roger001

3 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

You are not allowed to fly on a commercial flight if you have tested positive for COVID. You could pay for a private medical charter ($$$$) back home (covered by some travel insurance). 

Id forgotten about that possibility.  Can't even get back home again.  Are you reported to authorities for a 10 day quarantine?  

Sooo many questions, and soooo few answers at this time....because the situation is continually evolving, and not in a good way.   Cruise lines trying to make firm statements today for a cruise several months away, so much can change.  But getting the boot after arriving can sure be very possible, and is one of my biggest concerns.  Many vaccinated folks are showing up positive lately.  They are not noticeable ill but can still infect others.  

Cruise there two years ago, soon as we docked we had an excursion already booked.  If it is available, I recommend the mini bus excursion guided tour.  About 4 or 5 hours and covers the entire island with stops at a few places.  It gives you the big picture of the place and you can then pick which you might want to visit later some more.  I would be hesitant to drive myself.  Only three main roads on the narrow island and traffic driving like crazy.   You can get a bus pass and the busses are easy to use.  Was one of our favorite cruises.  As someone said, too early to have all tours listed in detail.  

25 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

Same here, when I received my 1st Pfizer shot in early April, I was told that I had to come back to the same place and get the 2nd Pfizer shot there, too. So not only the same manufacturer, but the same venue for it (which was 30 miles away). I don't understand why Canada did things differently. In retrospect, it seems like a foolish idea. (But I'm not blaming the recipients by any means, they were just following the guidance they were given) 

I hope "they" don't start insisting that both shots be administered from the same location.  My first was from my health department, the second from my doctor's office.  This whole thing is getting stupid and sucks.   

19 hours ago, leafsnation said:

Can only hope we have NCL booked Feb and Oct 2022 with FCC, hope it changes.

Have Celebrity in Nov 2021 and Carnival Nov 2022 and Jan 2023 and HAL Feb 2023.

Is it only NCL not taking a pfizer and moderna mix.

All this BS you would never know cruise lines are hurting. 

Guess cruiseline stocks will fall Monday

Cruise lines along with the whole market headed downhill today at the moment.  NCL is down about $12 from their yearly high.  

While traveling today and listening to news radio, heard a congressman being interviewed about this issue.  He said the number of calls he is getting for his constituents desperate for their passports ha skyrocketed lately.  And, he said he does al the can but the State Department just doesn't seem to be able to accomplish with the limited staffing on duty.  

If you need a passport renewal for cruising soon, plan ahead.  Just read today the US State Dept. said that passport issuance, even expedited, will now take between 12 and 18 weeks to get.  They said that any application given them now will probably not be processed until fall.  

It's just screwy!  From today's news.  It did go on to say that the symptoms with the vaccinated folks were mild.  And that over 80% of the ICU folks were unvaccinated.   I got no idea where we are headed with cruising. I wannna go! 

At least 11 healthcare workers, eight of whom were fully vaccinated, tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a pool party in Las Vegas in on June 7, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported, citing emails from the local health district.

At least 10 of the 11 people caught the highly infectious Delta coronavirus variant, according to the emails from the Southern Nevada Health District obtained by the Brown Institute for Media Innovation and shared with the newspaper.

It’s all ugly.  And cruise line stocks are down again today. Chapter 11 is not unlikely.  My family Doc today said he is once again worried where the virus issue is headed. It’s not just the healthiness of the ships, but the ports that are going to permit freedom visits. The whole thing still sucks.  My opinion….who wants a normal cruise badly.  23 NCLs so far. 

There's going to be a need for incredible flexibility with these cruises if they actually start.  So much is changing, and getting worse again unfortunately.  If you sign up for a cruise, you have got to be ready for unexpected changes.   And I see the small cruise line that just sails Alaska waters last week had to return to port with 4 cases of Covid on board and had to cancel their next week's cruise.  I'm afraid that is going to be typical. 

32 minutes ago, ScratchTheRat said:

More and more lines are opening and more and more countries are opening.

 

Here in the UK, (England first) we're lifting ALL legal restrictions from COVID in 10 days, that's masks, social distancing, capacity limits etc. 

