What's your feeling about cruising again?

[Stephen]

Hope you have a lovely time M'Lady

[Kendhni]

Fingers crossed all goes well for us on Saturday! Just done a test and it’s negative - So far so good !!

Good luck, have a great time and please let us know how it goes and what life on board is like.

[david63]

Just been reading about a passenger on Iona who tested positive for Covid and had to be disembarked in Cadiz, along with his wife, and put into quarantine for two weeks.

Most people, including me, were of the opinion that anyone with Covid would be quarantined on the ship until the return to Southampton.

If this is now the policy this could be a total game changer.

[towny44]

Lots of comments on CC and FB about this in the same vein, with many people, including me, saying this would deter passengers from seeking medical help if they felt ill, as wel as avoiding going ashore at any ports of call that required a test.
It has been suggested that this was because the Spanish health directives demand that any positive cases have to go into Hotel quarantine, although the CC P&O mole says that symptomatic passengers were always intended to be offloaded.

[poole boy]

we have been on 2 cruises this year August Britannia and September Iona loved them both and haved booked 2 more for next year on queen Victoria arcadia and can not wait to go.
we never had any problems this year and felt safe and well looked after

[Kendhni]

Just been reading about a passenger on Iona who tested positive for Covid and had to be disembarked in Cadiz, along with his wife, and put into quarantine for two weeks.

Most people, including me, were of the opinion that anyone with Covid would be quarantined on the ship until the return to Southampton.

If this is now the policy this could be a total game changer.

To be honest I think it is a more sensible idea than keeping ill people onboard the ship - especially given the speed of deterioration often exhibited and the need for immediate specialist medical help (and the usual age demographic of cruisers during term time).

Given the number of false positives that there seems to be some people could be wrongly offloaded. Somewhere else someone had said that you better make sure you have good travel insurance.

[towny44]

Just been reading about a passenger on Iona who tested positive for Covid and had to be disembarked in Cadiz, along with his wife, and put into quarantine for two weeks.

Most people, including me, were of the opinion that anyone with Covid would be quarantined on the ship until the return to Southampton.

If this is now the policy this could be a total game changer.

To be honest I think it is a more sensible idea than keeping ill people onboard the ship - especially given the speed of deterioration often exhibited and the need for immediate specialist medical help (and the usual age demographic of cruisers during term time).

Given the number of false positives that there seems to be some people could be wrongly offloaded. Somewhere else someone had said that you better make sure you have good travel insurance.

The insurance seems to be the problem Ken, HE the P&O preferred insurer have advised several people that they will only cover the quarantine and repatriation costs of people who have covid. So if your partner stays healthy there could be a big hit on your bank balance.

[david63]

o be honest I think it is a more sensible idea than keeping ill people onboard the ship - especially given the speed of deterioration often exhibited and the need for immediate specialist medical help

That I can understand, and agree with, but I am not sure that I want to be put in the position of being disembarked in a foreign country for an indefinite period of time with what could possibly be a life threatening condition.

[barney]

o be honest I think it is a more sensible idea than keeping ill people onboard the ship - especially given the speed of deterioration often exhibited and the need for immediate specialist medical help

That I can understand, and agree with, but I am not sure that I want to be put in the position of being disembarked in a foreign country for an indefinite period of time with what could possibly be a life threatening condition.

Ditto David.
A friend of ours recently tested positive in Minorca two days before they were due to travel back.
Fortunately he was fine and recently retired, but cost him a lot more than he had bargained for.

[Kendhni]

o be honest I think it is a more sensible idea than keeping ill people onboard the ship - especially given the speed of deterioration often exhibited and the need for immediate specialist medical help

That I can understand, and agree with, but I am not sure that I want to be put in the position of being disembarked in a foreign country for an indefinite period of time with what could possibly be a life threatening condition.

I definitely would not want to be in that position ... but we all have to understand that a commercial operation will have to ensure the safety of the many. Just one more thing to consider when booking holidays. It really is amazing the difference a virus has made to everybody's lives in a matter of a few months.

[towny44]

o be honest I think it is a more sensible idea than keeping ill people onboard the ship - especially given the speed of deterioration often exhibited and the need for immediate specialist medical help

That I can understand, and agree with, but I am not sure that I want to be put in the position of being disembarked in a foreign country for an indefinite period of time with what could possibly be a life threatening condition.

