SS Future Re-Open Plan: Timing, Testing Needs??!!

[Lois R]

WOW is right.😲...he got paid 2.8 MILLION $$$....so I guess those billionaires really do get the big bucks even during a 2020 like no other----in the middle of a pandemic. Why am I not surprised though?  Is there an Icon that has a shaking head?.......

[cruiseej]

5 hours ago, TLCOhio said:

To J.P.'s excellent point, if everyone of the 400+ Silver Moon crew members were at the stage of being only five days after getting their second shot from Pfizer, then maybe it is a "reasonable risk".  But, however, if it has been only a week since half or more of staff are only ten days after their first Pfizer shot, then that is a far different situation/challenge.  Silversea needs to share more details, specifics and substance.  Not just the vague . . . sorry, trust us, we are trying, kind of, maybe, hopefully!!??

 

@TLCOhio I'm not sure why you're inferring things which don't seem to have any basis. The letter Silversea sent to passengers on the June 18 cruise says the crew will have received their second shot on June 13. Since there are three weeks between Pfizer shots, that means the crew's first shot would have been three weeks before June 13 -- or May 23. Meaning: they didn't send out the letter until after the crew got their first shots, so they could be confident about the timing to inform the passengers. 

 

You say, "But, however, if it has been only a week since half or more of staff are only ten days after their first Pfizer shot, then that is a far different situation/challenge." Where does that come from? You're speculating that the crew didn't receive their shots, and won't be at the point in the vaccination process that Silversea says they are. Based on what?? Sorry to jump on this statement, but I'm concerned there's too much misinformation in our world right now. I don't see any reason to create fear, uncertainty and doubt that the cruise line is lying in their statement to customers about the state of crew vaccinations.

 

You said, "Silversea needs to share more details" and blame them for being vague. The way I read their statement, it was specific down to the exact day the crew members will receive their second shot. What's vague about that? What more information do they owe passengers or the general public? Have I perhaps missed something which throws their statement into doubt? 

 

 

[brimary]

If Silversea state all crew and passengers must be vaccinated to travel as a loyal SS cruiser for 21 years I am happy to accept their assurances and travel on the small ships when they resume.Would not go near a RC mass market ship prior to the Pandemic so certainly will not be changing that policy in the future.Appreciate fully everyone will have different personal views and act accordingly but I am sure we all share the common desire to have the cruising industry back to some sort of normality ASAP!

[jollyjones]

11 hours ago, Lois R said:

WOW is right.😲...he got paid 2.8 MILLION $$$....so I guess those billionaires really do get the big bucks even during a 2020 like no other----in the middle of a pandemic. Why am I not surprised though?  Is there an Icon that has a shaking head?.......

 

It's SMDH

[QueSeraSera]

Then I'm SMDH too.

[TLCOhio]

On 5/26/2021 at 9:05 PM, cruiseej said:

I'm not sure why you're inferring things which don't seem to have any basis. The letter Silversea sent to passengers on the June 18 cruise says the crew will have received their second shot on June 13. 

 

YES to our "neighbor" near Philadelphia, the original letter did clarify better the timing as to when the second Pfizer shot would be given, etc., for the staff on the Jue Silver Moon sailing from Athens.  I had forgotten some of those details when doing a later posting.  Agree with J.P. that with this timing, it is not totally perfect, but it would probably be good enough for most people's standards and wishes.  For some others, like my wife with a type of immune deficiency, maybe they would desire a higher level of protection or security.  

 

From the Wall Street Journal's sister publication of Barron's, they had this headline yesterday: “Royal Caribbean Plans Vaccinated Cruise From Florida in June” with these highlights: “Royal Caribbean Group plans to resume revenue-generating cruises out of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in June—a crucial step in getting back to business given the importance of Florida ports to Royal and its peers.  Royal Caribbean said late Wednesday that one of its vessels, Celebrity Edge, was green-lighted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to resume sailing. It plans to do so on June 26.  'All sailings will depart with vaccinated crew and everyone over the age of 16 must present proof of vaccination against COVID-19,' the company said. As of Aug. 1, all passengers ages 12 and up must present proof of vaccination, the company added.  Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings also said Wednesday that it will resume Florida sailings this year, though later than Royal. Norwegian plans to begin sailing out of Miami in October and Port Canaveral in November.”

