gtalum

21 hours ago, dallasdan said:

I thought you had to go the passport office and apply in person?

For children, you have to apply at your county courthouse with both parents present (or substitute with 1 parent and some notarized documents, I think).

For adults, you can apply at many post offices.  Make an appointment and you'll get in and out in a very short time.

21 hours ago, kwokpot said:

Where was this? 

I grew up in Ohio in the 70's and 80's, and sat with my dad at the bar many times.

2 hours ago, kdr69 said:

Well if there was real concern they would address how they are getting in to the Country because as ive said before they didnt swim here or take a cruise ship now did they?

The virus is obviously spreading primarily by air travel.  

Cruising is being singled out because there's no argument that it is necessary.

The truth is, nobody knows.

I doubt it, but you can hope.

11 hours ago, crzndeb said:

 

I thought the night club was 18 and over, but they can’t drink. Did this change?

It may be 18+.  I just meant they don't really enforce the ages at any bars that are open until the evening.  

In lounges that are open during the day, she won't have any trouble being with you.  That's likely true up through dinner time, but at some point in the evening they start enforcing the 21+ thing.

I've enjoyed sitting at the bar with my daughter since she was little. I get a drink and she gets a virgin daiquiri.  It's fun to people-watch together.

On 3/12/2021 at 2:06 PM, sparks1093 said:

Except a single engine aircraft, of course (I know that you meant multi-engine planes, couldn't resist the joke).😉 I was aircrew in C-130's in my Navy days and I was told that the Herc could fly with 1 engine if needed. I am glad I never had to find that out in real life. 

Hey, they can fly for a while with no engines at all!  Not that I'd want to experience it... 😄

Remember the "Gimli Glider" and Air Transat flight 236.  

It's none of my business, but as a parent who has taken our two kids cruising with us many times, I would advise against cruising with a one year old.  

Children under 2 cannot use the kids' club except for an hour or two during the day of supervised play (a parent has to be there).

Once they're 2 or older, it's a great family vacation.

23 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Every time I hear of things like the emergency landing in Colorado I get nervous and decide to drive. I'm vaccinated so it's no covid stopping me, I think planes are getting old and not sure about upkeep.

 

Other things besides covid and 9 11 to make one think twice.

Engine failures happen.  Aircraft are designed to fly with an engine out.

27 minutes ago, jfunk138 said:

Los Angeles density is 8,000 per sq mile, Miami is 13,000 per sq mile, NYC is 27,000 per sq mile.  You aren't going to win a density argument with California.  

And CA has a lower per capita COVID case and death rate than FL or NY.  As I noted, they're in the middle of the pack.

Fair enough on NY/NJ.  I withdraw my claim and I agree they're doing poorly.

30 minutes ago, jfunk138 said:

This view is not supported by facts.  

 

Another study found Virginia was most restrictive, followed by Vermont, DC, HI and then CA.  California is most certainly not "middle of the pack" in terms of restrictions.  And yes when talking about per-capita rates, New York does particularly poorly along with New Jersey, 2 states that are also among the most restrictive.

https://wallethub.com/edu/states-coronavirus-restrictions/73818

CA is in the middle of the pack in COVID deaths per capita, despite having several very high population density urban areas.

HI was far more restrictive in letting people into the state than any other state.

NY and NJ got hit early when nobody knew anything about COVID, it was flowing in unrestricted from Europe, and NY had Cuomo's disastrous nursing home policy.  The restrictions there have worked well since that early time.

51 minutes ago, travelplus said:

One other thought that crossed my mind perhaps there will be "Cruises to Nowhere" or intra Californian  cruises where Cruiselines will get  a Jones Act Waiver(which may be abolished to allow for US only Cruises) .

So a perfect itinerary could be  San Francisco to Monterey then to Santa Barbara and return.

 

Or Long Beach-San Diego-Catalina-Santa Barbara and return so that if there are any problems god forbid you will be very close to LA and avoid any international repatriation.

The Jones Act needs to be abolished in order to get more cruisers to cruise. Perhaps there will be cruiser who only feel safe doing a intra Florida Cruise from Fort Lauderdale-Miami-Key West back to Fort Lauderdale or Tampa-Port Canaveral- Miami-Key West-Tampa so if they get sick its a very way back to Tampa.

 

 

I am skeptical that any changes will be made to the PVSA.  There's a bill in the House to make a very narrow exception for cruises between Washington and Alaska (and I think there's another in the Senate as well).  If that doesn't get any traction, there's no way that any broader PVSA exemptions or changes will be made.

