Iona delay

[Megabear2]

Apologies if you thought I was referring solely to disabled people.  Although I am blessed with good health I cruised regularly with my wheelchair bound mother as her companion and my husband has multiple health conditions including fibromyalgia which can on occasion render him unable to walk. As a result I do appreciate your more serious need to appraise the situation.  Cruises by their very nature appealed to my mother as a safe environment with help on hand if required.  However she was acutely aware that if she became unwell it was a big risk to her but it was one she was willing to take as she trusted explicitly that the cruise line would do nothing that wasn't in her best interests. 

 

The point I somewhat clumsily made is that clause 23 regarding removal from the ship has always been there and we as individuals have chosen to accept it for many years.  It would not always have to be serious illness leaving us ashore as this is a blanket clause totally at the ship's discretion.

 

Going forward Covid is always going to be with us and as a result anxious ports and cruise companies are not going to take risks and I suspect will still insist in removal of positive passengers to protect the ship.  After the horrors of the early pandemic problems on cruise ships they will understandably not wish to take risks with life.  I believe the new normal for some years to come will inevitably include possible problems with positive testing passengers being removed and we either live with this or stop cruising if it's too much of a risk for us as individuals. No matter how many vaccinations we take viruses survive, change and fight back.  Companies stung horrendously by the pandemic and almost put out of business will I fear err on the side of total caution.

 

An example of non serious problems:  once in Lanzarote an unfortunate gentleman fell on a tour we were on and clearly broke his arm quite badly. He was ambulanced to hospital from the site of his fall and we never saw him again as we sailed leaving him behind. His personal possessions were on board Queen Elizabeth and a swift radio call to the ship organised essentials to be collected from his cabin and delivered to him.  It was just unfortunate and as you say just getting out of bed is a risk. However the point is if those of us hearing about this had allowed ourselves to obsess about what became of him we would have stressed ourselves over probably nothing. For those of us who are relatively fit and healthy we are risking fortune telling over offloading due to Covid.

 

Again apologies for any misunderstanding regarding individuals' personal circumstances and I hope it is accepted no offence was intended.

 

[zap99]

19 hours ago, pete14 said:

Of course getting straight what is happening is important, but using social media as fact is not always reliable. When I step onto a ship, I am trusting P&O and the Captain and crew they employ to make the correct decisions (some unpopular) to ensure I and everybody else is safe. If I can trust them with my life, I am quite prepared to trust what they tell me about important decisions they have to take. 

On a plane, I tend to leave all the important decisions to the pilot. 🤣

[yorkshirephil]

4 minutes ago, zap99 said:

On a plane, I tend to leave all the important decisions to the pilot. 🤣

For me it's the flight attendant as to whether or not I get ice in my Whisky.

[zap99]

3 minutes ago, yorkshirephil said:

For me it's the flight attendant as to whether or not I get ice in my Whisky.

🤣. We were on TUI flight to Barbados in Premium. Can I get you another drink Sir ?. I'll have a brandy with ice please and a Bailey's with ice for DW. He brought our drinks and 2 little bottles of each. For your cabin sir. What a nice man.🤣

[Selbourne]

8 minutes ago, Megabear2 said:

Apologies if you thought I was referring solely to disabled people.  Although I am blessed with good health I cruised regularly with my wheelchair bound mother as her companion and my husband has multiple health conditions including fibromyalgia which can on occasion render him unable to walk. As a result I do appreciate your more serious need to appraise the situation.  Cruises by their very nature appealed to my mother as a safe environment with help on hand if required.  However she was acutely aware that if she became unwell it was a big risk to her but it was one she was willing to take as she trusted explicitly that the cruise line would do nothing that wasn't in her best interests. 

 

The point I somewhat clumsily made is that clause 23 regarding removal from the ship has always been there and we as individuals have chosen to accept it for many years.  It would not always have to be serious illness leaving us ashore as this is a blanket clause totally at the ship's discretion.

 

Going forward Covid is always going to be with us and as a result anxious ports and cruise companies are not going to take risks and I suspect will still insist in removal of positive passengers to protect the ship.  After the horrors of the early pandemic problems on cruise ships they will understandably not wish to take risks with life.  I believe the new normal for some years to come will inevitably include possible problems with positive testing passengers being removed and we either live with this or stop cruising if it's too much of a risk for us as individuals. No matter how many vaccinations we take viruses survive, change and fight back.  Companies stung horrendously by the pandemic and almost put out of business will I fear err on the side of total caution.

