Latest update 19th July 2021:
*Following the recent announcement from the UK Secretary of State for Health the decision has been made not to include fully vaccinated passengers who have been in France in the last 10 days in the 19th July changes to restrictions. This means that anyone arriving from France must quarantine for 10 days at home or in other accommodation, even if they are fully vaccinated under the UK vaccination programme.
We recognise the impact that this will have on your journey plans between France and the UK. This decision by the UK Government was made late on the 16th July and has been made following rising cases in France of the Beta variant, which was first identified in South Africa, and is potentially resistant to vaccines.
When departing from France you should answer “No” to the question on “Do you meet the COVID-19 vaccination eligibility criteria for reduced isolation and testing requirements?” on the UK Passenger Locator Form and all passengers must isolate for 10 days on arrival.
From 4am, Monday 19th July, the government will no longer recommend against travel to amber list countries. Fully vaccinated passengers that have been vaccinated under the UK vaccination program who are returning to the UK from Amber list countries (with the exception of France), including those who are under 18, will not need to quarantine on arrival in England or take a COVID-19 test on day 8. For further information read the announcement about the rule changes.
Some requirements will still remain in place regarding testing and passenger locator forms, therefore please ensure you are fully up to date with the changes and visit gov.uk for the latest travel requirements for entering England.
Find out more about the traffic light system.
Essential information to enter the UK
Everyone entering England from overseas (including UK nationals and residents) must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 3 days prior to direct departure to England.
Fill in your Passenger Locator Form up to 48 hours before arrival. You must declare all countries you have visited or transited through in the 10 days prior to your arrival on your Passenger Locator Form.
Whether you need to quarantine (and for how long), when you arrive in to England from abroad, depends on your UK vaccination status and where you have been in the 10 days prior to your arrival. Before departure check the list of red, amber and green countries, as the list can change regularly. Find out more here.
Route Information
Dover / Calais
An optimised schedule is in place for accompanied freight and passenger travel with reduced facilities onboard.
Foot Passenger travel suspended until further notice.
Changes to the schedule may be made at short notice, to reflect demand.
Dover to Calais:
Travellers from the United Kingdom wishing to travel to France must respect the obligatory sanitary measures in place.
- If you are already fully vaccinated, you must present the following documents:
1- Proof of vaccination (i.e. 2 weeks after the second injection for Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines; 4 weeks after the only injection for the Johnson&Johnson vaccine or 2 weeks after the only injection for people previously infected with Covid);
2 - Sworn statement’ (déclaration sur l’honneur) which can be found under section 2.2 on the amber tab
- If you are not fully vaccinated, travel is only allowed for essential reasons and you must present the following documents:
1- Proof of a negative PCR test within the last 24 hours or proof of an antigenic test within the last 48 hours;
2- Sworn statement’ (déclaration sur l’honneur) which can be found under section 2.2 on the amber tab
3- International Travel Certificate Section 2.1 on Amber tab
Upon arrival, antigenic tests may be randomly performed. Travelers must self-isolate for 7 days.
For more information, please refer to the website of the French Consulate in London: https://uk.ambafrance.org/A-compter-du-9-juin-Strategie-de-reouverture-des-frontieres
The French government have provided information on how to prove your vaccination status. See guidance on demonstrating your vaccination status through the NHS.
Children under the age of 18 years old, who are travelling with fully vaccinated adults, will be exempt from requirements to self-isolate and provide an essential reason for travel, regardless of whether the minor has been vaccinated or not.
Calais to Dover:
France is currently on the Amber list, but is not included in the 19th July lifting of quarantine for the fully vaccinated. Therefore you will need to follow the full entry requirements for Amber countries as listed below regardless of whether you are fully vaccinated or not.
Amber list countries and territories
What you must do if you have been in France in the 10 days before you arrive in England.
