Protocols Update soon

[molecrochip]

Yesterday, as expected, the US CDC relaxed a number of their requirements for ships carrying 95% vaccinated passengers and crew.

 

As I said previously, whilst this has no direct impact in the UK, I do believe this will be the incentive for P&O, Cunard and UK based Princess ships to change their protocols. Typically the US leads and the world follows on these matters.

 

Interesting points announced by the CDC include the close contact timescale dropping to 36 hours, social distancing being removed. The mask requirement has already been dropped.

 

One change I am aware of, is that drive through testing in Southampton will end at the end of the Winter season, 31 March. Terminal testing will remain for time being and practical operation is being reviewed.

[Cathygh]

Thank you Molecrochip. Are there any plans to introduce a fee for tests as Princess are doing? $60 I believe. 

As for amending the protocols it's hard call, after the problems on the current Aurora cruise and the risk of being offloaded to a quaratine hotel if testing positive in Spanish waters. 

Edited March 19, 2022 by Cathygh

[fishnchips]

26 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

Yesterday, as expected, the US CDC relaxed a number of their requirements for ships carrying 95% vaccinated passengers and crew.

 

As I said previously, whilst this has no direct impact in the UK, I do believe this will be the incentive for P&O, Cunard and UK based Princess ships to change their protocols. Typically the US leads and the world follows on these matters.

 

Interesting points announced by the CDC include the close contact timescale dropping to 36 hours, social distancing being removed. The mask requirement has already been dropped.

 

One change I am aware of, is that drive through testing in Southampton will end at the end of the Winter season, 31 March. Terminal testing will remain for time being and practical operation is being reviewed.

Hi so we are just about to board sky princess next week and they have just dropped a $60pp charge on us 1 week out for testing .... or £30 online test 3 days before with a third party supplier?

I wonder if P&O will go down this route?I

 

[Cathygh]

8 minutes ago, fishnchips said:

Hi so we are just about to board sky princess next week and they have just dropped a $60pp charge on us 1 week out for testing .... or £30 online test 3 days before with a third party supplier?

I wonder if P&O will go down this route?I

 

Is the $60 per cabin or each?

[Pink-belle]

1 hour ago, Cathygh said:

Is the $60 per cabin or each?

It’s $60 per person, if you chose to be tested at port. I am paying £29.99 for test at Lloyd’s Phamacy.

[jaydee6969]

2 hours ago, molecrochip said:

One change I am aware of, is that drive through testing in Southampton will end at the end of the Winter season, 31 March. Terminal testing will remain for time being and practical operation is being reviewed.

 

I spotted that on the P&O website on Friday, it is going to put a lot of pressure on the testing at the terminal. 

 

We will be putting it to the test in 3 weeks when we board Britannia.  Have an early allocated arrival time, but expecting a very long wait.

[Selbourne]

2 hours ago, molecrochip said:

Yesterday, as expected, the US CDC relaxed a number of their requirements for ships carrying 95% vaccinated passengers and crew.

 

As I said previously, whilst this has no direct impact in the UK, I do believe this will be the incentive for P&O, Cunard and UK based Princess ships to change their protocols. Typically the US leads and the world follows on these matters.

 

Interesting points announced by the CDC include the close contact timescale dropping to 36 hours, social distancing being removed. The mask requirement has already been dropped.

 

One change I am aware of, is that drive through testing in Southampton will end at the end of the Winter season, 31 March. Terminal testing will remain for time being and practical operation is being reviewed.

Positive steps, if they happen, but this still leaves issues that for some of us are show stoppers. When do you envisage the abandonment of designated quarantine areas? I’m struggling to understand why those with Covid can’t isolate in their own cabin, as is the case with Norovirus, especially as for most vaccinated people it is now thankfully a mild illness. This would also alleviate a lot of problems with passengers having cruises disrupted as the cabin that they booked in good faith can no longer be allocated to them as it is in a quarantine area. Cabins we have booked for next year are affected by this (as we have discovered since booking) and if they remain as quarantine cabins we will have to cancel.
 

The other show stopper for us is the risk of being disembarked mid cruise. Due to my wife’s disability, we simply cannot risk cruising whilst the possibility of this remains. I’ve never understood why countries would wish to import Covid cases by insisting that positive passengers are disembarked, although I understand the issue about the % of cases on board determining whether or not a ship can dock, so I can see the benefit for cruise companies of doing this. Is this a country by country issue or a cruise industry directive? If it’s the former I appreciate that it’s impossible to know when this will end, but if it’s a cruise industry requirement do you have any thoughts on when positive passengers could remain on board until the end of the cruise?

 

Finally, will partners of those testing positive still have to isolate even if testing negative? Maybe this has stopped already and I’ve missed it? We know many couples where one has had Covid and the other hasn’t, even though they’ve continued to sleep in the same bed, which is one of the many strange things about Covid that I’ve never got my head around!

