Documentation, insurance etc now required to board a P&O ship?

[Bill Y]

We are embarking Ventura in six weeks time. We have not cruised with P&O since 2019 and are aware that a few things have changed several times in the meantime and some of the draconic protocols have been relaxed, so some questions:-

 

The book that listed the shore excursions and had the luggage labels in it is not issued any more?

 

As there is no longer any vaccination requirement, NHS record of vaccinations is no longer a

requirement?

 

Do any pre cruise questionnaires need to be completed on line now?

 

Insurance,

Do P&O inspect insurance documents at check in now, P&O talk of proof of policy?

 

P&O now states:-

Make sure your insurance provides cover for a cruise holiday,

When travelling with us, your insurance must include medical cover of £2 million minimum and cover for emergency evacuations and medical expenses related to COVID-19

 

We are aware that cruise insurance covers emergency evacuation from a ship, missed ports and confinement to cabin, but as long as emergency medical expenses abroad including cover to bring you home up to £10,000.000 will P&O accept that?

 

I believe in the past P&O have required written documentation from insurers where the policy schedule has not specifically spelled out that cover for covid, and actually being on a cruise ship is not specified, is this still the case?

 

Interested to hear from anyone with recent experience.

Thanks

Edited April 13, 2023 by Bill Y

[Selbourne]

It’s a bit of a myth that you have to have cruise specific insurance cover in order to cover things like emergency evacuations from a ship. We are insured with Aviva and they consider a cruise to be a normal holiday and we are covered for on board medical treatment, emergency evacuations, repatriation etc. Specific cruise insurance tends to add things like missed port compensation, which we don’t have, but with the eye watering premiums that some people mention they have paid we would need multiple missed ports on every cruise to recoup the additional premium!

[jh1809]

No, the brochure listing the shore excursions and had the luggage labels in it is not issued any more. It's a pity. You can view and book all the excursions online of course, but I find looking through them online much more fiddly than just flipping through a booklet. You can print off your luggage labels from the cruise personaliser and, with folding in the right places and stapling the ends together, they do the job, but they always seem a bit flimsy and I worry that with some rough handling they might become detached from my cases.

[majortom10]

2 hours ago, Selbourne said:

It’s a bit of a myth that you have to have cruise specific insurance cover in order to cover things like emergency evacuations from a ship. We are insured with Aviva and they consider a cruise to be a normal holiday and we are covered for on board medical treatment, emergency evacuations, repatriation etc. Specific cruise insurance tends to add things like missed port compensation, which we don’t have, but with the eye watering premiums that some people mention they have paid we would need multiple missed ports on every cruise to recoup the additional premium!

We have cruise cover on our Flexplus current account which covers for worldwide travel and costs £13 per month. We paid an annual extra of £40 for cruise cover which covers for missed ports, cabin confinement etc. On our recent cruise on Iona G306 we missed a port of call at Alicante due to weather conditions. We were given a letter by P&O for insurance purposes if we needed to claim. I phoned Nationwide on returning home she took my details and said she would forward the claim and as there already been a number of claims for same cruise might not need to see letter of proof. Within 3 days £150 pp a total of £300 was deposited in our bank account. Excellent service and excellent value for money at £196 for annual worldwide travel insurance with cruise cover. One cannot say eye watering payments with regards to what we have paid and excellent service and payment received.

[elmsliebev]

1 hour ago, majortom10 said:

We have cruise cover on our Flexplus current account which covers for worldwide travel and costs £13 per month. We paid an annual extra of £40 for cruise cover which covers for missed ports, cabin confinement etc. On our recent cruise on Iona G306 we missed a port of call at Alicante due to weather conditions. We were given a letter by P&O for insurance purposes if we needed to claim. I phoned Nationwide on returning home she took my details and said she would forward the claim and as there already been a number of claims for same cruise might not need to see letter of proof. Within 3 days £150 pp a total of £300 was deposited in our bank account. Excellent service and excellent value for money at £196 for annual worldwide travel insurance with cruise cover. One cannot say eye watering payments with regards to what we have paid and excellent service and payment received.

same for us. We also bought the £40 additional cruise cover last year. We ended up with covid on QE lat year and were confined to cabin for 6 days. Nationwide paid out £1800 for us both. Which immediately went towards our Azura cruise later this year! The Flexplus account also covers car breakdown and mobile phone insurance. 

