Iona to Norway this summer season

[davecttr]

Something else to worry about. The final balance for my cruise in May is due by the 20th February, less than 2 weeks away. It seems there is little information on how Norway or P&O may handle the Covid issue especially offloading of passengers deemed to be contacts of positive Covid cases.

[bee-ess]

The same with the Easter Med fly cruises - my balance is due soon and no info, looked in the Destinations PDF yesterday and no info in there. Assuming that Italy and Greece will be quarantine ashore ?

 

[SarahHben]

My husband and I, my sister, brother in law and parents are all on the same cruise as you Dave. 
The 6 of us have decided we’ll go ahead and pay our balance despite quarantine procedures for Norway cruises being an unknown quantity.
After trying to keep up with the thread about insurance, last week i arranged ours through AllClear, so did my sister. No guarantees but the wording on the policy looked better than others I’d seen. Mum & Dad have an annual policy with someone else so don’t know how much cover they will have I should imagine Norway would be an expensive place to have to stay in a hotel etc 😳

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by SarahHben

[bee-ess]

I think I will be asking to delay payment until I know what the rules are.

[davecttr]

9 minutes ago, bee-ess said:

I think I will be asking to delay payment until I know what the rules are.

Might be worth a try. Has anyone ever had P&O agree on this?

[janny444]

It does feel like we are finally surfacing from the pandemic but to be honest I would like more light at the end of the tunnel and to be more sure that there are no more backward steps round the corner.....can you not transfer to a similar itinerary at a later date this year then it would give you more time to see how the situation is going especially if you are in a vulnerable group....you want to be relaxed and looking forward to the cruise not being anxious about every development that may occur.

 

 

[davecttr]

6 minutes ago, janny444 said:

It does feel like we are finally surfacing from the pandemic but to be honest I would like more light at the end of the tunnel and to be more sure that there are no more backward steps round the corner.....can you not transfer to a similar itinerary at a later date this year then it would give you more time to see how the situation is going especially if you are in a vulnerable group....you want to be relaxed and looking forward to the cruise not being anxious about every development that may occur.

 

 

I already have a cruise booked for September this year and two for next January one of which is last months non cruise that P&O allowed me to replace with another one even after I paid the final balance. I really need a holiday and a cruise is the best answer for someone who holidays solo.

[terrierjohn]

15 minutes ago, davecttr said:

I already have a cruise booked for September this year and two for next January one of which is last months non cruise that P&O allowed me to replace with another one even after I paid the final balance. I really need a holiday and a cruise is the best answer for someone who holidays solo.

Our next cruise is mid June and, despite continued uncertainty about being offloaded to quarantine abroad, I think we will go ahead as long as P&O can confirm our accessible cabin will be available.

However we thought things were returning to normal in November when we paid the balance for our Feb cruise, then along came omicron to completely change things.

[SarahHben]

17 minutes ago, davecttr said:

I already have a cruise booked for September this year and two for next January one of which is last months non cruise that P&O allowed me to replace with another one even after I paid the final balance. I really need a holiday and a cruise is the best answer for someone who holidays solo.

Do you think you'll take the risk and go anyway?

My parents are supposed to travelling to Southampton in our car but we are considering not travelling together so that we dont scupper each others plans if one of us test postitive at Southampton.

[majortom10]

The lack of clarity on this situation is the reason why this last week I have moved 2 cruises under their free transfer policy, one with Cunard for March and one in May with P&O. Too much of a risk at the moment not helped by no definite guidelines by the cruise companies.

[janny444]

2 hours ago, davecttr said:

I already have a cruise booked for September this year and two for next January one of which is last months non cruise that P&O allowed me to replace with another one even after I paid the final balance. I really need a holiday and a cruise is the best answer for someone who holidays solo.

If your need for a holiday and a cruise outweighs your hesitations.....which I understand.... then it could be worth still going.

 

Speaking for myself when ....if....we resume cruising I want to be more certain that the cruise resembles cruising how we know it with a lot less hoops and uncertainty that there is at the moment.

 

of course everyone has a different " risk bar" ....whatever you decide hope it works out for you

[newbie cruissy]

We are booked on Iona to Norway in July, so also keenly watching developments. 

[gsmt47471015]

3 hours ago, SarahHben said:

Do you think you'll take the risk and go anyway?

My parents are supposed to travelling to Southampton in our car but we are considering not travelling together so that we dont scupper each others plans if one of us test postitive at Southampton.

