The HfP chat thread – Wednesday 14th July

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

• David says:

  14 Jul14 July 09:19

  Morning all.

  Anyone got any recent experience of taking a pre-departure PCR / antigen in Mykonos for return to the UK?

  Any tips on location / price / speed welcome. Thanks

  • Richie says:

    14 Jul14 July 12:58

    There are options near the Azul Mexican restaurant/ Shell fuel station. Greek media has reported many tourists leaving it too late and missing their flights.

• Craig says:

  14 Jul14 July 09:21

  Finally back home from our cruise which was fantastic, I never did get my Eurofins test result although my wife’s arrived the day after we sailed. I found that a bit weird considering we had our tests done at the same place and the same time. Holiday Inn Southampton the night before was fine, they agreed to £10 a night parking which was cheaper than the port and it was only a ten minute walk. George’s was shut and so was the restaurant at the Dancing Man so we ate at La Regata which was excellent.Once we arrived we checked bags and headed off to the onsite testing centre, this was also run by Eurofins and very efficient, about a ten minute queue. We were given stickers and allowed to pass security and head to a separate dating area, test result arrived about 20 minutes later and an agent checked us in without having to queue again, then straight through and onboard for lunch.

  Once onboard the experience was quiet with less than 1000 guests onboard but social distancing was excellent and the staff’s mask discipline superb. From there it was everything you’d expect from a cruise and they worked hard to ‘chase’ the good weather. We ended up down in the Bay of Biscay and conditions were smooth throughout. The only venue that became full while we were aboard was the music room but there was always somewhere else to go for a drink and listen to some live music. All the shows were running with the RC app used for booking, they had technical problems with the studio equipment one day but rescheduled everything. We managed to see everything we wanted to, whether this will still be as easy at full capacity I’m not so sure?

  Disembarking was smooth also with group number announced the night before, breakfast was available on the morning before we left the ship. After that we had a couple of nights in Portsmouth catching up with family.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    14 Jul14 July 09:32

    dating area – was this a special sort of cruise?

    • Craig says:

      14 Jul14 July 09:34

      Waiting, arghhh. Where’s the edit button?

    • ankomonkey says:

      14 Jul14 July 11:51

      🙂

  • xcalx says:

    14 Jul14 July 09:37

    We have Diamond plus status with RC. Do you know if D+ received 5 anytime drinks each added to the sailaway card or was the D lounge open. Hopefully our B2B2B from San Juan in November will go ahead. Thanks.

  • fivebobbill says:

    14 Jul14 July 09:38

    Thanks for this Chris, an avid cruiser myself, I’ve been holding off to see what Covid has done to the end product before considering again. Sounds like you had a good time though, glad you enjoyed!
    Can I ask, was it Royal Caribbean? If so do you know if the Diamond Lounge was open, or did they stick with the 3 drinks put on the seapass card? Have they dispensed with self service at the buffet?
    Thanks in advance.

    • fivebobbill says:

      14 Jul14 July 09:40

      ditto xcalx, you beat me to it…!

      • xcalx says:

        14 Jul14 July 09:46

        I have read that since start up that lounges are open albeit you have to use the new anytime seapas loaded credits to obtain a drink. It seems D get 4 D+ 5 and P 6 They can be used anytime in any bar $13 drink limit on the US departing cruises.

        • xcalx says:

          14 Jul14 July 09:47

          s

        • fivebobbill says:

          14 Jul14 July 10:05

          Diamond Plus myself xcalx, for what it’s worth anymore.
          Celebrity tried this about 4 years ago as you probably know, it was implemented overnight across the fleet and I only realised when they asked for my card in the Elite Lounge. Needles to say I was furious and had a heated debate with the Elite hostess, I caused such a stink that she allowed me to drink whatever I wanted throughout the ship during Elite hours in any bar! They were forced to withdraw the change in policy pretty sharpish.
          More recently I’ve been with RC and they had the 3 drinks on the card, but my most recent sailing also allowed unlimited drinks in the Lounge.
          I have no doubt whatsoever that they will use the Covid situation to diminish loyalty benefits further, like they do at every opportunity.
          Nickel and Diming at it’s best…

  • Jody says:

    14 Jul14 July 10:48

    Glad you had a good cruise Craig, you certainly deserve it. Hope you’re feeling refreshed now? Our MSC cruise, although only 4 nights, felt like we’d been away for at least a week. That proper holiday feeling!

    Off on our next cruise next week, a 3 nighter with P&O.

  • ankomonkey says:

    14 Jul14 July 11:51

    Glad you enjoyed your break, Craig. Very well deserved after all of your volunteering!

  • Craig says:

    14 Jul14 July 11:55

    Thanks all, can’t help with the Diamond questions sorry. There is a long thread on Cruise Critic entitled ‘Anthem UK Cruises this Summer’ that should help.

