I GIVE UP......

[Oxo]

15 hours ago, EscapeFromConnecticut said:

Some reality:

   1. COVID doesn't care about "optimism." 
   2.  COVID isn't defeated by pretending it has gone away ... or by dismissing cold truths with the witless reply of "Debbie downers!! doom and gloom!"
   3. There have been a few posters on CC who've consistently cautioned against baseless "optimism" - week after week, ever since March. Those posts have been based on evidence. Every time.
   4.  But more than a few CC members have still gone ahead & booked, even though every fact available warned that the cruise would probably never happen.
   5.  Some of those "optimists" have been posting pretty much the same thing every few weeks: "Cruising is sure to start again." They just change the month each time: First the CDC will rescind the No Sail Order in April, then Trump will override it in May, then surely the cruise lines will be going again in June, then "August 1 looks good."  Now they're all about October.
   6. The ugly truth is that nothing has changed since February. Nothing. There's no cure, no symptom treatment, no vaccine, not even a deeply reliable test. And despite having three months, cruise executives still haven't figured out how to arrange cruises safely enough to meet public health guidelines.
    7. All of that suggests only one rational conclusion: Don't bank on cruising any time soon. If surprise good news should surface, that's great ... we can intelligently book cruises after that. Because the evidence will tell us to be optimistic. But right now, that's not the case.
     If you want to avoid disappointment forget the lies about "we're reopening, we're on our way back to normal."  Forget hydroxychloroquine. Forget "it will go away like a miracle." Concentrate on the evidence.

Excellent posting. Thank you for talking the time and effort to write the truth and facts that many seem to ignore.

Like they say, some people can't see the forest for the trees.

Some will chide you regardless of what one posts. However, they have their side and it is the only side they know or respect. 

Keep them coming! 

Stay Safe

 

[reallyitsmema]

18 hours ago, 3red7s said:

I know that the Covid has controlled much of our lives lately.  My hubby and I are Diamond + & both members of the Club Royale.  I have had 5 cruises cancelled since the Covid, as i am sure, some others have.  I am throwing in the towel......I am so sick of booking, being hopeful, only to have my cruise cancelled.  My computer is full of post its, trying to track the refunds that I am getting.  Although we truly love and miss cruising, we are just not going to do it anymore....

 

 

We gave up a while ago.  We have no cruises booked at this time and will likely not book anything until next year.  There is too much uncertainty at this time and I just don't have the desire to keep dealing with cancelled cruises and refunds that take forever to get.  We have FCC but will only use them if we feel comfortable with the new procedures the cruise line is going to have to put in place.  We will be out thousands of dollars if we choose not to cruise, but we can accept that.

[PhillyFan33579]

2 hours ago, cured said:

A voice of reality. Thank you.

 

The only thing I disagree with is #7.  There have been changes. Vaccines are in phase 3 trials showing very promising results.  Both the Moderna mRNA vaccine and the Oxford vaccine based on the ChAdOx1 virus are showing great promise.

 

Oxford/AstraZeneca have been able to completely eradicate covid in monkeys. Now they have started trialing in hard hit Brazil and South Africa and predict they will have a market ready version within the next 6-8 months. The scientists have way more knowledge how the virus works than they did in February, allowing progress on developing therapeutics and vaccines.

 

The only thing we need to realize, you don't eradicate a pandemic in 4 months, 6 months, or even a year, even with a vaccine. It will take time.

Speaking of reality, I would not get too optimistic about a vaccine coming out any time soon. The fastest vaccine developed took 4 years for the mumps. Vaccines have still not been developed for other coronaviruses including SARS and MERS.  There were several promising results for an HIV vaccine in the 1980s and 1990s, yet there is still not a vaccine for HIV today. 
 

You didn’t say this, but I have read a lot of posts online that things will be back to normal once a vaccine is developed. First, there is no guarantee a vaccine will be developed in the near future. Second, even if one is developed, it doesn’t mean it will eradicate the current coronavirus. Despite a flu vaccine being released every year, tens of thousands of people in the US die from the flu every year. 

[Lottacruises]

Been pretty easy for me, I've had 8 cancelled so far and counting. I've only rebooked those for 2021 and 2022. I have 4 more for 2020 and one in Jan and one in feb if 2021 that were booked precovid. We will pick back up one day and cruise on!

[deliver42]

Cruising will be back, but you have to be realistic about start times. I have 3 cruise booked right now, with the earliest being March, 2021, and I hope that's realistic.