[Cathygh]

44 minutes ago, Pink-belle said:

It’s $60 per person, if you chose to be tested at port. I am paying £29.99 for test at Lloyd’s Phamacy.

Thanks

[fishnchips]

4 hours ago, Cathygh said:

Is the $60 per cabin or each?

Hi as quoted above $60 per person ....I was out buying dollars $1.25 to the £ if anyone was interested.

[molecrochip]

European restart guidance required specific quarantine areas for ships that call within Europe. These rules were written at the time of the Delta variant rather than Omicron variant. They were based upon the spread of virus seen on the Diamond and Grand Princess ships (amongst others).

 

You'll recall the problems caused by the ship crew dealing with an isolating cabin then moving on to a healthy cabin on the expectation that this was a surface/touch transmission virus - not realising that it was actually a more airborne problem. The result was to dedicate a quarantine area of cabins with dedicated crew.

 

I believe this is now being reviewed but with the majority of P&O calls in the Summer within Europe, until these rules change, P&O can't amend. With the change to CDC rules, I expect a change to European rules to follow.

 

The offloading point is most certainly not P&O's choice within Europe. This is dictated by local health authority of the port being called at. Slightly different in the Caribbean where most islands will deny landing if more than a certain percentage are infected hence the use of Queen Victoria to transfer infected passengers thus tipping the percentages in favour of those the remaining, healthy, passengers.

 

Regarding the testing in terminal, this happened for the Iona cruise which left on the stormy day - the drive through facility having been deemed dangerous in the very high winds. It was chaos but a lot of lessons were learned on how it could be managed better.

 

I've not yet heard of any plan to charge passengers. The Princess policy echo's that in effect for their US cruises for the Winter season. The current Aurora cruise & Christmas Queen Mary 2 cruise have shown how LFT can be ineffective on an Omicron style variant.

 

If we make an assumption that the LFT cannot trace a Omicron style variant until 3 days after a PCR test due to the viral loadings, then it would make sense to move to a 'departure - 3 day' PCR test arrangement as the results should broadly be the same however this removes the pressure of departure day testing. You also remove the problem of people turning up, and transmitting covid whilst waiting for their test/results.

[Enjoyacruise]

7 hours ago, fishnchips said:

Hi so we are just about to board sky princess next week and they have just dropped a $60pp charge on us 1 week out for testing .... or £30 online test 3 days before with a third party supplier?

I wonder if P&O will go down this route?I

 

For my flight to the Azura on 31st March P&O are requesting passengers arrange their own lateral flow tests and bring proof to the airport.

 

Whilst you have to pay for them they are adding £15 onboard credit to each passenger's account. On another thread some are using Boots and mention a cost of £14.99. I am using Biograd who are £18.95 but I have used them previously and sticking with them.

[mickey1959]

Any views on Arcadia's British Isles cruise in July?

[zap99]

2 hours ago, molecrochip said:

European restart guidance required specific quarantine areas for ships that call within Europe. These rules were written at the time of the Delta variant rather than Omicron variant. They were based upon the spread of virus seen on the Diamond and Grand Princess ships (amongst others).

 

You'll recall the problems caused by the ship crew dealing with an isolating cabin then moving on to a healthy cabin on the expectation that this was a surface/touch transmission virus - not realising that it was actually a more airborne problem. The result was to dedicate a quarantine area of cabins with dedicated crew.

 

I believe this is now being reviewed but with the majority of P&O calls in the Summer within Europe, until these rules change, P&O can't amend. With the change to CDC rules, I expect a change to European rules to follow.

 

The offloading point is most certainly not P&O's choice within Europe. This is dictated by local health authority of the port being called at. Slightly different in the Caribbean where most islands will deny landing if more than a certain percentage are infected hence the use of Queen Victoria to transfer infected passengers thus tipping the percentages in favour of those the remaining, healthy, passengers.

 

Regarding the testing in terminal, this happened for the Iona cruise which left on the stormy day - the drive through facility having been deemed dangerous in the very high winds. It was chaos but a lot of lessons were learned on how it could be managed better.

 

I've not yet heard of any plan to charge passengers. The Princess policy echo's that in effect for their US cruises for the Winter season. The current Aurora cruise & Christmas Queen Mary 2 cruise have shown how LFT can be ineffective on an Omicron style variant.

 

If we make an assumption that the LFT cannot trace a Omicron style variant until 3 days after a PCR test due to the viral loadings, then it would make sense to move to a 'departure - 3 day' PCR test arrangement as the results should broadly be the same however this removes the pressure of departure day testing. You also remove the problem of people turning up, and transmitting covid whilst waiting for their test/results.

Perhaps they could join the rest of the travel industry and drop any pre, post or mid cruise testing.

[Jumping Cruiser]

Mask Policy Change

 

P&O have updated their website with a new mask policy, effective for departures from 27th March.

