Silhouette around Britain staycruisecations

[Spike11]

9 minutes ago, TobyTykes said:

First time cruise no experience whatsoever but we’re sailing on the 3rd July but a nightmare this past week. After many frantic phone calls and emails to my celebrity agent, round and round with Eurofins…left hand doesn’t know what right hand is doing. Even the celebrity agent said that it was a mess regarding the Eurofins subcontract to undertake the free PCR. Processes are not in place wrong details on the TrustOne app to book your appointment,

venues not aware that customers booking appointments and not the opening times of the contracts signed. I can’t explain how much stress and anxiety this PCR booking process as caused and still no emails coming out of celebrity to confirm what is going on. Fingers crossed the Eurofins staff will be at venue next Wednesday for our PCR test. 

It’s such a shame that Celebrity have let themselves down on the testing debacle. We still don’t know why they are insisting on the PCR test for the vaccinated, when they aren’t even doing this in their “home” country - USA. Anyway, if we do eventually get on board I am sure you will find that the on ship service is so much better than what you have experienced so far. We have been on many cruises with several cruise lines and have never experienced anything as bad as this pre-cruise experience - I suspect that many working at the Celebrity UK office are embarrassed by this incompetence. 

[TobyTykes]

30 minutes ago, Spike11 said:

It’s such a shame that Celebrity have let themselves down on the testing debacle. We still don’t know why they are insisting on the PCR test for the vaccinated, when they aren’t even doing this in their “home” country - USA. Anyway, if we do eventually get on board I am sure you will find that the on ship service is so much better than what you have experienced so far. We have been on many cruises with several cruise lines and have never experienced anything as bad as this pre-cruise experience - I suspect that many working at the Celebrity UK office are embarrassed by this incompetence. 

I feel for the celebrity booking agents as they are taking the brunt of customer frustrations. It’s not in their control and likewise with oneself. Just debating to book a paid for PCR just in case it goes belly up.We want this cruise to be a memorable one as it’s our 20th wedding anniversary. We have no idea on cabins but booked the sunset suite with access to the retreat club. Hope to meet fellow passengers on this guinea pig cruise (previous comment) so to speak 

[mrsgoggins]

10 hours ago, york survey said:

Just noticed that all the cruises from Southampton up to the 14th August sailing have now been removed from their website and can no longer be booked.

 

Might be one of their many web problems but if not it looks like they have reached capacity (whatever that is). I see MSC got into problems by overbooking and would guess Celebrity want to avoid that.  Looked the other day and there was a LOT of availability in all but suites so there is no way they are sold out!

We are booked on 23rd July cruise and our agent at Celebrity informed me today in response to a query, that the cruise was now sold out.

 

I also think the July cruises  have been taken off sale to avoid any problems should the next ‘open up’ date not happen.

[teabear]

20 hours ago, Spike11 said:

Thanks - and when was it due to take place please?

July 1st at 17:00 - 18:00

[downsmead]

I have moved my Eurofins booking and my back up Boots booking to the Wednesday before we sail on the Saturday as Celebrity has confirmed the 3 days. I was a bit concerned that if Eurofins are only collecting at 5pm on the testing days, then it left time tight to ensure a result was back by the Saturday. 

[Mim Lloyd]

As we're all British staying in UK waters, is travel insurance necessary? My husband and I already have it but my son and his family don't.

[upwarduk]

7 minutes ago, Mim Lloyd said:

As we're all British staying in UK waters, is travel insurance necessary? My husband and I already have it but my son and his family don't.

I was told we needed it when I asked when we booked.

We used Staysure ( good if you have pre existing conditions) and they confirmed yes, in case we had to cancel due to COVID.

[laslomas]

2 minutes ago, Mim Lloyd said:

As we're all British staying in UK waters, is travel insurance necessary? My husband and I already have it but my son and his family don't.

