P&O please enlighten us with your plans for social distancing

[royallondon]

Whenever P&O issue their revised protocols, these could change significantly should just 1 person on board show any COVID symptoms.  With the possibility of ports denying docking etc, the risk for us unfortunately is too high to resume cruising.

 

Regards

 

 

[ToxM]

It does make me giggle at people demanding to know what is going to be happening in 3/4 months time right now. Imagine back in March making the same demands of now?

 

We are in unprecedented times, I am surprised people are still unable to grasp that fact. 

 

Whilst it would be lovely for P&O to be able to manage your expectations, in this case I very much doubt they are able to tell you much, least of which is if your cruise is even going to go ahead. 

[Josy1953]

1 hour ago, Manx buoy said:

Why didn’t you transfer the deposit to another cruise in the future that’s what we done for our Nov/Dec B2Bs gives things more of a chance to get sorted🤞

We have next year's cruises booked and don't want to look at 2022 yet.

[Converted to cruising]

Exactly.....you just have to go with a positive and open mind and accept what is put in place or wait until you see what the changes are and then decide. Nobody has a crystal ball.... 😄🚢

[wowzz]

6 hours ago, lujaha said:

We are off in our caravan next Tuesday, just down to the South Coast.  We are self contained and will take all precautions when filling with water and emptying toilet.  We have not been in any shops yet, and will limit this to necessities, I think.  If there is a pub serving meals outdoors, we may do that, but will not go inside.  I think we will be ok, can't think of any other holiday that will be any safer.  We have however transferred our November cruise to same next year.  We have another end of January to decide on later.  I think all the restrictions that cruises must have to keep people safe will spoil most of the enjoyment we find in a cruise.  Hope and pray for a vaccine so we can once again experience a carefree cruise.

Whilst I totally accept your point of view, unless you have serious health problems I do think you are being a little overly cautious.

[wowzz]

5 hours ago, Josy1953 said:

taken the hit of losing the deposit  because having no idea of what sort of restrictions may or may not be in place

Why didn't you just transfer your deposit to an early  2022 cruise,  which you can then transfer to a later 2022 or 2023 cruise when the new schedule comes out?

[wowzz]

3 hours ago, Josy1953 said:

We have next year's cruises booked and don't want to look at 2022 yet.

What have you got to lose? 

[wowzz]

6 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

We made a very special friend on a cruise who will still cruise with, but in general I don't think we are there to make new friends.  Have enjoyed many a good dinner with new people, good conversation, but that's where it stays.

 

Totally agree. My feeling is that however well you might get on with people you meet on a cruise, how many of them would you invite to stay in your house for a week?

 

[Captain Rob]

If cruise lines published the maximum capacity for a particular cruse it would probably give confidence to passengers to book. I would not book Iona if it was fast approaching 100%.

[ToxM]

7 minutes ago, Captain Rob said:

If cruise lines published the maximum capacity for a particular cruse it would probably give confidence to passengers to book. I would not book Iona if it was fast approaching 100%.

 

Probably exactly the reason they aren’t. 

 

It is possible if you know the name of the Derbyshire based Town TA to gauge the level of cabins booked for any particular cruise.

 

Also doing a dummy booking on the P&O site will give you an idea - but it is a bit more of a faff. 

 

 

[Ilovemygarden]

23 hours ago, Denarius said:

Horses for courses.

I recognise that there are those who like to keep themselves to themselves and are not interested in socialising with their fellow pasengers. I also believe that they are very much in the minority, and that for most cruisers the social life onboard is an important aspect of cruising. None more so than for solo passengers like myself. Were I still to be sailing with my late partner, being forced to keep our own company might have been just about acceptable if the itinerary was attractive enough to compensate. But the prospect of dining alone on a table for one every evening and being forbidden to socialise afterwards holds no attractions whatsoever. I need to know what I letting myself in for, and that it will be a holiday not an ordeal,  before I pay my balance. And unless I know, I will not do so and will forfiet my (£50) deposit.

Totally agree. Going solo would be pretty miserable - I shall be thinking very carefully before paying the balance on my January cruise on Britannia.  

[No pager thank you]

A number of fair points made on this thread so far, I would like to pick up on three please:

 

1) Cruising is currently 15 weeks away, but some people with TA bookings are being asked to make decisions about final balances from now.  For direct bookings this is in approximately 3 weeks time, so an outline of P&O's thinking would be helpful, bearing in mind that passengers have to take significant financial decisions from now.

 

2) A lot can and will happen in 15 weeks, correct.  However, a few weeks ago, Costa produced some information about its expected cruise experience for customers.  Also, looking at the contributions to the recent EU / CLIA document, you will see that the Carnival brand has been heavily consulted / engaged.  So there is a detailed outline framework to start from, even if exact applied details are unclear.  Given the air bridges, P&O is going to lose our quickly to staycation and traditional air travel unless it moves fast.

