BRANDEE

5 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

It is basically re-announcing what will happen with stage C which is when Australia reaches a 80% double dose, the state's that have already reached that level will allow people to leave and also accept Australians to return home with a 7 day home isolation.

Stage D will allow internationals to arrive, although I am not sure if there  is a quarantine  period in a hotel.

Are Australian citizens not allowed to return home now?  Am I understanding this correctly?  

11 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

@BRANDEE no real news on borders, only that Australians  will be allowed to travel overseas once vaccination levels reach 80%. Fully vaccinated arrivals won't be counted i  arrival caps and will be able to quarantine at home. The way that was worded implies Australians only, no international visitors. Also no clarity as to where Australians are allowed to travel to/from. In other words, the usual waffle from our PM that says very little.

Thanks for the info..or lack of from the info you got.  Sounds like a maybe answer.  So sorry you are getting such a "run around".  Wondering if the 80% is being used to give your countrymen an incentive to get vaccinated. 

Here in USA we were hoping to be at 70% this summer but that fell short as the anti vaxers keep resisting and the below 12 are not yet being cleared for vaccination.  We are currently at 65% fully vaccinated but that number varies from state to state depending where you are.  Add in the non vaccinated who already got covid and "maybe" we are close to 80% herd immunity.  But as science tells us..100% is the number we all need.  No host means that covid and its variants can not grow.  Sounds unattainable doesn't it? Maybe we do have to learn to live with it.  Scary!

If you are able to travel to NYC in the Spring for a cruise, we are pretty strict regarding vaccinations and testing in the city.  Proof of vaccination (and/or a 72 hr negative covid test) is needed to go to movies, theater, sporting events and eating indoor restaurants.  Currently there is a mandate for city employees to be vaccinated or they will lose their job..the teachers union is in our supreme court to get that ruling changed. It also involves police, firemen, nurses and doctors at city hospitals.

Mask wearing indoors is still wide spread and most people are following.  I live out in the suburbs and haven't been to a store without my mask yet. I also live in a very republican political area and most non mask wearing people are just showing what side of the political fence they sit.  

Good luck in getting 80% vaccinated.  Hope you can open up soon!

17 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

True but it does mean we can go somewhere else to cruise.

Are your borders than also going to be opened to international visitors or just allowing your citizens to come and go internationally?  Not clear from the last few posts.

21 minutes ago, pully8 said:

In the UK booster vaccines are being given to some people now.

No plan here yet about that.

Our health system is struggling and needs to be better resourced.

The blame game between who is responsible state or federal continues and is tiresome.

It will be further tested with Covid19 and all the delayed tests and surgery. 

Be appealing to escape from the chaos if possible. 

 

 

FYI.  The US is also just approved boosters to those 65 and over, young adults with underlying conditions and those w/jobs that put them at higher risk of Covid.  Suggest time is six months after second vaccine.  Children under 12 still are not being vaccinated.

Also, the US hasn't given up, just facing the reality that we will never get to 100% fully vaccinated. That is the number to eradicate covid and it's variants. Covid can not  "die" as long as hosts are available to keep it alive.  Biology 101!

With only 56% fully vaccinate (183 million) there is no longer a wait or line to get your vaccine.  There are still a tremendous amount of anti vaxers around.  There is no way 333 million people, over 50 states, will all go back into lockdown..as someone else said on this post,   (Sadly) we have to learn to live with it!  Vaccination, vaccination, vaccination is the way to go. For the world not just some countries. 

Australia reaching 80% by end of December..I'll root for you! With a population of only 26 million you have about 10 million to go to reach that number...Good Luck!

3 hours ago, possum52 said:

The earth moved for me Les. Our house rocked and shook and an old clock which we don't have working because the ticking is so loud started up during the earthquake. Rob was in the shower and hit his head on the tiles. A few small things fell off shelves and the cutlery drawers were very loud! But no damage that we have found.

 

 

Very glad that you and your husband are okay.  Sounded very scary.  Take care and be well!

4 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

Dog's eye for lunch at work today. It was my 62nd birthday.

Happy Birthday and many more!

1 hour ago, NSWP said:

I suppose if one were a Ruby Princess passenger and you truly believed the cruise line was at fault to some degree, you would join the class action, I would as my friend down here, David has and he and his wife got covid and had to quarantine, he still insists Princess knew there was covid on board. Such is life, maybe he will get a few bucks, maybe he won't.

I'm pissed that Shine pulled out of suing NSWH.  They are little pussycats..minus the cat.

4 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

I read somewhere that a study in America found 65% of disinformation on Covid-19 was from only 12 people. I wonder if this Antony Johns isn't one of them trying to branch out to Australia😂. 

Yep we have a few quacks here!  Did you read about the Texan legislator who was on TV about three weeks ago stating how vaccines were no good and could cause harm...he got covid a week later and died in a few days..I call that Karma!

