PLF ( Passenger Locater Form)

[seapals2]

The numbers for technical help.  Just don’t get stuck at the weekend.  🥴

[solentsam]

I see that the government advice is now 

 

If you’re travelling on a cruise that lasts 19 days or less, submit the form in the 48 hours before boarding. If your cruise is longer, you can submit the form while travelling.

 

Hope this helps

[solentsam]

 from https://www.gov.uk/provide-journey-contact-details-before-travel-uk

[SteveP63]

Hi, For those who have got the QR code working which code is it, on the NHS one I have 2 codes, 1 for each vaccine? thanks

[picsa]

5 hours ago, SteveP63 said:

Hi, For those who have got the QR code working which code is it, on the NHS one I have 2 codes, 1 for each vaccine? thanks

The second, as that shows you are ‘fully vaccinated’.

[Cruise Puss]

On 10/4/2021 at 10:18 AM, solentsam said:

I see that the government advice is now 

 

If you’re travelling on a cruise that lasts 19 days or less, submit the form in the 48 hours before boarding. If your cruise is longer, you can submit the form while travelling.

 

Hope this helps

 

Thanks for this, very helpful.😊

[tring]

We disembarked a Fred ship this morning and DH completed our plf's a couple of days ago.  He took a tablet which runs windows to complete them as it was much easier than a phone.  Regards the QR code, apparently there is a question which asks if you have a QR code that you can scan, but if you click no, (as was suggested by Fred), you can then fill in the rest of the form without it and that is what he did.  

 

The one thing that did not work was getting into the pre registration where some details had already been added, as it was not possible to receive the text with the confirmation code to log into the account whilst at sea.  Hence he had to fill everything in from scratch, so was very pleased he had taken the tablet to do it.

 

Fred asked for the confirmation code received after submitting the PLF to be given to reception on board, which is presumably the check that you have completed the PLF.

 

Edited October 5, 2021 by tring

[tring]

On 10/2/2021 at 7:54 PM, Sir Cumference said:

So sorry, but this is really beginning to worry me now and stress me out. Firstly, I accept that I am not sailing until Christmas and that a number of things may (and will) change before then. However, my (mild) OCD means that I like to know well in advance exactly what I need to do when the time comes. 

 

Ideally, I'd like "an idiot's guide" (Yes, I acknowledge I'm an idiot - so there is no need to remind me of that) to everything I need to do before, during and after my cruise. To be of any use to me it should avoid (or explain in simple terms) phrases such as "download", "scan", "input", "URL" etc.! Is there such a document?

 

No one can possibly know for sure what the requirements will be, even a month ahead as things are changing all the time.

 

What is certain though is that as cruises return and the cruise lines themselves have experience of running those cruises, they will become far better at helping point passengers in the best direction for their needs.  Fred already had two cruises returning from abroad before ours, one immediately before ours on the same ship and one in August on another ship which travelled to Iceland.  I have to say that everything went pretty well onboard, though there were some people who had problems which needed rectified.  There will be many people on the cruises who will not have the required ability to use, or even own the correct technology.  Those people were offered the option of having a visa company complete the necessary form by giving them full details before travel, or having someone else help complete the form once on the ship.  Those options did have a charge (£20 maximum with Fred), but really is just like when you need to gain a visa to travel to certain countries, when some people prefer to pay a visa company more to assist with the visa acquisition. 

 

It is not ideal that extra costs are incurred, but if it is not possibly to get a relative or friend to complete the form for you, it may be the only option.  Certainly not something to get stressed over though and any extra cost would still be a small proportion of the total cost of a cruise.

 

Edited October 5, 2021 by tring

[zap99]

33 minutes ago, tring said:

We disembarked a Fred ship this morning and DH completed our plf's a couple of days ago.  He took a tablet which runs windows to complete them as it was much easier than a phone.  Regards the QR code, apparently there is a question which asks if you have a QR code that you can scan, but if you click no, (as was suggested by Fred), you can then fill in the rest of the form without it and that is what he did.  

