Hey,
We are supposed to be holidaying on Mull in April. Based on current advice and if none of us are ill, should we still go?
Mick
Probably not. Unless the advice changes by then.
Self catering in a cottage and such like or a hotel?
We were also due to be holidaying in Mull in April. Sincerely doubt that it will happen.
On a lot of highland pages people are worried about a sudden influx of tourists who are not going abroad. As their infrastructure is so poor already. Plus it's an aging population.
Self-catering cottage.
We don't do any eating/drinking out. We just do little walks/drives/rides and don't come into contact with people much.
Only contact with locals will be the village shop for supplies.
Mick
I can foresee the only holidays I will be taking this year will be sailing - stock up on food & wine before I go and not step ashore until time to come home. Plan is to find many more small anchorages throughout the Hebrides. Just had upgraded anchoring equipment delivered accordingly.
Was thinking the same thing Scruff. I've been remembering 14 months ago when we were cruising around the BVI having the most wonderful time and thinking that it might be a really good solution now.
But of course if you fall in on the boat you tend to be a long way from any help.
As it is we'll probably be spending quite a lot of the summer at our holiday place by the beach - but I can't decide whether it's going to be busy or quiet. Are the holiday house rentals (big business where we're going) going to fall flat because of the potential for infection from previous occupants of your rental house?
Finding an official copy of advice for all seems a bit difficult but
"People should stop all unnecessary travel"
So no, per the "advice" today, you shouldn't go, it's not essential and it's not ambiguous.
That said the provenance of said advice is possibly a bit more debatable.
We were meant to be going to CenterParcs in April.
So far they have thoughtfully said we can postpone it but if the week we choose is more expensive then we have to pay the difference. And no option for a refund.
Only they could manage to rob you before you've even set foot in the place.
Plan is to find many more small anchorages throughout the Hebrides.
If you don't already know it may I recommend Leaves From Rowan's Log?
A Glasgow surgeon and family go sailing I think in 1920s. Lots of small anchorages listed.
Just checked prices online. Wish I still had my copy.
I don't really see that it makes much difference if we are at home, or in a self-catering cottage.
The only place we will come into contact with people is on the journey:
* couple of service stations - don't need to go in.
* ferry terminal and ferry
TBH I'm thinking that we won't be going but I'm in denial. One of us is guaranteed to have symptoms just before we are booked to go. 🙁
Mick
Only they could manage to rob you before you’ve even set foot in the place.
Getting bent over is a traditional part of the experience, I believe.
If you don’t already know it may I recommend Leaves From Rowan’s Log?
A Glasgow surgeon and family go sailing I think in 1920s. Lots of small anchorages listed.Just checked prices online. Wish I still had my copy.
Cheers, not heard of that one but will stick up a watch list on ebay. I've been slowly working my way through Hamish Haswell Smith's list of islands over the last 10 years and this year going to try out the new Antares charts as well.
Normally we'd try to get as much provisioning in the wee local shops to help the islands economies as much as possible. Likely that wont be possible this year.
Same situation here, but cottage in Cornwall. Our plan was to drive down there, stay away from people as much as possible and walk the dogs on empty beaches.
I think we'd be more isolated down there than here, so our plan is still to go.
… but of course there is still a question mark over it. We'd be travelling, and going to shops to stock up even if now avoiding cafes and restaurants etc.
Getting bent over is a traditional part of the experience, I believe.
Had planned to go to NW Highlands riding at Easter, looks very unlikely right now - but more detailed advice may be forthcoming.
Current measures are a bit of a blunt instrument, more texture will be required to ameliorate the economic impact where sensible IMO.
Getting bent over is a traditional part of the experience, I believe.
Yup…
Perhaps they could still allow guests to go in through the back door, as a safety precaution?
Perhaps they could still allow guests to go in through the back door, as a safety precaution?
Perchy, your crown has slipped...
Self-catering cottage.
We don’t do any eating/drinking out. We just do little walks/drives/rides and don’t come into contact with people much.
Only contact with locals will be the village shop for supplies.
So self isolation in a holiday let. Many I’ve seen are saying they’ll stay open and will deep clean before the next guests arrive.
don’t really see that it makes much difference if we are at home, or in a self-catering cottage.
The only place we will come into contact with people is on the journey:
Ummmmmm. Except for the squad of people that used the cottage the week before you.....
We have a birthday/wedding anniversary weekend booked at end of March. Wife really wants to go, I’m doubtful. Like others we would likely stay in to cook and just walk the dogs in the day. It’s mid wales so not crowded. Don’t know what the right thing to do is
Due to be in the Lakes. Half of me thinks its as good a place to be as anywhere as long as we keep to ourselves, half of me thinks we shouldn't go anywhere at all unnecessarily. Doubt we will get a refund, it's AirBnB and maybe their only income.
