and not to be bothering him - obviously he had had a bad day.

We are the same. Supposed to be travelling Tuesday on N004 and really need to call today. With the Spanish ports closed, and lisbon reportedly only allowing cruise ships to take on supplies, how can that not be a significant change to the itinerary? Only leaves 6 hours in Gibraltar as far as I can see.  P&O person told my husband yesterday it was still planned to go ahead

 

 

[kalos]

1 hour ago, Harry Peterson said:

I'm far more worried about the NHS being unable to cope, as predicted by the PM, than travel.

I think they will have to rethink of other ways to help the NHS.

Maybe for a few weeks make the pubs and clubs in our town centres go back to 11pm closing time.

This would free up a lot of the police and NHS time that is took up on Friday and Saturday nights up and down our

countries town's and city centres. It would not be a popular move for taxis,night takeaways etc but could be helpful

to our emergency  services.