[davecttr]

This is what P&O emailed me this afternoon about my Arvia cruise next week

You need

 

Passport

Boarding Pass downloaded from My P&O Cruises

Evidence of valid travel insurance, including cover for COVID-19

Any documents required for the countries you are visiting

Link to destination country requirements

for example they list Spain as needing masks for some public transport.

 

No mention of Vaccination proof but I am taking mine anyway

No pre cruise questionnaire

Edited April 13, 2023 by davecttr

[Britboys]

8 minutes ago, davecttr said:

This is what P&O emailed me this afternoon about my Arvia cruise next week

You need

 

Passport

Boarding Pass downloaded from My P&O Cruises

Evidence of valid travel insurance, including cover for COVID-19

Any documents required for the countries you are visiting

Link to destination country requirements

for example they list Spain as needing masks for some public transport.

 

No mention of Vaccination proof but I am taking mine anyway

They are out of date with mask requirements in Spain - certainly in Malaga/Andalucia anyway. Masks no longer required on public transport...

[carlanthony24]

1 hour ago, Britboys said:

They are out of date with mask requirements in Spain - certainly in Malaga/Andalucia anyway. Masks no longer required on public transport...

Did not need masks at all in Spain or the Canaries

[davecttr]

6 hours ago, carlanthony24 said:

Did not need masks at all in Spain or the Canaries

I will take some anyway just in case things happen during the cruise

[Bill Y]

12 hours ago, davecttr said:

This is what P&O emailed me this afternoon about my Arvia cruise next week

You need

 

Passport

Boarding Pass downloaded from My P&O Cruises

Evidence of valid travel insurance, including cover for COVID-19

Any documents required for the countries you are visiting

Link to destination country requirements

for example they list Spain as needing masks for some public transport.

 

No mention of Vaccination proof but I am taking mine anyway

No pre cruise questionnaire

It’s the “Evidence of valid travel insurance, including cover for COVID-19” That I am concerned about.

 

Current and previous policy schedules have just stated the period of cover, people covered and trip limitations. My current one has a summary document but is not that detailed,

"Emergency medical expenses abroad including cover to bring you home up to £10,000.000". covid in not mentioned but it’s shown online and hidden inside the policy booklet.

 

So do need to ask the insurance company for a letter that states  medevac and covid is covered? What experiences have people who had travelled with P&O this year 2023 had with embarking at Southampton regarding the checking of their insurance cover?

[CCFC]

When we got on Azura in February when vaccination  proof was still needed we didnt have to show any proof at all, nor did we have to show proof of insurance, it was all back to the good old days.

Health questionnaire was remove December last year, no need to upload one.

No masks needed in Spain or Canaries, the law was removed the week before we boarded.

Edited April 14, 2023 by CCFC

[happy v]

59 minutes ago, Bill Y said:

It’s the “Evidence of valid travel insurance, including cover for COVID-19” That I am concerned about.

 

Current and previous policy schedules have just stated the period of cover, people covered and trip limitations. My current one has a summary document but is not that detailed,

"Emergency medical expenses abroad including cover to bring you home up to £10,000.000". covid in not mentioned but it’s shown online and hidden inside the policy booklet.

 

So do need to ask the insurance company for a letter that states  medevac and covid is covered? What experiences have people who had travelled with P&O this year 2023 had with embarking at Southampton regarding the checking of their insurance cover?

I just copied the pages with our details on, amount of cover, and repatriation details

No one asked to see it anyway. Just did we have it

[WestonOne]

All of the cruise lines I have booked with have asked for 'evidence' that your insurance covers evacuation, medical fees and so on.  Like others above, I have insurance through my bank that does cover all these things.