2 hours ago, jerseyjjs said:

 

 

 

And 54K people have died from in California, the most restrictive and covid-militant state of them all.

The most restrictive and covid-militant state of all has been Hawaii, and they also have the lowest death rate per capita.

California is in the middle of the pack.

As you know, the raw numbers don't mean anything, statistically speaking.  Only per capita rates matter.

29 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Schools are reopening despite there not being a vaccine yet approved for under 16 year olds. That would seem to say there is a safe way to proceed with children aboard as long as all adults are fully vaccinated.

Perhaps.

I would argue that school is a necessity, and cruising is not.  That's the same reason why flights have never been stopped.

I have health issues that put me at high risk (which is why I got the vaccine already), but we put our kids back in school last August.  Blocking in-person school attendance anywhere after last spring was a mistake.

And please forgive me for being argumentative.  I'm mostly just playing devil's advocate.  I hope to cruise again, but not likely until next year.

4 minutes ago, Freckle53 said:

If when they restart and vaccines aren't available for certain age groups yet, I could see the requirement (again, if they do require vaccines) being only for 16+ people.  The same as how photo ID is required for 16+ to board the ship, but not for kids younger than that.  

I don't think they would ban children as families are a big part of their guests.  Maybe a line like Princess or HAL could restart with only vaccinated 16+ people, but the 4 big family lines likely couldn't swing it.  Like imagine Disney cruises only being 16 and older?  I know there are some adults crazy about Disney stuff, but could they really get enough adult only parties to sail with?

 

I tend to agree that Carnival (and likely as you noted the other big 3 family-oriented lines) can't afford to ban kids, but if kids are on the ship unvaccinated they might as well not have a vaccination requirement at all.

I am vaccinated, and my wife is trying to get vaccinated, so I'm certainly not opposed to it.  I just don't see how it's feasible for them as a requirement.

What about the children?  No vaccine has been approved for children yet.

Is Carnival going to be willing to effectively ban children from its ships?

19 hours ago, sarmat1 said:

Always inside for us.  For those saying there is no natural light, our "window" is the TV set to one of the CAM channels.  It's dark at night and brightens the room at sunrise.

But that's LED light, not natural light.  😉

20 hours ago, jetsfan58 said:

This wise and frugal Cruiser would always choose the "Inside" version. With the $800 or so dollars saved my next cruise is closer that ever. 

Frugal, yes.  Wise? That depends on how you value the balcony.

Personally I enjoy having the private outdoor space.  I would be far less likely to choose to cruise at all without one.

28 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

When you factor in the new berths gained from the new builds from Carnival and Royal, the new berths on the larger ships out gain those berths lost with the dismantling of the Fantasy Class from Carnival and corresponding ships from Royal. There will be less cruise ships, but more berths available.

More profitability!

1 hour ago, asalligo said:

After the Triumph and now Covid, I doubt I will ever again book an inside room. I am torn on the Aft Balcony, I love the view, but I hate the lack of shade and location and possible soot on some ships, so it depends on the ship. Hard to not take the aft at that price difference though. 

Even pre-COVID, we always sailed with balconies.  It's nice to have a private outdoor space for those moments when you just don't want to deal with a crowd...

Now with the potential of a COVID quarantine I can't imagine not having that space to help ward off cabin fever.

1 hour ago, asalligo said:

I think you are right about this. When it really is fully back and near normal with less ships on the market than we had a year ago. It could get bad. 

I suspect the cruise lines are banking on this.  A few years of much higher profitability than pre-COVID would help them absorb the losses of this past year and however many months we still have left of no cruises (and even the restart will be slow for a while).

Always a balcony.  On the side, we don't find the aft views worth the price of the upgrade.

Generally I book the second highest deck forward.  That way there are cabins above and below, but there's still a great sweeping view.

Schools are out in many counties in Florida until January 4, so it should be full of kids and families.

10 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

AFAIK, no cruise line has objected. The small ship fleets could double the size of their fleets and it wouldn't make a dent in the demand. But they have a different target market compared to mass market cruise lines. There normally isn't any competition between the two.

 

That's true, they're completely different markets.

Still, despite what they say, I'm sure the small ship operators aren't too upset that they'll have a monopoly this year.

4 hours ago, amcankid said:

I really question the 100% capacity portion of this list.

Everything I’ve read, and everything my personal planner told me is there’s an agreement with all cruise lines to sail at reduced capacity for 2021 and possibly into the beginning of 2022.

I think the list is just noting the full capacity of the ships, not that they will actually be sailing at full capacity.  Nobody knows what the capacity restrictions will actually be when they start sailing again.