 

Full story at:

https://www.barrons.com/articles/royal-caribbean-cruise-florida-51622129338

 

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 253,490 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

[CruiserFromMaine]

More messiness with the restart of cruising, with Celebrity. They heavily publicized a cruise from Fort Lauderdale on June 26 and got CDC approval to sail. Great! But, they could skip test cruises because everyone (or nearly so) would be vaccinated and the state of Florida won’t allow them to verify vaccination status under the pain of a $5,000 fine per person queried.

 

So, it’s an open question of how this will resolve. And the cruise is less than a month away. 
 

Ken the Cruiser posted this on a Celebrity thread. Maybe this is the way past all this, but it certainly hasn’t gotten much press yet. 
 

(1) A business entity, as defined in s. 768.38 to include any business operating in this state, may not require patrons or customers to provide any documentation certifying COVID-19 vaccination or post-infection recovery to gain access to, entry upon, or service from the business operations in this state. This subsection does not otherwise restrict businesses from instituting screening protocols consistent with authoritative or controlling government-issued guidance to protect public health.

[Lois R]

Thanks for posting that but maybe I am just slow.........I don't understand anything......it is a private business and I don't get how Tallahassee can tell a business what to do or not do.😲

[QueSeraSera]

2 hours ago, CruiserFromMaine said:

any business operating in this state, may not require patrons or customers to provide any documentation certifying COVID-19 vaccination or post-infection recovery to gain access to, entry upon, or service from the business operations in this state. This subsection does not otherwise restrict businesses from instituting screening protocols consistent with authoritative or controlling government-issued guidance to protect public health.

What?  Excuse me, this is very confusing.

How about you politicians just get out of the way as businesses try to reopen?

 

[CruiserFromMaine]

2 hours ago, Lois R said:

is a private business and I don't get how Tallahassee can tell a business what to do or not do

Government does it everyday. Minimum wage and child labor laws are a easy examples. So are muster drills. There are thousands more examples. 

[Lois R]

21 minutes ago, CruiserFromMaine said:

Government does it everyday. Minimum wage and child labor laws are a easy examples. So are muster drills. There are thousands more examples. 

I thought Muster was Coast Guard.   I was talking about a Governor telling a company how to run a business. 

[CruiserFromMaine]

Muster is Coast Guard, correct. Many labor laws are by state. Some states have a higher minimum wage than the national limit, for instance. 

[Lois R]

Well, here is some news and it looks like the Governor blinked:

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/suzannerowankelleher/2021/05/30/florida-governor-ron-desantis-cruise-line-exemption-vaccine-passport-ban/?sh=3ca480d65ed5

 

[Stumblefoot]

12 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Well, here is some news and it looks like the Governor blinked:

Just as we expected, right?  No surprise.  All bluster and bluff. 

[Lois R]

You should see the thread over on the Celebrity board about it. 

 

He wants to have his cake and eat it too.........no surprise to me.

[cece50]

5 hours ago, Stumblefoot said:

Just as we expected, right?  No surprise.  All bluster and bluff. 

I was confident that the gov & cruise lines would come to an understanding.  This vaccine passport issue hits so many hot buttons, but bottom line is that the cruise industry is unique and compromises will have to be made by all parties.  Older demographics on certain cruise lines need the reassurance that they can sail with other vaccinated passengers, but younger cruisers who have good reasons for not getting the vaccines along with small children should have the option to sail also.  I think it’s important that we all try to understand that it’s not so simple for everyone to be vaccinated.  I have 7 grandchildren, the older ones are vaccinated,  (I confess to be concerned as they are college aged girls), but the little ones had fevers off & on for just 12 hrs many months ago and tested positive and now have been tested for antibodies.  They do not need to be vaccinated at this time.  We have family members who are trying to have children, so we pause and wonder.  I think it’s a good thing the debate continues and compromises can be made. Slowing down a bit is not a bad thing. Not everything is political....sometimes it’s just smart people working things out.  I will give the benefit of the doubt to all parties involved.  