I definitely would not want to be in that position ... but we all have to understand that a commercial operation will have to ensure the safety of the many. Just one more thing to consider when booking holidays. It really is amazing the difference a virus has made to everybody's lives in a matter of a few months.

Tna latest info is that Cadiz is the only Spanish port currently requiring cruise passengers to quarantine, and P&O would have been happy for him to stay on board.

[david63]

Tna latest info is that Cadiz is the only Spanish port currently requiring cruise passengers to quarantine, and P&O would have been happy for him to stay on board.

That's all well and good but as we all know this is a rapidly changing scenario and it could be other ports next week. Also if one port in Spain is doing it are any ports in other countries insisting on it?

[Manoverboard]

If the person tested positive had stayed on board it would have spread, there can be no doubt about that but imagine the pleasure of being off loaded in Tangiers or Mumbai etc ... no thanks.

[Stephen]

Stay at home seems the best option to me……..for now

[towny44]

If the person tested positive had stayed on board it would have spread, there can be no doubt about that but imagine the pleasure of being off loaded in Tangiers or Mumbai etc ... no thanks.

If they were isolated in the quarantine area with dedicated and isolated crew dealing with their needs, this should almost eliminate the possibility of them passing on the virus to anyone else on board.

[Ilovemygarden]

I am booked on Aurora for a Canaries cruise in April 2022 .
Not sure if we will still have testing then ,but am hoping that we will be allowed to get off without having to do an exursion with P and O.
Not really sure what's going to happen between now and December when the balance has yo be paid.
Lindsey

I am booked on this one too - solo. We have to make a decision before the balance is due early December. I am reasonably hopeful!

[Ilovemygarden]

As a solo traveler I'd like to know what the dining arrangements are for single passengers. Table for one? No thanks!

I read on another site a few weeks ago from someone who had been on a staycation cruise reported that P and O were allowing singles to form groups for dining, meetings etc.

[Manoverboard]

If the person tested positive had stayed on board it would have spread, there can be no doubt about that but imagine the pleasure of being off loaded in Tangiers or Mumbai etc ... no thanks.

If they were isolated in the quarantine area with dedicated and isolated crew dealing with their needs, this should almost eliminate the possibility of them passing on the virus to anyone else on board.

Dedicated and isolated crew .... plus an unknown number of infected passengers ... with their related cleaning, feeding, possible administration of drugs and / or oxygen by a dedicated and isolated medical team presumably plus the eventual disembarkation and travel home etc. It didn't work with Noro so what chance with Covid.

[towny44]

If the person tested positive had stayed on board it would have spread, there can be no doubt about that but imagine the pleasure of being off loaded in Tangiers or Mumbai etc ... no thanks.

If they were isolated in the quarantine area with dedicated and isolated crew dealing with their needs, this should almost eliminate the possibility of them passing on the virus to anyone else on board.

Dedicated and isolated crew .... plus an unknown number of infected passengers ... with their related cleaning, feeding, possible administration of drugs and / or oxygen by a dedicated and isolated medical team presumably plus the eventual disembarkation and travel home etc. It didn't work with Noro so what chance with Covid.

Moby, they never had a dedicated quarantine area for noro passengers, and the crew serving them were not kept separate from the other crew members. So not a fair comparison, and I imagine that noro outbreaks were much more likely to have been due to crew members being the carriers.

[Kendhni]

Given the layout of crew quarters would it be possible to keep two sets of crew separated.
Just thinking about that ... given that nobody wants to be made to stay in their cabin for a few days, can you imagine how rough it must be for the crew if they have stay in their tiny little cabins?

[Manoverboard]

The only way it could be done would be for the crew to be allocated cabins in the same gangway as their infected passengers but the numbers of each would be so severely restricted that I cannot see it working safely ... hence, presumably, the dump them off at the first Port policy.

[towny44]

Given the layout of crew quarters would it be possible to keep two sets of crew separated.
Just thinking about that ... given that nobody wants to be made to stay in their cabin for a few days, can you imagine how rough it must be for the crew if they have stay in their tiny little cabins?

Quarantine cabins for the crew if needed are also in the passenger area, and if any crew are designated to look after passengers in quarantine they would be isolated from the remaining crew, the P&O mole has not said if that would be a passenger quarantine area or not.

[towny44]

..........

[LadyPCruiser]

Just arrived back from our international cruise on Iona!! Went really well - no problems at all - everything was seamless -

[barney]

Just arrived back from our international cruise on Iona!! Went really well - no problems at all - everything was seamless -

Glad that you enjoyed it m’lady