 

“Whilst we highly recommend that guests wear masks on board, they are only required in the theatre, cinema, or if you visit the medical centre. “

“Off the ship, masks are required during embarkation, disembarkation and when using tender boats*. Some destinations may also require you to wear masks when ashore and we recommend taking one with you whenever you disembark the ship.”

Edited March 21, 2022 by Jumping Cruiser

[Selbourne]

11 minutes ago, Jumping Cruiser said:

Mask Policy Change

 

P&O have updated their website with a new mask policy, effective for departures from 27th March.

 

“Whilst we highly recommend that guests wear masks on board, they are only required in the theatre, cinema, or if you visit the medical centre. “

“Off the ship, masks are required during embarkation, disembarkation and when using tender boats*. Some destinations may also require you to wear masks when ashore and we recommend taking one with you whenever you disembark the ship.”

That’s a shame. I was hoping that wearing them would become a matter of personal choice in all settings - as it is here. 
 

I also hope that the quarantine zones are ditched and anyone infected can just quarantine in their booked cabin. @molecrochip any news on this?

Edited March 21, 2022 by Selbourne

[Jumping Cruiser]

6 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

That’s a shame. I was hoping that wearing them would become a matter of personal choice in all settings - as it is here. 

 

Me too! Although, this is still an improvement! Hopefully, personal choice ship-wide by summer 🤞🏻.

[Bobblehat71]

Hoping the Preboard tests will be scrapped soon. If the latest ONS 1in 20 figures are to believed then there's going to be a lot of empty cabins on the next few cruises.

[Ardennais]

1 hour ago, Bobblehat71 said:

Hoping the Preboard tests will be scrapped soon. If the latest ONS 1in 20 figures are to believed then there's going to be a lot of empty cabins on the next few cruises.

So it wouldn’t bother you if unknowingly infected passengers boarded? 

[Amyracecar]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

That’s a shame. I was hoping that wearing them would become a matter of personal choice in all settings - as it is here. 
 

I also hope that the quarantine zones are ditched and anyone infected can just quarantine in their booked cabin. @molecrochip any news on this?

 

I hope they keep at least some of the quarantine areas for as long as they're asking people to do so. I wouldn't mind staying in my own booked cabin as it has a balcony, but asking people in inside cabins (and staff) to stay in a small room with no windows or fresh air for up to 10 days is pretty awful. 

[mickey1959]

8 minutes ago, Amyracecar said:

 

I hope they keep at least some of the quarantine areas for as long as they're asking people to do so. I wouldn't mind staying in my own booked cabin as it has a balcony, but asking people in inside cabins (and staff) to stay in a small room with no windows or fresh air for up to 10 days is pretty awful. 

I didn't think inside cabins were used for quarantine, I thought it was just balconys.

[Bobblehat71]

54 minutes ago, Ardennais said:

So it wouldn’t bother you if unknowingly infected passengers boarded? 

 

 Just as likely to catch it at the gym,cinema,pub,shopping ,etc.

We don't test everyone  on these occasions so why should cruising be any different? 

Edited March 21, 2022 by Bobblehat71

[Britboys]

I'm quite wavering around testing. In a way I want it to continue as I am perhaps living life on the more cautious side. On the other hand, infection can, I believe, take up to 5 days to show up on an lft, so you do kind of wonder how useful they are as someone may have picked up the infection two or three days before boarding but show negative on testing...

[Bobblehat71]

The only reason I'm against testing is that for me personally it really stops me looking forward to my cruise. 

I tested positive at the port last year so I know that it does happen. I had zero symptoms so it was quite a shock. I have cruised since but the build up to it just wasn't the same.  I'm cruising again in a couple of weeks but struggling to get too excited about it.

I'm also convinced the testing isn't particular effective. As I mentioned on another post , if the current ONS figures are accurate then there should be hundreds of passengers testing positive at the port this week.

[Dermotsgirl]

The trouble is, P&O are very coy about the Covid figures, so we simply don't know how many people are being turned away each week.

 

However, I think it's unlikely to be 1 in 20, as, from what I've read, many people make behavioural changes in the week before their cruise, like avoiding going out socially, working from home and generally avoiding crowds, to avoid getting the virus ahead of their cruise.

 

This is the very epitome of ' learning to live with it' - doing things a bit differently in our changed world. 

 

I think the cruise companies still need to make every effort to keep the virus off the ship, so I believe pre cruise testing will be with us for some time.  

 

The difference to going to the gym, pub, restaurant etc is that you won't be living with the people at those locations for two weeks in a closed community 

[Dermotsgirl]

3 hours ago, mickey1959 said:

I didn't think inside cabins were used for quarantine, I thought it was just balconys.

On Aurora recently, they simply ran out of quarantine cabins, so some people had to stay in their inside cabin until a balcony cabin became available, or before they were transferred to the 'support ship' Queen Victoria