 

An example of non serious problems:  once in Lanzarote an unfortunate gentleman fell on a tour we were on and clearly broke his arm quite badly. He was ambulanced to hospital from the site of his fall and we never saw him again as we sailed leaving him behind. His personal possessions were on board Queen Elizabeth and a swift radio call to the ship organised essentials to be collected from his cabin and delivered to him.  It was just unfortunate and as you say just getting out of bed is a risk. However the point is if those of us hearing about this had allowed ourselves to obsess about what became of him we would have stressed ourselves over probably nothing. For those of us who are relatively fit and healthy we are risking fortune telling over offloading due to Covid.

 

Again apologies for any misunderstanding regarding individuals' personal circumstances and I hope it is accepted no offence was intended.

 

No need to apologise Megabear2. No offence was taken whatsoever. As you know from experience, what works for able bodied people, or may just be an inconvenience, can be a major obstacle to those with life changing disabilities. It’s understandably difficult for people who have not faced these challenges to appreciate that. 
 

I’m pleased to say that, in spite of my wife’s challenges, we are certainly not cowering from Covid. Life must go on. We eat out two or three times a week and get away for short breaks or holidays when we can. It is the on board policies and restrictions that are putting us off cruising at present, not any worry of catching Covid. We know that we wouldn’t enjoy it, even if there wasn’t a single covid case on board!

 

I struggle to understand this whole offloading issue though. If a cruise ship visits a port for one day only and has passengers on board with Covid, who are in a quarantined area of the ship, why on earth do the local authorities want to bring that problem ashore when the ship (with those passengers) would be leaving in a matter of hours? It’s not as if it would be a Diamond Princess scenario. I can see why P&O might want to offload them, but my understanding is that it’s not a P&O decision? Just doesn’t make sense to me, but perhaps I have misunderstood the issue?

[terrierjohn]

2 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

No need to apologise Megabear2. No offence was taken whatsoever. As you know from experience, what works for able bodied people, or may just be an inconvenience, can be a major obstacle to those with life changing disabilities. It’s understandably difficult for people who have not faced these challenges to appreciate that. 
 

I’m pleased to say that, in spite of my wife’s challenges, we are certainly not cowering from Covid. Life must go on. We eat out two or three times a week and get away for short breaks or holidays when we can. It is the on board policies and restrictions that are putting us off cruising at present, not any worry of catching Covid. We know that we wouldn’t enjoy it, even if there wasn’t a single covid case on board!

 

I struggle to understand this whole offloading issue though. If a cruise ship visits a port for one day only and has passengers on board with Covid, who are in a quarantined area of the ship, why on earth do the local authorities want to bring that problem ashore when the ship (with those passengers) would be leaving in a matter of hours? It’s not as if it would be a Diamond Princess scenario. I can see why P&O might want to offload them, but my understanding is that it’s not a P&O decision? Just doesn’t make sense to me, but perhaps I have misunderstood the issue?

I am also totally baffled as to why any cruise port would want to go out off their way to offload passengers who test positive. If the ships medical officer feels they can not provide the medical care the passenger needs, then that is different.  

 

[mitooki]

Back on topic, we’re changing schedule again. Valencia has been cancelled due to high winds forecast so staying in Barcelona until Sunday evening 19:30.

[Megabear2]

Barcelona also has a yellow warning for wind tomorrow until 6.00pm.  Presumably the whole area is having these high winds for a couple of days.  Certainly a bit of a mystery tour for you all but hope everyone is enjoying themselves.

[Manx buoy]

1 hour ago, mitooki said:

Back on topic, we’re changing schedule again. Valencia has been cancelled due to high winds forecast so staying in Barcelona until Sunday evening 19:30.

How dare you get back on topic when all the usual supects (clowns) try their best to get yet another thread shut down🤷‍♂️

[Dermotsgirl]

I have been browsing a well known SM site and have seen something that people may find interesting.

 

I’m in two minds whether  to post now, in case somebody starts calling me a clown.

 

However, I will risk it.

 

somebody who says they were a table mate of the offloaded Covid passengers says they are in isolation on the ship until the end of the cruise.

 

Make of it what you will 

[Gettingwarmer]

Well if they were a table mate and close contact it makes sense that they are quarantined on ship. Maybe we should not share tables. It is good to know that they were not made to leave the the ship to quarantine on land. 

[jimbo1683]

21 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I have been browsing a well known SM site and have seen something that people may find interesting.

