The Nu Covid variant

[wowzz]

Just now, zap99 said:

We booked another cruise today for September. The 2022 calendar is filling up quite nicely. I think we will get Christmas out of the way before we start filling up the gaps. I have never been to Armageddon. Is that in USA ?. We can give that one a try, but it may have to wait til 2023.🤣

 

I like your style ! 

We have three cruises booked for 2022, and are currently deciding on a villa in Lanzarote for November.

  Some posters on here seem to take a perverse delight in trying to paint everything in the worst possible light. Munchausen by Proxy springs to mind - try and make everyone else suffer !

[zap99]

1 minute ago, wowzz said:

I like your style ! 

We have three cruises booked for 2022, and are currently deciding on a villa in Lanzarote for November.

  Some posters on here seem to take a perverse delight in trying to paint everything in the worst possible light. Munchausen by Proxy springs to mind - try and make everyone else suffer !

3 cruises booked. 1 Iona, 1 RCI and 1 Celebrity. 2 weeks 5star AI in Lanza, a week in St Ives ( sorry to our Cornish colleagues, we promise to behave ). I obviously listen to the doom and gloom.

[Interestedcruisefan]

19 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Does anyone else recall that in the summer, when Covid restrictions were lifted, many posters prophesied doom and gloom, but in actual fact it was the best possible decision?

 I can name names,  but that would be unfair.  

And now after 48 hours of new information,  certain individuals are yet again forecasting Armageddon,  with no facts or supporting evidence, but quite happy to descend to personal insults. 

Next April onwards I think we might be able to consider overseas cruises again 

 

Right now I think we are going to lose them

 

Sorry if my opinion upsets so many people

 

But I can't pretend the current news looks good for upcoming cruises or any overseas holidays tbh

[bobstheboy]

I started this thread and didn't expect it to get full of insults but then I am not surprised at some on here.

 

I am a very optimistic person but if numbers keep increasing and I wouldn't bet against it, I can see international travel stopping this winter. It has already started with borders being closed and it is very early days. I have a cruise to the Canaries in Feb and hope to go but I honestly believe it is unlikely.

[Cruisemeister2002]

If Companies like P&O can do PCR tests onboard three days before arrival in Barbados why can't they do the tests onboard a couple of days before arrival in the UK ? These tests from what I can make out cost £43 per person with Randox  whereas P&O are charging £25 per person onboard. Whether this is to do with certification I don't know. But surely Barbados needs some sort of recognition that a passenger has had the test. All seems to me a bit of "Jobs for the boys" situation in the UK.

[cruisenewbie1976]

3 minutes ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

If Companies like P&O can do PCR tests onboard three days before arrival in Barbados why can't they do the tests onboard a couple of days before arrival in the UK ? These tests from what I can make out cost £43 per person with Randox  whereas P&O are charging £25 per person onboard. Whether this is to do with certification I don't know. But surely Barbados needs some sort of recognition that a passenger has had the test. All seems to me a bit of "Jobs for the boys" situation in the UK.

They probably could but that wouldn't meet the government criteria for the day 2 test. Has to be done between arriving back in the UK and the second day after arriving. I suppose they could do it once berthed in Southampton but can't imagine they'd want that sort of hassle on turnaround day. 

[Son of Anarchy]

1 hour ago, bobstheboy said:

I started this thread and didn't expect it to get full of insults but then I am not surprised at some on here.

 

I am a very optimistic person but if numbers keep increasing and I wouldn't bet against it, I can see international travel stopping this winter. It has already started with borders being closed and it is very early days. I have a cruise to the Canaries in Feb and hope to go but I honestly believe it is unlikely.

We too have a cruise booked for Feb.  I'd like to think that we will know by early January whether or not it will go.  At least there's a bit of time for countries to make considered decisions on how and what they plan to do re visitors, rather than a big knee jerk reaction.  Unfortunately, balance payment date has passed, would incur cancellation fees if decided it was no longer for us.  Wait and see what happens.  Will be gutted if its cancelled, already have a trip booked to NASA! 

[Cruisemeister2002]

In life you are either an optimist or a pessimist. It isn't anyone's fault if you are either. Funnily enough I'm a pessimist and the wife is an optimist. But although she will insist on a "Wait and see" scenario I still have doubts and niggly little thoughts regarding everything from catching Covid to whether cruises will take place in the near future. I do believe that as long as you say as you see, but don't tell untruths about this situation then it's o.k. If it were the case that no one was a pessimist there would be an awful lot of people out of a job. If there were no optimists the World would probably cease to exist. So both have their place on this forum and in the World.