  • Number9 says:

    14 Jul14 July 12:37

    That’s lovely to hear Craig a positive holiday story. I’ve rebooked my Japan cruise for 2023 and a Caribbean one for July 2022 that’s really a back up to replace Dubai 2022 if cancelled. Would you recommend a cruise round our fair islands ?

    • Craig says:

      14 Jul14 July 13:35

      It’s all about context Number9, right now anything that resembles a holiday is fabulous. We were also really lucky with the weather, the Bay of Biscay was calm and the Channel was like a millpond. Five days of rain and choppy seas would have made it a completely different experience. I’d much rather have been in Japan or the Caribbean. our favourite has always been sailing out of New York down to the Caribbean with the weather changing each day.

      • Number9 says:

        14 Jul14 July 14:33

        I’ve booked eastern Caribbean out of FT Lauderdale. I’ve not been to any of the places on that itinerary so fingers x
        I think I would just be happy to be away and being looked after for a few days.

• Rob says:

  14 Jul14 July 09:21

  Yea, not a bad move, given that is the only bonus they qualify for.

  • Rob says:

    14 Jul14 July 11:10

    Yes

• Manya says:

  14 Jul14 July 09:27

  Hello all, hoping to travel to Mexico/Cancun next week. It is a amber list country but wife and I have both had double jabs and we would obviously follow the required isolation rules on return.

  Any suggestions on where to purchase travel insurance that would cover us given that FDCO advise is only for essential travel?

  • TGLoyalty says:

    14 Jul14 July 09:34

    You’re both double jabbed there is no isolation rule when you return. just buy/take a day 2 (or before) PCR test.

    Battleface

  • Rory says:

    14 Jul14 July 12:25

    I used SafetyWing. Much cheaper than Battleface, and similar levels of cover. I actually had better cover from them when I needed to make a delay claim.

• Super Secret Stuff says:

  14 Jul14 July 09:35

  You might earn more overall by getting someone to give you one of the higher targeted referral offer, think it is currently 70k for 5k spend. I don’t have it but still have a higher one for Gold

  • Reney says:

    14 Jul14 July 11:42

    4k spend i think

• TGLoyalty says:

  14 Jul14 July 09:37

  if you need it I have a 70k Platinum offer. either contact me on Twitter or ask Rob to put us in touch

  (I know Rob has said he doesn’t have it)

  • Eppleby Green says:

    14 Jul14 July 10:57

    Yes, please! poskycat AT yahoo DOT com, if allowed

    • Reney says:

      14 Jul14 July 11:43

      etiquette is that you email rob and he will put sort you out.

      • Rob says:

        14 Jul14 July 11:47

        Don’t have access to a 70k Plat link.

      • Stephan says:

        14 Jul14 July 14:22

        Yes fair point.

    • Chas says:

      14 Jul14 July 15:08

      @Eppleby Green – I’ve e-mailed you my link, as I didn’t see anyone else confirm that they had, and Rob has confirmed that he doesn’t have this.

  • Stephan says:

    14 Jul14 July 11:32

    Hi yes you can drop me a line at stephan_1080 at hotmail com as I have forgotten my twitter account. Thanks

    • TGLoyalty says:

      14 Jul14 July 12:39

      No worries. Happy to help.

• Conor says:

  14 Jul14 July 09:58

  Has anyone had experience of using the Qured lateral flow tests? Do you recall what time the last appointments are each day?

  • Rob says:

    14 Jul14 July 09:59

    I booked one on Monday, it went quite late into the evening – ours was 7pm and I think they were offering them until 10pm.

    • Pete M says:

      14 Jul14 July 10:25

      Project Screen doesn’t require a video appointment which makes things a lot easier, if you haven’t bought Qured yet.

      • Conor says:

        14 Jul14 July 10:27

        I’ll take a look – thanks

    • Conor says:

      14 Jul14 July 10:26

      Fantastic – many thanks Rob

• Pete M says:

  14 Jul14 July 10:23

  Morning all! Quick review of my travels to Mexico last week as some people were interested. Day flight from T5 in BA J was very pleasant, cabin maybe 1/3 full, F maybe 1/4 full, similar in Y. Crew could not have been nicer and were super excited for their 48hrs in Mexico City.

  Mexican landing cards can now be pre-filled in online, but immigration didn’t love that (accepted fine though, paper ones handed out on plane). There’s also a PLF which you can fill in online or on paper handed out on the plane (not collected or checked though).

  MEX T1 is a total dump now, with no investment going in for years as they were building a super fancy new airport, the construction of which has now been stopped and it’s being replaced with an economy version that will still take years to come online. By dump I mean buckets collecting water leaks everywhere, caved-in ceilings, completely smashed tiles with pieces of them strewn around the floor. Frankly I don’t think I know any major capital city in Latin America with an airport this bad, my partner commented the Elephant and Castle shopping centre in London looked better before demolition started.

