Vaccinations and testing

[Whynd1]

Just received the email from P and O changing the guidelines on vaccinations and testing.

There will be a lot of unhappy cruisers.


Lindsey

[Manoverboard]

Can you copy it over for us to read, please ?

[towny44]

Just received the email from P and O changing the guidelines on vaccinations and testing.

There will be a lot of unhappy cruisers.


Lindsey

I thought it was just a continuation of the current ones?

[Whynd1]

You also have to pay for your own antigen test.


We can’t wait to welcome you on board, but first, we need to make you aware of an important update for your upcoming holiday.

To continue to best protect the health and well-being of our guests, crew and the communities we visit, we have extended our vaccination policy to include all holidays on sale.

For this sailing, all guests aged 12 years and over need to be fully vaccinated with a recognised COVID-19 vaccine a minimum of 14 days prior to travel. If more than 270 days (calculated from the last day of the cruise) have passed since the full completion of a vaccination course, a booster vaccine will also be needed and must be administered a minimum of seven days prior to travel.

Children under 12 years are exempt from pre-travel vaccination.

The definition of ‘fully vaccinated’ is having completed a two-dose COVID-19 vaccination course or single-dose Janssen COVID-19 vaccine (plus a booster if applicable) approved by the MHRA, EMA or WHO. Regardless of the date, if you have already had a booster vaccination then you are eligible to travel.

For the full list of vaccines accepted to embark the ship, please click here.

We strongly recommend all guests to have booster vaccinations at the earliest opportunity, should they be available to them, in order to comply with evolving vaccine policies from the countries we visit.

We’ll need you to show proof of your vaccination status at the terminal. Guests that are unable to do so will unfortunately be denied boarding. As well as having the information available on your phone/mobile devices, we suggest printing out all necessary documentation and, to help you, we’ll provide a handy pre-cruise checklist closer to departure.

[Stephen]

Lindsey probably means this Moby

https://www.pocruises.com/cruise-with-c ... ng-to-sail
___________________________________________________

Testing requirements from 29 April 2022 onwards:

All guests aged five years and over will need to organise and pay for a private antigen test, showing a negative result, within 24 hours prior to embarkation (NHS tests will not be accepted).

You can order your antigen test kit online through any government approved testing provider. To help, we’ve listed a few suppliers below (subject to availability). Guests will need to present their valid negative antigen test certificate, often referred to as a ‘fit to fly’ certificate, at the ship's terminal.
___________________________________________________

[towny44]

My many e-mails say nothing about having to provide a private antigen test, but all mine are Southampton no fly cruises I wonder if the antigen test is only for fly cruises, and I think these are also currently needed.

[oldbluefox]

All the testing I have seen for Southampton cruises has been done at the terminal prior to check-in. If there has been a change to these arrangements this would seem to be a retrograde step.

[Mervyn and Trish]

It is a change and applies to ex- Southampton cruises. The within 24 hours makes life tricky for those of us who travel to Southampton hotels the day before.

[Ranchi]

Ah, this will explain why I was woken at 6:15 this am by a ping on my phone. Dear old Testing for All were just being nice and reminding me of their services.

[david63]

It is a change and applies to ex- Southampton cruises. The within 24 hours makes life tricky for those of us who travel to Southampton hotels the day before.

I believe that it is two days, not 24 hours for the test. It is an antigen test which you do anywhere

[Kendhni]

Thanks whynd1, very interesting. A bit confusing and took me several reads before I understood it (I think!!!)
As usual though it could change at a moments notice.

[towny44]

It is a change and applies to ex- Southampton cruises. The within 24 hours makes life tricky for those of us who travel to Southampton hotels the day before.

Now found this on the website, but where does it state 24hrs?

[Kendhni]

It is a change and applies to ex- Southampton cruises. The within 24 hours makes life tricky for those of us who travel to Southampton hotels the day before.

Just read that - also difficult for those with connecting flights that have to fly down the night before.
Will be interested to hear more detail about this. It would be good if they could do the testing at the airport, or Southampton terminal.

[Kendhni]

It is a change and applies to ex- Southampton cruises. The within 24 hours makes life tricky for those of us who travel to Southampton hotels the day before.

