The UK starts sailing in May...

[boscobeans]

After almost a year of government advice against cruise holidays, Maritime Minister Robert Courts this week put the industry on the same footing as domestic tourism, signalling a restart from English ports from May 17. 

[Ourusualbeach]

Being discussed in this thread all week. 

 

 

[heatherb1958]

Yes but the cruises lines  P&O/ Princess have cancelled international ports until September and only sailing round the UK  if sailing at all. It’s a start but think the uptake will be slow if pricing is hiked . 
We had our Anthem May cruise cancelled . RCI make no mention of doing British isles cruises.

Edited March 13, 2021 by heatherb1958

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

30 minutes ago, heatherb1958 said:

Yes but the cruises lines  P&O/ Princess have cancelled international ports until September and only sailing round the UK  if sailing at all. It’s a start but think the uptake will be slow if pricing is hiked . 
We had our Anthem May cruise cancelled . RCI make no mention of doing British isles cruises.

I cannot see many cruise lines bothering with U.K. only cruising . The cost of crewing up a ship must be enormous. Once you are past September the weather around the U.K. will not make cruising fun. We also had a Fiords cruise booked for late May which we have switched to late May 2022 although now only 3 ports of call instead of 4 for some unknown reason. 

[heatherb1958]

25 minutes ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said:

I cannot see many cruise lines bothering with U.K. only cruising . The cost of crewing up a ship must be enormous. Once you are past September the weather around the U.K. will not make cruising fun. We also had a Fiords cruise booked for late May which we have switched to late May 2022 although now only 3 ports of call instead of 4 for some unknown reason. 

Think we are on the same cruise then , Anthem 29th May 22 ? 😉. We went from 21st May this year with 4 ports reduced to 3 . Was a better itinerary this year but we couldn’t move to the 15th May 22 as otherwise engaged on a Greek island , 😆. 

There is a friendly social media group for it already . Maybe see you there . 
We have done a British isles cruise with MSC in the month of June , it was lovely with some nice surprises for us in our own country ! 😆. 
P&O have already advertised they are doing UK cruises just not the itineraries yet .

Edited March 13, 2021 by heatherb1958

[boscobeans]

Glad to see the Anthem will be sailing and hopefully when she cruises from Cape Liberty any kinks in the new protocol. IF ANY, will have been worked out to the satisfaction of the C.D.C. and the powers that be in New Jersey.

 

[heatherb1958]

On 3/13/2021 at 2:12 PM, boscobeans said:

Glad to see the Anthem will be sailing and hopefully when she cruises from Cape Liberty any kinks in the new protocol. IF ANY, will have been worked out to the satisfaction of the C.D.C. and the powers that be in New Jersey.

 

Anthem isn’t sailing and RCI have made no mention of doing any British isles cruises not that they can’t/won’t .

I remember when the Iceland volcanic ash cloud cancelled all flights , we were due on the repo cruise from Dubai to Barcelona , many people couldn’t get to the ship but it still had to sail the repo. A new 6 day itinerary appeared after a few days from Sharm el sheik to BCN , we even looked at re booking it but so not worth it , we claimed through insurance .My point is itineraries can be announced at a late stage if dock availability is there . 

[LXA350]

The Cruise industry will not prepare for something that might not happen due to changing developments with the Virus, further mutations etc. Hence only once the ban will be lifted on May 17th some cruise lines might consider to offer some cruises towards the end of summer from the UK. Assuming it takes 2-3 months to get a ship ready with all the logistics involved, possibly some cruises to nowhere or with UK ports might be happening as of August if at all.

[boogybaby]

Someone said Antham would take 8 weeks to get ready to sail so if the announcement on April 12th by Boris confirms holidays from May 17th we could sail in June, which would be brilliant as I’m booked on Antham 11th June, not giving up. Janice

[boscobeans]

2 hours ago, heatherb1958 said:

Anthem isn’t sailing and RCI have made no mention of doing any British isles cruises not that they can’t/won’t .

