TrulyBlonde Posted November 27, 2021 #2326 Share Posted November 27, 2021 1 hour ago, Catlover54 said: Yesterday the talk was about "nu" variant but that did not last, now we've got a more ominous sounding "omicron" (details and stats, in particular hospitalizations and death stats with patient specific details, still pending). What next, "Andromeda strain" ?? 😟 They skipped XI and went straight to omicron. Wonder why 😉 2 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jpalbny Posted November 27, 2021 #2327 Share Posted November 27, 2021 9 hours ago, TrulyBlonde said: They skipped XI and went straight to omicron. Wonder why 😉 Wouldn't that have been interesting! 🤣 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jollyjones Posted November 27, 2021 #2328 Share Posted November 27, 2021 My guess is that there are lots of variants and some of them get named with letters from the Greek alphabet but we only hear about 'variants of concern'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jpalbny Posted November 27, 2021 #2329 Share Posted November 27, 2021 (edited) Jolly, the Chinese president's name is Xi. I think @TrulyBlonde was being very clever with her comment. It certainly gave Chris and me a good laugh this morning while we were in the queue for our covid swab! (PS both negative) Edited November 27, 2021 by jpalbny 1 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare TLCOhio Posted November 27, 2021 Author #2330 Share Posted November 27, 2021 1 hour ago, jpalbny said: Jolly, the Chinese president's name is Xi. YES, agree with J.P. that we know why. The head of the World Health Organization owes lots to China and did not want to offend the "boss" there. So the name Xi gets skipped. China is a little "sensitive" about Covid and where/how it started there. Good luck to J.P. and Chris in completing their cruise and returning home safely. It's definitely challenging out there in the travel world. Lots of uncertainty and questions. THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio Summer 2019 Calgary, Jasper/Banff National Parks, Western Canada Rocky Mountaineer rail adventure, Vancouver, sailing up to Alaska on Silver Muse, post-cruise excursion to Denali, etc. Many visuals and details from our first in these scenic areas! Live/blog: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2682584-live-terryohio-silver-muse-alaska-canadarockies-pix’s/ 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrulyBlonde Posted November 27, 2021 #2331 Share Posted November 27, 2021 At least JP and Chris understood my Blonde sense of humor. I even capitalized XI (Xi) to see if anybody would figure it out. HA! 1 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jollyjones Posted November 27, 2021 #2332 Share Posted November 27, 2021 5 hours ago, jpalbny said: Jolly, the Chinese president's name is Xi. I think @TrulyBlonde was being very clever with her comment. It certainly gave Chris and me a good laugh this morning while we were in the queue for our covid swab! (PS both negative) I was actually thinking of the Greek letter Chi - X - but it’s been so long since my Ancient Greek studies that I had forgotten that Chi is nearly at the end of the alphabet so that didn’t make any sense. Best not to post before morning coffee. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrulyBlonde Posted November 27, 2021 #2333 Share Posted November 27, 2021 12 minutes ago, jollyjones said: I was actually thinking of the Greek letter Chi - X - but it’s been so long since my Ancient Greek studies that I had forgotten that Chi is nearly at the end of the alphabet so that didn’t make any sense. Best not to post before morning coffee. Or after wine 😉. at least in my case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stumblefoot Posted November 27, 2021 #2334 Share Posted November 27, 2021 2 hours ago, jollyjones said: I was actually thinking of the Greek letter Chi - X - but it’s been so long since my Ancient Greek studies that I had forgotten that Chi is nearly at the end of the alphabet so that didn’t make any sense. Don’t worry, Jolly. I pronounced it as Eleven. 😆 1 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrulyBlonde Posted November 27, 2021 #2335 Share Posted November 27, 2021 RE: Xi “Oh NOW you care about avoiding offense?” -Delta Airlines 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseej Posted November 29, 2021 #2336 Share Posted November 29, 2021 For anyone who is curious... the WHO skipped both Nu and Xi, the 13th and 14th letters of the Greek alphabet. It's the spelling of the letters, apparently, that caused the skips. The letter Nu is properly pronounced "nee", which could lead to confusion as people read it spelled one way but hear it spoken another, and as many people mispronounced it "nu". A WHO spokesperson said it also sounds too similar to the word “new” and could be confusing. As for Xi, it is considered too much of a common name (e.g. Xi Jinping). “WHO best practices for naming diseases suggest avoiding ‘causing offense to any cultural, social, national, regional, professional or ethnic groups,'” the WHO spokesperson said. Meanwhile, there have been eight other named variants between Delta and Omicron. Epsilon, Zeta, Eta, Theta, Iota, Kappa, Lambda and Mu; none of them have proven to eclipse Delta in severity or transmissibility, and none has proven resistant to the existing vaccines. Omicron has jumped dup as a major concern because it has a large number of mutations to the spike protein, which is central to the way the vaccines work. It will be another week or two until scientists can assess how well the current vaccines work with this variant. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare TLCOhio Posted November 29, 2021 Author #2337 Share Posted November 29, 2021 On 11/27/2021 at 3:58 PM, Stumblefoot said: Don’t worry, Jolly. I pronounced it as Eleven. 