 

The one thing that did not work was getting into the pre registration where some details had already been added, as it was not possible to receive the text with the confirmation code to log into the account whilst at sea.  Hence he had to fill everything in from scratch, so was very pleased he had taken the tablet to do it.

 

Fred asked for the confirmation code received after submitting the PLF to be given to reception on board, which is presumably the check that you have completed the PLF.

 

If we have paper copies of the vaccination certificate, is the easy solution to ' click ' no to being able to upload them?. We have them saved in our files, but won't know if we can upload them to the PLF until we try in a couple of weeks in our Spanish hotel.

[tring]

29 minutes ago, zap99 said:

If we have paper copies of the vaccination certificate, is the easy solution to ' click ' no to being able to upload them?. We have them saved in our files, but won't know if we can upload them to the PLF until we try in a couple of weeks in our Spanish hotel.

 

Quite possibly is the easiest solution, DH says he had no option to scan it anyway as he did not have a QR reader app on his tablet.

 

We had been given a sheet of paper with instructions suggesting how to answer certain questions and any queries were swiftly and efficiently dealt with.  We were told how to access their free wifi to obtain access to complete the form three days before our return and had a couple of sea days in which to complete the form.  DH was not happy that he could not receive texts at sea via "cellular at sea", which had always worked on previous Fred cruises and we are pretty sure it did on other lines as well.  Not sure why.

[seapals2]

On 10/5/2021 at 9:32 PM, zap99 said:

If we have paper copies of the vaccination certificate, is the easy solution to ' click ' no to being able to upload them?. We have them saved in our files, but won't know if we can upload them to the PLF until we try in a couple of weeks in our Spanish hotel.

If you answer yes to 'do you have a code'   and No to 'can you scan it'  it will give you the option to attach a photo from your photo library.  A screen shot of your second vaccination details on the NHS app  is all that's needed.  

[majortom10]

Must admit I am really worried about filling in the PLF for our cruise on 1st Nov. It says you should fill it in within 48hrs of your cruise if it is less than 14 days. We go on Monday so officially suppose to fill it in on Saturday but there is a telephone number if you are encountering difficulties but is only open Mon-Fri so I might try and complete PLF on Friday just in case.

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

Must admit I am really worried about filling in the PLF for our cruise on 1st Nov. It says you should fill it in within 48hrs of your cruise if it is less than 14 days. We go on Monday so officially suppose to fill it in on Saturday but there is a telephone number if you are encountering difficulties but is only open Mon-Fri so I might try and complete PLF on Friday just in case.

You can actually fill in the form up to 21 days before your return date. Our cruise returns on November 5th, and I completed both our PLFs yesterday.  All done and dusted,  saved to our phones and printed off as well, to be on the safe side. 

[majortom10]

13 minutes ago, wowzz said:

You can actually fill in the form up to 21 days before your return date. Our cruise returns on November 5th, and I completed both our PLFs yesterday.  All done and dusted,  saved to our phones and printed off as well, to be on the safe side. 

That is one of the things that is confusing me because it actually states on Government website-If you’re travelling on a cruise that lasts 19 days or less, submit the form in the 48 hours before boarding. 

 

Our cruise leaves on 1st Nov for 14 nights so according to the above statement we have to fill it within 48hrs of boarding because it is less than 19 days.

Edited October 16, 2021 by majortom10

[majortom10]

We also have to wait before filling in PLF because if I am correct you have to have the reference number from your 2 day test you take on your return and its changing to LFT from PCR and to my knowledge there are no 2day LFT tests available to purchase yet.

 

[wowzz]

6 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

That is one of the things that is confusing me because it actually states on Government website-If you’re travelling on a cruise that lasts 19 days or less, submit the form in the 48 hours before boarding. 

 

Our cruise leaves on 1st Nov for 14 nights so according to the above statement we have to fill it within 48hrs of boarding because it is less than 19 days.