Before you travel to England from France you must:
- take a COVID-19 test
- book and pay for day 2 and day 8 COVID-19 travel tests – to be taken after arrival in England
- complete a passenger locator form
On arrival in England
On arrival in England you must:
- quarantine at home or in the place you are staying for 10 days
- take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8
Read about quarantine and taking COVID-19 tests.
Children aged 4 and under do not need to take the day 2 or day 8 test.
You may be able to end quarantine early if you pay for a private COVID-19 test through the Test to Release scheme.
Find out more about what you’ll need to do before you leave for the UK because of coronavirus.
Your passport or identity card will be checked when you arrive at a UK port or airport to make sure you’re allowed to come into the country. It should be valid for the whole of your stay. You may also need a visa to come into or travel through the UK, depending on your nationality.
Failure to comply with the above measures is a criminal offence and you could be fined. Please visit www.gov.uk/uk-border-control for detailed public health advice and requirements for entering the UK.
It is a legal requirement that you wear a face covering on public transport in the UK.
Latest French Travel advice: France travel advice
Larne / Cairnryan
A full schedule is in place for all travel - there is no requirement for Covid-19 testing on this route
Changes to the schedule may be made at short notice, to reflect demand
Please check criteria for essential travel using the links below:
Northern Ireland restrictions: https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/coronavirus-covid-19-regulations-guidance-what-restrictions-mean-you
Scotland lockdown: Scotland in lockdown - gov.scot (www.gov.scot)
Hull / Rotterdam
All services operating to published schedule.
Before you travel, check the ‘Entry requirements’ section for the Netherlands’ current entry restrictions and requirements. These have been subject to change with little warning.
Travellers from the UK are not permitted to enter the Netherlands, even if fully vaccinated, as the UK is currently classed as a 'very high risk' country. The borders are open for essential travel only - with some exemptions, please check before travelling.
Current Entry Requirements 21/07/2021
Testing Requirements
Testing requirements depend on the category of the country that you are travelling from. The Netherlands classifies the UK as a very high risk country with a variant of concern. As such, travellers aged 13 and over arriving from the UK via aeroplane or ferry must abide by one of the following two options:
· show a negative rapid test result taken no more than 24 hours before departure and no more than 48 hours before arrival in the Netherlands
· or show the following 2 test results:
1. a negative PCR test result taken no more than 72 hours before arrival in the Netherlands or a negative antigen test result taken no more than 48 hours before arrival in the Netherlands; and
2. a negative rapid test result taken no more than 24 hours before departure.
Travellers aged 13 and over arriving from the UK via passenger car, train or bus have the following two options:
· to show a negative PCR test result taken no more than 72 hours before arrival in the Netherlands;
· or to show a negative antigen test result based taken no more than 48 hours before arrival in the Netherlands.
If you are travelling via France or Belgium, check FCDO Travel Advice for those countries, as testing requirements and validity differ.
Travellers arriving from a country on the safe list, are exempt from testing. The Dutch government’s website also outlines certain criteria for exemptions for those who have a proof of vaccination or proof of recovery (requirements differ for EU and non-EU arrivals), travelling from high-risk countries. Further information on testing requirements is detailed on the Dutch government’s website.
The test requirements do not replace the requirement to self-isolate for 10 days upon arrival (see below), except for limited exemption categories.
Quarantine requirements - 10 days
As a result of the Netherlands classifying the UK as a very high-risk country, from 00:01 on Tuesday 15 June additional quarantine requirements apply to all arrivals from the UK.
Travellers arriving from the UK (including the UK from 00:01 on Tuesday 15 June) not adhering to the self-quarantine requirements, may be fined €339. If you travel to the Netherlands from a country that is on the very high-risk list, you need a completed quarantine declaration form in addition to the required test result(s) and health declaration in case of travel by aeroplane. Not having this form may result in a €95 fine. Upon arrival at your home address or accommodation, you must stay there in quarantine for 10 days. You must also be reachable on the phone number you provided: officials will check. If you do not open the door or answer the phone you may be fined €339. The mandatory guidance applies to travellers arriving by all means of transportation. All information on mandatory quarantine, including exemptions, can be found here.
