Return to cruising poll

[crusinbanjo]

8 hours ago, Djptcp said:

I think the only way cruising will start again is by having restrictions and I welcome them - vaccination proof required (DH and I have ours), wearing face coverings, ship-sponsored excursions only, crew vaccinations required, no children under 16 on board unless vaccinations begin for them and they get them. These restrictions are for our health and for those on the ships. 

I don’t get the mask after vaccination thing, I thought the vaccine would negate the need for all the precautions.  If everyone must be vaccinated to be on the ship, I just don’t get it.  Can somebody explain?

[KroozNut]

6 minutes ago, crusinbanjo said:

I don’t get the mask after vaccination thing, I thought the vaccine would negate the need for all the precautions.  If everyone must be vaccinated to be on the ship, I just don’t get it.  Can somebody explain?

 

I don't get it either, but I'm sure that there will be many that chime in here to enlighten us. 😉

[rodndonna]

47 minutes ago, crusinbanjo said:

I don’t get the mask after vaccination thing, I thought the vaccine would negate the need for all the precautions.  If everyone must be vaccinated to be on the ship, I just don’t get it.  Can somebody explain?

 

The short answer is the vaccine it not a given silver bullet, but a very good 'tool' in managing Covid to be used in conjunction with other means such as testing, masking etc. Until we 'eradicate' Covid we will be dealing with many tools to live our lives with Covid.  It may be a a year, a few years or never to eradicate it, but we will learn how to go about our lives mitigating the risk as best possible such that we don't lose control to it as we have in the past year.

 

 

 

 

[sandiego1]

Just because YOU have been vaccinated (and everyone on the ship was vaccinated), doesn't mean that everyone in a port is also vaccinated. You could be asymptomatic and be a carrier of the disease. You could infect others in the port. Plus, the vaccines aren't 100% effective. You could also infect someone else that had the shot.

[rkacruiser]

I have breathing issues without wearing a mask.  I have an ear anatomy issue that makes it impossible to wear a mask with the straps around both of my ears.  My glasses have to support one of the straps of the mask.  That makes wearing my glasses uncomfortable and affects my ability to clearly see.

 

Am I going to cruise again needing to wear a mask?  No.  It's not in my best interest to do so.  

 

Social distancing requirements?  No, that's a change that I cannot accept either.  

 

Why spend money doing something, that while I love doing, that causes me discomfort and displeasure?  

[Mary229]

23 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

I have breathing issues without wearing a mask.  I have an ear anatomy issue that makes it impossible to wear a mask with the straps around both of my ears.  My glasses have to support one of the straps of the mask.  That makes wearing my glasses uncomfortable and affects my ability to clearly see.

 

Am I going to cruise again needing to wear a mask?  No.  It's not in my best interest to do so.  

 

Social distancing requirements?  No, that's a change that I cannot accept either.  

 

Why spend money doing something, that while I love doing, that causes me discomfort and displeasure?  

I am not questioning your rationale......but there are masks that don’t hook on the ears.  I flew this week and my sister provided me with a n95 and it looped around my neck and the top of my head. 

[srpilo]

26 minutes ago, sandiego1 said:

Just because YOU have been vaccinated (and everyone on the ship was vaccinated), doesn't mean that everyone in a port is also vaccinated. You could be asymptomatic and be a carrier of the disease. You could infect others in the port. Plus, the vaccines aren't 100% effective. You could also infect someone else that had the shot.

 

Seriously ?

No country in the world requires personally supervised travel, only that you test negative for covid on arrival. Even as I post this I can fly to St Thomas, or Hawaii or Mexico, and many countries in the Caribbean, and Europe with a Covid test on arrival, and travel freely, so if a country allows ships with prior Covid tests why would a country additionally require supervised cruise tours when the rest of their tourists can roam freely

 

Sorry  doesnt make sense...

[sandiego1]

1 minute ago, srpilo said:

 

Seriously ?

