Goodtime Cruizin

7 hours ago, mom says said:

And you think it's a cause for rejoicing , or just indifference, that case numbers and hospitalizations are rising again and so is the incidence of illness due to variants? And what percentage of your population is fully  vaccinated? Should she have got up and danced on her desk instead of warning about a continued need for caution? How many people have died due to COVID this week?

I don't think there is anything to rejoice about. But I do think that the propaganda machine is about to go on full blast. The push to get everyone vaxed up is coming right at us. More fear mongering about increased cases while at the same time making statements that the vaccines are showing positive results to prevent covid as well. 

Hang on... because this is just the start. Soon we will see the full gauntlet from the Sunday morning news shows to the View and everything in between. Hollywood, Entertainers from Sports to Music will be doing PSAs and on our TVs, Radio, PODs, you name it.   

20 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

 

The dilemma is that lift and shift is not available until Royal cancels which will most likely be until after final payment which the OP doesn’t want to make. 

RCL is getting wise. So they drop the fare 25% to entice reservations to be paid. To me, it sounds like they know they aren't sailing. So instead of issuing a 125% on $5300, they issue it on $3900.  Those that pay end up getting a 125% FCC and RCL gets to save 25% on the original cruise fare and use the money too. 

"I'll have a covid free cruise w/ a drink package on the side. Make it to go please." 

6 hours ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Fully agree.  Either you are a "host"or you are a impartial contributor.  Can't be both.

Phooey. The host or moderator is also a person that enjoys all things cruising. The fact that they also have a responsibility to insure that the board follows the guidelines established does not and should never dis-allow them to post their thoughts as long as it is within the said guidelines.  Their role should not prevent them to have an opinion. Especially because the opinion might be different than yours. Just repsond and post your thoughts as it is anyone else. If you stay withing the cruise critics established rules there will be no issue. 

3 hours ago, NMTraveller said:

 

 

However with the US having an over abundance of supply in May.  "Enough for everyone in the USA to get vaccinated."  We will be oversupplied by then as there is a certain population that will not be vaccinated by their own choice.  We also have 2 more vaccines coming in the pipeline for FDA approval and production efficiency is improving every day.  Where will the excess US vaccines go?

 

I would suspect that the home port countries may help getting the crew vaccinated or at least verify that they have been with approved vaccines.  The local countries set the rules and not the CDC.

 

You do raise a good question though.

 

The getting cruise ship members vaccinated before Granny will not be an issue here in the US.  It may be in other countries though.  I am in a state that vaccinated prisoners before Granny.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So... so.... true. If the county jail can get the vax, Millie's crew can too. 

3 hours ago, TeeRick said:

I could speculate as much as anybody.  But what I hoped to hear is that some crew member or travel agent had some information.  That there was a plan for them to get vaccinated and give us some actual information.  The time is short.  Cruises are being sold.  There is a lead time (right now) that the crew needs to be vaccinated.  Somebody must know the plan or some crew must have been vaccinated by the plan.  Even if it is in their own countries (most likely).  

What or which cruise have you booked? What date?

3 hours ago, TeeRick said:

I know many many people in the US who are struggling to get vaccinated. Vaccine is still very limited in many states.  It will be another month (May 1) for vaccines to be available for the general population in many states.  I know that it is now open in TX.  Great news.   You have 90% of your population still unvaccinated.  Only 3 million vaccinated out of 30 million people.  So you think Texas should immediately send vaccine to Celebrity in St. Maarten to vaccinate the crew there by June sailings?  

 

By the way- I do not think that my own adult kids, and my neighbors, and my relatives are doing anything wrong.  They just cannot even qualify for vaccine yet.  Then they will be in a very long line to get even an appointment.  I'm glad your part of the country is not facing this in your estimation.

