UPDATE 10 July 2021
Dear All
Further to my previous email, a huge thank-you to all who have responded so swiftly.
With responses now received from almost all participants, I am able to report that without exception the preference is to defer the trip until the same week next year, so that is what we now will do.
Hopefully by that time Covid will have become something have learned to live with, and life will be a bit closer to the old normality that we so much took for granted.
With thanks again and best regards
Mark
UPDATE 31MAY2021
I think we have recently spoken to everyone who has booked up for the Canal du Midi Cruise.
Currently it looks like the conditions may not be right for the cruise to proceed as planned this September – and at present things are not moving in the right direction.
We intend to take the final decision in July before the balance payments for the flights and boats fall due.
If at that point France is not on the UK ‘green’ destination list or there are restrictions imposed by France, we plan to reschedule the trip for the same week in 2022 (Friday 23rd – Friday 30th September).
Le Boat’s prices are increasing significantly next year but the good news is that they have agreed to honour our 2021 prices if we need to reschedule.
If we do decide that we need to postpone we will be in touch with you at that time to discuss your options.
Needless to say we very much hope that, if we do need to postpone, you will be with us on the Canal du Midi in 2022.
We wanted to give you a heads-up so that if this decision does become necessary it will not come as a total surprise.
However, fingers crossed that between now and July the ‘Indian variant’ is brought under control, France removes its restrictions, and the UK government moves France to the green destination list!
It is starting to look a little less than certain but there are still a couple of months to go and everything is possible.
Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any queries.
With best regards
Mark and Jackie
UPDATE 2 DEC 20: We need to inform you that, because of the difficulties the holiday industry has been going through this year, it has been necessary for Le Boat to reduce costs by streamlining its operations.
Unfortunately these measures will include the closure of the bases where we were due to start and finish!
Luckily there are other bases along this stretch of the canal and we will now be starting from Castelnaudary, a nearby base that we had also initially considered.
This is upstream of Carcassonne so it has the advantage that we will not now have to double back to visit this historic World Heritage Site which is a major highlight of the cruise.
Our final destination will now be Homps which is a charming village with an interesting waterfront and a number of attractions.
And finally, now that you will be making a further payment, it would be sensible to obtain your travel insurance if you do not have an annual policy. This will ensure that your payment is protected in case of cancellation, for example because of illness. Also, because we will no longer be in the European Union, travel insurance is essential to cover any medical eventuality during the trip.
UPDATE 4 MAY 2020: We expect this event to proceed as planned with air travel the only potential issue.
Please see the attached flyer for our 2021 Autumn Cruise in which you will see that Mark and Jackie have put together what promises to be an excellent and value for money week on the Canal du Midi.