11 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I agree that it's likely Carnival Corp will settle but they will have a clause in the agreement, that they are not acknowledging any liability.

 

Shine probably only proceeded against Carnival and not the NSW government because a company will settle to protect its reputation by having the action go away, even if they don't consider they were at fault.

FYI

On his public facebook page, Antony Johns, is now claiming the "cancer" card.  Needs cruising to want to live and needs to expose your government.  His plea for money is just around the corner..No more posts in the private facebook page, but I have no idea if he has started to "cry" to some of the vulnerable members.

10 hours ago, Porky55 said:

Totally agree with this, but it is what it is. 🤷‍♀️

I know some passengers signed up with Shine, thinking they were going after NSWH.  There are some passengers who have lasting aliments and I guess they feel some one has to be accountable.  One family has a little child who got covid and now a year later is still having seizures plus other problems, not sure about medical coverage.  Once NSWH was no longer being part of the law suit, not sure who still is on board. Now this antony johns guy is starting all over about a coverup. Something many of us believed in the first place (not necessarily his version). In the end the lawyers always make out!!

28 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

Thanks everyone. On Thursday I had my gall bladder, along with resident gallstone, removed as it was not getting on happily with my pancreas but it didn't want to go easily. Due a piece of shade cloth implanted in my abdomen 18 years ago, as  an incisional hernia repair, the surgeon couldn't find and easy path for his keyhole implements. He eventually found a way to snake the old bladder around and about to eventually freed it. Counted about 6 or 7 holes.

Later that night I summoned the duty nurse as I was in excruciating pain because my urinary tract had blocked for some unknown reason (still don't know why but confirmed by a quick ultrasound). She had to go and find the duty ward doctor  and about 1 am he had inserted a catheter to finally silence  the cries from the poor sufferer - me - much to my literally great relief.

Stayed and extra night for observation and all was good so they let me out this morning for good behaviour.

Wishing you a quick recovery!

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I definitely do and they are more than happy to jump on the gravy train when Shine waves the flag. And then they'll probably complain bitterly when any payout they get turns out to be a pittance.

Shine originally advertised that they were going to sue the cruise line and others responsible.  But Shine was chicken ***** and decided not to go after NSWHealth.  The true culprits in this disaster.

47 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

I think the FCC ‘s have to be booked by March April and sailings by September 2023. But as you said I’ve lost track also.

 

The last of my parents just died and they used to live in Port Douglas.

They moved back to Sydney and regretted it. 
They said a few times they wanted to go back but where just to old to move again.

 

So I should have about $1600 in FCC with Royal and I’m going to book some grand suites on radiance.

We are going to take them back to Port Douglas 

Sorry to hear of your loss, may good memories bring you smiles.  

1 hour ago, Porky55 said:

I thought so too, but his writing isn’t as precise as Bris41s - he is just very wrapped up in the subject and has probably invested 18 months chasing shadows about Australia’s management of Covid on cruise ships. In particular NSW Health.
Can guarantee, that on the WWW if you want to find conspiracy theories, you will 🤪

 

Thank you for looking this guy up and trying to figure out who he is.

There have been no more "public" posts from him to our group, but no idea if he is still reaching out to anyone via private messaging. (That is how he got access to the group)

.

I read your posts with him and he sure is not backing down.  Some of what he says makes sense and then some does not.  Still sounds like he has a big gruge with the government and wants to nail them with something. 

Look, I made no secret that I feel the NSWH got away with murder, but sure would like to know what he is up to.  If is investigation had legs, he should have gone to the news media.  Maybe he did and they rejected it on lack of proof.  Conspiracy theories are a dime a dozen lately. 

I just felt it was inappropriate to contact the people who were "hurt" so much. Thank you for the help!

I'll let you know if anymore correspondence happens with him. 

6 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

My previous camera was an SX500. It was great but I found not having a viewfinder was frustrating in bright light as I couldn't see the screen properly. Anyway it was starting to act up so I treated myself to a new camera. The SX70 is a lot heavier but I'm really pleased with it. When we went to Kangaroo Island earlier this year I was able to get some great photos of seals that I wouldn't have got even with the SX500 let alone my phone.

I totally agree the lack of a view finder can be very frustrating in a bright light.  I took many shots in Sydney without actually knowing if I was in focus or not.  Now the SX sounds inviting with the view finder..got to think about this.  Do you think there is a big difference in picture quality and clarity with the SX70.

8 minutes ago, NSWP said:

OK. I have a wild theory..is this Antony Johns..our Brisbane41/Karateman/Sutho? He was ex navy so he said and was very much into the government re Ruby Princess.  There is a photo on the face ache page, about his age and mentions R.A.N.  I actually met him on Golden Princess in 2014 - around South America. Face looks familiar. I could be totally wrong.

 

What say ye? 

Is this good or bad?

