P&O Cruises will restart holidays around the British coast this year, but only for Brits who have been fully vaccinated against Covid – and many other restrictions will be enforced. The Mail has the story.
Unvaccinated holidaymakers will be banned from P&O Cruises “staycation” sailings this summer.
Brits who wish to sail on a domestic cruise will have to have received both doses of the Covid vaccine at least seven days in advance of their trip, the UK’s largest cruise line has said.
Last week maritime minister Robert Courts told MPs that domestic cruises could be permitted from May 17th.
So far nearly 25 million people have received at least their first dose of a vaccine, while 1.6 million have received both.
Failure to provide proof of the jabs “will result in denial of boarding”, the firm warned.
Other measures introduced due to the pandemic include requiring passengers to wear masks in certain areas of the ship, and making travel insurance mandatory.
There will also be enhanced cleaning regimes, as well as social distancing.
The cruise operator is taking a different approach to a number of countries – including Turkey and Greece – which will welcome unvaccinated holidaymakers, so long as they produce a negative test.
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Sounds like a good idea. Of course if there is a subsequent covid outbreak, that could be a bit difficult to spin your way out of.
This is marketing targeted at their core demographic.
Given the existence of vaccine escape variants and the policy of population wide vaccination which will only serve to select for escape variants in the UK, this won’t have any impact on disease control.
A question raised in the latest issue of New Scientist (a mainstream publication) was what is the difference in effect of the escape variants (which will exist sooner or later) on vaccinated or unvaccinated individuals. They didn’t know the answer
Never mind a vaccine, you’d need to pay me a lot of money to idle my time away on any cruise, any time, anywhere.
especially when you will be confined to your cabin for 2 weeks as inevitably someone comes up with a positive (false or otherwise)
Indeed. We could do with some more prison ships.
Totally agree, like spending weeks in an hotel but at sea.
What the attraction is about cruises has always mystified me.
A holiday is for two weeks. Or two weeks per year in the (highly unlikely in my view) situation that vaccine passports outlast the current mass hysteria.
A vaccine is for life.
I’m amazed that people are falling for this.
For me it is not just cruise ships. I will not partake in ANY activity that isn’t restored to full normality. If that means home entertaining my friends and family that will be industry’s loss and not mine. I enjoy a cruise but if that means face nappies, constant testing and standing on markers on the floor it kind of kills it for me. Most cruising is done by couples. Most tables in the dining rooms on ships are for 4 or more – how is that going to be reconciled?
I agree. I can just cope with some stupid one way system or ordering from an app in a pub or restaurant. I’m not going to sit through a performance with a mask on – I’m not going to stand in the pissing rain to wait for my lateral flow results – my kids will never be tested – I’m not going to get a passport so I can visit a museum. I do expect vaccine passports (at least internal to the UK) to go the way of every other stupid unworkable idea.
“UK Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has confirmed discussions are taking place about vaccine passports to allow those who are vaccinated more freedom.”
this is just to scare us into getting it
Most museums are simply dusty piles of junk from years past.
Far better to go on a nice hike, perhaps even a weekend camping trip.
Philistine!
Yes, I can’t wait to go camping again
Vote with your feet and take your money elsewhere. Draw up a list of those businesses and organisations signing up to this dystopian bollox – and boycott them.
Not surprised to be honest, as weren’t cruise ships always potential hotbeds for infectious diseases even before Covid?
Plus there is of course the fact that cruises are a type of holiday mainly marketed to retirees…
floating care homes
If you look at the data from the original cruise covid story from last year, the Diamond Princess, there were a lot of clues there as to how things were going to pan out. There were what 3500 people on board. The number infected peaked at just over 700 (passengers and crew). Eventually they all got well enough to leave the ship. And mostly these people were approcahing the demographic most affected by covid. So the results were really not that bad were they…? And yet what happened later?
If you want to cruise, small ship cruises….less than 100 are the best. Large cruise ships are holiday camps for the mass market..to be avoided at all costs. Horses for courses.
Almost tempted to make an enquiry and take it all the way to the point of a booking just to be able to say ”Oh is that your policy, well sorry but we won’t be travelling with you then”
I wonder if P&O are aware that those who have been vaccinated are still susceptible to catching and carrying the virus. The same applies to airlines who plan to introduce vaccine passports. What exactly are they trying to stop? Other than someone becoming sick in flight.
Well, as the vaccinated are still spreaders, I see cruise ships to being recommissioned as hospital ships eventually.
I warned about this a while ago. There was a petition against vaccine discrimination, and i pointed out that it is badly phrased. It asks that the government not discriminate on the basis of vaccine status, but it says nothing about private companies. That petition was pretty much useless because of this oversight.
“P&O Cruises will restart holidays around the British coast this year, but only for Brits who have been fully vaccinated against Covid”
Correct.
There is a cost to being a member of the awkward squad.