I believe that it is two days, not 24 hours for the test. It is an antigen test which you do anywhere

The wording on my emails say

"To embark the ship in Malta, all guests aged five years and over will need to organise and pay for a private antigen test, showing a negative result, within 24 hours prior to embarkation (NHS tests will not be accepted)"

[towny44]

I thought the Southampton sailings said a negative antigen test within 2 days of sailing.. not 24 hrs. It's still likely to prove problematic for those who travel down the day before, especially when it states you need hard copies of all your vaccination and test data.

[Mervyn and Trish]

It is a change and applies to ex- Southampton cruises. The within 24 hours makes life tricky for those of us who travel to Southampton hotels the day before.

I believe that it is two days, not 24 hours for the test. It is an antigen test which you do anywhere

It's 24 hours in our email.

If it's an antigen test like the one we had on return home from Madeira last year, which we did ourselves and then submitted a picture on line and received an email certificate that's not too bad. If it needs to be supervised there could be a lot of pressure on suppliers in Southampton.

It would still be better though if it was 48 hours so we could do it before leaving home and could then cancel the hotel and not travel if it proved positive. I don't much like the jeopardy of doing it at say 3pm the day before and then having little time if there was a problem, such as it not working.

[david63]

The wording on my emails say

"To embark the ship in Malta, all guests aged five years and over will need to organise and pay for a private antigen test, showing a negative result, within 24 hours prior to embarkation (NHS tests will not be accepted)"

There are different rules for Malta and Southampton.

[david63]

Not sure why I need to be told what the vaccination requirements are for a cruise in 2023 as nobody has said yet - unless P&O know something that nobody else knows

[Mervyn and Trish]

I thought the Southampton sailings said a negative antigen test within 2 days of sailing.. not 24 hrs. It's still likely to prove problematic for those who travel down the day before, especially when it states you need hard copies of all your vaccination and test data.

Ours is Iona from Southampton and the email says 24hours.

[allatc]

Not sure why I need to be told what the vaccination requirements are for a cruise in 2023 as nobody has said yet - unless P&O know something that nobody else knows

Exactly. Our next cruise (postponed 3 times) is in February 2023 (if we decided to still go)

The rules will have change dozens of times by then

[barney]

We intended to stay with friends in Salisbury before our June cruise.
Looks like that will now be impossible if we need to test 24hours before the cruise leaving.

[Kendhni]

The wording on my emails say

"To embark the ship in Malta, all guests aged five years and over will need to organise and pay for a private antigen test, showing a negative result, within 24 hours prior to embarkation (NHS tests will not be accepted)"

There are different rules for Malta and Southampton.

Ahh, thanks

[oldbluefox]

I have just sent an email to P&O Customer Services asking for clarification. Having looked at the links provided I'm even more in the dark than I was before.
The automated reply.............'please be aware that we are currently experiencing very high demand in our contact centre'.
I bet they are!!!!

[david63]

It looks as if the left hand and right hand in P&O don't know what is going on (unusual as that may sound )

Earlier today the P&O website clearly stated that ex Soton the test was two days but that has now changed to 24 hours in line with the emails.

This is not a problem if travelling as these are antigen tests (a.k.a lateral flow tests). The way that I understand it is that you can order a test kit at any time prior to the the cruise and then take the test anywhere you happen to be within the 24 hours but preferably no later than 12 hours (in case there is a delay). You take the test and you get a result to your smartphone in 20 minutes (don't ask what you do if you don't have a smartphone - presumably you have to go to a test centre). The mystery to me is how a lateral flow test result gets to your phone - but perhaps all will become clear in the passing of time - the problem, for me, is that our cruise is two weeks after this starts.

This sounds to me as if P&O are cutting costs (understandable) but at the same time they are speeding up the boarding process, perhaps because they are going to start having more passengers on cruises. It may also be tied up with the fact that the free NHS lateral flow tests have been discontinued if those are what they were using at the terminals.

In some ways this is preferable to the current situation where you arrive at the terminal not knowing whether you are negative or not - at least you will know before getting to the terminal - however nobody has, as yet, stated what you do if you are positive.

[towny44]

I thought the Southampton sailings said a negative antigen test within 2 days of sailing.. not 24 hrs. It's still likely to prove problematic for those who travel down the day before, especially when it states you need hard copies of all your vaccination and test data.

Ours is Iona from Southampton and the email says 24hours.

My e-mail has nothing on it about home LFT tests, that data had to be found by hitting one of the highlighted texts and being directed to the website, and then hitting other drop down data.