Similarly we have 10 days on the south coast booked for May. We won't be taking mum with us now that's definite, but I'm hoping wife, 2 girls and I can go and spend the time playing on the beach, or playing games in a different house at least! May need to book the Asda (sorry, I meant Waitrose, obvs) delivery now
If I had to guess I'd say the travel thing is more about ensuring the population is roughly where you expect them to be when you're allocating resources and planning for spread and things.
You Personally disappearing to Mull on your jollies isn't a problem, half the population of London thinking sod this and spreading round the country though makes modeling the spread very difficult and also means all those nurses and doctors you have sitting round charring Cross actually needed to be in Mull and Iona instead.
It's not about you being more or less at risk on a 3 hour drive or in a cottage as opposed to your flat.
If you're minded to care about the advice you are, if you're not you're not but it's not got any grey on that particular bit.
Trip to the Quantocks in late April here - booked because we weren't sure how the international travel situation would be. We went through an agent and their website says we can reschedule within 12 months for no fee, with 48 hrs notice needed. Happy enough with that so staying flexible for now but as with others it'd just be 2 of us keeping to ourselves so on the face of it there's a minimal risk. However a few thousand 'just the 2 of us' doing the same sort of thing makes it a bit more significant.
Come mid to end April, the decision probably won't be on your hands anyway.
Way I see things. We're just at the voluntary stage of things. I'm pretty sure the more Draconian measures, that oddly everyone seems to be bursting for, are in the pipe line.
sisters wedding in april cancelled/postponed.
trip to france in may expected to cancelled but waiting for brittany ferries to cancel so i can get 100% back rather than cancelling now and losing deposit (£150)
supposed to have a week in MiL's static caravan down in cornwall second week of easter. on the coast with easy access to beach/coast path so will take view closer to the time. no financial impact if we don't go and its only an hour or so drive away so no big undertaking.
So far they have thoughtfully said we can postpone it but if the week we choose is more expensive then we have to pay the difference.
Seems fair enough, in a normal year there would be a re-booking fee as well (as we do, this year we aren't). If you want it to be there in the future cash-flow will need to be maintained to preserve the business. Until the government enforces the shutdown businesses have to do al they can to stay solvent and trading. Once we are ordered to shut continuity insurance has to pay up and all except the insurance companies are happy.
I'm of the opinion that if your uninfected and no underlying health problems we should carry on using pubs, cafes and restaurants otherwise they will be gone when the all-clear sounds.
trip to france in may expected to cancelled but waiting for brittany ferries to cancel so i can get 100% back rather than cancelling now and losing deposit (£150)
There's a good chance ferries won't cancel unless it's passenger only as they're fairly important to keeping food on tables amongst other things.
If it were me I'd wait ant cancel as late as possible but I'd be resigned to losing my £150.
Once we are ordered to shut continuity insurance has to pay up
Good luck with that. Our insurance at work has already clarified business continuity and loss won't be covered as they consider it Force Majeure. We won't be in a position to contest that.
Week in Cornwall at the start of April booked and paid in full.
Half of me is thinking don't risk it while the other half is thinking it's more isolated than our house so should be ok from an infection point of view.
Was looking forward to spending the week wandering about and eating out every day. If we do go the eating out bit won't be happening and most likely all the touristy places will be closed. So that just leaves wandering about, and we can do that at home.
I really don't know what to do. If we voluntarily cancel we will lose all the money. If we go we could end up imprisoned in a houseboat that's about a third of the size of our house, and won't that be fun with a couple of teenagers.
brittany ferries are already cancelling a large number of services. I have a flexi ticket so can cancel with only the deposit loss right up until the day before sailing so I'll hold out for while.
I could claim it back on our insurance policy but with an excess of £100 there seems little point. we not losing out on anything else, we were staying with family out there.
"If I had to guess I’d say the travel thing is more about ensuring the population is roughly where you expect them to be when you’re allocating resources and planning for spread and things."
Sorry, but this sounds like complete nonsense. Have you just made this up, or do you have any facts to support this? The "travel thing" is, exactly what we are told it is, an attempt to slow the virus.
Mick
We're living in Spain at the moment and were due to go back to the UK at the start of April for my middle brother's wedding. That has been called off now and I'm expecting the Ryanair email to say our flights have been cancelled any day now.
