neilrr

Hi all!!

Watch the HBO short film on the Diamond Princess "The Final Cruise" from last March -- actually filmed on the ship (approx. 45 mins.) and you will understand why people need to all be vaccinated upon boarding.

We will wait until the dust settles and see how the test and first actual cruises go. I want to see all of the procedures in place.  How do they handle embarkation, debarkation, bars, pools, buffets, restaurants, masks, etc..

We have forty+ cruises under our belts... We will take the wait and see approach...

Happy and Safe Sailing to All..🛳️🍸

Better to be on the leading edge than the bleeding edge... No rush to cruise until they figure this mess out.. We will wait until 2022... Let the games begin...😁

1 minute ago, terrydtx said:

This, if enforceable, with the cruise industry will most likely keep and cruises from sailing form Florida this year. I like your Governor but the cruise industry should have been exempt from this new law. I can agree that restaurants and some business should not require COVID passports, but the cruise lines have to require the proof. A lawyer friend of mine told me that all the cruise lines need to do is require passengers, as part of their pre cruise online documentation, provide a copy of their vaccinations or not get their boarding passes. This could totally bypass the Florida Law.

Unfortunately, those little cards are being reproduced in Miami for $15 a pop. They need to create a national or state wide accessible database of those who has received the vaccine. They already have it in a database somewhere beside the little white card. This will probably have to come at a national level otherwise, I do not believe other countries will let us in on our good looks...😁 Well maybe.. Time will tell... 

I can also show them my childhood vaccinations on a loose leaf paper my mother gave me and I still have to this day. I guess we have not come that far in technology in 60 years...LOL

17 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

100% agree. Get Stuck or stay stuck at home!

7 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

My biggest heath problem pre Covid with cruises was coming home with terrible upper respiratory infections (URI) contracted while on the ship.  No fun flying home for 8 hours on a airplane coughing up a lung. Because I am so susceptible to URIs, my doctor gives me a ZPac antibiotic pack to carry when I travel overseas.

 

terrydtx- Amen... I totally agree with you.. Let them all stay home. Our beloved Governor in FL passed a law no Covid passports or documentation requirements - I totally disagree... Tell that to the families of the 600K that are now deceased...

I also have URI issues -- probably due to my students in class as they carry "lots" of germs..😊 That

Z-PAC did work years ago; I think they watered it down and it did not work for me anymore -- I started using a 10 day supply of Augmentin and it is wonderful. It knocks that URI out one, two three. I also carry a mild inhaler and when needed a steroid.

Happy Future Travels...😁🛳️    

Hi Everyone:  I read all the posts on here and I totally agree that passengers and crew should all be fully vaccinated.  As a teacher with most students remote and few in class-- children should not be allowed aboard until vaccinated. If you have a chance to see the short film on HBO "The Last Cruise" you would think twice before getting on a ship unvaccinated.  It was about the Diamond Princess and the 15 passengers that died and what happened aboard to passengers and crew. Not an Oscar winner, but certainly something to see.

As stated by others -- we will not get on the ship until all of the procedures are in place and they worked out all of the logistics.  A ship in Japan just had one case the other day and the whole ship was forced to get off in the next port.

We will take a wait and see.  I am glad we took our 40 cruises prior to Covid.  We would love to cruise again, but we will wait to see how things pan out...  Nice to be on the leading edge and not the bleeding edge....    

Happy Sailing to All...😊🛳️

20 minutes ago, HBCcruiser said:

This article answers a lot of questions raised on this thread:

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=6078&source=99362

Thank you... That article did answer a lot of questions... We are still taking a wait and see attitude. Let's see what happens in the first couple of months after cruising resumes and how everything shakes out.

I like to be on the leading edge not the bleeding edge...

Hope to see everyone soon...😊🛳️ 

Red Ginger -- Rack of Lamb and Lobster Pad Thai (Medium Spice) - I ordered it the first time and it was bland. The second time (medium spice) was much better.

Also, love the lobster and filet mignon sandwiches at the grill with truffle fries.. Yum.. Yum..  

