T8NCruise

1 hour ago, DaveOKC said:

Agree that a partial season can be very difficult for a cruiseline to pull off.  Too many startup costs involved that need to be covered by too few sailings.  Key here is the peak season (June to mid-August as I recall).  Once you miss most of that it will be tough and I bet the lines will pass on AK for this year.  Remember, the peak parts of any seasonal destination is where the money is normally made.

 

I believe you are right.  The enormity of getting set up for a partial season doesn't make economical sense, let alone getting crews and port staff up and running and with all the additional health requirements that will be needed.  

To be honest, the EU has made such a hash of their vaccination rollout and even making sure they had enough, I'm suprised they are opening the doors so early.  I still wouldn't go - and I'm from around there, LOL.

2 hours ago, Hflors said:

You misunderstand.  We have people from all over here in Florida.  We don't ban people because of what we think might happen.  My original post was referring to Canada allowing their citizens to travel to another country to enjoy themselves, but banning citizens from other countries from entering their country to enjoy themselves.  If Canada's borders are closed shouldn't they be closed both ways?  

We have been pretty much confined and only essential travel allowed for a year now.  I don't know of any Canadians travelling to another country to enjoy themselves - the Snowbirds were stuck down south when the borders closed (then complained about having to go into quarantine if they returned), and some who spend winter months in Mexico also stayed there.

For those few who have found the way to break the rules, Canada definitely doesn't "allow" citizens to travel to other countries.

4 hours ago, zelker said:

We are continuing our discussions with government authorities in the United States and Canada, and remain hopeful that an agreement will be reached to allow roundtrip Seattle cruises to Alaska later this summer. 

 

They only mention cruises out of Seattle which means minimal exposure to Canada - basically all the roundtrip cruises stop at Victoria vs mainland BC, but might they just dock at Victoria as a Service Call, which would then satisfy that stupid foreign port requirement (with nobody getting off the ship)?  

That "stupid foreign requirement" is a safeguard for Canadian citizens and ship passengers.  Let us not forget that it was and is extremely necessary.  

55 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Anything short of cruises will be allowed to restart without any roadblocks would be a statement maligned by many of those who post on these boards.

 

The biggest problem in the world is not the Covid pandemic; it is cruises are not sailing from the US😒 That seems to be the attitude of too many who post here.

Many people on this forum would agree with you and have been posting factually along the way as the virus progressed and vaccinations rolled out.  Others have been totally obsessed with getting their cruise and demanding that countries that imposed restrictions (ie Canada) be punished.
The virus is not done with us yet.  

2 hours ago, POA1 said:

Much depends on the force of the accident, the weight of the vehicles and the angles of impact.

 

I don't think the seat belt analogy is even close. However, if face masks work so amazingly well, I'm really surprised that they didn't recommend them for the flu all along. In fact, they only recommended them for care givers dealing with flu-infected people. They even did a bunch of studies to come up with that recommendation.

Now that they know how successful it is, perhaps it will be recommended in future.

3 hours ago, mamaofami said:

Even vaccinated people can spread the virus.

Yes it is possible if they have been in contact with unvaccinated people who may be unsymptomatic.  But the odds are way better if all are vaccinated.

13 minutes ago, Lido deck main said:

Kainoa did Alaska as well, at least in summer 2015 that I know of. 

Yes he did, we had him twice on Alaska from Vancouver.  I think end of season cruises that then repositioned to Australia.

48 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Just take a look at China & Japan’s covid results and successes where mask wearing is prevalent.  Take a look at the flu cases this year in North America - way down compared to any other year and accredited to mask wearing and physical distancing.

 

Looking at any scientific report shows you how masks help and why they are so effective.  It’s really not rocket science and have been proven  to work - even during SARS and as far back as 1918.

Not to mention no flu outbreaks this winter thanks to masks and social distancing.

14 hours ago, Aquahound said:

My favorite HAL Cruise Director is no longer with them.  It was Hamish.  Honestly, I've found everyone else on HAL to be....meh.  

Are you sure he left HAL?  We had him and his "WooHoo" during his earliest days on HAL, and again in 2019.  He became the CD on the World Cruise, but had had to drop the "woohoo" by then.

2 hours ago, kazu said:

 

We had a station as well on both the Rotterdam and the Prinsendam.  On those ships the station was just next to the pre-made sandwiches.  

Yes, on our last few cruises - since the inception of the bagged sandwiches - it was on the corner of that station.  Not as many choices as before, but still way more preferable and nice and fresh.

I read a report this morning that the ships are only allowing vaccinated people onboard.  I surely hope that's not true in such a crisis.

12 minutes ago, nocl said:

Largely because they have very tight controls on their boarder (being islands help).  They have very aggressive contact tracing and have the capacity to track down those that are identified during the contact tracing.

 

So to put it simply

 

1. isolated

2. relatively few cases

3 aggressive contact tracing with sufficient capacity to complete very quickly (in hours)

 

That all leads to 

 

4. Strong lock downs when there is any sign of community spread to keep the problem local.

Exactly!  It works.

7 hours ago, kazu said:

Very little of HAL’s buffet has been self serve for some time.  At least, that’s been my experience 😉 

Mine too.  There have been threads on here about the buffet being serve by crew only for a long time.  I much prefer it that way.

9 hours ago, KroozNut said:

 

Remember back about a year when they said that 'we just need two weeks to flatten the curve'? Well that two weeks quickly evolved into months, and now more than a year. But we keep hearing that we only need a little more time and all will be better.

