1. The time has come (hopefully).

 

It’s been 751 days since we last ventured off “the rock” ( apart from a few hours in Alderney which doesn’t really count) and 906 days since we were last aboard a cruise ship (but who’s counting?)

Obviously the coronavirus pandemic has had a huge impact on the daily lives of everyone. However thanks to the unprecedented vaccination rollout, continuing health and safety protocols and an increasing understanding of how to treat infections, the world is now beginning to open up to travellers once again. So, although things will not be completely “normal” compared to life before the pandemic, society is learning how to live with Covid-19 and we feel comfortable enough to take our first post pandemic cruise.

Therefore, assuming that there are no unforeseen problems we will be embarking the Sky Princess in Southampton on Friday for a voyage to the Mediterranean and back.

The cruise ship companies are desperate to welcome passengers back on board and have been making some incredibly enticing offers…one reason we have decided that this is the time to travel. In addition, all passengers must be double vaccinated and pass a Lateral Flow Test (LFT) before boarding so we figured that the ship should be a pretty safe environment at least until the first port of call!

Of course the paperwork (actual and virtual) required to travel under the current circumstances is anything but normal. Travel insurance documentation has been scrutinised even more closely than before; vaccination certificates need to be taken with us as evidence; the UK Passenger Locator Form (PLF) has to be completed and we have obtained our “Pass Sanitaire” so that we can enter shops, bars and museums in France without hindrance. The Jersey PLF will somehow have to be lodged within 48 hours of our return to the Island.

We also know that these are early days for the resumption of cruises and we are fully aware that things may change with very little notice. Indeed, the ship’s itinerary  was amended just a few days ago….we were scheduled to make three stops in Italy and these have now been cancelled and replaced with stops in Spain and France instead. Hence we consider this trip more about the journey than the destination.

If we fail the LFT at boarding then we will look forward to enforced quarantine in Southampton, but let’s be positive (not the best choice of words given the situation, I admit! ) and begin with our glasses half full. (They will certainly be totally full with something a little stronger than hope when we sail!)

I will do my best to post a daily update to this blog with both a commentary on the ports of call visited and life onboard the ship. If, however things go pear-shaped this is likely to be the shortest travel blog I’ve ever written!