It would be best to confirm with Celebrity. We may be in Irish waters for part of the cruise. I was informed this morning via Celebrity Cruises FB Page that it was required. I did point out to them that there was no mention of Travel Insurance on their latest Southampton Travel Requirements (23rd June).

 

I have an annual policy (Staysure) so like you I'm OK. Mine includes cruise cover so pays out for missed ports, itinerary changes and cabin confinement too. 

 

The biggest problem would be if one fell ill and needed a medical evacuation which can cost thousands of pounds. Better safe than sorry. 

[downsmead]

Plus if you need medical treatment on board, insurance will cover this. You need to have insurance to cover Europe otherwise the on board medical expenses are not covered since if you just do U.K., the insurance companies assume that the NHS will cover you, which does not apply on a ship.

Interestingly the other companies sailing U.K. waters are being very particular with regards to insurance requiring a 2 million coverage. There are many threads with regards to this on the P&O, Cunard and Princess forums. Let’s hope that this is something that Celebrity has not overlooked and we will be hit with this next 🤷‍♀️.

Edited June 25, 2021 by downsmead

[laslomas]

I think Celebrity are so focussed on the dratted PCR tests, they have forgotten about it!!

[38anchor]

37 minutes ago, Mim Lloyd said:

As we're all British staying in UK waters, is travel insurance necessary? My husband and I already have it but my son and his family don't.

Yes, and it needs additional UK cruise cover apparently. We checked with the Celebrity booking agent when we booked. International cruise cover isn't enough apparently - madness!!!! We have a Nationwide account and UK additional cover is included. We have printed it out already to take with us as apparently other cruise companies have wanted to see proof of this prior to boarding and has caused some issue. Celebrity haven't said they need to see the proof, but with their lack of clarity on what is required and abysmal communications we are not taking any chances.

[little britain]

25 minutes ago, downsmead said:

Plus if you need medical treatment on board, insurance will cover this. You need to have insurance to cover Europe otherwise the on board medical expenses are not covered since if you just do U.K., the insurance companies assume that the NHS will cover you, which does not apply on a ship.

Interestingly the other companies sailing U.K. waters are being very particular with regards to insurance requiring a 2 million coverage. There are many threads with regards to this on the P&O, Cunard and Princess forums. Let’s hope that this is something that Celebrity has not overlooked and we will be hit with this next 🤷‍♀️.

Insurance cover was the hot topic on the MSC boards. Each document was inspected at port, before you had even checked in; you had to have COVID cover specified.  We went with Staysure and threw in the cruise plus cover too just to make sure.  Staysure will also sent you a (free) personalised letter to confirm you are covered for these UK seacations. 
 

I also find it strange that it is not mentioned as being required on X or RCI documents 

Edited June 25, 2021 by little britain

[downsmead]

25 minutes ago, little britain said:

 

I also find it strange that it is not mentioned as being required on X or RCI documents 

🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫🤫

[Mim Lloyd]

Yes, I can't find it mentioned anywhere in our cruise documentation. I'm going to tell my son to get it to be sure, don't want to turn up at the pier to find out we're not allowed to board!

[Mim Lloyd]

I tweeted Celebrity a bit earlier to see what they say and this is what they replied with. So even though they say it's not compulsory my son has taken out a Staysure policy for the cruise. It only cost £20.08 for the 5 of them and includes gadget cover ( 2 of the kids have iPads/tablets and a Nintendo Switch).

[laslomas]

31 minutes ago, Mim Lloyd said:

I tweeted Celebrity a bit earlier to see what they say and this is what they replied with. So even though they say it's not compulsory my son has taken out a Staysure policy for the cruise. It only cost £20.08 for the 5 of them and includes gadget cover ( 2 of the kids have iPads/tablets and a Nintendo Switch).

I hate that you get different information depending who answers the query.

 

I was told it was required, by Sam on Facebook (Celebrity Cruises UK) 

[downsmead]

Wow! Mind you that is from Jack 😂

[delondin]

I had a phone call from Eurofins today regarding my Pcr and TrustOne app saying I can only book in Singapore. She was nice but no actual help. I wonder did we register wrong. We clicked on the Royal CAribbean travel which brought up our sailing details. Was this wrong?