Hope it continues in that direction.  

This whole thing is still getting more depressing.  I'm not sure that any of these cruises will go on schedule.  Lockdown is happening again in so many countries, and even the US with so many states anti vax, the forecast today was for serious issues again in the fall.   The cruise lines have to plan for the future but then there becomes such uncertainty.  I was about to book yesterday for a fall cruise.  But once again, think I'll wait to see how it is all going to happen.  The cruise lines can only survive this schedule/cancel routine for so long.  A disappointing opinion.  

Yes.  Nothing delicate.  It is industrial strength cleaning.  But we love it.  If your suite you get a cloth bag.  Otherwise, you get a paper bag.  Just ask you room person for and extra bag and double bag it for extra strength.  And, roll you clothes.  You can then get and unbelievable amount stuffed in.  

I read the other day that the Philippine President said he is considering arresting anyone that doesn't get vaccinated.  Of course they first need the vaccines.

I put on a shirt today and felt the scratching at my neck.   I miss these!   

S. Africa is looking horrible right now.  My son-in-law works for VW there.  They just went into a lockdown again and are critically short of any vaccines.  December is 6 months away, but not looking good.  

When you're doing the glaciers, or even the Panama Canal, don't just plan you cabin only as the spot to watch.  For both of those, get out on the ship and wander the open decks to see it all.

We did a BTS tour on the Pearl about 10 years ago.  It was very complete, including a lot of time spent up on the bridge.  Here's a bunch of pictures from that tour.  

https://photos.app.goo.gl/P5Ja8L4PrfQQfErW2

I copied this off their FB blog.  Dated June 20th.    Love that place.  

 I am trying to believe the recent deluge of liquid sunshine is trying to console us.  We are being wrapped in a stifling, wet blanket by Mother Nature, perhaps as a reminder that Costa Maya is currently in our storm season.  As if we didn’t already know it.  The little “X’s” and “O’s” are already showing up on the National Hurricane Center website.  In comes the rain, in comes the sargasso, and the universe seems to be saying “it’s ok.  This too shall pass”.  Why would the rain be trying to console us?  Because we made the difficult decision not to open Maya Chan Beach until September.  We are all bummed.

     There is so much uncertainty everywhere these days.  No guarantees are being offered by the cruise lines and the US seems to still be playing hard ball.  Ok, I get that nobody wants to be the first cruise ship with an outbreak of Covid and no port wants to host the first cruise ship with Covid, but there are a lot of vacations and businesses hanging in the balance. We only get spotty news down here and a lot of it comes from the Coconut Telegraph, but we started with cheering Governor DeSantis in Florida for opening the ports to cruising again.  Now we are booing him due to his insistence on charging any business that requires proof of vaccination $5,000.  That’s per incident.  I have read the first cruises may be able to depart without paying this fee, and I’m hopeful for that.  I really don’t want to get into the whole “to vaccinate or not to vaccinate” war, I just want somebody to make up their mind.  Either let the cruise ships sail from US ports, or don’t let them sail from US ports.  BOOM!  Problem solved.

     In the meantime, we continue to receive reservation requests for this coming fall, not knowing for certain if guests will be allowed to visit.  Mark and I are actually booked on a cruise in July that stops in Costa Maya.  We thought we would check on the property as we’ve been trying to dig out of inactivity for quite a while now.  We learned that yes, we are allowed to book outside excursions.  We also learned that if we choose to do anything outside a ship-sponsored excursion we will risk the chance of not being allowed back onboard.  It’s at the ship’s discretion.  Let me ask, with all those people onboard adhering to the rules, does anybody think that one renegade couple, who may or may not have been exposed to the virus, be barred from the ship?  One side of my brain is saying “of course you can get back onboard!”  The other side is saying “Is it really worth the risk?”  I’m also reading that guests must follow the Covid requirements of the country they are visiting.  Mexico still has a mask mandate. And Mexico is still only vaccinating 35+. No matter how many times somebody has been to Maya Chan, and even though we are all vaccinated, I wouldn’t want anybody to be left standing on the pier.  We simply do not have enough beach beds.  