[Oxo]

Doesn't look too good today. Figures reaching all time highs.

Not because of testing either.

 

[Ourusualbeach]

17 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Speaking of reality, I would not get too optimistic about a vaccine coming out any time soon. The fastest vaccine developed took 4 years for the mumps. Vaccines have still not been developed for other coronaviruses including SARS and MERS.  There were several promising results for an HIV vaccine in the 1980s and 1990s, yet there is still not a vaccine for HIV today. 
 

You didn’t say this, but I have read a lot of posts online that things will be back to normal once a vaccine is developed. First, there is no guarantee a vaccine will be developed in the near future. Second, even if one is developed, it doesn’t mean it will eradicate the current coronavirus. Despite a flu vaccine being released every year, tens of thousands of people in the US die from the flu every year. 

A few differences here with your comparisons.

 

SARS and MERS while they still exist burnt themselves out rather quickly and were not nearly as contagious so they didn’t have the billions of $ being poured into research that COVID does

 

HIV is an entirely different transmission model which is why there are difficulties despite huge $ being spent in developing a vaccine for that.

 

Yes, even  with a vaccine  It will probably be no different than the flu where tens of thousands of people die from it every year but that is a vast improvement over where we are now.

 

I am not in any way saying that a vaccine will be ready in 3 months or maybe 6, what I am saying is that with the amount of global resources being dedicated to this it will be a lot quicker in coming than any vaccine has been in the past. 

[The_Big_M]

3 hours ago, Oxo said:

Doesn't look too good today. Figures reaching all time highs.

Not because of testing either.

 

 

You're getting 40k new cases a day?!

 

Mindblown. 

[PhillyFan33579]

4 hours ago, deliver42 said:

Cruising will be back, but you have to be realistic about start times. I have 3 cruise booked right now, with the earliest being March, 2021, and I hope that's realistic.

I have 5 cruises booked thru July 2021 and I am worried about all of them now. I can see all of them adding to the list of 3 cruises we have had cancelled so far. 

[Cruise a holic]

Listening to a cdc update now.  Very depressing!    We really want to cruise but at this rate who knows when!!  So much acceleration of covid, especially down south!  

[Oxo]

49 minutes ago, The_Big_M said:

 

You're getting 40k new cases a day?!

 

Mindblown. 

Yes,  it is more than that. People don't want to play by the rules. They state that they are free and can do as they like. 

Don't ask them politely to follow the rules for fear of an argument or fight. Then you read later that they got the virus and don't know what to do or say.

Stay Safe down under. 

[cured]

3 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

A few differences here with your comparisons.

 

SARS and MERS while they still exist burnt themselves out rather quickly and were not nearly as contagious so they didn’t have the billions of $ being poured into research that COVID does

 

HIV is an entirely different transmission model which is why there are difficulties despite huge $ being spent in developing a vaccine for that.

 

Yes, even  with a vaccine  It will probably be no different than the flu where tens of thousands of people die from it every year but that is a vast improvement over where we are now.

 

I am not in any way saying that a vaccine will be ready in 3 months or maybe 6, what I am saying is that with the amount of global resources being dedicated to this it will be a lot quicker in coming than any vaccine has been in the past. 

Exactly. There has never been a disease in history that had scientists world wide working on it nor the dollars thrown at it to develop a vaccine and therapeutics.  That will allow development to proceed at a much faster pace than just a few labs working for it while also fighting for research dollars.  This is one of the top priorities in the world right now, not just a few labs.

 

The engineers also have a leg up, able to build on previous studies on the attempts at a SARs vaccine.  From what I understand (and I might have misunderstood) from a very detailed explanation from a person working on a vaccine, the transmission path of this particular virus actually makes it look promising that they will break the code and be able to develop a successful vaccine in the 12-18 month time frame.

[kruzinkel]

I am slowly accepting that I will not be cruising anywhere for the rest of 2020.  Had a casino comp for early september that was cancelled and I am not sure I see any light at the end of the 2020 tunnel. I could move it, but to when?  I also think there will be at least one more round of cancellations.  Have a "bucket list" TA in April on Harmony, so may have to focus all of my energy and focus on that one

[deliver42]

Whatever you do, stay out of Florida.

[fandash]

On 6/25/2020 at 1:43 AM, 3red7s said:

I know that the Covid has controlled much of our lives lately.  My hubby and I are Diamond + & both members of the Club Royale.  I have had 5 cruises cancelled since the Covid, as i am sure, some others have.  I am throwing in the towel......I am so sick of booking, being hopeful, only to have my cruise cancelled.  My computer is full of post its, trying to track the refunds that I am getting.  Although we truly love and miss cruising, we are just not going to do it anymore....