😆 Appreciate ALL these great, varied and interesting comments and follow-ups. My opinion/guess is still that the WHO leader did not want to offend the "BOSS" in China. Informative background by our Ph9iladelphia suburban neighbor about the Greek alphabet. Cute comment above from Stumblefoot!! From the New York Times this morning, they had this headline: “W.H.O. Warns of ‘Very High’ Risk From Omicron as Questions Remain” with this sub-headline: "Scotland and Portugal identified cases of the new variant, and Japan became the latest country to ban all foreign travelers." Here are more of their story highlights: “The World Health Organization warned on Monday that global risks posed by the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus were 'very high,' despite significant questions about the variant itself. Still, countries around the world rushed to defend against its spread, with a cascade of border closures and travel restrictions that recalled the earliest days of the pandemic. Scotland and Portugal identified new cases of the highly mutated variant, and Japan joined Israel and Morocco in banning all foreign visitors, even as scientists cautioned that the extent of the threat posed by Omicron remained unknown — and as the patchwork of travel measures were so far proving unable to stop its spread. Many of the restrictions aimed at corralling Omicron, which was first identified last week by researchers in South Africa, were aimed at travelers from southern Africa, drawing accusations that Western countries were discriminating against a region that has already been set back by vaccine shortages caused by rich nations hoarding doses.” Are countries rushing too fast to shut-down travel from these parts of southern Africa? Or, acting quickly and smartly?? Will be tuning in at 3 pm today to hear what Silversea's head of marketing "spins" for cruising bookings and traveling during this evolving and challenged situation. Full story at: https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/11/29/world/omicron-variant-covid THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio Barcelona/Med: June 2011, with stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Great visuals with key highlights, tips, etc. Live/blog now at 254,080 views. www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silkismom Posted November 29, 2021 #2338 Share Posted November 29, 2021 Terry, I will be anxious to hear what they say about the Japan cruises starting in Mar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrulyBlonde Posted November 29, 2021 #2339 Share Posted November 29, 2021 Terry, Your guess/opinion is similar to mine. 😉 At present time I have a least earned back a very expensive cruise from the Black Friday Dow special. Hope to earn back the 2nd one when all settles. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lois R Posted November 29, 2021 #2340 Share Posted November 29, 2021 The session gets a 1 out of 10 from me👎..........maybe a 2. I thought there were going to be questions and answers😲 The only new stuff was about the Dawn.........but this was just the same as in the past.........she talked about the cruise line...........why did I think they were going to take questions? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare TLCOhio Posted November 29, 2021 Author #2341 Share Posted November 29, 2021 Just now, Lois R said: The session gets a 1 out of 10 from me👎..........maybe a 2. I thought there were going to be questions and answers😲 The only new stuff was about the Dawn.........but this was just the same as in the past.........she talked about the cruise line...........why did I think they were going to take questions? Great, honest above summary by Lois. The good news? It shorter than planned and only wasted 24 minutes in place of the promised 30 minutes. My summary to them at the conclusion was: "False Adversiting!! It was just puff, happy talk, saccharine-sweet sales pitching. Where were the real Q&A as promised? Too phony and plastic. You are insulting the Cruise Critic audience in thinking they are stupid to waste their time on a canned sales talk. No substance and/or real two-way communications!" Good news?: There was some nice video of the Silver Origin in the Galapagos Islands. Ship's top level looked great. The questions sounded like they were written by a high school intern. Given ALL that is happening now with Covid, etc., the intelligent audience of Cruise Critic merits much better treatment. Barbara, as COO, said twice that Cruise Critic is so great, but then she does not understand how to treat its customers with respect and serious content. THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise from Copenhagen, July 2010, to the top of Europe. Scenic visuals with key tips. Live/blog at 243,108 views. www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daveywavey70 Posted November 29, 2021 #2342 Share Posted November 29, 2021 6 minutes ago, TLCOhio said: Great, honest above summary by Lois. The good news? It shorter than planned and only wasted 24 minutes in place of the promised 30 minutes. My summary to them at the conclusion was: "False Adversiting!! It was just puff, happy talk, saccharine-sweet sales pitching. Where were the real Q&A as promised? Too phony and plastic. You are insulting the Cruise Critic audience in thinking they are stupid to waste their time on a canned sales talk. No substance and/or real two-way communications!" Good news?: There was some nice video of the Silver Origin in the Galapagos Islands. Ship's top level looked great. The questions sounded like they were written by a high school intern. Given ALL that is happening now with Covid, etc., the intelligent audience of Cruise Critic merits much better treatment. Barbara, as COO, said twice that Cruise Critic is so great, but then she does not understand how to treat its customers with respect and serious content. THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise from Copenhagen, July 2010, to