[dalesmouse]

17 minutes ago, downsmead said:

Wow! Mind you that is from Jack 😂

😂😂😂

[Wichenford Wolf]

6 hours ago, little britain said:

Insurance cover was the hot topic on the MSC boards. Each document was inspected at port, before you had even checked in; you had to have COVID cover specified.  We went with Staysure and threw in the cruise plus cover too just to make sure.  Staysure will also sent you a (free) personalised letter to confirm you are covered for these UK seacations. 
 

I also find it strange that it is not mentioned as being required on X or RCI documents 

If you need medical attention on board, it is very expensive. You have to settle the bill before you get off but you will be grateful that you can recover the money from your insurance. 
 

As has been mentioned, if you are insured with Nationwide (as my wife is), they have extended their policies to cover these cruises without any action required from policy holders. If you are with Staysure (as I am), you need to contact them and they will send you an endorsement to your policy to cover these UK cruises.

[ighten]

Another thing on top of the normal medical costs etc is If you need to be airlifted from a cruise ship for an emergency that is your cost even if in UK waters.. BUT weirdly most insurance policys dont include it if you never leave UK waters.. Not normally an issue as in the past a UK cruise would call in the republic, France, Norway etc but these are not so you must read the terms carefully.. This and the amounts is being either checked by  other operators (MSC) or insisted on (Carnivals P&O and Cunard so they have no liability) - if you already have a policy but notice in the terms there's no cover if you dont leave UK waters just give the company a call - ours simply sent a new amended cover letter for the annual policy

[downsmead]

I noticed on the app that the ship’s time is the same as ours now, so checked where she was. 

[38anchor]

We have just cancelled our Eurofins test for your July 17th Sailing. As a back up I thought I would look to see where was available in Southampton (just in case our private test came back inconclusive) and wow... the location choice has been dramatically reduced... I think there was originally over 30 options in the NW alone and now there are 2 (leyland and Liverpool), 2 in Yorkshire & Humber, 1 in Scotland, 2 in South East, 1 in Wales and 4 in London.

 

Thats a grand total of 12 testing sites in the whole of Great Britain!!!!!!!

 

Bearing in mind that is not filtered by any dates or times I do think that something must be afoot. Makes me thankful I have booked privately as doesn't instil any confidence that the test I had originally booked would go ahead (since its no longer a location).

[LifeonMars]

14 hours ago, ighten said:

Another thing on top of the normal medical costs etc is If you need to be airlifted from a cruise ship for an emergency that is your cost even if in UK waters.. BUT weirdly most insurance policys dont include it if you never leave UK waters.. Not normally an issue as in the past a UK cruise would call in the republic, France, Norway etc but these are not so you must read the terms carefully.. This and the amounts is being either checked by  other operators (MSC) or insisted on (Carnivals P&O and Cunard so they have no liability) - if you already have a policy but notice in the terms there's no cover if you dont leave UK waters just give the company a call - ours simply sent a new amended cover letter for the annual policy

 

Cover for you which uses AXA Travel Insurance also cover  UK staycations and UK Cruises to no were with corresponding downloadable letters showing Covid cover and medivac expenses, all our policies include up to £15 million of cover for on board emergency medical costs including the costs of repatriation (emergency evacuation) where medically necessary. This applies for all cruises including a UK 'Cruise to nowhere'* or a UK 'Coastal Cruise'**

https://www.coverforyou.com/faqs_travel.php#am-i-covered-for-a-cruise

 

Edited June 26, 2021 by LifeonMars

[little britain]

You would think that a company providing testing for a ship sailing from Southampton would have a testing facility in Southampton wouldn’t you 🤷‍♀️
 

@38anchor I think there is a glitch with your search, I’m still seeing 15 venues in the NW.