My cruise

I think this could be classed as ME related as we all like a nice holiday don't we?

Booked a cruise with P&O 3 years ago, postponed due to Covid and finall settled on 8th October this year.

Did a health declaration today having first conducted a (negative) Covid test.

One of the questions was had I experienced one of the many symptons listed, probably covering every ailment know to man, being honest I ticked the yes box as developed a cold last week, on its way out now, assuming it would follow up with more specific questions, BAM no messing, refused boarding and cruise cancelled.

My wife phoned to plead our case but they wouldn't budge. It doesn'r always pay to be honest.

Bill D.

Hi Bill,

I think that if I was planning a foreign holiday and needed insurance, I think that I would ask my Surgery for a complete copy of my medical record and make sure that items listed were declared. That way, when/if there was a claim the insurance company would not be able to find some undeclared health problem.

John

Oh dear , so sad after waiting all that time. I guess you being honest did cause the refusal. I hope they get you booked on another soon. I do know with cruises they are very strict probably because of the confines of a ship with so many people.

Always fancied a cruise but so expensive.

Steve.

Reading the full travel insurance documents will give you an unpleasant time. We were due to take up a covid delayed flight and holiday this year, my wife became ill after rebooking the flight. I generally book the rest of the holiday once I had the exact flight dates, so in this case hadn’t booked anything else or bothered with insurance at this time. Read through various travel insurance policies and deduced we wouldn’t be able to fly for some time. Basically there is a long list of the usual medical things of which you can only have one without informing them. Then if you have had or are in need of surgery you have to be signed off from the hospital for some time. It goes on and on, I think we will stick with the UK and avoid the hassle.

Part of our cruise insurance was pre-existing medical conditions, which we always declare and I can tell you are many although like many people of a certain age all the conditions are under control so we do live a fairly normal life.

On a cruise especially, the insurance is an eye watering amount for us so if you are thinking of your fist cruise do a check of this first. This would have been our fifth cruise, we love them, it enables you to visit many places whilst taking your hotel with you. True the places you visit will be a box tick as it is only a taster but over the years it has enabled us to rule in/out places to spend more time at in the future.

One recommendation I always make to people for their first cruise, spend the extra on a balcony cabin if you can.

As it's turned out I had a dreadful nights 'sleep' with my cough so feeling quite done in so in a way relieved we are not now going.

Bill D.

Bill sorry your cruise is postponed, hope you get better soon.
I suspect everyone is very quick to blame the cruise ship owners if they get food poisoning or Covid whilst on the ship and certainly I would be displeased if my cruise was ruined by someone who lied and subsequently infected their table by coughing all over them.

So well done for being straight in your responses.

A cough is the biggest signal that you've contracted the covid at the moment, it's been pretty rampant up here and almost everyone I know has been caught out by it over the last 3 months

So I would be more grateful than disappointed that you stayed at home

It's a relatively mild flu, a week in bed and a couple of weeks to get back to your old self

The Chinese are mad if they think they can stop this thing, they must be praying for some kind of magic bullet to suddenly be developed by big pharma and immunise the population

Edited By Ady1 on 07/10/2022 19:06:23

One of my clients thought she had a bad cold, did 4 home tests on consecutive days all negative then went and got a proper one and that was positive, guess they are just playing safe. I think it was her that I got Covid from.

I think part of the problem is that the magic bullet is available to them, but they are determined to get their hands not only on the bullet, but on the secret behind its magic.

A vaccination will only mitigate the disease, it can't stop it

The west has done well to manage the issue as best it can, first by trying not to let the medical system be overwhelmed, and then by letting it spread freely throughout the general population

We were lucky that the Delta variant became far less potent

Mother nature is always testing her little critters and thinning the herd

I do get the safety bit, the the way the cruise cancelled was just brutal, black or white so it was quite a shock.

Trying to wash my germs away with a shower this morning (ok I know it doesn't but it freshens you up for a while) it suddenly occurred to me that what if you suffer from hay fever, which I do, how do you answer then?

Bill D.