Funny story -- I was applying for a State grad school 20 years ago -- they had a huge packet to fill out and one of the sections was health with verification of all childhood vaccines -- They said to get confirmation from my doctor or I would have to take all shots again (that wasn't going to happen) - well my childhood doctor has been dead for 30 or 40 years. I said (which I swear I do still have it) my mother gave me a loose leaf paper with all my shots; they said no way; I ended up going to a private grad school that took me with no medical information required. 😁

I am totally in favor of a vaccine (online) passport; the irony is I am back to a paper vaccine confirmation for Covid  -- 60 years later... I can put it with my mother's loose leaf paper.. 😊

Happy Sailing!!!🛳️

Hi all:

Picked this up from the Oceania Board:

Yesterday The US. Dept. of State issued a do not travel warning.  Since most countries are listed as RED, they said not to travel internationally.  The list keeps increasing red level 4 countries.  This includes business travel.  How will this affect cruising?

_________________________________________

At this time, I would agree -- not a good time to travel anywhere until the dust settles and we see cases going in the other direction. Cases are rising all around the world (take a look that the CNN story today on India, as an example) -- IMHO -not worth taking a chance on your life. Even though we may be vaccinated - crew members, port personnel, excursion personnel in many foreign countries are probably not at this time.

Hope to see you all soon -- 🛳️😊  

21 hours ago, cantstopingcruising said:

 

do you remember the box of Cova chocolates on our pillows?

22 hours ago, peanut head said:

Which venue did you get the eggplant tower and can you describe it?

Now that you mention it I do remember the Cova chocolates. As for the eggplant it was a small tower appetizer that was wonderful.  It has been so long I don't remember which ship.  One thing we made sure not to have was the duck soup. It was awful..😁 The wild forest mushroom soup was the best.

We also loved the midnight buffets -- not to eat, but the work the people put into the ice carvings and the fruit sculptures that they did.  It was amazing. Great memories...   

Love the escargot and the eggplant tower...

Miss the harpist in the specialty dining room on Millie years ago..

Most of all -- We really miss Michel Roux... We go back a long way with Celebrity... Under his watch that was when the Celebrity food and menus were at the top of their game... 😁🛳️

5 hours ago, harkinmr said:

I hate to break it to you, but the cruise lines are making vaccines mandatory (except maybe Carnival).  They know that vaccinated passengers and crew are their ticket to a safe return.  What DeSantis thinks about mandatory vaccines is immaterial.  He does not have the authority (no matter how much he pretends) to prevent cruise lines from requiring their passengers to be vaccinated.

Amen!!! I totally agree with you... Forget about DeSantis  - he is only looking out for his political gain to  score a few points. He not worried about the safety of the people.

Until the cruise lines run the test cruises and have all the procedures in place, passengers are not going to take a chance.  I am all for a vaccination stamp on the passport. This must be done for all passenger and crew. Additionally, look at Europe - who will let you into their country and ports?? Even in the Caribbean - I know they want the tourist business -- but are they willing to sacrifice their lives or their family??? Most islands will not...

We have done over 40 cruises and want to get back to it, but until this gets straightened out -- no cruising for us... BTW We have had both our Pfizer shots and are still cautious and careful...

Hope to see everyone onboard soon...🛳️😊

7 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

My thought was an official qr code sticker you would place on one of the pages of your passport.

Excellent thought... They are also putting an App on peoples phones in some of the Asian countries using the Green/Yellow/Red light methodology.  I am not exactly sure of how it works.  I am sure some people here would find it to invasive to their privacy.  At least we are thinking out of the box...😁

11 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

I would be interested in viewing the source material for both of your statements.  The Cruise Lines are awaiting technical guidance documents from the CDC which would explain what is needed.  So far, CDC hasn't done that.  I think you may have it backward, the CDC needs to inform the cruise industry as to its expectations before the cruise lines can meet their expectations.  Please let us know where you got the information that it is the cruise lines holding up things.

 

I'm interested in viewing the numbers on crew infection rates.  I was not aware this was occurring.  Can you let us know where to find that information?

 

Thanks in advance.

Daniel A - Not surprised about the crew.  As you know, they live and work in very tight quarters. Not only does there need to be a plan for the passengers, but for the crew too and most importantly everyone boarding the ship needs to be vaccinated. 