I remember when the Iceland volcanic ash cloud cancelled all flights , we were due on the repo cruise from Dubai to Barcelona , many people couldn’t get to the ship but it still had to sail the repo. A new 6 day itinerary appeared after a few days from Sharm el sheik to BCN , we even looked at re booking it but so not worth it , we claimed through insurance .My point is itineraries can be announced at a late stage if dock availability is there . 

So this is or has been cancelled ???

Edited March 14, 2021 by boscobeans
SORRY WRONG DATE...

[boscobeans]

9 minutes ago, boscobeans said:

S

 

[little britain]

36 minutes ago, boscobeans said:

 

No that cruise is not cancelled ( some people may add “yet”)

[RFerrington]

Jewel is doing a 12 night British Isles cruise August 19, 2022 but it does not originate in the UK.  It sails (RT) out of Amsterdam.  Really looking forward to this one.  I sure hope it sails.

[Goodtime Cruizin]

9 minutes ago, RFerrington said:

Jewel is doing a 12 night British Isles cruise August 19, 2022 but it does not originate in the UK.  It sails (RT) out of Amsterdam.  Really looking forward to this one.  I sure hope it sails.

 

Sure hope it sails too. That's along ways away yet so there is plenty of time to see how things shaske out. 

[heatherb1958]

Here is a current list from the BBC of what is happening in Europe right now . Any itinerary that includes these countries are highly unlikely to go ahead in Summer 2021 . As I have posted earlier P&O and Princess have cancelled all their sailings until end of September from the UK . RCI with MSC are the worst companies for making prompt announcements 😠.

I am a realist and will not book anything  new for this year .

 

Covid: How are European countries tackling the pandemic? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/explainers-53640249

Edited March 14, 2021 by heatherb1958

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

On 3/13/2021 at 11:40 AM, heatherb1958 said:

Think we are on the same cruise then , Anthem 29th May 22 ? 😉. We went from 21st May this year with 4 ports reduced to 3 . Was a better itinerary this year but we couldn’t move to the 15th May 22 as otherwise engaged on a Greek island , 😆. 

There is a friendly social media group for it already . Maybe see you there . 
We have done a British isles cruise with MSC in the month of June , it was lovely with some nice surprises for us in our own country ! 😆. 
P&O have already advertised they are doing UK cruises just not the itineraries yet .

Yes it’s the 29/05/22 cruise we have swapped to like you from 21/05/21. Can’t do the 15th May 2022 as we have a wedding to go to that weekend. Not sure why it’s only a 3 port cruise. Can I ask what port fees and taxes you have been quoted for the 29/05/22 as we have been told it will be more than the cancelled cruise despite having one less port.

[heatherb1958]

11 hours ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said:

Yes it’s the 29/05/22 cruise we have swapped to like you from 21/05/21. Can’t do the 15th May 2022 as we have a wedding to go to that weekend. Not sure why it’s only a 3 port cruise. Can I ask what port fees and taxes you have been quoted for the 29/05/22 as we have been told it will be more than the cancelled cruise despite having one less port.

This was discussed on the book face group. I saw that the taxes and fees are £112 for next year , ours were £75 for this year . As with all things in life prices can go up and down . 

[Shocked91]

21 hours ago, boscobeans said:

 

The May cruise is for May 2022 not this May

[HalifaxYorksCruiser]

4 hours ago, heatherb1958 said:

This was discussed on the book face group. I saw that the taxes and fees are £112 for next year , ours were £75 for this year . As with all things in life prices can go up and down . 

 

4 hours ago, heatherb1958 said:

This was discussed on the book face group. I saw that the taxes and fees are £112 for next year , ours were £75 for this year . As with all things in life prices can go up and down . 

I’m still waiting for a revised L&S invoice but was told that the port fees and taxes would be about £40pp more next year so your figures seem correct.

[heatherb1958]

3 hours ago, HalifaxYorksCruiser said:

 

I’m still waiting for a revised L&S invoice but was told that the port fees and taxes would be about £40pp more next year so your figures seem correct.

Same here , waiting for revised invoice . The cruise is showing in my online My cruise account so all is good 👍. 