I would just ignore it and complete the PLF regardless.

With regards to your other point, yes the tests are changing to Lateral Flow,  but you can still submit PCR tests. We ordered tests from Dante Labs yesterday. The reference numbers were issued immediately,  and were input into the PLF, and the tests themselves arrived this morning. 

[Bazrat]

Just now, wowzz said:

I would just ignore it and complete the PLF regardless.

With regards to your other point, yes the tests are changing to Lateral Flow,  but you can still submit PCR tests. We ordered tests from Dante Labs yesterday. The reference numbers were issued immediately,  and were input into the PLF, and the tests themselves arrived this morning. 

Dante labs are being investigated they are part of the same company in Wolverhampton that got the testing wrong

[Bazrat]

We bought our two day test and entered the code submitted it to P&O so all good at the moment 

[wowzz]

2 minutes ago, Bazrat said:

Dante labs are being investigated they are part of the same company in Wolverhampton that got the testing wrong

All that I really care about is getting the dreaded PLF sorted out !

[tring]

28 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

That is one of the things that is confusing me because it actually states on Government website-If you’re travelling on a cruise that lasts 19 days or less, submit the form in the 48 hours before boarding. 

 

Our cruise leaves on 1st Nov for 14 nights so according to the above statement we have to fill it within 48hrs of boarding because it is less than 19 days.

 

Yes, but none the less the forms are available to complete and submit up to 21 days before your return, what you have copied above is clearly wrong.  You need to start filling in the form though and the 21 day access will be allowed once it has become obvious you will be returning to the UK on a cruise ship.  Just fill in the questions that are asked, no tricks, just straight forward questions.

 

You will need to have a two day test reference, yes, but the Gov have said they can be purchased from 22nd, so even allowing for a very possible delay with that, there will still be plenty of time to do your form before you sail on 1st Nov.  Once you buy your two day test, the reference number comes through immediately.

 

Edited October 16, 2021 by tring

[Bazrat]

There seams to be no leeway for those of us who are triple jabbed 

[tring]

We and a number of other posters have bought the tests for Expert Medical at £28 per test and our PLF 's have accepted the codes fine on submission.  The company are no longer on the Gov list, but do not need to be.

 

We bought more expensive ones from Nationwide Pathology a few weeks back and one sample result did not come back.  DH now waiting for a replacement to do what, at the earliest, will be a 13 day test!  If we have left home for our next cruise before the kit comes, it will be a 30 day or so test!  The system is a farce and no one will chase it up.  All you need us a code that will work on the PLF.  No problem for you if things do not work properly after that, we would just ignore any problems in future unless someone chases us up which, from numerous mention of cases, will not happen.

 

 

Edited October 16, 2021 by tring

[majortom10]

23 minutes ago, tring said:

 

Yes, but none the less the forms are available to complete and submit up to 21 days before your return, what you have copied above is clearly wrong.  You need to start filling in the form though and the 21 day access will be allowed once it has become obvious you will be returning to the UK on a cruise ship.  Just fill in the questions that are asked, no tricks, just straight forward questions.

 

You will need to have a two day test reference, yes, but the Gov have said they can be purchased from 22nd, so even allowing for a very possible delay with that, there will still be plenty of time to do your form before you sail on 1st Nov.  Once you buy your two day test, the reference number comes through immediately.

 

So you are saying that the quote from the Government website that if your cruise is less than 19 days you fill form in within 48 hrs of boarding is wrong.

[wowzz]

24 minutes ago, majortom10 said:

So you are saying that the quote from the Government website that if your cruise is less than 19 days you fill form in within 48 hrs of boarding is wrong.

You have to fill it in no later than 48 hours before you board, not in the 48 hours before boarding.

[Bgees]

10 minutes ago, wowzz said:

You have to fill it in no later than 48 hours before you board, not in the 48 hours before boarding.

Are you certain? The website doesn't say thatl. It says that it should be completed in the 48 hours before boarding, not 48 hours before boarding.