     We have been in contact with all the cruise lines to the point that they are sick of us.  We’ve used all the “connections” we’ve made over the years and pulled in all the favors.  Simply put, nobody seems to know anything about what will happen with outside excursions.  I did notice that most cruise lines are not offering a sponsored beach day in Costa Maya.  This doesn’t really surprise me as there is absolutely no way of knowing who is vaccinated on a public beach and who is not. Seriously, I’m only 24 years old and I’ve never colored my hair. (was that lightening I just heard?) The first ship to visit us will be on June 29.  The Coconut Telegraph is reporting only a minimum of shops will be manned in the port area, (what will visitors do without six Diamonds International?). With current weather, high winds, and plenty of sargasso, nobody is even sure the port will be able to open.  These exciting times are rimmed with a thick layer of lime and salt.  

     Will all this be decided by September?  We certainly hope so.  We’ve all been playing by the rules in anticipation of receiving guests.  Hand wash stations are abundant, restaurants have expanded seating areas to comply with the 6-foot rule, more people are wearing gloves, and everybody wears a mask.  Businesses have spent real money trying to comply.  Money that is not coming in.  Money that can only be anticipated.  We are on the cusp of the perfect wave, only we have no surfboard.  For us, the US, the cruise lines, and Mexico have two and a half months to figure the work-around on this.  In my opinion, ports must open in the US, cruise lines must stop scaring people about getting off their ships, and Mexico needs to step up its vaccine rollout.  Of course, nobody asked me.  And we all have seen that this is not a perfect world.

     A big “Bezos y Abrazos” to all of you for continuing to support us.  Notes from “our family” always perk us up.  We hope there will be more than a handful of brave cruisers willing to join us in September.  Your Mexican friends from San Diego as well as your Mexican friend from Mexico, sure do miss everybody. Even the rain misses you.  And just to show how much we miss you; we haven’t had beach tacos since you left.  It just wouldn’t be right.

I think we are still a long way off from any firm decisions being made on cruises.  The world is still a big mess in many areas and more lock downs and virus cases just being announced today.  Every cruise has to be planned far in advance and the unknows have to be contended with much later.  As far as sold out and the outrageous prices right now, booking to a limited capacity must be part of that along with many folks desperately trying to use up cruise credits and discounts soon to expire.   If....we ever get back to 3 or 4 months of cruises operating normally, no problems, then I'll be interested in how much demand there is and where the prices go.   I'm guessing down to then help fill the ships.  Maybe I'm wrong.  

Pay now or pay later.  Just a personal decision.  No difference.  I pay later.  

1 hour ago, Malamel said:

 

I hope not.  I booked NCL bc of the 100% vaccination.  While I understand being vaccinated significantly lowers my chances of getting sick, I don’t want to have to be quarantined if an unvaccinated passenger contracts it.  

And for the unvaccinated, this latest variant isn't looking good for the countries that are experiencing it at the moment.  This isn't over yet.  By Aug, we may be back in more lockdowns and restrictions unless the unvaccinated get with the program.  

They had only been in the US for 6 days and none had yet been vaccinated.  So they were probably infected already.  

In a statement sent to TPG, Royal Caribbean said eight crew members on Odyssey of the Seas had tested positive for COVID-19, all on June 10. That was six days after the ship arrived in the U.S. from Europe in advance of its first sailing, which was scheduled for July 3.

At the time the ship arrived in the U.S., none of its 1,400 crew members had been vaccinated for COVID-19. But they were vaccinated soon after the ship’s arrival.

And from CNN, we're still not out of the woods here in the US.

 

CDC now calls coronavirus Delta variant a 'variant of concern'

All sounds great to me.  

I taught ATC at the FAA Academy in Oklahoma City for a while (mid career ATC break).  The first thing I would tell a new class was, "There is no such thing as a stupid question!"  Then one of the students would ask a question later, and I would of course say, "Man!  That is really a stupid question!"   Cut them no slack..............              But....your question seemed pretty good.