Live On-Board Iona G208

[DamianG]

21 minutes ago, Bobblehat71 said:

 

Hi , Thanks for the great post Damian.

 

We were on the same cruise and had a great time.   

With regards to the testing it took around 20-25 mins from the time we started to queue to getting the test done. Its all a bit chaotic but not as bad as it first appears. No social distancing in the queues and quite a confined space to put hundreds passengers ,So if anyone did have Covid in the queue then it had plenty of chance to spread before testing . We left the car with CPS around 12:15 and were onboard by 1:15. 

As for mask wearing we also felt comfortable not wearing masks . There was some confusion when we first boarded as some of the ships crew thought they were still required. As Damian said some wore masks but most didn't . We did wear ours in lifts if sharing with others who wore them just more out of courtesy than anything else. 

 

That's good, it was definitely chaotic but once we got hold of someone to advise that we'd never got our son's PCR test result back we were whisked away past all the queue. We could see the queue building up from the terminal, not the best photo below but at one point stretching all the way back to the drop off entry roads. 

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by DamianG

[Bobblehat71]

1 minute ago, DamianG said:

 

That's good, it was definitely chaotic but once we got hold of someone to advise that we'd never got our son's PCR test result back we were whisked away past all the queue. We could see the queue building from the terminal, not the best photo below but at one point stretching all the way back to the drop off entry roads. 

 

 

Wow, Good job we had an early boarding time! 

[DamianG]

On a separate note I've just received confirmation that we are to receive £225 (3 x £75) from our travel insurers for missing Le Havre. As ever there were a lot of hoops to jump through but the decision has been swift.

[AuroraCruiser08]

42 minutes ago, DamianG said:

 

Adults are required to have a lateral flow test in the terminal then wait for your all clear message via text before going through the boarding process. I cannot advise you how long this was taking on average as we had an issue with our son's pre-booked PCR test which didn't come through (children not fully vaccinated need this) so we had to wait around for another in the terminal. We finally got onboard 3 hours after arriving.

Great thank you. No change since Christmas then. 

[grapau27]

44 minutes ago, DamianG said:

 

Adults are required to have a lateral flow test in the terminal then wait for your all clear message via text before going through the boarding process. I cannot advise you how long this was taking on average as we had an issue with our son's pre-booked PCR test which didn't come through (children not fully vaccinated need this) so we had to wait around for another in the terminal. We finally got onboard 3 hours after arriving.

It is between 20-30 minutes when the LFT result text comes through on your phone.

Graham.

[Selbourne]

1 hour ago, DamianG said:

 

That's good, it was definitely chaotic but once we got hold of someone to advise that we'd never got our son's PCR test result back we were whisked away past all the queue. We could see the queue building up from the terminal, not the best photo below but at one point stretching all the way back to the drop off entry roads. 

 

My goodness. That is one hell of a queue and further confirms our decision not to resume cruising until the Covid testing etc is no longer required. 

[AuroraCruiser08]

1 hour ago, Selbourne said:

My goodness. That is one hell of a queue and further confirms our decision not to resume cruising until the Covid testing etc is no longer required. 

Have a funny feeling you Could be waiting quite a while unfortunately. Tbh it's the most stressful part of the holiday and makes you really tense for the two weeks prior to departure too. P&O don't seem very inclined to lift the testing anytime soon.

[Selbourne]

12 minutes ago, AuroraCruiser08 said:

Have a funny feeling you Could be waiting quite a while unfortunately. Tbh it's the most stressful part of the holiday and makes you really tense for the two weeks prior to departure too. P&O don't seem very inclined to lift the testing anytime soon.

I fear that you are probably right. I can understand the concerns, but we don’t have to endure the hassle or stress with any other holidays we go on and we are getting to the stage where we can take or leave cruises given all the ‘worry factors’. We have two cruises booked for next year but will probably cancel them if things aren’t back to normal (not ‘new normal’) by then.

[AuroraCruiser08]

56 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

I fear that you are probably right. I can understand the concerns, but we don’t have to endure the hassle or stress with any other holidays we go on and we are getting to the stage where we can take or leave cruises given all the ‘worry factors’. We have two cruises booked for next year but will probably cancel them if things aren’t back to normal (not ‘new normal’) by then.

I agree, the stress for us to go at Christmas was huge and unbelievable especially when you can now travel basically anywhere at home and in Europe without the need to test (if fully vaccinated ofcourse) so we shall see. Maybe wait till payment is due and make a call then. No point loosing a good holiday if things change but I see your concern and it's wheathher the stress is worth it. I get the impression now most have cruised atleast once now maybe that stress isn't worth it. 

[Old_tilly_billy]

Just come off G208 had a good time unfortunately I’ve now got COVID 🤮 symptoms are mild no worse than a cold.  No idea when or where I picked it up. 

[terrierjohn]

8 hours ago, AuroraCruiser08 said:

Have a funny feeling you Could be waiting quite a while unfortunately. Tbh it's the most stressful part of the holiday and makes you really tense for the two weeks prior to departure too. P&O don't seem very inclined to lift the testing anytime soon.

I wonder if the new rules coming in on 29th April, which include you now needing to organise your own antigen test 2 days prior to embarkation, will replace the terminal tests?

[Selbourne]

Just now, terrierjohn said:

I wonder if the new rules coming in on 29th April, which include you now needing to organise your own antigen test 2 days prior to embarkation, will replace the terminal tests?

