Anthem UK cruises in the summer?

[Pandamonia]

4 hours ago, kernow said:

According to the P and O website their 7 night cruises start at £779 on Iona which is a brand new ship

. I guess if the prices are too high for the market they will fall.

 

They have already dropped the price then unless the media got it wrong who reported the prices at launch

[Guest BigRoger]

Yep just a bit of info.... note balcony cabins... makes me wonder if inside and ocean view are out as a default in favour of cabins with direct air flow:

 

The collection will include a series of short breaks, plus a 6-night voyage on P&O Cruises flagship, Britannia, and 7-night cruise holidays on P&O Cruises newest ship, Iona, fares starting from £771pp on a Balcony Fare, including the ‘very special’ maiden cruise departing on the 7 Aug 2021.

Sailings also include three and four night breaks on Britannia starting from £444pp.

No sign of £1,200 anywhere...

 

Note - also MSC have now announced they will sail from 20th May on series of UK passenger only range of short breaks and 7 night sailings.... they are NOT requiring passengers to be fully vaccinated.... suspect they won’t cost £1,200 for a week either knowing MSC

 

 

[little britain]

Sadly, no announcement today from Ben re Anthem restarting in Europe yet. 

They are 'evaluating the right thing to do'... and are very much aware of all the other lines throwing their hat in the UK ring. 

No update on vaccinations.

Children will be allowed to cruise - they will ensure there is a way.  They don't want to alienate a sector of their cruising family (like P&O!)

Load factors - UK government has said a limit of 1000 passengers from May 17th until  June 21st. This means Anthem would be at 25% capacity. Very light load!  Sunloungers for everyone!  They are limiting bookings at the moment so no chance of ships being over this capacity limit and people being bumped.

 

Masks will not be required when outside in socially distanced areas.

 

Ben is confident he will be seeing Anthem in Southampton this summer..just be patient.

 

 

Edited March 19, 2021 by little britain

[Ourusualbeach]

42 minutes ago, little britain said:

Sadly, no announcement today from Ben re Anthem restarting in Europe yet. 

They are 'evaluating the right thing to do'... and are very much aware of all the other lines throwing their hat in the UK ring. 

No update on vaccinations.

Children will be allowed to cruise - they will ensure there is a way.  They don't want to alienate a sector of their cruising family (like P&O!)

Load factors - UK government has said a limit of 1000 passengers from May 17th until  June 21st. This means Anthem would be at 25% capacity. Very light load!  Sunloungers for everyone!  They are limiting bookings at the moment so no chance of ships being over this capacity limit and people being bumped.

 

Masks will not be required when outside in socially distanced areas.

 

Ben is confident he will be seeing Anthem in Southampton this summer..just be patient.

 

 

Thanks for the update.

 

It still amazes me that governments  put restrictions in place based on hard numbers, I.e. 1000 as opposed to a % of the overall capacity.  Our government put a restriction on restaurants of 10 people dining inside.  This applied equally to a large restaurant that had 400 seats and to a smaller one that had 30 seats...crazy. 

Edited March 19, 2021 by Ourusualbeach

[Milwaukee Eight]

6 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Thanks for the update.

 

It still amazes me that governments  put restrictions in place based on hard numbers, I.e. 1000 as opposed to a % of the overall capacity.  Our government put a restriction on restaurants of 10 people dining inside.  This applied equally to a large restaurant that had 400 seats and to a smaller one that had 30 seats...crazy. 

But Governments know what is best. 😇

[little britain]

19 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Thanks for the update.

 

It still amazes me that governments  put restrictions in place based on hard numbers, I.e. 1000 as opposed to a % of the overall capacity.  Our government put a restriction on restaurants of 10 people dining inside.  This applied equally to a large restaurant that had 400 seats and to a smaller one that had 30 seats...crazy. 

He also said that each group has to have a test cruise so there will definitely be a test cruise from Southampton - it may be that Anthem and X do one each or one between them.

[cublet]

Hello,

 

What about spring sailings?

 

I ask as this morning I received an email from RCI reminding me to start my Odyssey's 2nd April ex Southampton check-in!🤣

 

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[Guest BigRoger]

Yep we were on the webinar and were frankly (just our own view and impression) a bit disheartened... we hadn’t expected it to be a case of ‘we are starting on...’ even though that’s what a lot of other lines have done... but we expected ‘great news is we are coming back and whilst I can’t give you exact details the broad direction will be....’ - it wasn’t that it was very much ‘we are still evaluating what suits our brand.... and can’t say more other than we will follow what each country government requires of us...’ (not saying that is at all wrong... we just hoped for a more positive message).... it was strongly just bear with us.... for how long.....