[cublet]

Hello,

 

Out of season, but I bring you tidings of great joy - Portugal (including Madeira and the Azores) will be removed from the travel 'Red List' 4am Friday 19 March.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet

[livingonthebeach]

"Viking announced today that it will restart limited operations in May 2021 with three special sailings along the coast of England on the new Viking Venus, and only available to UK residents.

The new eight-day ocean itinerary—England's Scenic Shores—will sail roundtrip from Portsmouth, with departures on May 22, May 29 and June 5, 2021"

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24566-viking-to-cruise-from-uk-in-may-with-new-ship.html

[heatherb1958]

14 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

"Viking announced today that it will restart limited operations in May 2021 with three special sailings along the coast of England on the new Viking Venus, and only available to UK residents.

The new eight-day ocean itinerary—England's Scenic Shores—will sail roundtrip from Portsmouth, with departures on May 22, May 29 and June 5, 2021"

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24566-viking-to-cruise-from-uk-in-may-with-new-ship.html

Good news to see but they are way out of our budget 😞. We have good friends whose husband has been employed as a destination speaker  with Viking , they are from San Francisco .

[Biker19]

P&O Cruises is now offering a series of short breaks on the flagship Britannia in summer 2021 and week-long cruises on the new ship Iona. This was announced in a press release.

 

The cruises will depart from Southampton between June and September, sailing around the UK coast, “where the sun shines brightest,” the cruise line said. The guests will have to be fully-vaccinated UK residents.

 

“Given recent announcements, we have every hope that our guests will be able to enjoy a holiday this summer. After the stresses and challenges of the past year, everyone certainly deserves a treat and this series of cruises will provide memorable and much-needed UK getaways,” said P&O Cruises President Paul Ludlow.

 

“Whilst there is still uncertainty about holidays abroad this summer, we are delighted to be able to offer our guests the ultimate escape here in the UK with the reassurance that we will take care of everything. Also, we really will look at the weather forecast for each cruise and aim to take our ships where it is warm and sunny,” he added.

 

According to Ludlow, at the start of the Iona’s maiden seas, the Ultimate Escape series of holidays will include a seven-night maiden voyage sailing around the Scottish islands

“The Iona will anchor off Iona, the island after which she was named, with a celebratory extended stay until sunset for magical views of the historic shores,” Ludlow said.

 

The sailings will sail from Southampton. Guests will be offered gourmet dining and poolside bites, cocktails and coffees, shopping, spas, shows and endless sea views, P&O said.

 

The Britannia will offer three- and four-night breaks and one six-night holiday running from June 27, 2021, through to Sept. 19, 2021. Prices start from £449 per person.

 

The Iona offers seven-night itineraries running from Aug. 7, 2021, to Sept. 18, 2021. The Iona’s seven-night maiden voyage starts from £1,199 per person.

 

The cruise line said that given the advanced progress of the UK vaccination program and strongly expressed preference on the part of its guests for this series of UK coastal cruises, these sailings on the Britannia and the Iona will be for the UK resident COVID-19 vaccinated guests only. Travel insurance will also be mandatory for all guests.

 

All guests and crew will be required to follow enhanced health and wellbeing measures to protect everyone onboard on these cruises.

 

“As we have spent the majority of the last year at home, to be able to have a restorative and relaxing break, sit on deck with a sea view in the summer sunshine and then enjoy an indulgent dinner and show – it’s certainly what we all need this year and we cannot wait to have our guests back onboard,” Ludlow said.

 

P&O Announces UK Coastal Cruise Details, Sailing in June - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News

[heatherb1958]

The P&O cruises are being advertised as French Coastal and British coastal to make them sound appealing , literally cruising up an down the coast .I have only seen pricing for the inaugural Iona , way way too much for 7 nights going  no where in an inside cabin. Will be interesting to see what the other prices are. At the end of the day they are test/practice  cruises for the company to see how their protocols work onboard . I for one will not be a guinea pig, it has been a year since our last cruise , I think we can wait a few months more especially since we have UK land trips booked which I can’t wait for after 4 months of lockdown here in England .