Rotterdam to Hull:
Holland is currently on the UK Amber list, therefore you will need to follow the entry requirements for Amber countries as listed below:
Amber list passengers ENTERING THE UK FROM THE NETHERLANDS (From 4am on the 19th July):
Those who have been fully vaccinated under the UK vaccination programme:
Must take a COVID-19 PCR or antigen test within 72 hours of departure
Must book and pay for a day 2 COVID-19 travel test* – to be taken after arrival in England
You must complete a passenger locator form and answer “Yes” to the question on “Do you meet the COVID-19 vaccination eligibility criteria for reduced isolation and testing requirements?” on the UK Passenger Locator Form.
Show proof of your vaccination status at border control and check-in via the UK NHS App or letter only
If you have been fully vaccinated under the UK vaccination programme, you will not need to quarantine on arrival in England when arriving from the Netherlands. Children under the age of 18, who are returning to the UK, and people taking part in formally approved COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials will also be exempt from requirements to quarantine and take the day 8 test.
Those who have not been fully vaccinated under the UK vaccination programme must follow the full entry requirements for Amber list countries.
- take a COVID-19 test
- book and pay for day 2 and day 8 COVID-19 travel tests – to be taken after arrival in England
- complete a passenger locator form
On arrival in England
On arrival in England you must:
- quarantine at home or in the place you are staying for 10 days
- take a COVID-19 test on or before day 2 and on or after day 8
Read about quarantine and taking COVID-19 tests.
Children aged 4 and under do not need to take the day 2 or day 8 test.
You may be able to end quarantine early if you pay for a private COVID-19 test through the Test to Release scheme.
Find out more about what you’ll need to do before you leave for the UK because of coronavirus.
Latest Netherlands Government advice: Netherlands travel advice
https://www.government.nl/topics/coronavirus-covid-19/visiting-the-netherlands-from-abroad
Liverpool / Dublin
All services operating to published schedule for all freight and essential passenger travel
Liverpool to Dublin:
All passengers aged 7 and over arriving into Ireland are required to have evidence (email, text or document) of a negative result from a pre-departure COVID-19 PCR test taken up to 72 hours prior to their arrival in Ireland.
All international arrivals must enter a mandatory 10 day quarantine at the address specified on their passenger locator form. This now includes international passengers arriving via Northern Ireland.
Passengers are required to present evidence of a negative result at point of boarding and will be denied boarding if they cannot produce such evidence. Passengers may be subject to prosecution, resulting in fines of up to €2,500, six months in prison or both, if they arrive in Ireland without evidence of a negative result from a PCR Covid-19 test or a valid exemption. Immigration officers will be checking passengers on arrival to Ireland.
If fully vaccinated the period of quarantine may end if the person receives a negative/not detected result after day 5, all other passengers must continue to isolate for a total of 14 days and take a further test on/after day 10 How to get tested - HSE.ie
Further information in relation to this requirement along with the associated public health advice can be found here: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/b4020-travelling-to-ireland-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/
Dublin to Liverpool:
You do not need to take a COVID-19 test or quarantine on arrival in England if you are travelling within the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, (the Common Travel Area), and you have not been outside of the Common Travel Area in the previous 10 days.
Hull to Zeebrugge: Operating freight only
Zeebrugge to Hull: Operating freight only
Hull - Zeebrugge Freight Route | P&O Freight
Additional Advice
For guidance on how to change your booking for any of our routes as a result of these changes please see: Credit Note Future Travel
This advice is being kept under constant review; and where passenger services are cancelled due to border/route closures all ticket types will be eligible for a refund.
The full UK Government approved list of private test providers (both PCR & Lateral Flow/Antigen) can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/list-of-private-providers-of-coronavirus-testing/list-of-private-providers-of-coronavirus-testing
Please note: NHS Tests will not be accepted in any port and can only be used for people presenting genuine symptoms of Covid-19.