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Originally Posted by dtennent
We just returned from an 11-day cruise on the Holland America Rotterdam sailing out of Ft. Lauderdale.
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We have also returned from a cruise - but with P&O. I will thus follow your format to assist others in comparing. P&O ran a UK citizen only policy with flights from the UK to Barbados and a fixed 14-day duration and return flights to the UK. Flight options were charter or scheduled. Chartered passengers checked luggage in at the UK airport and had their cases delivered to their cabin (no collection at Barbados airport). Passengers were collected on the tarmac at Barbados airport and taken directly to the ship where we cleared immigration/heat checking. On the return, our cases were left outside our rooms the night before our return and were collected in the airport in the UK. We were transported from the ship to the airport and fast-tracked through immigration in one batch. Schedule passengers had to transport their own cases - AND had to have antigen tests to leave the ship and make their way to the airport.
1. Vaccination record and negative Covid test administered by a medical person within 72 hours of ARRIVING in Barbados. PLUS a Fit to Fly antigen test taken at the airport on the day of departure. The UK also requires all arriving people to have a pre-booked 2-day antigen test upon return to the UK and to complete a Passenger Locator Form. The are forms are lengthy and could be completed prior to departure on the cruise (if the cruise duration is less than 21 days). It took me an hour per passenger to complete these at home because the UK system was very poor and kept crashing. Passengers who didn't complete the forms before departure had to complete them on the ship the day before returning to the UK. I heard some passengers spending up to 4 hours trying to complete the forms on the ship - partly due to the UK PLF system being VERY poor and partly due to the slow internet connection on the ship.
2. Masks were required whenever you were outside of your room unless you were eating or drinking, sitting by the outside pool/decks. When undertaking dance classes all passengers agreed to remove masks. There was about 100% compliance. Captain and staff reminded folks of this requirement several times during the cruise. Restaurants provided masks for those that forgot to bring them to the restaurant. No talking was requested in lifts - something not adhered to at any point!
3. There were sinks for washing hands as you came into the Lido dining area. Staff members were there to encourage you in a friendly way. Food was plated in the LIDO area. In the Buffet passengers were free to serve themselves but a VERY strict policy of mask-wearing was required while walking in this area (Covid aside I agree with this during the flu season). Restaurant service was as normal with plated waiter service.
4. Same.
5. Staffing was set at the level of a fuller ship with so many waiters/cleaning/ents/shop staff you never had to wait for anything. I would say the service was exemplary. Tips are included in the P&O fare costs (Brits don't tip!)
6. Excursion tickets were paper.
7. The same experience. NOTE we were advised that we could only take P&O excursions in Barbados but this changed over the 14-day cruise and at the end when we returned to Barbados we were advised we could not visit friends on the island without taking an antigen test (£25/$34pp). I think things will change as many of the local economies on the islands realise the loss of tourist $/£ is prolonging the pain. We had a number of excursions cancelled on safety grounds where the operators failed to meet UK health and safety requirements. P&O found & provided alternatives so this wasn't an issue and I don't feel that we missed anything we would have wanted to do.
8. They ran shows in multiple venues and had music/quiz/bar/piano/cinema a few different places. Given that everyone was close together, all wore masks.
Overall, the ship is beautiful. We had 1100 passengers on board (3800 passenger capacity). We felt very safe and had an enjoyable trip.
We saw 5 other cruise ships 4 of which were identical in size to the Britannia. (Royal Caribbean and Princess). All were circa 3,800 max passengers and all had between 1,000 and 1,100 guests. Experiences from the people I spoke to (all American) seemed similar to my comments above in terms of ents/staff).
Overall masks aside now is a GREAT time to cruise. No ques, no overcrowding. low numbers gave natural distancing. Ports weren't overcrowded with tourists. Best of all there were some fantastic deals to stay onboard - maybe because this week there were only 800 passengers onboard. £800 ($1,080) for a repeat 14-day journey full board, tips and outside balcony cabin) - If I didn't have to return to the UK for work we would have stayed on board.