Nonsense... we need to quit kicking the can down the road and open this country back up now! 

Don't you even wonder why Australia and New Zealand have done so well with their lockdowns?  

Thanks!  I hadn't heard of it, and really enjoying it now.  Yearning for a cruise......

13 hours ago, Horizon chaser 1957 said:

I live in British Columbia, and as of today the current vaccine eligibility age is 72+. There are some pharmacies in the Lower Mainland only that have a limited supply of Astra Zeneca that is about to expire that is being given to 55 - 65 yr olds ASAP. Most people 65 - 72 are not eligible yet. I’m guessing your BC is short for something else?

Check again.  Fraser Health has been allocating Astra Zeneca to drugstores, and my 55 yr old SIL got his yesterday.  My 70 yr old friend also got hers yesterday at the local FH vaccination clinic.  Possibly vaccine that is about to expire, but whatever the reason, younger people are getting it.  There does seem to be a forgotten age group from 65+ at present but it will work out in the next week.  You have to be proactive and check around.  Also get online to the booking site late at night.

2 hours ago, ArizonatoFlorida said:

The governor of Florida just issued an executive order stating no business can require a vaccine passport in order to enter.  But he order also states.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Ron DeSantis, as Governor of Florida, by virtue of the authority vested in me by Article IV, Section 1(a) of the Florida Constitution and by the Florida Emergency Management Act, as amended, and all other applicable laws, promulgate the following Executive Order:

No Florida government entity, or its subdivisions, agents, or assigns, shall be permitted to issue vaccine passports, vaccine passes, or other standardized documentation for the purpose of certifying an individual’s COVID-19 vaccination status to a third party, or otherwise publish or share any individual’s COVID-19 vaccination record or similar health information."

So if Floridians want to travel to a state or country that does require a vaccine passport or proof of vaccine, what could we do?

 

Wow, he's really up on himself, isn't he?  If I lived there, I'd be really worried.  Common sense is out the window, as are simple precautions.  Guess you are out of luck if you want to travel anywhere that needs proof of vaccine.

On 3/31/2021 at 3:35 PM, kazu said:

 

All I will say here are that the younger are the ones now with the most cases and a number are getting hospitalized.  Many more than before.

Young?  19 - 49 - the people that weren’t supposed to be vulnerable.  

I confess I am more focused on Canadian numbers than U.S. 😉 I think that’s understandable.  I can say in our province the bulk of the cases are those under 50 and a lot under 30 now.

 

And here, most seniors have still not been vaccinated.  I’m guessing the younger aren’t as cautious as we are?

Fortunately, here in BC vaccinating ramped up so fast that we are at 65+ now and with more vaccine coming soon we can hopefully get to the young 'uns!

3 hours ago, kazu said:

 

Thanks.  I just wanted the day and time and I would have looked as we do have HBO.  Your link unfortunately takes me to HBO’s regular advertising.

I’ll go looking.  Appreciate it though. 🙂 

We actually watched this last week, and I can't remember which channel it was on because I was channel surfing, and happened on it a few minutes in.  Very interesting, especially from our "now" viewpoint after all we have learned in the past year.  (We don't have HBO, it was on a regular TV channel).

1 hour ago, mightycruisequeen said:

This has been my avatar for over 10 years.   I didn't intend it to be offensive.

Sorry that some of you have just now decided you don't like it.

Maybe we all need a cruise a lot more than we thought?

Just speaking for me, I haven't seen it before, but I do think it's in bad taste.  It's not a case of "now decided" at all.

1 hour ago, kazu said:

 

I too have been amazed at the ability of people in the USA to travel all over.

 

If we leave our province we must quarantine for 14 days.  We are not even allowed to travel to certain areas of the province depending on what code that zone or we are in (ie. code orange and code red).  

IF the Atlantic Bubble forms again, we will be permitted to travel there without quarantining but right now we have one zone in code red so until everyone is back in code yellow, I don’t know if that will happen. (Code green - which is basically normalcy will not happen until enough people have been vaccinated or the pandemic has been eradicated).

 

Our strategy seems to have worked.  We don’t even show on most covid reports.  Our case percentage of the population is something like .0004%

I bolded it just so you could see the decimal point 😉 

 

We are allowed to go to our hairdresser/barber shop, and most businesses are open as long as they abide by the covid 19 precautions and capacity is limited.

 

Most Maritimers are very compliant when it comes to health and coming together to protect each other so everyone is taking the precautions they should overall.

Sadly not all Canadians follow the rules. We have license plates here in BC and especially on Vancouver Island from most provinces including the Maritimes.  Many have been camping through our milder winter.  It has been a source of concern for locals.

1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

I think as soon as Canada sees the US, Europe, Mexico, Asia and so many others making money from leisure travel they will change their minds.    The problem in Canada is getting the vaccines rolled out.  Hopefully if the US starts to get a glut they will share with Canada.

Our vaccine rollout is improving, and the US has already committed to share with Canada if necessary.  I believe Canada will open up when it is safe to do so for Canada (not just for cruisers).

I am so sorry to hear this.  I figured she had declining health as she hadn't posted in a very long time.  RIP, KK.

1 hour ago, Himself said:

In my opinion, THe CDC has too much power.  Thet do not put this on Hotels, resorts, Airplanes or trains.  All of this is for  a virus that 97% of those who get it will fully recover.

I think the families of the 500,000+ who died in the USA alone might disagree with you.  And you obviously haven't been around with the many who are dealing with trying to recover even months later.  The reality is not what you believe.