[Cruisemeister2002]

6 minutes ago, Son of Anarchy said:

We too have a cruise booked for Feb.  I'd like to think that we will know by early January whether or not it will go.  At least there's a bit of time for countries to make considered decisions on how and what they plan to do re visitors, rather than a big knee jerk reaction.  Unfortunately, balance payment date has passed, would incur cancellation fees if decided it was no longer for us.  Wait and see what happens.  Will be gutted if its cancelled, already have a trip booked to NASA! 

We have a trip booked to Disney World. Suppose you could ask if they'd consider flying you to the Moon you could have a couple of weeks up there Covid free. Don't know whether you can get a sun tan in a spacesuit though ?

[purplesea]

20 minutes ago, Son of Anarchy said:

We too have a cruise booked for Feb.  I'd like to think that we will know by early January whether or not it will go.  At least there's a bit of time for countries to make considered decisions on how and what they plan to do re visitors, rather than a big knee jerk reaction.  Unfortunately, balance payment date has passed, would incur cancellation fees if decided it was no longer for us.  Wait and see what happens.  Will be gutted if its cancelled, already have a trip booked to NASA! 

We are booked to sail the middle of January and as you say all we can do now is wait and see!

[Guest]

We sail Christmas Day, which is now 26 days away. If the government are waiting 3 weeks to see what happens it certainly leaves us in an unknown situation. 
 

 

[jeanlyon]

Well, I can't see that they need to cancel cruises, there might just be a problem with going ashore.

[bobstheboy]

Scotland and Wales have written to Boris wanting isolation of all travellers entering our borders for eight days. I don't have to spell out what that would mean for cruises.

[Angel57]

6 minutes ago, bobstheboy said:

Scotland and Wales have written to Boris wanting isolation of all travellers entering our borders for eight days. I don't have to spell out what that would mean for cruises.

I just heard that too although I have to say I don’t think Boris will introduce that - yet. But we have all been wrong in second guessing what is going to happen next!

[jeanlyon]

Yes, it would mean isolation for 8 days?

 

[gsmt47471015]

3 hours ago, bobstheboy said:

I started this thread and didn't expect it to get full of insults but then I am not surprised at some on here.

 

I am a very optimistic person but if numbers keep increasing and I wouldn't bet against it, I can see international travel stopping this winter. It has already started with borders being closed and it is very early days. I have a cruise to the Canaries in Feb and hope to go but I honestly believe it is unlikely.

We have one tomorrow !!! its our fifth attempt at this holiday, the last time we got to the airport and it got cancelled four hours before we were due to fly, but were are eternal optimists so fingers crossed  

[gsmt47471015]

1 hour ago, Son of Anarchy said:

We too have a cruise booked for Feb.  I'd like to think that we will know by early January whether or not it will go.  At least there's a bit of time for countries to make considered decisions on how and what they plan to do re visitors, rather than a big knee jerk reaction.  Unfortunately, balance payment date has passed, would incur cancellation fees if decided it was no longer for us.  Wait and see what happens.  Will be gutted if its cancelled, already have a trip booked to NASA! 

We are on that cruise too so we will wait with baited breath, the NASA trip is fantastic by the way

[Ardennais]

3 hours ago, Cruisemeister2002 said:

In life you are either an optimist or a pessimist. It isn't anyone's fault if you are either. Funnily enough I'm a pessimist and the wife is an optimist. But although she will insist on a "Wait and see" scenario I still have doubts and niggly little thoughts regarding everything from catching Covid to whether cruises will take place in the near future. I do believe that as long as you say as you see, but don't tell untruths about this situation then it's o.k. If it were the case that no one was a pessimist there would be an awful lot of people out of a job. If there were no optimists the World would probably cease to exist. So both have their place on this forum and in the World.

It’s not an either or, in my opinion! I’m a very pragmatic person and I’m very content by nature. I’m not a pessimist and always try to be optimistic. However, I think the word ‘realist’ can also apply to many people. I was always realistic when providing estimated grades to my GCSE and A Level pupils and found that it was always the best approach. 
 

In many discussions on these boards, some portray things are being a straight choice between taking risks or hiding at home, under the kitchen table etc. it’s not that simple. Some here have pointed out that they rely on public transport to go to places, and that they’re not prepared to take the risk and I fully understand that. It’s another obstacle to getting out, getting back to normal etc. it also depends on factors such as who lives with you, vulnerable individuals in some cases, or whether you’re carers etc. 

 

[zap99]

2 hours ago, gsmt47471015 said:

We have one tomorrow !!! its our fifth attempt at this holiday, the last time we got to the airport and it got cancelled four hours before we were due to fly, but were are eternal optimists so fingers crossed  

Very best of luck. I hope you get away this time. Our next Flyaway is the end of March. 🤣

[yorkshirephil]

5 hours ago, bobstheboy said:

I started this thread and didn't expect it to get full of insults but then I am not surprised at some on here.

