30 Days + Test Cruises + 60 day wait? Is this still true?

[Kokomo91165]

I remember in November when the conditional sail order was released, the concept of test cruises was introduced. It stated that in order to apply for a test cruise, the operator must request permission from the CDC 30 days prior to the test cruise in order to operate. 
 

It also stated that there were to be three test cruises, with CDC review time in between each cruise. 
 

Lastly, it stated that after the test cruises were successfully completed, that the operator would then have to apply, 60 days in advance, for a revenue sailing certificate. This process would repeat for each ship sailing from a US port. 
 

If you add up the days, it looks like there is 90 days of wait time + the 3/4 weeks for the test cruises. So in total about 120 days. 
 

Has there been any update to this?  In doing the math, 120 days is roughly 4 months. We are already January 16th with no test cruises scheduled. Beginning to be concerned that summer 2021 isn’t realistic if things don’t start to happen soon. 
 

 

[hallux]

11 minutes ago, Kokomo91165 said:

the operator must request permission from the CDC 30 days prior to the test cruise in order to operate

I believe that 30 days (28 actually) was the rolling period of crew health reports that needed to be submitted and approved for tracking symptoms and cases on board.

 

This site lists the cruise ship status for that period - https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/crew-disembarkations-commercial-travel.html

[smokeybandit]

There was no requirement for more than one test cruise. The CDC order referred to "a test cruise or series of cruises"

Also the 60 day waiting period did not specify a successful test cruise was required before submitting  the paperwork that gave you your conditional sailing approval. Just that the test cruise had to satisfactorily been completed prior to getting the approval.

[HaveWeMetYet]

If the CDC wanted test cruises to happen they would already be under way. It was just a way to extend the No Sail Order until after the election. Look for a new "No Sail Order" shortly. Probably at least 3 months but maybe longer.

[smokeybandit]

1 minute ago, HaveWeMetYet said:

If the CDC wanted test cruises to happen they would already be under way. It was just a way to extend the No Sail Order until after the election. Look for a new "No Sail Order" shortly. Probably at least 3 months but maybe longer.

 

This wouldn't surprise me one bit. I could see the cruise lines taking legal action at that point.

Edited January 17, 2021 by smokeybandit

[not-enough-cruising]

28 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

 

This wouldn't surprise me one bit. I could see the cruise lines taking legal action at that point.

Using what legal precedent?

[smokeybandit]

1 minute ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Using what legal precedent?

Here's a summary

 

https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Government/ASTA-threatens-lawsuit-over-No-Sail-Act

[grandgeezer]

3 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Here's a summary

 

https://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Government/ASTA-threatens-lawsuit-over-No-Sail-Act

The article is about 3 1/2 months ago. If they thought they had any leg to stand on they would have filed it then. The way the virus is spreading now, if the CDC had any guts, they’d issue a no sail order now.

[smokeybandit]

Just now, grandgeezer said:

The article is about 3 1/2 months ago. If they thought they had any leg to stand on they would have filed it then. The way the virus is spreading now, if the CDC had any guts, they’d issue a no sail order now.

I posted it because it give a legal basis for a lawsuit.

Resorts can be open. Hotels open. Restaurants open.  Trains and planes in service. But cruise lines are banned. There's legal basis for a lawsuit

[ULCajunCruiser]

1 hour ago, Heymarco said:

Summer 2021 is all but gone for most US sailings. With a chance of luck one or two ships may sail.

Well I'm probably more optimistic than most, but tell us oh clairvoyant one, why such pessimism???   While you're looking into that crystal ball how bout listing a stock or 2 that will rise meteorically??  Will there be a Triple Crown winner??   Who's winning the World Series???   OK, I'll stop.

 

[bouhunter]

4 hours ago, Kokomo91165 said:

I remember in November when the conditional sail order was released, the concept of test cruises was introduced. It stated that in order to apply for a test cruise, the operator must request permission from the CDC 30 days prior to the test cruise in order to operate. 
 

It also stated that there were to be three test cruises, with CDC review time in between each cruise. 
 

Lastly, it stated that after the test cruises were successfully completed, that the operator would then have to apply, 60 days in advance, for a revenue sailing certificate. This process would repeat for each ship sailing from a US port. 
 