the top of Europe. Scenic visuals with key tips. Live/blog at 243,108 views. www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923 Well said Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseej Posted November 29, 2021 #2343 Share Posted November 29, 2021 5 minutes ago, TLCOhio said: There was some nice video of the Silver Origin in the Galapagos Islands. Even that was the same video they released prior to the Origin's first cruise, I believe! This little marketing effort would be suited for people considering Silversea for there first time, or for the first time in many years. It allowed her to define what Silversea sees as its distinguishing offerings versus the rest of the luxury cruise market. It should have been promoted everywhere on Cruise Critic except the Silversea forum, as this was a waste of time for anyone who has cruised or even investigated Silversea in recent years. I wasn't expecting anything substantial, especially since it was to have a duration of just 30 minutes. For some of the questions above: there was ZERO mention of Covid -- protocols, impacts on cruising, their successful restart vs. canceled cruises -- nothing. Nothing about specific itineraries or which parts of the world may or may not be accessible in 2022 and beyond. It was very general about where Silversea travels, their three newest ships, S.A.L.T. and Optium. That's it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CruiserFromMaine Posted November 29, 2021 #2344 Share Posted November 29, 2021 Well, I missed it but I guess saved 24 minutes for time elsewhere. I like SS and Muckerman usually does a good job but this sounds botched. Terry’s comments are right on. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare CruiserFromMaine Posted November 29, 2021 #2345 Share Posted November 29, 2021 Omicron thoughts. I believe this is being over-hyped in most media. There are lots of doom and gloom articles but then they say it’s too soon to really know…so say *that* instead! There are no reports I’ve seen that Omicron is more serious despite its apparent high transmission rate. Let’s see what the scientists have to say rather than politicians and whoever reporters find to sound ominous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkacruiser Posted November 29, 2021 #2346 Share Posted November 29, 2021 1 hour ago, TLCOhio said: The questions sounded like they were written by a high school intern. Given ALL that is happening now with Covid, etc., the intelligent audience of Cruise Critic merits much better treatment. Barbara, as COO, said twice that Cruise Critic is so great, but then she does not understand how to treat its customers with respect and serious content. I never tune in to these kinds of presentations. Fluff; PR stuff; happy talk; nothing more. The quarterly presentations by the cruise company's Executives with the analysts that follow the companies are much more insightful and interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dawntrdr Posted November 29, 2021 #2347 Share Posted November 29, 2021 Wasn't there supposed to be a special promotion for those who attended? Did I miss that? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lois R Posted November 29, 2021 #2348 Share Posted November 29, 2021 4 minutes ago, dawntrdr said: Wasn't there supposed to be a special promotion for those who attended? Did I miss that? You did not miss anything. They did not have anything special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Catlover54 Posted November 29, 2021 #2349 Share Posted November 29, 2021 1 hour ago, cruiseej said: Even that was the same video they released prior to the Origin's first cruise, I believe! This little marketing effort would be suited for people considering Silversea for there first time, or for the first time in many years. It allowed her to define what Silversea sees as its distinguishing offerings versus the rest of the luxury cruise market. It should have been promoted everywhere on Cruise Critic except the Silversea forum, as this was a waste of time for anyone who has cruised or even investigated Silversea in recent years. I wasn't expecting anything substantial, especially since it was to have a duration of just 30 minutes. For some of the questions above: there was ZERO mention of Covid -- protocols, impacts on cruising, their successful restart vs. canceled cruises -- nothing. Nothing about specific itineraries or which parts of the world may or may not be accessible in 2022 and beyond. It was very general about where Silversea travels, their three newest ships, S.A.L.T. and Optium. That's it. So I take it there was not a word about the next December Moon cruise ending not in Lima (which is what people booked and bought airfare for), but in Guayquil, because SS thought Lima would open to cruisers but it hasn't happened yet in time for the cruise? There is a separate thread on Peru being closed to cruisers and all the reroutes people are doing for that cruise (some people having to fly back coach), and the uncertainty about the next one still listed as headed for Lima according the website , Jan 3-Jan 19, FLL-Lima. Cruise lines must have information that sugarcoating and ignoring problems is better for business than being honest with customers. SS is not alone in this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stumblefoot Posted November 29, 2021 #2350 Share Posted November 29, 2021 (edited) 46 minutes ago, dawntrdr said: Wasn't there supposed to be a special promotion for those who attended? Did I miss that? 42 minutes ago, Lois R said: You did not miss anything. They did not have anything special. Oh my, that's awful. So, they literally lied about the promotion in the marketing of the event? If so, that is really, really bad form and they should be ashamed. Edited November 29, 2021 by Stumblefoot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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