[taxatty]

The Miami Herald reports that the mediation attempt between the State of Florida and the CDC has failed. https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article251845698.html?ac_cid=DM464162&ac_bid=660024996

 

A federal judge in Tampa will now apparently decide whether to invalidate the CDC’s conditional sail order. In a press release, Florida Governor DeSantis incorrectly claimed that the CDC is requiring cruise passengers to be vaccinated. Despite the CDC’s approval of cruises starting this month, DeSantis blamed the CDC for preventing cruises from restarting at a press conference. “Who’s the one suing CDC to open the ports?” he said. “Under current Florida law they are absolutely able to do it...The problem on this the whole time has been the CDC.”

Edited June 3, 2021 by taxatty

[QueSeraSera]

wishing the state of Florida would just get out of the way, there are other ports to sail out of

 

[taxatty]

RCI surprisingly blinked first, as it is no longer requiring vaccinations on its Florida cruises. No word yet from Celebrity.

[Lois R]

1 minute ago, taxatty said:

RCI surprisingly blinked first, as it is no longer requiring vaccinations on its Florida cruises. No word yet from Celebrity.

Hi Les,  I was reading about that this morning........did they say "they are strongly encouraging" guests to get vaxed? Or something like that? And they still need a test?

[taxatty]

7 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Hi Les,  I was reading about that this morning........did they say "they are strongly encouraging" guests to get vaxed? Or something like that? And they still need a test?

Guests are strongly recommended to be vaccinated. Testing is required where there is no proof of vaccination. What about the pax who only booked these cruises based upon the expectation of almost 100% vaccinated pax and crew?

[Lois R]

1 minute ago, taxatty said:

Guests are strongly recommended to be vaccinated. Testing is required where there is no proof of vaccination. What about the pax who only booked these cruises based upon the expectation of almost 100% vaccinated pax and crew?

Who knows? It is quite messy..........If they don't want to sail because of the Cruise line's change in policy then I would HOPE the cruise line would understand this and not penalize the customer if they choose to cancel.  But again, who knows?

[CruiserFromMaine]

38 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Who knows? It is quite messy..........If they don't want to sail because of the Cruise line's change in policy then I would HOPE the cruise line would understand this and not penalize the customer if they choose to cancel.  But again, who knows?

More of that messiness, indeed!

 

We looked at that cruise, actually, just to get cruising. But decided quickly there were too many unknowns so we skipped it. I still hope it goes, with vaccinated pax and crew!

[markham]

I wonder if this post will be deleted for stating the following:

 

Many ports desirable for cruisers and cruise lines will only accommodate us and our business if we are all vaccinated with WHO approved vaccines. That is a fact.
 

I hope people recognize that whatever compromises about allowing only vaccinated people on board or some mix thereof may threaten the viability of the cruise industry.

 

Think about it.

 

Happy and healthy sailing! 

[christraveller]

We really like cruising, and truly adore Silversea, cannot wait to get back on board.   Both of us are around 60, and tick several of the boxes for being at high risk if we catch covid-19.  We are both within days of our second vaccination.
 

I  had fascinating hours of great lectures in microbiology and epidemiology. Mixing vaccinated and unvaccinated crew/guests and then exposing them to populations on land where this virus is circulating, and mutating, is sheer madness. 
 

Canada continues to ban nonessential cross border travel. There is a specific warning against going on cruises. We have friends and acquaintances who suffered quarantine on cruise ships that had fatalities from covid-19. Why follow in those footsteps?

 

Will the vaccinated passengers and crew be able to sue the line or unvaccinated passengers when things go wrong?
 

I hope Silversea is able to follow appropriate professional advice, rather than a misguided politician’s pressure.
 

That will get us on board. Oh, and to walk off, once again, as happy passengers.