In practice, what happens is that you get asked if you have insurance, you say 'yes' and the topic moves onto the next question.  Which if you think about it,  is what you would expect.  The people checking you on board are not qualified insurance lawyers and if they refused you boarding because they judged it inadequate they could find themselves in deep trouble.  Moreover, if there are several thousand people boarding, they do not have time to check levels of cover and so on.

Now, in case, I always bring the entire terms and conditions of my insurance and summary page showing that cruising is covered and the amount of cover.  But it has never been looked at and I do not expect it will.

Insurance is for our benefit, not the cruise lines.  I have called on it for medical cover, but not for anything else.  That one occasion (which was basically just tests and a stay in the medical centre for a few hours) probably would have cost more than I have paid in insurance over decades.

Covid-19 was a special case, and when I cruised when it was more of a concern than it is now, I did also take separate letter stating I was covered under the standard terms.

Because you can be confined to your cabin, it used to be the case cruise lines would give you free days in compensation on another trip.  So if you were locked up for a fortnight, you could get effectively a free 14 day cruise in compensation.  Those days are gone. If you want that, you have to have it as part of your insurance.   When I looked into it, one would have given me so much a day while confined, and it worked out as something like £200 more expensive to take the insurance than if I simply gave myself the money.  That was because I could not buy it without buying all of the other stuff I was already insured for, like evacuation, and my insurers did not have it as an add-on.

I wrote a blog article for a trip in September 2021, and as part of it made a list of what paperwork was involved:

 

Edited April 14, 2023 by WestonOne

[davecttr]

1 hour ago, Bill Y said:

It’s the “Evidence of valid travel insurance, including cover for COVID-19” That I am concerned about.

 

Current and previous policy schedules have just stated the period of cover, people covered and trip limitations. My current one has a summary document but is not that detailed,

"Emergency medical expenses abroad including cover to bring you home up to £10,000.000". covid in not mentioned but it’s shown online and hidden inside the policy booklet.

 

So do need to ask the insurance company for a letter that states  medevac and covid is covered? What experiences have people who had travelled with P&O this year 2023 had with embarking at Southampton regarding the checking of their insurance cover?

I have a COVID cover certificate from my Insurer. However nobody at Southampton asked to see the Insurance documentation. They asked do I have the correct insurance and I said yes because I do. If your COVID cover is in the policy booklet you should be reassured?

[Bill Y]

Thanks to all that replied.

 

I asked my TA about P&O checking insurance docs at Southampton. They said that P&O had not made any changes regarding to the customer having to provide proof but they do not check everyone now, but they could always conduct a spot check. They probably said that to cover themselves, they also suggested that I took a screenshot that said that all their polices covered covid.

 

I phoned the insurance company and explained that P&O required proof of cover. They have now mailed me a "Confirmation of travel insurance" It does not mention my name or the policy it relates to but does confirm covid cover, and under cruise cover, repatriation costs. surprisingly it covers travelling even if the FCDO are advising against "all but essential" travel. not that I would wish to go to such a place,

[jeanlyon]

On 4/14/2023 at 1:11 PM, WestonOne said:

All of the cruise lines I have booked with have asked for 'evidence' that your insurance covers evacuation, medical fees and so on.  Like others above, I have insurance through my bank that does cover all these things.

In practice, what happens is that you get asked if you have insurance, you say 'yes' and the topic moves onto the next question.  Which if you think about it,  is what you would expect.  The people checking you on board are not qualified insurance lawyers and if they refused you boarding because they judged it inadequate they could find themselves in deep trouble.  Moreover, if there are several thousand people boarding, they do not have time to check levels of cover and so on.

Now, in case, I always bring the entire terms and conditions of my insurance and summary page showing that cruising is covered and the amount of cover.  But it has never been looked at and I do not expect it will.

Insurance is for our benefit, not the cruise lines.  I have called on it for medical cover, but not for anything else.  That one occasion (which was basically just tests and a stay in the medical centre for a few hours) probably would have cost more than I have paid in insurance over decades.

Covid-19 was a special case, and when I cruised when it was more of a concern than it is now, I did also take separate letter stating I was covered under the standard terms.