To answer your question.... yes... send the vaccine to anybody, to any county, town, city, state or even country that knows how to get the vax out of viles and into arms. It's really that simple.  And your data is inaccurate... Texas has vaccinated just shy of 11 million arms.  And there are many people that simply do not want the vaccine at this time, thus making it available for those that do. In fact, starting tomorrow, all adults 16 years old and older can request an appointment. I have absolutely no idea why Pa is still on 1A requests only. Puzzles me. But that's only a problem for Pa residents to correct. Not mine and definately not RCG. 

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Speculation but something that might happen if the announced cruises were not going around Florida's cruise ports and re-establishing their home ports elsewhere.  So you think that the governor would take away vaccine from his citizen's and donate (or sell) it to a cruise ship going out of St Maarten by June? 

 

This is the actual point I keep trying to get too.  A lot of us are American cruisers here seem to be focused on American states or government providing a mechanism to foreign flagged ships sailing from non-American ports to vaccinate non-American crewmembers to allow wealthy American tourists to travel to another country and cruise.  While a lot of America still remains unvaccinated and most of the world remains unvaccinated. 

 

We are lending vaccine to Canada and Mexico.  Not to St Maarten, the Bahamas, Bermuda, or Greece where these ships will be sailing from.

TBH, I think you're over analyzing the situation. There is a lot of vaccine available today. It's literally everywhere. No one seems to be up in arms (no pun intended) about giving vaccines to Canada or Mexico. They're testing and vaxing arms of the illegals on the southern border and no one seems to mind... so... I say shoot those arms up in St. Maarten & the Bahamas. If someone in these United States is struggling to get vaccinated... they're doing something wrong. 

15 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

This link addresses undocumented immigrants.  Not crewmembers coming in on cruise ships.

"Give me your tired or rested, your poor or your worker bee, unvaccinated arms."

You want to take me up on my bet?

1 minute ago, harkinmr said:

I know what the data is for Florida.  Florida has a population of over 22 million people.  I am not "trolling" anyone and again, personal insults seem to be the order of the day here.  Is that the only way that posters can communicate.  What a miserable place!

I'm not taking. personal shot at you but rather surprised that you jumped into a post w/o knowing the facts of your own state's vaxes. 25% of your state's population has been vaxed up in 3 months!  At this rate 1/2 will be vaxed in another 3 months. And the people of the sunshine fully understand and are aware of how much their state revolves around tourism. So yes, of all states, Floridians would be more accepting to make sure the people that staff the tourism industry is taken care of. 

14 minutes ago, harkinmr said:

I live in Florida and I would absolutely care.  There are millions of residents here who have not had the opportunity to be vaccinated and won't for some time.  Until every person living in this state that wants a vaccine gets one, doses should not be distributed to private companies like the cruise lines.  Right now, no private companies can buy doses of vaccine outside of the distribution framework.

Well... go look at the data of vaccines in Florida. You are either trolling this thread or flat out ignorant on the real data in florida. To date,  Since before Christmas,  5.5 million people have been vaxed up. That's 3 months. Another 3 months and one can expect at a minimal double that figure, if not much much more. I just looked at the availability of vaccines in Florida and it's crazy good. If Floridians want the vax, they can get it. 

I'm willing to bet you that I can mock a request and receive an appointment within two weeks or less for my first vax.

4 hours ago, Baron Barracuda said:

Will returning crew even enter the US if they will be sailing from Nassau, St Maarten, Bermuda, etc?  Doesn't seem right that they should be allowed to fly from Philippines to Miami, get a shot and then board another plane to the Caribbean.  Seems more likely that they will have to get a shot somewhere outside the US.

Of all arms, theirs are too precious to not vax. for they could potentially spread the vax everywhere. Cruisleines employess like the airline industry should be considered 'essential'. 

7 hours ago, TeeRick said:

That is nice for you and your state.  In my state and many other states it is a real struggle to find vaccines even for the phase 1 groups. Not enough vaccine.   It is getting marginally better.  No doubt.  But why would any US state (maybe except FL) give vaccines dedicated to their US citizens away to cruise lines and foreign crew members?  That would be not a positive thing for those in the states waiting to be vaccinated.  Maybe much later in the year when there is excess vaccine and the lines have disappeared.  But not by May.