Delving around on the P&O website trying to understand the many requirements, it appears that the terminal tests remain and are in addition to the tests that customers now have to pay for in the 24 hours prior to embarkation. 

[terrierjohn]

7 minutes ago, Selbourne said:

Delving around on the P&O website trying to understand the many requirements, it appears that the terminal tests remain and are in addition to the tests that customers now have to pay for in the 24 hours prior to embarkation. 

I thought it was 2 days, not 24 hrs?

By the way Moley on the new vaccination policy states that prenetics will provide testing at the terminal for those that cannot arrange their own LFT, but testing at the terminal is being scaled back. So it's either or, not both.

Edited April 12, 2022 by terrierjohn

[Selbourne]

8 hours ago, terrierjohn said:

I thought it was 2 days, not 24 hrs?

By the way Moley on the new vaccination policy states that prenetics will provide testing at the terminal for those that cannot arrange their own LFT, but testing at the terminal is being scaled back. So it's either or, not both.

On the ‘Updated Vaccination Policy’ thread, everyone is talking about how challenging it will be to obtain a test within 24 hours of embarkation, due to travelling down to Southampton the day before and the uncertainty about whether it is a strict 24 hours or means any time the day before. I had therefore assumed it is 24 hours. I was more focussed on the ‘booster within 270 days’ comment which was poorly articulated in the email.

 

To be honest though John, I have lost the will to live with it all. Mercifully, we don’t have any cruises booked for this year. If we did, I think I’d be cancelling. Half the joy of a holiday is looking forward to it. P&O seem intent on destroying that aspect.

[Bgees]

On 4/9/2022 at 6:58 PM, Eddie99 said:

Thanks so much

I’ve been sent an offer of free drinks package but I was wondering if we would enjoy the offerings - gin & “gun” tonic not Fevertree or even Schweppes, only cheaper wine etc

I was on the drinks package for G208 and you did get Schweppes tonic with the package, just not Fevertree. It came in the can so you could add  as much or as little as you wished. (I have Slimline tonic though so that could make a difference to whether it is a can or dispenser?)

 

As for the wines, there are many, many different wines available on the package so there is no real incentive to spend extra to get 'better' wines (IMHO of course). The only real issue I have with the drinks package oiis the relatively poor selection of cocktails available. It didn't stop us enjoying quite a few different ones though as long as you go to the bars that serve the different types. The pool bar (Sky Dome) for example has several available that aren't on inside bar menus.

Edited April 13, 2022 by Bgees

[JDB78]

Hi Damian really loved your blog. Really useful info for someone who has never sailed with P&O before. Not sure if you can answer this but any idea if the cruise was at capacity?

 

We go away in July so I'm sure will be busy then, but used the busy ships anyway having been on the RC IOS  quite a few times in the past. Not sure if the new vaccination policy will put some off?

[Old_tilly_billy]

Hi Damian just a quick question about missed port of call did you get a confirmation on board or did you contact customer service’s afterwards 

[Vampiress88]

How does the app thing work? 
 

im not going to be using my data on board so was going to turn flight mode on but I don’t know if that will still connect to the free app thingy 

[terrierjohn]

5 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

How does the app thing work? 
 

im not going to be using my data on board so was going to turn flight mode on but I don’t know if that will still connect to the free app thingy 

Yes it will give you access to the P&O "App", as long as you ensure wi fi is on.

Edited April 14, 2022 by terrierjohn

[Vampiress88]

19 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Yes it will give you access to the P&O "App", as long as you ensure wi fi is on.

that’s what worries me. Not sure how I can put my wifi on without it trying to connect me to the internet. Don’t want to come back to massive charges. 

 

[wowzz]

4 minutes ago, Vampiress88 said:

that’s what worries me. Not sure how I can put my wifi on without it trying to connect me to the internet. Don’t want to come back to massive charges. 

 

You put your phone into "airplane" mode, then switch on wifi.  You get connected to the P&O page, but to nothing else, so no chance of any charges.

[PRINCESSTHE BEST]

6 minutes ago, wowzz said:

You put your phone into "airplane" mode, then switch on wifi.  You get connected to the P&O page, but to nothing else, so no chance of any charges.

Somewhere along the line on the cruise I got caught by telecom maritime. Don’t know where or when but I’ve incurred £6.51 data charges 😫

[DamianG]

6 hours ago, JDB78 said:

Hi Damian really loved your blog. Really useful info for someone who has never sailed with P&O before. Not sure if you can answer this but any idea if the cruise was at capacity?

 

We go away in July so I'm sure will be busy then, but used the busy ships anyway having been on the RC IOS  quite a few times in the past. Not sure if the new vaccination policy will put some off?

 

According to someone on Facebook there were 3000 passengers (vs 5,200 capacity). The only place that it seemed crowded to us was around the Sky Dome Pool which is typical for a school holidays cruise anyway (and we only passed through on a few occasions so that's not to say that it was always busy).

[DamianG]

1 hour ago, Old_tilly_billy said:

Hi Damian just a quick question about missed port of call did you get a confirmation on board or did you contact customer service’s afterwards 

 

I asked for a confirmation letter at reception onboard and it was delivered to our cabin the next evening.

[DamianG]

16 minutes ago, wowzz said:

You put your phone into "airplane" mode, then switch on wifi.  You get connected to the P&O page, but to nothing else, so no chance of any charges.

 

As per John & Wowzz's advice it was easy to use with clear instructions how to get it working without using anything but the ship's intranet. We had no issues with using it at all.