 

I am a very optimistic person but if numbers keep increasing and I wouldn't bet against it, I can see international travel stopping this winter. It has already started with borders being closed and it is very early days. I have a cruise to the Canaries in Feb and hope to go but I honestly believe it is unlikely.

I would think by Christmas we will have a reasonable idea of which way Omicron will swing, it could screw us completely or it could actually be a good thing, if symptoms are mild and the NHS isn't overwhelmed with cases it could get us to herd immunity quicker and take over as the dominant strain. We will have to wait and see, we have a holiday to Lanzagrote in Feb booked in place of our January Caribbean cruise, I am no less confident this will happen than I was with last week, and if it doesn't then I will get over it just as I did with the cruises we didn't have over the last 18 months.

[jeanlyon]

48 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

In many discussions on these boards, some portray things are being a straight choice between taking risks or hiding at home, under the kitchen table etc. it’s not that simple. Some here have pointed out that they rely on public transport to go to places, and that they’re not prepared to take the risk and I fully understand that. It’s another obstacle to getting out, getting back to normal etc. it also depends on factors such as who lives with you, vulnerable individuals in some cases, or whether you’re carers etc. 

 

I agree with you.  It's not a case of hiding at home.   We have had some really good UK short breaks this year.  It's the fear of being offloaded, quarantined and having to fly home that really does it for me.  I am triple vaccinated and flu jab as well, so not particularly frightened about that.

[Megabear2]

16 hours ago, wowzz said:

nor is Austria

I'm due in Austria in February as my cancelled Christmas break has been moved to then in an effort to finally see my friends after two years!  I've just had an email from the company this is booked through which has an interesting theme:

If you're travelling before or on 19 December 2021 and you don't want to travel as a result of the above, you can change your holiday for free by contacting us. Changes need to be made no later than Sunday 5 December 2021.

 

If you're travelling on or after 20 December 2021, the new restrictions don't currently impact your holiday. We'll let you know if the situation changes. To find out more about how we've got you covered this winter, please see our Crystal Holiday Promise.

 

Although not cruise related it gives a clue of how the travel companies are going to play this.

 

As an aside I have had a long chat with my P&O contact today regarding the emails on uninsurable Covid contacts and also plans/preparations in case of problems with the Caribbean in light of the variant particularly for Barbados if there are sudden closures to travellers.  I am assured contingency plans are being put in place to ensure in the worst scenario everyone will get home.  Personally I believe if the worst happens we will be looked after.

 

Regarding the email sent to those who had enquired about insurance and offloading, she informed me that it had been badly worded and a follow up with better customer focus will hopefully be coming. The good news is that it is apparently meant to say that where an insurance claim fails P&O will assist and deal with it.  She confirmed that there have been no more incidents to date for their ships. 

 

It seems some of the insurance companies have paid out, others have partially paid and some denied any payment.  It was confirmed no individuals have been left out of pocket.  I suggested if that was the case perhaps the cruise lines could indicate which insurance companies have assisted and paid claims  so people could take policies with them rather than those that haven't paid.  Holiday Extras and Staysure were mentioned and appear to be two of the non payers unfortunately but please don't quote me on that.

 

 

 

[Dermotsgirl]

Thank you Megabear for keeping us up to date.

 

I've noticed that the contacts of people who test positive for Omicron are now expected to isolate for 10 days.  On board, I doubt if they will have the technology to sequence the variant type, so they may err on the side of caution and insist that all contacts of positive people are isolated for 10 days. I also wonder, that due to the suspected increased transmissibility of Omicron, they will require the contacts to be offloaded at the earliest opportunity.

 

It is good news that the current protocols seem to be working, but going forward we may see more offloading happening - so it will be helpful if the cruise company's customer focussed response is made available soon, so that people know where they stand

[Megabear2]

I asked exactly that question. Basically they are waiting for guidance from WHO, Bureau Veritas etc before making any decisions etc regarding quarantine arrangements.  I think that they do not wish to panic into making a wrong call which is understandable.

 

Regarding the customer focused announcement I think everyone can safely take it that if their insurance doesn't pay or only  partially pays or fails in any way with regard to being removed from the ship into quarantine P&O will pick up the tab.  The only obligation the passenger would have would be to have as full insurance cover as possible before sailing which of course we all should have.

 

Regarding the 10 days isolation that of course is the UK Government's requirement.  What is decided for cruise ships will no doubt be down to discussion about the sailing protocols under which they are allowed to operate and may be different.  

[Bon0]

What is P&O’s policy around material changes to the cruise e.g. if the Caribbean cruises become staycations which are limited to the ship will they offer the opportunity to cancel?  I know some enjoy pottering around the ship enjoying the food, ambience and entertainment.  While we are also looking forward to these elements in the evenings and on sea days, I think we’d go stir crazy and be quite resentful if that was the entirety of our holiday.