Your state's leadership should be questioned if people are struggling to get their vaccines in today's climate. I feel for you and beleive that it is a shame. 

7 hours ago, TeeRick said:

That is nice for you and your state.  In my state and many other states it is a real struggle to find vaccines even for the phase 1 groups. Not enough vaccine.   It is getting marginally better.  No doubt.  But why would any US state (maybe except FL) give vaccines dedicated to their US citizens away to cruise lines and foreign crew members?  That would be not a positive thing for those in the states waiting to be vaccinated.  Maybe much later in the year when there is excess vaccine and the lines have disappeared.  But not by May.

The state of Florida has alot to gain by giving vaccines to cruiselines. And that is one state that no one would care. BTW, in Houston, Texas, if you wish to be vaccinated, you can. It's plentiful these days. Thank God too with so many crossing the border unchecked and moving to the metros.

51 minutes ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

CLIA is very much a political organization with political objective just as any trade organization represents.  Courtesy of Wiki:

 

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is a cruise line trade association. It merged with International Council of Cruise Lines (ICCL) in 2006, forming an expanded organization incorporating the existing functions of both organizations. The merged organization, which uses the CLIA name, is located in Washington, D.C..

Established in 1975, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is the world's largest cruise industry trade association based on the number of passenger cruise ships operated by its members, however there is a significant proportion of the wider cruise industry which does not subscribe to CLIA's member body and which transports a considerable volume of passengers. There is no regulatory requirement for cruise operators to subscribe to the trade body, each year a significant number of cruise passengers are transported on a growing number of non-member vessels. The trade body has no representation across the entirety of Africa, for example.

 

The trade body's marketing and education activities may be considered activities more closely related to influence or lobbying, however the organization holds no powers to set or enforce laws or regulations.

 

 

Good for them. It's smart to pool together for the best interest of one's industry. Having said this, there is nothing in your posts that suggests they were developed for political purposes and have navigated toward a politcal presence. Even so it would be the right thing to do. The cruise industry has taken a beating and is trying to survive. 

Regardless of ones politcal affiliation, when looking strictly at the data, if one truly wishes the cruise industry to kick off again in US ports, one would complete the form and send to their elected officials. Today's numbers are substantially much much lowered than the peak of covid-19.  Ninety days from today, June 27th, over 200 million US citizens will have been vaxed up... we will be looking at a completely different world than this past Christmas, much less even today. 

Get vaxed up and let your voices to heard. 

I think we all wish to be part of the solution. Those that have bought cruises for this summer in St.Maarten are indeed going to be part of the solution. There are going to be 'test' for all future cruises. Even if the cruises produce a passenger or crewmember with covid, I would not consider it a failure. But rather a learning experience of what to do differently. What happens on these cruises will show the world how far the industry has come and/or how much further it can go. I applaud these cruisers. They need all of our support along with the staff, Celebrity and RGP. 

1 hour ago, d9704011 said:

Really?  According to many of the learned comments I’ve seen on these boards, COVID-19 vaccinations are pretty much a prevent-all.

Vaxes are amazingly good. They are a game changer. But for wash free dumps, you'll need the 3rd & 4th boosters.  Call your county admin and ask for them. 

2 hours ago, AC Stew said:

Nope, not biting.

 

Good Lord ... can we all just get back to talking about CRUISING!

Can't bite. And yes the Lord is good. He's blessed us in many ways. In fact, just a few days ago. These new summer Caribbean cruises are going to be a breath of fresh air.  I can't wait for them to start. Cruising is back!

16 minutes ago, AC Stew said:

 

This is not a comment on the endless stream of political commentary and personal opinion. However, when I see this oft repeated error, it bears correcting.