Got a stag week in Ibiza for my younger brother and his wedding in August so really hoping that this doesn't drag on until then but it is what it is. I think from tomorrow I am going to avoid the news.
Worst thing is that I can't even ride my bike!!!!!
Seems fair enough, in a normal year there would be a re-booking fee as well
I don't mind that bit so much but they won't allow a refund which I think is unfair.
Have you just made this up, or do you have any facts to support this? The “travel thing” is, exactly what we are told it is, an attempt to slow the virus.
If I had to guess
Can I suggest Google translate if you're struggling with that bit?
In a completely unrelated role I do quite a bit of logistical planning and things and people not being where they're supposed to be is a royal pita. But it's unrelated, it informs my guess but, it's a guess.
I'd have to ask though, which facts support your own guess that you've not only not qualified as such but stated "is" the case?
Was due to go to fuerteventura tomorrow, that was cancelled at the weekend so we book a week in Cornwall instead. That was before they announced no non-essential travel.
We are staying in an apartment, I have contacted the owners today and they said they are cleaning to guidelines and it is business as usual for now.
We don't tend to eat out much so are still going (unless anything changes today)
Ft Bill for skiing, running and biking from Saturday; we've a cottage booked and have every intention of going. Hopefully they'll have bog roll....
To a sensible extent, life needs to go on and the economy needs to keep turning; I'm hoping that the Crannog restaurant will still be open so that we can offer them some business.
UK government guidance not to travel seems to now be more specific as of lunchtime today and covers non-essential overseas travel.
We have a week's camping in the Lakes booked for may half term, I bet that won't happen. Plus a festival in July, I bet that's getting canned too.
We very nearly booked a week away in June in Northumberland at the weekend, didn't in the end because we were fannying with dates. It's not getting booked now.
MrsIHN was due to go to Edinburgh this weekend with a group of mates for someone's 30th. That, obviously, isn't happening.
UK government guidance not to travel seems to now be more specific as of lunchtime today and covers non-essential overseas travel.
...on top of, not instead of, the existing "no essential travel" advice issued yesterday
Once we are ordered to shut continuity insurance has to pay up
'Vast majority' of UK firms not protected for shut downs - insurers
ImagesCopyright: Getty Images
More now on the issue of whether venues in the UK can claim on insurance if they're not ordered to close by the government.
Pubs, restaurants and theatres in the UK are hitting out at Boris Johnson's advice to the public yesterday - telling them not to visit the venues, without ordering businesses to close.
Many from the entertainment industry say without a direct order from government, they will not be protected by their insurance.But the Association of British Insurers claims most companies would not be covered anyway, even if there were to be a dictat from Downing Street.
In a statement, the organisation says: "Standard business interruption cover - the type the majority of businesses purchase - does not include forced closure by authorities as it is intended to respond to physical damage at the property which results in the business being unable to continue to trade.
"A small minority of typically larger firms might have purchased an extension to their cover for closure due to any infectious disease. In this instance, an enforced closure could help them make the claim.
"But this will depend on the precise nature of the cover they have purchased, so they should check with their insurer or broker to see if they are covered."
Need to be reading the small print I think.
To a sensible extent, life needs to go on and the economy needs to keep turning; I’m hoping that the Crannog restaurant will still be open so that we can offer them some business.
Yeah, I'm in a bit of a quandary here in Aviemore. There's a massive reliance on the hospitality industry. Most business run very lean and most workers are on or near minimum wage and low-hour contracts. A complete shut-down will devastate the area. On the one hand, I feel I should be still going to the local pubs/cafes etc in order to keep them ticking over. On the other there's the advice not to - and the health risk of doing so - plus the personal financial cost at a time when I feel I need to be cutting back. Lots of venues are spacing out tables, restricting numbers, implementing deep-cleaning routines.
We'd also been planning some time away in the campervan - again, partly to help struggling businesses in other areas - but don't know if that's now sensible and, if we do, are more likely to self-isolate anyway.
I live in Seahouses, Northumberland.
This could be absolutely devastating for the whole village. The vast majority of pubs, hotels and cafes are family owned businesses. They will not to be able to keep paying staff if they have no income. I predict the vast majority will be bankrupt by the end of the summer if the restrictions remain. I can't see any other outcome.
I cannot see any foreign holidays happening this year. We booked a week's camping for September last night, if things have calmed down a bit in this country then I imagine UK holiday accommodation will be at a premium later in the year (if international travel is still advised against and the UK industry has survived).
Center Parcs have not long emailed us to say all UK villages close this Friday until 16th April minimum and so we have to rebook and get £100 discount, or get a full refund.
Never entered my head that CP would go into lockdown. 🙁