If you add up the days, it looks like there is 90 days of wait time + the 3/4 weeks for the test cruises. So in total about 120 days. 
 

Has there been any update to this?  In doing the math, 120 days is roughly 4 months. We are already January 16th with no test cruises scheduled. Beginning to be concerned that summer 2021 isn’t realistic if things don’t start to happen soon. 
 

 

All this is meaningless.   The cruise lines and CDC have no idea what will happen or when.

[grandgeezer]

46 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I posted it because it give a legal basis for a lawsuit.

Resorts can be open. Hotels open. Restaurants open.  Trains and planes in service. But cruise lines are banned. There's legal basis for a lawsuit

Why aren’t they sailing? There is no ban on cruising now. They are considered super spreaders and all they have to do is show what they will do to mitigate that. According to all announcements, they say they are volunteering to cancel the cruises. You didn’t answer the point on why they haven’t filed suit already. It’s a bluff, they are smart enough to know it would get tossed out.

[smokeybandit]

Yes, there is a ban on cruising.  The CDC requires a conditional sailing certificate to get past the ban.  You have to fulfill all the things in the CDC's return to sailing order to prove you're equipped and trained to follow all the CDC's new rules.   And Carnival outright said the CDC is holding them back from even doing test cruises required to satisfy the . And if it's true for them, it's true for everyone.

[PelicanBill]

The requirements to return to cruising are onerous.  There is a huge list of new requirements for the ship operations and for the port operations.  For example, they must be prepared to transport and quarantine all the passengers using privately arranged buses, hotels or apartments, and have arranged for medical transport and hospitals must be ready to receive the sickest patients.

 

Ships have proven to be concerns for outbreaks.  Already a major issue for other contagious diseases, but this one spreads like wildfire.  We have not see repeated outbreaks linked to plane flights, or hotels. Their safety measures have been adequate. The few cruise restarts we've seen in the western hemisphere immediately resulted in bad new. So the CDC treats Cruising with more restrictions.   And finally, cruising is a leisure industry, while airlines and hotels are vital to the economy.  That should help make it clear why Cruising is treated differently.

[Jax129]

12 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

I posted it because it give a legal basis for a lawsuit.

Resorts can be open. Hotels open. Restaurants open.  Trains and planes in service. But cruise lines are banned. There's legal basis for a lawsuit

It's my opinion that the reason we're not sailing right now has almost nothing to do with Covid & everything to do with the coming chaos on inauguration day & keeping our borders safe.  The next couple months are gonna be a bit crazy Things should calm down by June. I have a Greek Isles cruise in June at until a few days ago I really thought we'd get to go. Now I'm not sure

[Casino Comp Chick]

What I find interesting is only 3 NCL ships are listed.

[livingonthebeach]

Okay - here’s my gripe.  Not only is there no direction onto test cruises, but everything else!  I realize things are up in the air for now.... but reallly. Does someone know what’s going on?

[S.A.M.J.R.]

On 1/16/2021 at 8:29 PM, smokeybandit said:

I posted it because it give a legal basis for a lawsuit.

Resorts can be open. Hotels open. Restaurants open.  Trains and planes in service. But cruise lines are banned. There's legal basis for a lawsuit

Apples and oranges.  Sure hotels are open, but they're limited in what they can provide.  No continental breakfasts, no congregating in areas.  Restaurants are open, but with spread out tables, and they aren't serving meals on planes.   

 

A cruise ship is all of three of them AND you're limited on space for DAYS.  Even if they test before you get on a cruise, you can be negative on Day 1, but be positive on Day 3 (depending on when you were infected).  

[bouhunter]

23 hours ago, Jax129 said:

It's my opinion that the reason we're not sailing right now has almost nothing to do with Covid & everything to do with the coming chaos on inauguration day & keeping our borders safe. 

Sorry but that is a bizarre and wacky theory.  Thanks for the laugh. 🙂

 

[bouhunter]

2 hours ago, livingonthebeach said:

Does someone know what’s going on?

No US cruises through April.  IF anything sails in May it will be 1-2 ships on each line trying things out.  That's pretty much what anyone knows.