I was also thinking about the "vaccination passport" being discussed  They can just create a section on the current passports for a seal of some sort that the vaccination has been completed and verified. Unfortunately, this paper card can be duplicated -- but they do have it recorded officially on-line for those people completing the shots and cross referencing it to stamp the passport. We already have the TSA Pre-Check and the Int'l portion as well; they could hook it up with that.  Just an idea...

Take care...🛳️   

5 minutes ago, clo said:

Yep. Here's quoting the new CDC director.

 

https://www.aol.com/news/cdc-director-speaks-impending-doom-153120133-155036670.html

Thank you....😊  We live in S. FL and we were watching what was going on in Miami (we are 65 miles north) and all the other spring break towns. Most of these people are going to bring Covid home asymptomatically.

Believe me, I am known as "Party Boy" on the cruise lines, but when it comes to something as serious as this, it is not worth losing your life over. We are just waiting  as we had one cruise to the Caribbean scheduled a week after everything shut down last year and another for last summer to Iceland. All were cancelled. We are hoping for some clarity by the fall to possibly look at making reservations for late fall or spring 2022. 

Take care and stay safe...😎

I personally like the CDC erroring on the side of caution.

halfapair - I guess you can see how your philosophy works with the families of the 540,000 Americans that are now deceased. Most of Europe is closed down (France, Italy, etc..) - including Paris.  We love Europe, but they are not anywhere near we are in the vaccination process. With 40+ cruises under our belts  -- we are taking a wait and see attitude until the dust settles - which may be 2022 -so be it..

We see the cases rising again here in the U.S. due to  bad decisions made by our Government Leaders and irresponsible people who the Leaders said they "know what the right decisions that need to be made" --LOL 😁 

We just got our and Pfizer vaccines - both doses. Everyone should let things settle down for a while; see how those first trips go for example on Celebrity and RCCL - then we can all make a better decision.

Happy Sailing to ALL -- Stay Safe..🛳️🍸🍾

33 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

For anyone who has had their first shot of the vaccine...does your dishwasher now beep when you walk by?  🙂

 

Wife and I are scheduled for #1 shot next Tuesday...

Hi there!! We get our second shots of Pfizer next week.  I am still working on getting the bleach inoculation and trying to figure out how to use the ultra violet light - my electrician and my proctologist are coming by next week... LOL😁🎈

52 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

I understand why you and many others on CC feel this way.  But why would the CDC hate any industry?  The CDC is a collection of scientists, medical professionals, as well as politicians and government bureaucrats.   This diverse collection of opinions had the definite idea that cruise ships were putting people at high risk of being exposed to a pandemic virus.  And that was the definite case a year ago when the industry was shut down.  People and crews were stranded at sea.  A lot of deaths too.  But now they are being very conservative in recommending what to open and when as vaccines (and better therapies and procedures) have emerged over a relatively short time.  I might be in the minority here but I do not see this as hate of the cruise industry.   Just continued caution.  And I am cautious too.  I don't plan to cruise until ships are certified vaccinated. Both passengers and crew.

I just posted this in another thread on May cancellations, but thought is important enough in this conversation too... TeeRick and our group were to be on the same Iceland trip I noted below...

_______________________________________________________________

We are just holding onto our FCC's until we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  IMHO we are not there yet... It is looking more promising, but not yet... We would love to cruise as have over 40 under our belts... BUT...

It is not only the cruisers, but the crew and staff members that will need to be vaccinated as well. Additionally, The Ports would have to have some level of vaccination/safeguards in place, as the experts are still unsure if those that have been vaccinated can still spread the virus.

For us -- it is just not worth trying to book something at this point - lifting and shifting; moving and changing --UGH!!  You know the cruise lines are cash strapped and Princess just raised the deposit amounts significantly. I have about 3K outstanding in FCC's with Celebrity and we got back the 10K - all parts incl. air (thank goodness) on a scheduled Iceland trip last year -- not ready to put out any more $$$ at this time.  My advice -- wait and see.... 

Hope to see you all soon...😊🛳️

Sorry to hear about the cancellations😂, but not unexpected.  We are just holding onto our FCC's until we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  IMHO we are not there yet... It is looking more promising, but not yet... We would love to cruise as have over 40 under our belts... BUT...