  They also have the genius old-Heathrow system of avoiding arrivals and departures mixing: corridor running on the edges of the international gates. Which crosses access to the jet bridges for departing passengers. So every time they need to board a plane, they just hold all the arrivals in the corridor and you watch people boarding the plane. Then they let you through. As far as the next boarding plane. Repeat x5 or however many gates away you are from immigration…

  Immigration was quick, but it was still a good hour from landing before our cases came out. Off to the airport Courtyard, which was fine but they are clearly milking their location as it absolutely isn’t worth $125pn. Loads of Indians and Brazilians staying, as Mexico is a perfect hub now for Indians heading to the US and UK, Brazilians heading to the US and UK, Brits and Europeans heading to the US… Mexico is one of the few countries that have never closed their borders.

  • Pete M says:

    14 Jul14 July 10:23

    Flight next morning to Cozumel with Volaris was completely full. MEX itself is buzzing like in the old days – day and night. Loads of Priority Pass lounges available, as well as two Amex Centurion Lounges (one before and one after security). The one after security is a total oasis in the chaos of the airport, so a 0745am margarita felt right. Confusingly the extensive menu is priced, but everything was free (bar the tip!). PLFs needed for all internal flights, sometimes checked, sometimes not – very easy to do online.

    Cozumel was wonderful, stayed in a little B&B called Las Anclas. Whole island is very chilled and feels super safe. We considered the IC but IHG were incredibly unhelpful price-matching – the difference between IHG.com and various booking portals was over 100% and they wouldn’t budge.

    Mostly Americans there, but no cruise ships so very peaceful. Spent a day at an all inclusive beach club, a day snorkelling and a day swimming with whale sharks (last minute trip = not much research, so this was a let down as we spent about 7hrs travelling to Cancun for this for c5mins with the sharks, so wouldn’t recommend this from Cozumel). We did get to go through Playa del Carmen, Cancun and Isla Mujeres and I now know I never need to go to any of those again.

    Cozumel airport is lovely and also has a PP lounge. Flight back also completely full.

    Back to Mexico City for a very poor stay at the IC (will write a separate review once we perhaps have some closure). Had a guide for three days and covered all the basics – what a wonderful and enormous city. Definitely keen to go back and explore some more, but between Teotihuacan, Coyoacan, the city centre and the various museums we covered a lot of ground. Some wonderful restaurants as well and felt super safe, at least in Polanco where we stayed, as well as Roma, Condesa and the historical centre.

    • Pete M says:

      14 Jul14 July 10:24

      I have not been to a non-Asian country recently where masks are so religiously worn – everywhere. They are mandated in the Yucatan/Quintana Roo, but not in Mexico City, but people still wear them even when walking alone in the park… There is also a lot of Covid theatre, with places spraying you with Dettol as you walk in, making you walk through foot-and-mouth style shoe disinfectants… Clubs are still officially closed and various tourist places have various random restrictions in place (like you can’t climb the pyramids at Teotihuacan because of Covid…).

      The return flight was even quieter than the outbound, crew again friendly and efficient. Got a decent amount of sleep. I had to see a Border Force official which took about 20mins and we were out of T5 within 45mins of landing, just in time to get absolutely drenched by the deluge that hit London on Monday afternoon!

      • Manya says:

        14 Jul14 July 10:34

        Thanks, was timely to see your reviews. I am hoping to travel out to Mexico City next Fri on the 15:20 in J. Who did you arrange travel insurance with? I am a Platinum card holder but I don’t believe that would be sufficient here.

        • Pete M says:

          14 Jul14 July 10:38

          We went with Battleface – c£40pp for the ten days.

      • fivebobbill says:

        14 Jul14 July 10:46

        Quite a comprehensive update there Pete, thank you, food for thought given my planned 3 week trip to Dubai in Sept is fast approaching…. or not! Time for some contingency planning.

    • Princess says:

      14 Jul14 July 10:31

      Hi Pete! Thank you for this report, I was not considering going to Mexico soon, but you made me dream to go back even if I have been twice already! My kids would love it! maybe try to plan for October!

      • Pete M says:

        14 Jul14 July 10:40

        I was actually annoyed with myself for not going sooner, although a lot of the hotels and sites have only opened relatively recently. I am totally considering going back later in the year if other places don’t open up again. Reward availability on BA was extensive, not sure if it’ll change.

        • Gtellez says:

          14 Jul14 July 15:02

          For anyone considering Mexico, I would strongly recommend the pacific coast. Puerto Vallarta, Punta de Mita and Sayulita are much nicer than Cancun/Playa del Carmen IMO, although there many resorts and Americans too (especially in PV). If you are more adventurous, the beaches in Oaxaca are amazing (and there are many other things to do in that state). But my favorite state is Chiapas, in the border with Guatemala, you can find rainforest, mountains, waterfalls, lakes; probably not recommended for families with young kids though. After living in MX for a year and traveling there so many times for work, I’m happy to recommend many other places if someone interested – MX is much more than Cancun (probably the last place I would ever go for holidays). In the Caribbean, Bacalar is very nice (around 4-5 hours driving from Cancun) and way cheaper than the more touristic areas.

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.