[livingonthebeach]

16 minutes ago, bouhunter said:

No US cruises through April.  IF anything sails in May it will be 1-2 ships on each line trying things out.  That's pretty much what anyone knows.

 

Ok - knew that already but thanks for the reminder! 

[denatravels]

On 1/16/2021 at 8:40 PM, ULCajunCruiser said:

Well I'm probably more optimistic than most, but tell us oh clairvoyant one, why such pessimism???   While you're looking into that crystal ball how bout listing a stock or 2 that will rise meteorically??  Will there be a Triple Crown winner??   Who's winning the World Series???   OK, I'll stop.

 

You don’t need to be clairvoyant to know cruises won’t sail soon— people are totally ignoring covid restrictions and numbers are through the roof. Vaccine rollout has been horrific so far. Deaths and cases are skyrocketing. Don’t need a crystal ball. 

[ULCajunCruiser]

6 minutes ago, denatravels said:

You don’t need to be clairvoyant to know cruises won’t sail soon— people are totally ignoring covid restrictions and numbers are through the roof. Vaccine rollout has been horrific so far. Deaths and cases are skyrocketing. Don’t need a crystal ball. 

They didn't say "won't sail soon", they said "summer pf 2021 is all but gone".   Big difference.   It depends on where you live on how Covid restrictions are impacting you.   Horrific is over dramatic, again that's generally a state issue.  If you keep overturning rocks, the snake will bite you, just walk on by and you'll get where you going!!!

[PelicanBill]

4 hours ago, Casino Comp Chick said:

What I find interesting is only 3 NCL ships are listed.

 

That has been NCL's plan for initial launch. It's expensive and extensive work to meet all the shipboard and port requirements, so their plan was to focus on one port and 3 ships to start. 

 

4 hours ago, livingonthebeach said:

Okay - here’s my gripe.  Not only is there no direction onto test cruises, but everything else!  I realize things are up in the air for now.... but reallly. Does someone know what’s going on?

 

You really do get the best view possible here, albeit from multiple sources. There are people who are plugged in to news sources, cruise lines, and who read every page of the the CDC documents.  Just learn to separate fact from speculation.  Difficult, I know.   We know that test cruises were planned, and which NCL ships, but that they did not get scheduled.  We know that RCL says that they had trouble getting a response from the CDC about scheduling test cruises. We know the CDC does not want to authorize cruises but the Covid Task Force required them to issue guidance allowing them to resume, and they did issue that guidance. We know where ships are - and are not. We know many ships went into dry and wet dock for maintenance. We know ships are performing small crew rotations, but not massive rehiring - we saw notices to the Philippines that hiring is still on hold.  We know everything keeps slipping, with all NCL April cruises canceled now.  We know decisions get made month by month, and we don't get any news about anything out more than 60 days. I hope this helps!

[grandgeezer]

3 minutes ago, PelicanBill said:

 

That has been NCL's plan for initial launch. It's expensive and extensive work to meet all the shipboard and port requirements, so their plan was to focus on one port and 3 ships to start. 

 

 

You really do get the best view possible here, albeit from multiple sources. There are people who are plugged in to news sources, cruise lines, and who read every page of the the CDC documents.  Just learn to separate fact from speculation.  Difficult, I know.   We know that test cruises were planned, and which NCL ships, but that they did not get scheduled.  We know that RCL says that they had trouble getting a response from the CDC about scheduling test cruises. We know the CDC does not want to authorize cruises but the Covid Task Force required them to issue guidance allowing them to resume, and they did issue that guidance. We know where ships are - and are not. We know many ships went into dry and wet dock for maintenance. We know ships are performing small crew rotations, but not massive rehiring - we saw notices to the Philippines that hiring is still on hold.  We know everything keeps slipping, with all NCL April cruises canceled now.  We know decisions get made month by month, and we don't get any news about anything out more than 60 days. I hope this helps!

Nobody in the world is running trial cruises or cruises of any kind, why isn't the WHO, or whoever is making the decision being ragged on like the CDC? I think they aren't sailing because the pandemic is out of control and the lines feel that there chances of success isn't worth the risk. I think after the new president takes office on Wednesday, things might get even tighter but will move along faster because I think he has more of a commitment to put this to bed.