[RFerrington]

1 hour ago, cublet said:

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Laugh.  Crying doesn't help.  I know from experience....

[little britain]

21 minutes ago, BigRoger said:

Yep we were on the webinar and were frankly (just our own view and impression) a bit disheartened... we hadn’t expected it to be a case of ‘we are starting on...’ even though that’s what a lot of other lines have done... but we expected ‘great news is we are coming back and whilst I can’t give you exact details the broad direction will be....’ - it wasn’t that it was very much ‘we are still evaluating what suits our brand.... and can’t say more other than we will follow what each country government requires of us...’ (not saying that is at all wrong... we just hoped for a more positive message).... it was strongly just bear with us.... for how long.....

I totally agree. 
I got the impression they weren’t interested in the round Britain cruises ( shame as there are lots of places I’m ashamed to say I haven’t been to like Liverpool!); and were adamant they wanted to include kids. This seems to be limiting their opportunities.

 

 I had more confidence in Harmony out of Barcelona going if they can do a sort of air bridge bubble from UK to ship. 
I felt rather deflated. 

[Guest BigRoger]

9 minutes ago, little britain said:

I totally agree. 
I got the impression they weren’t interested in the round Britain cruises ( shame as there are lots of places I’m ashamed to say I haven’t been to like Liverpool!); and were adamant they wanted to include kids. This seems to be limiting their opportunities.

 

 I had more confidence in Harmony out of Barcelona going if they can do a sort of air bridge bubble from UK to ship. 
I felt rather deflated. 

Yep we were in exactly same space... we had asked a specific question in advance as to why BB felt there was as ‘limited appeal’ re UK waters cruises... clearly it didn’t make the cut as it never got aired.... We thought we might be reading too much into things but felt they didn’t like idea of only 1,000 passengers and were maybe holding out for med and fjord cruising later in the summer.... was a bit worried by reference to harmony from Barcelona as we are booked to go on her from Rome!!!!! (Thought it was just shorthand but who knows right now whether Italy will work out for them).... 

Edited March 19, 2021 by BigRoger

[FionaMG]

23 minutes ago, little britain said:

I had more confidence in Harmony out of Barcelona going if they can do a sort of air bridge bubble from UK to ship.

 

14 minutes ago, BigRoger said:

 was a bit worried by reference to harmony from Barcelona as we are booked to go on her from Rome!!!!! 

 

Can I ask what was said about Harmony? We are booked to sail on her from Barcelona at the end of September. Thanks.

[Guest BigRoger]

The context on Harmony was that BB was talking about the appetite of European nations for tourists this summer. He said he felt that Spain had a strong appetite but there would be challenges... he saw the potential of Harmony sailing from Barcelona this summer and used it as an example of how things might look differently when international flights open up as he could see the fly cruise market from UK to Barcelona Harmony starting up.

[little britain]

19 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

 

 

Can I ask what was said about Harmony? We are booked to sail on her from Barcelona at the end of September. Thanks.

Captain Johnny has tweeted that they’re bringing her over for dry dock and cruising! 
 

They seemed to imply they were looking at ways of getting British fly cruise passengers to the ship seamlessly so they don’t hit any quarantine requirements.

[ryansmum]

49 minutes ago, BigRoger said:

The context on Harmony was that BB was talking about the appetite of European nations for tourists this summer. He said he felt that Spain had a strong appetite but there would be challenges... he saw the potential of Harmony sailing from Barcelona this summer and used it as an example of how things might look differently when international flights open up as he could see the fly cruise market from UK to Barcelona Harmony starting up.

Thanks for this information.

 

We are currently booked b2b Harmony in July and October from Barcelona.  Really hoping this happens even if itinerary has to be changed.

[FionaMG]

Thanks @BigRoger and @little britain, that sounds quite hopeful.

 

It wouldn't bother me to have a modified itinerary, I would just really like to get away, and really we were going more for the ship than the ports anyway. We're in Portugal so could, at a push, drive to Barcelona.

 

My biggest concern is if they insist on all passengers being vaccinated as I'm not at all sure I will have been able to get it by the end of September, the way things are going here. 

[little britain]

@FionaMG Hi, have you seen Marc, the CDs announcement that he is returning to Harmony for European cruises? However his post had a pic of a red post box which is leading people to think she’ll be sailing from England.... but Gib has red post boxes too doesn’t it?

 

And for those who commented here that there was zero interest in round Britain cruises... apparently the P&O cruises are selling like hot cakes.  
IMHO, RCI are really missing a trick here to get sailing again with their insistence that they are family inclusive therefore kids must be allowed. 

[FionaMG]

5 minutes ago, little britain said:

@FionaMG Hi, have you seen Marc, the CDs announcement that he is returning to Harmony for European cruises? However his post had a pic of a red post box which is leading people to think she’ll be sailing from England.... but Gib has red post boxes too doesn’t it?

