Saga cruises says all customers must be vaccinated

[Ray66]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55738918

 

Anyone going on a Saga holiday or cruise in 2021 must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, the tour operator has said.

Saga, which specialises in holidays for the over-50s, said it wanted to protect customers' health and safety.

 

I wonder if other cruise lines will follow suit? Over 50's should have been vaccinated by end of April I think.

[Sekhmet]

I can confirm this - we have had a Saga cruise booked for quite a long time, which is due to sail in October this year, and have just had a letter spelling out the details.  A specific point is made that exemption from receiving the vaccine, as well as choosing not to be vaccinated will both mean not being allowed to cruise with Saga.  They also say that, in order to allow guests time to be fully vaccinated, their return to service had been pushed back from 3rd April to May/June.  The UK vaccination programme should mean that most eligible people will have been offered the vaccine by then.

[beardedladies]

You do also have to take into consideration their definition of "fully vaccinated" - that means both doses and then have 2 weeks after that (https://travel.saga.co.uk/travel-updates/cruise-coronavirus-vaccine.aspx).

Given the UK's policy of up to 12 weeks between doses, and those just over 50 not likely to get their first dose until April at best, those earlier cruises are going to be a gamble for a lot of people.

It'll be interesting to see what cruise lines that have a younger demographic, including children who won't get vaccinated, decide to do.

[jocap]

Our area is vaccinating 70s now...we received a call at the end of surgery today- if we could come immediately, we could have ours! Off we shot...🙂

Looking at the papers we've been given, this vaccine (Oxford astrazeneca) 2nd jab is to be given 4 to 12 weeks after, so that's April, plus 2 weeks... Hmm... it's manageable!  😊

[Bertie Doe]

On 1/21/2021 at 9:32 PM, jocap said:

 

Looking at the papers we've been given, this vaccine (Oxford astrazeneca) 2nd jab is to be given 4 to 12 weeks after, so that's April, plus 2 weeks... Hmm... it's manageable!  😊

 

Yes I'm in the 70+ group and got the NHS letter today. Went to their webpage and managed to grab the earliest spott available. It's tomorrow PM for the first, with the 2nd shot on 24th April. Nearest site was Plymouth Argyle football stadium, about 30 miles away. I could wait for my local GP to contact me but heaven knows when that'll be. Anyway it's a chance to visit my homebrew shop in Plymouth and top-up.

 

Problem is, there's nothing in the paperwork which suggests your appointment letter may get a stamp, to confirm vaccinations received. I suspect cruise lines will need some form of evidence??

[Ray66]

We got our shot on Friday.  Didn't expect ours till the middle of the month so I think our town must be ahead of some.  It was at our local town hall. We were given a small card  with our name, NHS number, date and time of appointment, type of vaccine (Oxford Astrazeneca) and batch number. We brought the card home so I expect that is proof enough.

I had mild flu-like symptoms at night. Wish I'd taken paracetamol as I couldn't sleep with aches.

In other news, I see Fred Olsen have extended their pause in operations until the end of June.

Edited February 4, 2021 by Ray66

[jocap]

Our surgery had run out of cards! They did give us sheets with batch numbers, dates etc, and should have cards by our 2nd jab. 

[Bertie Doe]

2 hours ago, Ray66 said:

We were given a small card  with our name, NHS number, date and time of appointment, type of vaccine (Oxford Astrazeneca) and batch number. We brought the card home so I expect that is proof enough.

 

Ah thanks Ray and Jocap, that's very reassuring.

[Bertie Doe]

On 2/4/2021 at 7:15 PM, Bertie Doe said:

 

Yes I'm in the 70+ group and got the NHS letter today. Went to their webpage and managed to grab the earliest spott available. It's tomorrow PM for the first, with the 2nd shot on 24th April. Nearest site was Plymouth Argyle football stadium, about 30 miles away. I could wait for my local GP to contact me but heaven knows when that'll be. Anyway it's a chance to visit my homebrew shop in Plymouth and top-up.

 

Problem is, there's nothing in the paperwork which suggests your appointment letter may get a stamp, to confirm vaccinations received. I suspect cruise lines will need some form of evidence??

My 4.15 pm vaccination was well organised by volunteers who kept the line socially distanced. We then went into a large marquee which resembled an airport 'check-in' with the line snaking backwards and forwards. A large space-heater kept the chill off the tent.

We were given plenty of info about the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. A short interview with a nurse and then guided towards about 6 cubicles were the jabs took place. I received a card with batch number, name and appointment dates on it. Hope this is sufficient to keep cruise and airlines happy.

When the 4.15 session ended I was told they'd treated 800 folk today, so I'll guess they'll hit a 1000 jabs by evening's end. No feeling of deadness in the arm, the only side effect was waking at 5.30 this morning with a feeling of nausea. This subsided after 30 seconds and I slept thru' till breakfast.

 

[Sekhmet]

Interesting to see that two (small) American operators have followed suit in making vaccinations mandatory:

 

"American Queen Steamboat Company and its sister company Victory Cruise Lines will become the first North American cruise operators to require all passengers to provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination as a condition for setting sail, beginning July 1, 2021."

Quoted from article on CruiseCritic

[Ray66]

The Transport Minister has said

 

He said the UK was talking to other countries about setting up an "international system" for checking if people have been tested or vaccinated.

But this should not be likened to a Covid "passport", Mr Shapps added.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56008363