 

I’m in two minds whether  to post now, in case somebody starts calling me a clown.

 

However, I will risk it.

 

somebody who says they were a table mate of the offloaded Covid passengers says they are in isolation on the ship until the end of the cruise.

 

Make of it what you will 

Under what circumstances do people get offloaded, rather than isolated in a cabin? If they are too sick for the onboard medics to look after?

[Manx buoy]

23 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

I have been browsing a well known SM site and have seen something that people may find interesting.

 

I’m in two minds whether  to post now, in case somebody starts calling me a clown.

 

However, I will risk it.

 

somebody who says they were a table mate of the offloaded Covid passengers says they are in isolation on the ship until the end of the cruise.

 

Make of it what you will 

Why would anyone call you a clown no mention of what drinks you were served on an Iona delayed flight thanks for the relevant information 

[pete14]

1 hour ago, Manx buoy said:

How dare you get back on topic when all the usual supects (clowns) try their best to get yet another thread shut down🤷‍♂️

I don’t think anybody is trying to get this thread closed down, and in my memory, very few threads actually do get closed down. Your reference to ‘yet another thread shut down’ is wide of the mark in my opinion and the accusation that people try to get them shut down bemuses me. Posts get deleted for various reasons, but rarely threads and in my view, that is how it should stay.

[Manx buoy]

6 minutes ago, pete14 said:

I don’t think anybody is trying to get this thread closed down, and in my memory, very few threads actually do get closed down. Your reference to ‘yet another thread shut down’ is wide of the mark in my opinion and the accusation that people try to get them shut down bemuses me. Posts get deleted for various reasons, but rarely threads and in my view, that is how it should stay.

And even less posts and thread’s would be deleted if posters didn’t post crap I’m sure I’m not the only one on here who gets sick of scrolling through numerous posts of drivel to find out what is actually the topic of conversation just saying🤷‍♂️

[Dermotsgirl]

25 minutes ago, jimbo1683 said:

Under what circumstances do people get offloaded, rather than isolated in a cabin? If they are too sick for the onboard medics to look after?

From what has been said so far on various threads, people who test positive nearly always get off loaded, and this seems to be the insistence of the port authorities.

 

The contacts of people with Covid, but are testing negative may be offloaded for isolation ashore or may be allowed to isolate on the ship.

 

I don’t think there is a definitive answer on this.

 

I’ve now seen social media posts from one of the people who tested positive and was offloaded in Palma. I think he’s stressed from being in the situation, but it does seem a bit grim. He reports that he’s separate from his partner, and nobody speaks English. He even reported that he’s on a drip, but he’s had to turn it on and off himself. Of course, we have no way of knowing if this is the absolute truth, but he sounds upset 

[zap99]

4 minutes ago, Dermotsgirl said:

From what has been said so far on various threads, people who test positive nearly always get off loaded, and this seems to be the insistence of the port authorities.

 

The contacts of people with Covid, but are testing negative may be offloaded for isolation ashore or may be allowed to isolate on the ship.

 

I don’t think there is a definitive answer on this.

 

I’ve now seen social media posts from one of the people who tested positive and was offloaded in Palma. I think he’s stressed from being in the situation, but it does seem a bit grim. He reports that he’s separate from his partner, and nobody speaks English. He even reported that he’s on a drip, but he’s had to turn it on and off himself. Of course, we have no way of knowing if this is the absolute truth, but he sounds upset 

I don't feel stressed at all. Best way to avoid stress is to avoid social media gossip and turn off blue tooth.

[howmuch!]

15 hours ago, Dermotsgirl said:

From what has been said so far on various threads, people who test positive nearly always get off loaded, and this seems to be the insistence of the port authorities.

 

The contacts of people with Covid, but are testing negative may be offloaded for isolation ashore or may be allowed to isolate on the ship.

 

I don’t think there is a definitive answer on this.

 

I’ve now seen social media posts from one of the people who tested positive and was offloaded in Palma. I think he’s stressed from being in the situation, but it does seem a bit grim. He reports that he’s separate from his partner, and nobody speaks English. He even reported that he’s on a drip, but he’s had to turn it on and off himself. Of course, we have no way of knowing if this is the absolute truth, but he sounds upset 

Thanks for the information, and I encourage you to keep abreast of this - social media or not. What happens to offloaded passengers should be of interest to anyone cruising at the moment, and if SM is the only information available, its useful. Please keep us up to date if you can,