 

3) Some details are in P&O's understanding now, irrespective of the 15 week crystal ball. For instance, do they expect to be travelling with 100% capacity on all ships upon any restart (reference Costa document and the plan to quarantine up to 5% plus of passengers and crew)?  If they do not, then they are able to advise whether overbooking will be a problem and if some "cull" in numbers will be needed 12 weeks out, when most/all will have paid balances, and show therefore an intention to cruise, if conditions are safe.  This includes staggering cruises i.e. beyond Azura and Britannia in the Caribbean.

 

The absence of this indicative information is a problem, now.  Once again, poor communication from P&O.  Even negative communication is better than none on this subject.

 

A final plea: the bearer of the news when it comes to be someone different than either Mr. Ludlow or the quizmaster!

[AndyMichelle]

What do you want them to say? 

Any plans announced 15 weeks ago would be unusable now, so the same applies for 15 weeks time... 

They will be hoping the guidelines talked about now will be substantially relaxed by October. 

The ones who will sail no matter what will pay their balances, the others will move to a later date if any doubt. 

You are dealing with an industry fighting for its life, they are not going to make announcements that could be detrimental... 

Andy 

 

[ToxM]

25 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

What do you want them to say? 

Any plans announced 15 weeks ago would be unusable now, so the same applies for 15 weeks time... 

They will be hoping the guidelines talked about now will be substantially relaxed by October. 

The ones who will sail no matter what will pay their balances, the others will move to a later date if any doubt. 

You are dealing with an industry fighting for its life, they are not going to make announcements that could be detrimental... 

Andy 

 

 

I would hope that once P&O do make a decision about what is going to happen on their ships they make it very clear this they keyword is fluidity of guidance, that things can change because the situation IS fluid as well. 

 

It might also be a good idea to not penalise people who wish to cancel or change their booking if they feel uncomfortable with the guidelines for how things will be on board immediately prior to the commencement of their cruise. 

 

It’s going to take a few settling in voyages before P&O know what is working and what isn’t and what is safe and what isn’t. Once again this is an unprecedented situation and as we are seeing around the world what’s was fine one week is no longer fine or safe. 

 

The virus really does still very much have the upper hand. 

[zap99]

17 hours ago, wowzz said:

Totally agree. My feeling is that however well you might get on with people you meet on a cruise, how many of them would you invite to stay in your house for a week?

 

My DW may invite Gary.😂

[zap99]

6 minutes ago, ToxM said:

 

I would hope that once P&O do make a decision about what is going to happen on their ships they make it very clear this they keyword is fluidity of guidance, that things can change because the situation IS fluid as well. 

 

It might also be a good idea to not penalise people who wish to cancel or change their booking if they feel uncomfortable with the guidelines for how things will be on board immediately prior to the commencement of their cruise. 

 

It’s going to take a few settling in voyages before P&O know what is working and what isn’t and what is safe and what isn’t. Once again this is an unprecedented situation and as we are seeing around the world what’s was fine one week is no longer fine or safe. 

 

The virus really does still very much have the upper hand. 

Agreed. One of the steps in any procedure is review. That is standard. If not events will pass you by and make your procedure ineffective.

 

[No pager thank you]

51 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

What do you want them to say? 

Any plans announced 15 weeks ago would be unusable now, so the same applies for 15 weeks time... 

They will be hoping the guidelines talked about now will be substantially relaxed by October. 

The ones who will sail no matter what will pay their balances, the others will move to a later date if any doubt. 

You are dealing with an industry fighting for its life, they are not going to make announcements that could be detrimental... 

Andy 

 

To be fair, if Costa was able to release information several weeks ago, faced with the same survival constraints, then it is possible for P&O to say something more than nothing. 

 

Personally I feel that providing a broad outline, subject to change, and reassurances to passengers who may feel unsure, would be a positive, not detrimental step for P&O to take.

[Chrisdriving]

At least bring back the relaxed customer cancellation options.

 

It may persuade some of us sat on the fence with a balance to pay soon to part with our money which i am sure would help P and O s cashflow.

Edited July 4, 2020 by Chrisdriving

[wowzz]

11 minutes ago, No pager thank you said:

To be fair, if Costa was able to release information several weeks ago, faced with the same survival constraints, then it is possible for P&O to say something more than nothing. 

 

Personally I feel that providing a broad outline, subject to change, and reassurances to passengers who may feel unsure, would be a positive, not detrimental step for P&O to take.

Although the Costa release said very little in concrete terms. No mention of masks, or by how much passenger numbers would be cut.

[AndyMichelle]

14 minutes ago, No pager thank you said:

To be fair, if Costa was able to release information several weeks ago, faced with the same survival constraints, then it is possible for P&O to say something more than nothing. 

 

Personally I feel that providing a broad outline, subject to change, and reassurances to passengers who may feel unsure, would be a positive, not detrimental step for P&O to take.

The Costa statement means nothing.. 

So much will change in the coming months. 

I can't see the point in making speculative comments that will have no bearing. 

It could have the opposite effect, being accused of unnecessary scare mongering or made up promises, they will get criticised either way. 

The truth is, they don't know, none of us do. 

I would expect some sort of vague statement, but I can't see how we can expect anything else. 