I once wanted to do a gentle bit of SCUBA diving on holiday in Australia, and answered truthfully about having had bronchitis, aged 5, (about 40 years previously at the time). I had done a SCUBA diving course in the UK, but did not have any paperwork with me. The fact that I had been perfectly fit in the many years since the bronchitis; with no medical issues whatsoever relating to my lungs, and the fact I am very fit and run 10km every week, did not sway them.

So I just snorkelled instead, and actually, I noticed the SCUBA class were all kneeling on the bottom doing mask-off, mask-on, and mask clearing drills, which is SCUBA diving basics. I would have wanted to actually look at the wildlife down there, not do basic drills, so a lucky escape for me I suppose.

It was P&O who just sacked 800 staff and hired cheaper staff from elsewhere, so I wouldn't give them my money in principle - even if I had it.

.

Edited By John Doe 2 on 08/10/2022 15:53:37

My Granddaughter is a sister in our local hospital and she is of the opinion that the results of lateral flow Covid tests are at best variable and at worst pretty useless. The accuracy of the tests has been stated as 47% so not surprised Jason’s client tested positive with a proper test after 4 negatives with home testing.

In respect of cruises I had my fill as a youngster, my father was a civil servant and he was posted to Malaya in the last dying days of the British Empire, we spent Six years there and travelled out and back from UK twice during that time, because of his position we travelled first class on what were P&O ships doing the Far East route, it took 28 days each way for the journey. I experienced various situations whilst aboard, a Typhoon in the Bay of Bengal, that was frightening especially as I was only 12 years old at the time. Another incident was a seized prop shaft in the Red Sea, and I happened to be on the first convoy of ships to be allowed through the Suez Canal after the Suez Crisis, there were damaged ships littering the canal and the Bitter Lakes, needless to say the Egyptians were not very friendly to British ships as we had not long finished bombing them, no desire to go cruising now. Dave W

Bill a cruise would only have lasted a few days. Now you can spend the money on another shed and tools which you can enjoy every day for years

John the P&O you refer to are P&O Ferries, an entirely separate company from P&O cruises now. Never understood why reputable companies are wiliing to sell off part of their businesss together with their good name when they will have no control over how the company is run.

Just a final note to say how impressed I was with the NHS yesterday.

My wife was concerned that I was developing a chest infection so dialled 111.

If you've never used this service you have to be very patient (no pun intended) it is a filtration process so you will be asked many apparently entirely unconnected questions but which probably can be relevent if you are a medic.

The result of this is the promise of a call within the hour from an out of hours doctor, who duly called, had a chat and said he would to like to examine me (face to face, that was a pleasant surprise for a start) this was at Bridgwater Community Hospital, a relatively new one about 15 miles from where we live. Doc was great, very thorough examination, prescibed some antibiotics.

The friendly guy on reception went over and above the get a print off for the report despite some IT gremlins when I explained we had to cancel a cruise. Despite his best efforts he promised that when it was sorted he would email it through. He dismissed our thanks by saying it was his job to help. Email duly arrived last night.

Amazingly found a pharmacy around the corner open until 9pm.

So it took all day pretty much, but all sorted, great service and all on a Sunday. (oh and free car parking at the hospital)

Bill D.

PS mightily relieved we are not on the cruise in the event but my concern remains at the nature of the medical declaration, it is too black and white, i, like many people suffer from hay fever so you would have to tick the yes box dishonestly to make sure you do not lose your booking.

Bill D.

Ah, thank you for the clarification. I stand corrected.

Once you're recovered that's you got decent immunity/resistance for up to 2 years for travelling purposes

I was always getting flu stuff from the Great British Public but once I had got it then the following 1-2 years was a doddle until the next variant arrived

Hi Bill!

Sorry to hear of Your holiday woes.

We sailed to Norway on Iona at the end of April this Year, took Covid tests just before going,and both had to get an Antigen test within 24 hours of sailing, but of a rush to be honest!

Joined the ship and caught covid on last day - onboard!

We wondered if they we're testing the crew to the same standard as the as the passengers??

Good luck with sorting things out and I hope You get to go on Your cruise soon!

Cheers, Pete