7 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I have an SX70. I mainly bought it for the amazing zoom as I also use my phone for photos but, of course, that doesn't have a big zoom. I've had PowerShots since 2003 and each one gets fancier and fancier. I can't keep track of all the features these days. 

I have a Power Shot SX500 and finally leaned all the features..I recently looked at the SX 70..love the more powerful zoom. Not sure I will trade up just yet.  Power Shots have been my go to cameras, too

55 minutes ago, possum52 said:

Rose, the person who replied to his post was a passenger who put in a submission to the commission. FB posts show she is still recovering from Covid. A google search shows she is the Australian woman who flew back to the UK after disembarking from Ruby Princess and was in the news.

I don't see a post from Rose to Antony Johns..what did she say to him?

15 minutes ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

There was a doco that came out about anti vaxers conspiracy group one of the things that was interesting and disturbing to learn was how much money they make stoking fear and making their followers feel they were getting exclusive information😳. They would start out by telling people there is this great conspiracy then tell them if they want to understand it they need to do a $US300 course and on top of that was all the merchandising like books and special websites access🤑. 

Amazing how low some con artists will go to get a buck.  Got a lot here in USA.  My cousin lives in Florida, the villages,  and the church by her will guarantee her a place in heaven if she helps them get ride of baby killer biden..all she has to do is donate $1000 to Stairway to Heaven. 

3 hours ago, Porky55 said:

Agree totally, sounds particularly fishy, not to mention nasty.

 

Is Brandee talking about this guy contacting them privately through a Cruise Critic thread she is following, or somewhere else? I’m sure our CC Hosts would jump on this type of behaviour 🤔

Through a facebook thread.  And now I understand you can see him by going to his facebook page where he posted all the stuff.  I do not like that he has used our private thread and that he is naming someone as patient zero.  Hope that person is also a fake name and no one else gets hurt.

3 hours ago, LC1950 said:

Brandee, is this "Antony Johns" person asking for donations yet to aid in  furthering his investigations?  Yes?  No?  Caveat Emptor!!!  Sounds like a scam in the making to me, but I'm a dyed in the wool cynic from way back.

I bet that will be next!

3 hours ago, Porky55 said:

Brandee, hi.

If he has sent you a list of names from the prior cruise, simply check if our names are on it as we were on the prior cruise, as you know from the past. We also went to the disembarkation day NSW Health testing that commenced at 5:30ish in the morning of the 8th March, before you boarded. Again, that cruise ended up with NO COVID cases, otherwise we would have been notified. We filled out required paperwork for this at the time.

Check the list for: Rosalie and Glenn Cunningham.

No problem sharing my name here, we are among friends 😉

 

Personally, I think this guy is crank, or has some personal reasoning for  pursuing this at this late date. Really don’t think anyone should ever private message in this way. I would advise the admins of the Group and have the person, if genuine, go through proper channels - solicitors etc.

 

Or just tell him to b**ger off. 

 

This guy sounds like he has a major gripe with the government and wants to cause a stir!

49 minutes ago, possum52 said:

You certainly can manipulate data and documents. I'm looking at the report now and looking for these documents he has posted.

Where are you seeing the documents?  Did he make them public?

48 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The thing is anyone can manipulate data etc to show "results" that they want to see. He sounds like a classic conspiracy theorist.

 

Just a thought, wasn't there someone who posted here, way back when that was all happening, who claimed some ofthe things this guy is claiming. I have faint recollection about something like that. Whoever it was went away when nobody agreed with them. 

The sad part is preying on people looking for an answer to what happened.  Many people on this site have suffered due to the Ruby disaster and want to know what happened.

2 hours ago, Porky55 said:

Brandee, hi.

If he has sent you a list of names from the prior cruise, simply check if our names are on it as we were on the prior cruise, as you know from the past. We also went to the disembarkation day NSW Health testing that commenced at 5:30ish in the morning of the 8th March, before you boarded. Again, that cruise ended up with NO COVID cases, otherwise we would have been notified. We filled out required paperwork for this at the time.

Check the list for: Rosalie and Glenn Cunningham.

No problem sharing my name here, we are among friends 😉

 

Personally, I think this guy is crank, or has some personal reasoning for  pursuing this at this late date. Really don’t think anyone should ever private message in this way. I would advise the admins of the Group and have the person, if genuine, go through proper channels - solicitors etc.

 

Or just tell him to b**ger off. 

 

He is claiming that there were povitive covid findings on your sailing and it was covered up at the request of the government.  He posted a "document" to verify it.  He is convincing some that it is a great NSW and Australian coverup.  In addition to allowing Mar 8th passengers off the ship with no testing so the "sick" would be dispersed around the country and world and not overwhelm one areas hospital.  Actually, the last part I could believe, especially the way we were thrown off the ship and shoved out of the country with no one to check us.  BTW, he claims Princess was in the dark.

I was hoping someone in Australia could find out who this guy is.  I tried to google him and see if anything comes up but nothing!