Andy 

[No pager thank you]

3 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Although the Costa release said very little in concrete terms. No mention of masks, or by how much passenger numbers would be cut.

True Wowzz, the possibility of a passenger cut is one of the key points which needs to be addressed.  I don't know if the limited statement that Costa put out either helped or hindered them, personally wouldn't travel with them anyway as I don't like what I read of them pretty consistently; maybe that was a test?

 

I just recall how many people liked Mr. Ludlow's videos and couldn't thank him enough for saying not a lot on the same topic and giving out the corporate line of refunds etc.  Sometimes saying a little suggests to some that you care about issues which are of concern to passengers, provided that you do not mislead?

 

I am not part of the Mr. Ludlow appreciation group, but then again, I am more skeptical of P&O anyway currently, along with most commentators on here 😉

[No pager thank you]

8 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

The Costa statement means nothing.. 

So much will change in the coming months. 

I can't see the point in making speculative comments that will have no bearing. 

It could have the opposite effect, being accused of unnecessary scare mongering or made up promises, they will get criticised either way. 

The truth is, they don't know, none of us do. 

I would expect some sort of vague statement, but I can't see how we can expect anything else. 

Andy 

Fair points Andy.  To a point they are damned either way, but the EU/CLIA document (which they co-authored) very recently suggests that there is a lot of detail believed known and it's pretty comprehensive of its coverage of adaptions on board ship operations.  CLIA have welcomed this as a plan to work to.  A few smaller lines are cruising now.

 

By not providing any information, of course rumour and supposition spreads.  Rumours, in the current climate, have a tendency to default towards negatives.  Negatives could lead to more deferred bookings based on working backwards from the worst case scenario; so it becomes a self defeating strategy to keep schtum.  They do have an opportunity, even in vagueness, to offer reasonable hope.

 

I understand that 80%+ of the public apparently supports more lockdown if necessary.  It would be reasonable to say that passengers are ready for negativity if it arrives but may benefit from seeing a brighter path laid out, as might P&O. 

 

Ultimately, if passengers aren't going to tolerate some changes to the on board experience, then that is very likely to be the same in October as it is now.

[terrierjohn]

1 hour ago, No pager thank you said:

To be fair, if Costa was able to release information several weeks ago, faced with the same survival constraints, then it is possible for P&O to say something more than nothing. 

 

Personally I feel that providing a broad outline, subject to change, and reassurances to passengers who may feel unsure, would be a positive, not detrimental step for P&O to take.

TBH Costa can say what they like, but they know their predominantly Italian passengers won't take any notice anyway. Rather differently AIDA can  issue early guidelines, in the knowledge their mainly German passengers will do what they say.

Poor old P&O have complaining Brits to contend with  who can never agree on anything.😉

Edited July 4, 2020 by terrierjohn

[AndyMichelle]

30 minutes ago, No pager thank you said:

 

 

Ultimately, if passengers aren't going to tolerate some changes to the on board experience, then that is very likely to be the same in October as it is now.

Everybody is ready for some changes, it depends on the severity. 

The ones who won't tolerate any change have already moved their cruises. 

Things that are in place today will not be relevant, better or worse, in 4 months time... 

So plans made today will probably not apply... 

So, back to the original point, a statement would only be guess work... 

15 weeks ago, many passengers were still on cruises, who could have predicted what happened next.. 

Andy 

 

 

[No pager thank you]

31 minutes ago, AndyMichelle said:

Everybody is ready for some changes, it depends on the severity. 

The ones who won't tolerate any change have already moved their cruises. 

Things that are in place today will not be relevant, better or worse, in 4 months time... 

So plans made today will probably not apply... 

So, back to the original point, a statement would only be guess work... 

15 weeks ago, many passengers were still on cruises, who could have predicted what happened next.. 

Andy 

 

 

True. 15 weeks feels almost like a new era at the moment.  

 

A few savvy people who don't want FCCs will be holding out for cash refunds on their deposits, hoping P&O cancel before their balances are due.

 

They won't be moving cruises, as they will be in the 30 plus percent group that currently don't want to travel again, full stop - some for years, vaccine or no vaccine, and will be booking land based holidays.  They will be joined by those who don't like the direction of the brand, loss of smaller ships, and have been fed up with refunds etc.

 

Of the others, not everyone is wanting to be logical and wanting to connect dots, or work through ambiguity for themselves.  Too much going on for them at the moment.  Not everyone watched ITV this week.  Some people do hang on P&Os words.  That's the group, and I appreciate that they are less likely to be the Cruise Critiquers (sorry if that's too much of a generalisation) who may be helped I think, and where I see this slightly differently.  They are also the group who are more likely to accept the goalposts moving.

 

It does feel to be a near certainty that no population wide therapeutic or vaccine will be available and administered within 15 weeks, and the same is true of social distancing.  The needs for adjustments are almost definitely not going to lapse fully within 15 weeks, even in a hopeful climate; beyond a miracle.  Kind of wish we could start 2020 again!

 

There are a range of good and bad possibilities in between; but perhaps something pragmatic and positively framed might lift spirits and help the group I mentioned, to P&Os benefit.