 

And for those who commented here that there was zero interest in round Britain cruises... apparently the P&O cruises are selling like hot cakes.  
IMHO, RCI are really missing a trick here to get sailing again with their insistence that they are family inclusive therefore kids must be allowed. 

 

Thanks for thinking of me @little britain 

 

I did indeed, and he said he hoped he would be seeing more of his mum, so I will now be watching on tenterhooks to see how it all pans out. Gib does have red post boxes, so perhaps they are looking at an itinerary that includes a stop there. I am of the opinion that local cruises will be the way to go at the start, so if Harmony continues to sail out of Barcelona that could mean an Iberian itinerary and Gib could certainly be a port of call on such an itinerary. I'd be perfectly happy with that. 

 

With Anthem sitting off the coast of England it seems that she would be the best ship to use for UK cruises, especially since she's built for dodgy weather. I agree 100% with you; in fact, I would be more than happy to do a round-Britain cruise and visit places I've not been to for years or not at all.

 

Interestingly, MSC have also said they'll be doing UK cruises but in their case vaccination will NOT be required. And given they've been successfully cruising since last year with testing and "bubbles" as their primary approach that could be a good option for families (and maybe for us too if I can't get my jab in time to go on Harmony!). I've sailed on MSC twice and would definitely consider them again as I feel they offer good value for money.

 

[kernow]

I hope RCL announces something from the UK soon, if not I think we'll be booking MSC when they come out.

[little britain]

3 minutes ago, kernow said:

I hope RCL announces something from the UK soon, if not I think we'll be booking MSC when they come out.

Ditto: if RCI don’t announce soon I’ll have to be booking MSC. Have sailed with them several times and have 2 booked. 
I’m not desperate enough to book P&O or FO (yet!!)

[kernow]

6 minutes ago, little britain said:

Ditto: if RCI don’t announce soon I’ll have to be booking MSC. Have sailed with them several times and have 2 booked. 
I’m not desperate enough to book P&O or FO (yet!!)

I thought about P&O but decided to wait.

[Guest BigRoger]

Yep totally with you guys.... couldn’t quite build up enough desperation to book P&O today but MSC is likely to be be a strong contender if nothing comes from RC in short order... do also quite like the Princess offering too but we’ve never done Princess and don’t really want to muddy our cruising by taking a liking to another cruise line! But cruising needs must....

 

Plus if rumours are to be believed the P&O bookings have been huge all day with a lot selling at or near to capacity already on day 1.... not sure how this links to ‘limited appeal’ of UK waters cruising quite unless the limited appeal is simply to RC as a brand... it seems that it certainly appeals to those who can cruise even if they are just sea days......

[Pandamonia]

1 hour ago, BigRoger said:

Yep totally with you guys.... couldn’t quite build up enough desperation to book P&O today but MSC is likely to be be a strong contender if nothing comes from RC in short order... do also quite like the Princess offering too but we’ve never done Princess and don’t really want to muddy our cruising by taking a liking to another cruise line! But cruising needs must....

 

Plus if rumours are to be believed the P&O bookings have been huge all day with a lot selling at or near to capacity already on day 1.... not sure how this links to ‘limited appeal’ of UK waters cruising quite unless the limited appeal is simply to RC as a brand... it seems that it certainly appeals to those who can cruise even if they are just sea days......

 

A CEO wont come out and say hes struggling to fill the ships. Given the lack of information about foreign holidays and the price of domestic stays these will probably not struggle, there doesnt seem to be capacity information either. There are probably enough 60+ year olds which are booked for their second jab by X date and they want to have a holiday of some kind. 

[Guest BigRoger]

11 hours ago, Pandamonia said:

 

A CEO wont come out and say hes struggling to fill the ships. Given the lack of information about foreign holidays and the price of domestic stays these will probably not struggle, there doesnt seem to be capacity information either. There are probably enough 60+ year olds which are booked for their second jab by X date and they want to have a holiday of some kind. 

 

Huzzah.... I agree with you.... with slight exceptions being that if the press releases, website crashes and TA commentaries are anything to go by I don't think there was any fear yesterday of the P&O leadership having to cover themselves...  Its over 50's too as a definite... they can book in for even their second jabs by mid June in (at least some) areas..... its a lot of adults who will be fully vaccinated..... over 40's though who knows

[kernow]

Judging by many comments by people trying to book on UK based forums/groups yesterday I have no doubt that the P and O cruises are very popular,. With the news this morning that we are probably not going to be allowed any foreign travel until at least July I think there is going to be even more demand. RCL must be crazy if they don't go for it.