Because you can be confined to your cabin, it used to be the case cruise lines would give you free days in compensation on another trip.  So if you were locked up for a fortnight, you could get effectively a free 14 day cruise in compensation.  Those days are gone. If you want that, you have to have it as part of your insurance.   When I looked into it, one would have given me so much a day while confined, and it worked out as something like £200 more expensive to take the insurance than if I simply gave myself the money.  That was because I could not buy it without buying all of the other stuff I was already insured for, like evacuation, and my insurers did not have it as an add-on.

I wrote a blog article for a trip in September 2021, and as part of it made a list of what paperwork was involved:

 

My upgrade for Cruise Cover was £40 which is for missed ports, cabin confinement etc.  Also, there is no need for vaccination certs any more.

[WestonOne]

5 hours ago, jeanlyon said:

My upgrade for Cruise Cover was £40 which is for missed ports, cabin confinement etc.  Also, there is no need for vaccination certs any more.

I think that depends on your original insurance without the option. Since mine did not have that as an available option, I would have had to buy a complete new insurance with a different insurer and that that would have included stuff I was already covered for.

[Cruisemeister2002]

On 4/13/2023 at 6:34 PM, jh1809 said:

No, the brochure listing the shore excursions and had the luggage labels in it is not issued any more. It's a pity. You can view and book all the excursions online of course, but I find looking through them online much more fiddly than just flipping through a booklet. You can print off your luggage labels from the cruise personaliser and, with folding in the right places and stapling the ends together, they do the job, but they always seem a bit flimsy and I worry that with some rough handling they might become detached from my cases.

Watch out for last minute cabin changes. We did a cruise on Ventura early March and the day before the cruise I got notification via email that my cabin had been changed. Obviously from the fact that someone else's luggage being delivered to our cabin as well as our own they either didn't get told or just didn't pick up the email. It was in my opinion poor planning as i had already printed off the labels and they were attached to the luggage which I then had to cut them off and reprint for the new cabin. Also reprint new boarding passes. The ship was 5 hours late into Southampton and on getting to our cabin found the door cards were in someone else's name. Inside the cabin the dining arrangements were incorrect and a celebration package I paid £399 for not delivered. It took 17 days onboard to get this properly sorted and part of this package was a formal photo in a frame. Guess what ? No photographer onboard. This was just a small part of a nightmare cruise. One I won't look back on with any pleasure. P&O have received a 3 A4 page list of my complaints. When you only get one holiday a year and your my age you are aware that you cannot afford to be subjected to anything but an enjoyable one. I don't blame most of the staff as waiters and bar staff did a great job. Cabin Steward was a bit hit and miss as I had to keep asking for tea, coffee or milk. Which he seemed to play a kind of roulette with so you sometime got one and not the other. Reception staff tried hard, but seemed to be restricted in what they could do for you.

[Jonem2001]

I have cruised with P&O several times in the last year - most recently Aurora and Britannia over Easter - and have not been asked for proof of insurance at all. I have it, but have never been required to show it! I would agree with @WestonOne that it would be an impossible task for port staff to confirm precise arrangements given the huge range of products in the market - so I think it unlikely you’d be asked anything other than a verbal ‘have you met our requirements’.

 

I haven’t seen the mythical booklet with luggage tags since COVID (sounds sturdier than my printed efforts!) and I can confirm I haven’t been asked for vaccination details or to fill out a medical questionnaire this year.

 

Boarding processes seem very close to pre-pandemic arrangements now. Hope you have a great cruise! 

 

 

[Scorpio41]

I cannot find health check in online. Will they be able to do it at check in?

[happy v]

35 minutes ago, Scorpio41 said:

I cannot find health check in online. Will they be able to do it at check in?

You don't need one now 

[annieuk]

I was on Aurora three weeks ago.  All I needed to board was the on line boarding pass - the one I'd printed wasn't very legible so the lady at check in reprinted it for me - and my passport.  I wasn't asked for proof of insurance or proof of vaccination.  The whole process was completed incredibly quickly, I was amazed.  No one had to sit on the rows of chairs in the Mayflower Terminal, it was that fast.