It is not only the cruisers, but the crew and staff members that will need to be vaccinated as well. Additionally, The Ports would have to have some level of vaccination/safeguards in place, as the experts are still unsure if those that have been vaccinated can still spread the virus.

For us -- it is just not worth trying to book something at this point - lifting and shifting; moving and changing --UGH!!  You know the cruise lines are cash strapped and Princess just raised the deposit amounts significantly. I have about 3K outstanding in FCC's with Celebrity and we got back the 10K - all parts incl. air (thank goodness) on a scheduled Iceland trip last year -- not ready to put out any more $$$ at this time.  My advice -- wait and see.... 

Hope to see you all soon...😊🛳️

15 hours ago, hcat said:

Was  not aware of this change. Glad it worked for you

We preferred a non mass  vaccination  approach and were lucky to get our vaccines at a rural  Fl hosp by appointment..early on.  Dh has allergies and was well supervised medically, We both did well.

hcat- Glad you did fine and have received your shots.  As we live in the highly populated area of S. FL, we really needed to do the mass vaccinations down here. If you have some co-morbidity then you do need to be monitored.  Let's hope we are all able to cruise by late 2021 or early 2022...😊🛳️

On 3/4/2021 at 11:14 AM, hcat said:

Heard  yesterday that CVS  is doing their own thing vis a vis  Fl teachers and age qualification.    Following Fed rather than State guidelines. Anyone with an interest would have to do more research..or call CVS ( goid luck with that!)

Got my 1st Pfizer shot yesterday. They now made it available to teachers of any age here in FL after a lot of screaming... Forget about these smaller venues like Publix or CVS.  They do one person every 15 minutes.  It would take 10 years to get everyone vaccinated.😳 I registered for one of the big parks here in S. FL and it was very well organized.  They helped with some missing paperwork that I did not receive and were very helpful throughout and a big staff to move it all along.  They had 12 tents set up and a 15 minute "after the shot" waiting area with staff. The Federal and Local response has been great in the past forty days.  Glad that the stimulus passed too. This will help  individuals, State & Local Govs. doing all the heavy lifting, small businesses, hungry families, etc.. Nice to see some real leadership and legislation too... 

2 hours ago, wrk2cruise said:

The 125% FCC's have had the book by date extended to 4/30/2022 and the sail by date 9/30/2022.  The date to be able to convert 125% FCC to a refund I don't believe has changed and it base on when the original cancelled cruise was.  It's different for different suspended sailings.

 

Your other FCC's I doubt have been extended.  Historically these non CwC FCC's the expiry date indicated the date you actually had to apply to a booking and the sailing could be later than the expiry.  That may longer be the case now that FCCs are so common and most agents understand them better.  If you have a sailing past 12/31/2021 you want to apply them to I'd call and see what you could negotiate based on current conditions.   As has always been the case if you cancel/move the reservation after the expiry date the FCC $$ will be gone.

wrk2cruise - Thank you for the update. I will stay on top of it... Hopefully, we will be able to cruise again in 2022.  I think the cruise lines have written off most if not all of 2021.

Take care and stay safe.  Happy sailing!!🛳️

44 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Hi Neil.  Glad you are getting vaccinated.  Are they in general vaccinating all teachers in FL? They just announced here in PA that they plan to vaccinate all teachers and school staff with the one-shot J&J vaccine starting next week.  

Hi there... They are vaccinating school personnel that are 50 and over here in FL. I have submitted information to the state and local jurisdictions - still waiting to hear something but it is moving along.  The District said they are coming up with a "plan" for vaccinations and we would hear from them shortly.  Jerry finally got his first shot and second shot is scheduled. I also put in for the sabbatical for next year.  I have had enough fun teaching in a mask and on-line for a year and one half... Take care and stay safe.  Did you see the article on all of the tremors in Iceland ???

My 125% FCC's are dated through 12/31/21 for a cruise that was cancelled in March, 2020 just as the pandemic started -- What is the latest on booking through 2022 using the FCC's? I also know that you could still apply for a refund of 100% through 12/31/21. Has that changed?  We also have an extra $300 in FCC's for an excursion disaster on another previous cruise that is going to expire 12/31/21.  Any comment are appreciated. 😊