We've just had an e mail from intercruises stating that if anybody tests positive at the pier the whole coach will be denied boarding!!! This in total contradiction to the information we received upon telephoning them on Friday when it was confirmed that this was not now happening and had not been since October. The coach is supposedly operating at 35% capacity meaning the  social distancing can be met and were informed that should anybody test positive only "close contacts" would be denied boarding not the whole coach  , not sure what to believe now but as its  a five and a half hour car journey ,plus stops just wondering if we made the right decision.

Since the start of covid no two people seem able to coordinate the information that enables people to make an informed decision, has it affected their brains that much?😡 

[zap99]

22 hours ago, SarahHben said:

Do you think you'll take the risk and go anyway?

My parents are supposed to travelling to Southampton in our car but we are considering not travelling together so that we dont scupper each others plans if one of us test postitive at Southampton.

Our Norway cruise is in July with Celebrity. We will go. We have two more cruises booked for this year. We will go on those. Your idea of traveling separately has merit. Thanks. I told DW. She is now going with the bloke who works at the Gym.🤔

[Josy1953]

We have cruises booked for July and October with Princess.  I was hoping to go with them in March because my birthday falls on the day that we would be in  Lisbon.  I have wanted to go up to the statue of Christ the Redeemer since I read a book about the construction of the statue during the first lockdown.

[Cpt Pugwash]

On 2/7/2022 at 3:58 PM, newbie cruissy said:

We are booked on Iona to Norway in July, so also keenly watching developments. 

I'm booked on the G225 to Norway in July and watch  the Norwegian Websites for visitors info rather than getting info on here second  hand.

 

[newbie cruissy]

7 minutes ago, Cpt Pugwash said:

I'm booked on the G225 to Norway in July and watch  the Norwegian Websites for visitors info rather than getting info on here second  hand.

 

Any recommendations for useful links? 

[Cpt Pugwash]

6 hours ago, newbie cruissy said:

Any recommendations for useful links? 

Visitnorway.com advice on where to visit but also official advice on Covid which at the moment is everyone vaccinated allowed in but everyone over 16 must fill a form in 72 hrs before arriving.

[bee-ess]

5 hours ago, Cpt Pugwash said:

Visitnorway.com advice on where to visit but also official advice on Covid which at the moment is everyone vaccinated allowed in but everyone over 16 must fill a form in 72 hrs before arriving.

What about quarantine if you test positive for Covid (or are a close contact), would it be on ship or ashore

[zap99]

14 minutes ago, bee-ess said:

What about quarantine if you test positive for Covid (or are a close contact), would it be on ship or ashore

Test positive where?. If it's Southampton you won't get on the ship. That may be the last test.

[Cpt Pugwash]

27 minutes ago, bee-ess said:

What about quarantine if you test positive for Covid (or are a close contact), would it be on ship or ashore

Can't find anything definite but would guess it would be down to P&O and ship would not be allowed to dock if found beforehand.

[Cpt Pugwash]

14 minutes ago, zap99 said:

Test positive where?. If it's Southampton you won't get on the ship. That may be the last test.

That's right cause it takes less than 72 hrs to reach Norway.

[SarahHben]

To be fair, until International cruising to Norway starts in the Spring, we don't know if there will be any additional testing requirements specifically for cruise passengers. Hopefully the test at Southampton will be the only test but I think that remains to be seen.

[Amyracecar]

10 minutes ago, SarahHben said:

To be fair, until International cruising to Norway starts in the Spring, we don't know if there will be any additional testing requirements specifically for cruise passengers. Hopefully the test at Southampton will be the only test but I think that remains to be seen.

 

Absolutely this. It's not going to stop me paying my balance this month though, I'm getting on this ship come what may. 🙂 

The trend now seems to be going in the right direction, and if it follows a similar path as last year then May/June should see some of the lowest case rates of the year. Even if any countries have increased restrictions that might mean that there are fewer people testing positive & requiring any quarantine. (and P&O seem to be keeping that to a minimum even during the worst times) 

 

I expect cruise ships to keep some sort of process on board even though the UK are now scrapping pretty much everything, much like they always have with Norovirus. Hopefully it'll be more temperature checks and cleaning rather than masks and full testing though. 

[davecttr]

Despite the lack of information I have decided to go ahead. Insurance and pre cruise hotel sorted. Taxi company will provide me with the limo. I will pay the balance early next week and keep my fingers crossed P&O don't muck it up. Got my select balcony cabin number on deck 16 away from all the hassle