UK staycation cruises...independent tours

[rachiem]

Picking up from another thread (and being told when I booked 2 weeks ago) have the guidelines changed re touring on your own?

The new protocols on Celebrity suggest that you can if the port allows https://www.celebritycruises.com/gb/health-and-safety

I assume that these are up to date as it mentions the US change for the PCR testing starting Aug 1st.

Any ideas??

[phoenix1975]

Unfortunately, the UK page on the Celebrity website, still says we can't go ashore independently 😞

https://www.celebritycruises.com/gb/healthy-at-sea/uk-travel-requirements

[rachiem]

2 minutes ago, phoenix1975 said:

Unfortunately, the UK page on the Celebrity website, still says we can't go ashore independently 😞

https://www.celebritycruises.com/gb/healthy-at-sea/uk-travel-requirements

Strange as if you go through the link they state that UK, you can. It was updated yesterday I believe...I'm hoping that the UK have yet to update their site???

[phoenix1975]

From what I've read, it only says if the port allows it - but I haven't found any guidance anywhere to say which ports do/do not allow it or what will trigger a change in government/Celebrity Cruises policy.

 

I'm going on the 21st August and would like to go ashore independently but I don't hold out a lot of hope at the moment.

[rachiem]

14 minutes ago, phoenix1975 said:

From what I've read, it only says if the port allows it - but I haven't found any guidance anywhere to say which ports do/do not allow it or what will trigger a change in government/Celebrity Cruises policy.

 

I'm going on the 21st August and would like to go ashore independently but I don't hold out a lot of hope at the moment.

I know...wishful thinking but saying that, I think Celebrity offer good tours (especially compared to the Viking and MSC ones that we've done in the last couple of months)

[the penguins]

3 hours ago, rachiem said:

Strange as if you go through the link they state that UK, you can. It was updated yesterday I believe...I'm hoping that the UK have yet to update their site???

The cruise that sailed today is still Celebrity tours only. We are on the next sailing and despite having a specific email from the Port Authority in Orkney saying we can get off independently Celebrity say we can't. We are treating the cruise as a Transatlantic I.e. no ports.

[rachiem]

1 minute ago, the penguins said:

The cruise that sailed today is still Celebrity tours only. We are on the next sailing and despite having a specific email from the Port Authority in Orkney saying we can get off independently Celebrity say we can't. We are treating the cruise as a Transatlantic I.e. no ports.

That's annoying 😩

[Bretty]

5 hours ago, rachiem said:

Picking up from another thread (and being told when I booked 2 weeks ago) have the guidelines changed re touring on your own?

The new protocols on Celebrity suggest that you can if the port allows https://www.celebritycruises.com/gb/health-and-safety

I assume that these are up to date as it mentions the US change for the PCR testing starting Aug 1st.

Any ideas??

The link you’ve posted is to the ‘overview’ page, you need to look at the the country specific requirements in which it states, and has done since the UK cruises went on sale, that you can only leave the ship on a Celebrity organised tour on the cruises out of Southampton.

 

I’m on the 14th August cruise and emails I’ve had over the last few days indicate those rules will remain in place.

 

I will not be getting off the ship, but not because I’m not allowed to go independently, just I don’t want to. I actually think this rule should stay in place during this season to keep pax in bubbles. I know that might go against popular opinion, but controlling how people socialise off ship is crucial, especially with the spread of the virus at the moment. And I know that we’re all double vaccinated etc and therefore highly unlikely to get very sick, but there’s a bigger picture in terms of potential spread to crew and the impact that would have taking several crew members out of action. There’s also the risk to cruising in general which has a lot to prove about safety after what happened with several ships at the beginning of the pandemic. I want to be able to cruise and travel like everyone else, but I also want to be able to do it whilst managing risk and with an eye on the future so I can travel next year, and cruise, and hopefully then, get off ship and tour independently.

 

imho, holding out for a change to allow independent tours this season is futile. It’s highly unlikely to happen. I may be proved wrong of course, but I’d rather put my energy into enjoying the cruise that I signed up for with the restrictions I knew would be in place. I’m less likely to be disappointed that way.

 

Happy cruising 🛳🚢