 

I know it’s a sad situation. I’ve only had one cruise cancelled and I know how sad that was . And although royal carribean and other cruise lines are struggling with cash flow it does not make it right to keep people thinking they will cruise when they won’t .

cruise lines should just stop advertising for holidays/

cabins till they know for sure when it going to start again. However the way its

going and if continuing to go like this much longer they will not be the cruise lines we

have Cos they will be out of business.

sad to say it but it can’t go on like this 

[fandash]

On 6/26/2020 at 5:53 PM, Oxo said:

Yes,  it is more than that. People don't want to play by the rules. They state that they are free and can do as they like. 

Don't ask them politely to follow the rules for fear of an argument or fight. Then you read later that they got the virus and don't know what to do or say.

Stay Safe down under. 

I don’t think anyone is taking this lightly.

some people are really scared and don’t want to leave the house or some wear masks and some people don’t wear masks and go about their business but adhering to the government guideline but that is not to say we are not empathetic to anyone who has lost  their lives. Every one has Their own opinion on this .

Of course people care about the people who have died from covid and they also don’t want to get covid however those people also want to get on with their lives too. I’ve been out walking (without a mask). There are people who will 

go into the roads so they don’t walk past you however there has Been more than 1 occasion where there was a car going by and to me

there is more chance of them

being hurt or worse.

life is too short live it 

[Roger88]

Dont give up my friend. The life is long and you will have a chance to cruise again. Also dont bother with all the news we get every day. Such situation is only a matter of this year maximum. I am sure next year we will have no obstacles whats so ever. So stay safe, stay calm and think positively 

[3red7s]

On 6/28/2020 at 3:26 PM, fandash said:

I know it’s a sad situation. I’ve only had one cruise cancelled and I know how sad that was . And although royal carribean and other cruise lines are struggling with cash flow it does not make it right to keep people thinking they will cruise when they won’t .

cruise lines should just stop advertising for holidays/

cabins till they know for sure when it going to start again. However the way its

going and if continuing to go like this much longer they will not be the cruise lines we

have Cos they will be out of business.

sad to say it but it can’t go on like this 

it IS very sad & i too, feel like, cruising may be falling apart.  unsure as to how long they can continue with no sailings.....of if, and when, they open up, prices might be so high that none of us will want to pay the prices

 

[Germancruiser]

I am usual a very optimistic person. I, too lost two voyages- I have also those two FCC waiting to be used. I am as eager as most of us to go back on board. Before cruising restarts and i am sure that will not happen before it is safe to do so, I am not booking anything neither for 2020 nor 2021.

Another cancelation- another FCC... oh no! Surley not!

[firefly333]

On 6/28/2020 at 3:57 AM, deliver42 said:

Whatever you do, stay out of Florida.

Lol I'm in dallas. Setting records daily. Idk which of us is worse off. Lol

[beerman2]

On 6/28/2020 at 4:57 AM, deliver42 said:

Whatever you do, stay out of Florida.

Who would have thought 3-4 months ago NYC would have any hope of cruises this year. It now appears their chances might be better than Florida of starting cruises first.

 

I'm starting to be concerned about a land vacation to Fla. in October. 

[deliver42]

beerman2, you should be concerned. We are going crazy here with the virus, and our governor wants to keep going. DUH!!!

[welshrich]

We've had 3 cancelled, we showed loyalty and rebooked and took FCC's for next year, but one of them may go again as I read that RCI are moving Liberty to Galveston and cancelling cruises on Jewel.  I know covid is beyond their control but when they do have control and still do things like this it starts to get tiring.

[Ourusualbeach]

3 hours ago, welshrich said:

We've had 3 cancelled, we showed loyalty and rebooked and took FCC's for next year, but one of them may go again as I read that RCI are moving Liberty to Galveston and cancelling cruises on Jewel.  I know covid is beyond their control but when they do have control and still do things like this it starts to get tiring.

Liberty stayed to replace Allure that couldn't go as planned due to the new terminal not being built.  Jewel is leaving a few weeks early...wondering if she has a drydock scheduled

[TravelerThom]

On 6/28/2020 at 4:25 PM, fandash said:

I don’t think anyone is taking this lightly.

Obviously you have not been looking at the pictures of people packed in bars and on the beaches....