 

True, when Covid first appeared, we were advised not to run out and buy up the (then) very limited stockpiles of medical grade masks. It's not that we were told NOT to wear masks, we were asked to leave those precious supplies for the medical professionals. The value of wearing a mask was never disputed.

 

And by the way, protective masking (air pollution/ common germs) was common in China and Japan decades before Covid.

Then why didn't he just say that? So is he lying to us now? Who or what is he trying to protect now? He's actually wanting to vaccinate kids, even newborns but there has only been 30 or children killed by Covid worldwide. Why? Why does he want to do this? Why isn't he following the data, the science? Something just doesn't add up and people feel very uncomfortable with any of his responses and answers these days. 

2 hours ago, Baron Barracuda said:

If you're a country like the Philippines with daily cases at a new high and little vaccine why would you give a priority to cruise ship workers who will leave the country as soon as they can?  Better to control spread at home by focusing on the elderly and other vulnerable segments of the population.   As far as shots go all arms aren't equal.

Well we'll have to disagree. No biggee. Until the world hits a level... every arm is important.  Especially those arms that will be traveling the world that could potentially spread the disease. 

4 hours ago, Tapi said:

There may be an increase of COVID cases in Texas, but probably it will be more pronounced along South Padre Island area and other spring break destinations than along the border. 

Huh? SOUTH Padre Island is pretty much south.

12 minutes ago, grandgeezer said:

The old regime, and the new regime, have not stepped in and it’s been going on for over a year. The vaccine seems to be the answer, and since cruising has said they don’t see cruises starting up until at least June 1. That is over two months time to continue vaccinations which means a majority of the adults should be good to go. That’s if opening up in Texas and Florida (especially spring break) don’t come back to undo all the good so far.

 

There are quite a few states now open, not just Texas & Florida. I do think that Texas will see an increase in posiitve testing only because of the border crisis. It's really really bad down there and it is gong to create unforseen problems in many areas besides covid. The large metros of Houston, Dallas/FtWorth, San Antonio and Austin are where the illegals flock to avoid detection. Wearing a mask or sitting in a restzurant at 50% capacity won't change that. 

46 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

What about that guy in Austin whose resturant got trashed masks and stuff. Got paint everywhere and stuff smashed up, lucky they didn't torch the place.

There are thousands upon thousands, upon thousands of restaurants in Austin, and then thousands again in Texas. And only one was subjected to harsh treatment... yet it made the news and has convinced you that there is a serious problem. The balance of those thousands are open and selling food and catering to their customers. It appears you're under the spell of the negative news and  scare tactics of the media. 

1 hour ago, Shorewalk Holmes said:

I agree that people shouldn't generally be scared to live, but sometimes it's adaptive to be a bit scared.

 

Last fall, too many people weren't scared. They lived life. They flaunted expert advice. They ram-packed airports and indoor holiday parties.  Covid spread, and hundreds of thousands of people died in the US. 

 

People got only one more Christmas with their parents instead of twenty more.

 

It could have been even worse, but many people felt the good kind of fear -- rational fear -- and navigated the holidays just fine at home in small groups.

 

I'm hoping that, if enough people agree to get vaccinated, and the vaccines work against variants, so there's no spike, we can put away fear, because it won't be useful anymore.  Then, I hope, enough people will book cruises to allow the ships to sail.

 

Royal seems to be doing a good job putting rational fear into practice with their precautions, so the ships should be safe.

One thing you omitted... people had their liberties reduced and also their lives destroyed. 

Having said this, being fearful to live life is different from being scared to die. Reviewing the numbers of those that died, 80% of those that experienced death due to covid was 75 yrs of age or greater. I seriously doubt that these folks flaunted experts. If anything, the gathering of 20 or more people at holidays allowed for the growth of herd immunity. 

Look... you come across as someone that is against the cruiselines cruising. If I'm correct why are you on this type of message board? Are you here to use your voice to discredit cruising?