No country in the world requires personally supervised travel, only that you test negative for covid on arrival. Even as I post this I can fly to St Thomas, or Hawaii or Mexico, and many countries in the Caribbean, and Europe with a Covid test on arrival, and travel freely, so if a country allows ships with prior Covid tests why would a country additionally require supervised cruise tours when the rest of their tourists can roam freely

 

Sorry  doesnt make sense...

I didn't write that countries would require supervised travel. A cruise company may require it, or perhaps, our CDC if the cruise originates in the US. It's all speculation regarding required cruise sponsored excursions. I know I won't cruise if required to wear a mask while on ship or take their excursions. I'd rather stay home after I'm vaccinated.

 

Some countries are letting in visitors with a negative COVID test. Some countries will let you in if you quarantine in one of their approved hotels (at your expense). Other countries won't let you in at all, regardless of a negative COVID test, like New Zealand.

 

I doubt a cruise ship will have the ability to do COVID tests for every passenger before every port.

[AncientWanderer]

43 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

I have breathing issues without wearing a mask.  I have an ear anatomy issue that makes it impossible to wear a mask with the straps around both of my ears.  My glasses have to support one of the straps of the mask.  That makes wearing my glasses uncomfortable and affects my ability to clearly see.

 

Am I going to cruise again needing to wear a mask?  No.  It's not in my best interest to do so.  

 

Social distancing requirements?  No, that's a change that I cannot accept either.  

 

Why spend money doing something, that while I love doing, that causes me discomfort and displeasure?  

 

For a number of physical reasons, I'm not able to comfortably wear a mask either, @rkacruiser.  I do suffer through it for brief periods of time, such as getting in and out of a grocery store as quickly as possible, but it's difficult and unpleasant.   So no cruising for me if masks are required onboard.  This makes me sad, but it's something I've come to terms with. 

[ShipWalker]

39 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

...I flew this week and my sister provided me with a n95 and it looped around my neck and the top of my head. 

Just as an FYI to all, N95 masks are required to have that configuration otherwise it is a counterfeit and not NIOSH approved.

 

Counterfeit Respirators

[srpilo]

3 minutes ago, sandiego1 said:

I didn't write that countries would require supervised travel. A cruise company may require it, or perhaps, our CDC if the cruise originates in the US. It's all speculation regarding required cruise sponsored excursions. I know I won't cruise if required to wear a mask while on ship or take their excursions. I'd rather stay home after I'm vaccinated.

 

Some countries are letting in visitors with a negative COVID test. Some countries will let you in if you quarantine in one of their approved hotels (at your expense). Other countries won't let you in at all, regardless of a negative COVID test, like New Zealand.

 

I doubt a cruise ship will have the ability to do COVID tests for every passenger before every port.

 

My last post on this subject

 

First, its a given that this subject will only arise with ports and countries that allow cruising and cruise stops, and so your countries with quarantine comments are just fluff to this conversation as any discussion about cruising automatically disregards those countries, and serious discussions require all parties to discuss reality and not just filler to disquise the weakness in their arguments, your 95% protection comment proves this ... Nothing, in any situation protects 100%, nor was cruising any where near 100% safe prior to Covid 19 .

 

Bottom line is cruise ship bans were put in place to protect those in the confines of the ships themselves from  infection and illness of Covid 19 while onboard, vaccination of all onboard removes that threat. Covid tests prior to arrivals protect those on land.

 

If countries or ports officially open to cruise travel with vaccinated passengers and any required testing, then at that point required supervised tours are nothing more than a money grab by cruise lines

Lastly  , repeats and molding of Dr Fauci talking points into every online travel related subject gets a little old

YMMV

[ontheweb]

10 hours ago, srpilo said:

 

If countries or ports officially open to cruise travel with vaccinated passengers and any required testing, then at that point required supervised tours are nothing more than a money grab by cruise lines

 

Exactly, that observation is spot on. 

[KirkNC]

Well I am a little surprised that 55% will cruise with significant restrictions but that’s probably just my personal bias.  Of course CC is populated by hard core cruisers so maybe that accounts for the results.

[drowelf]

16 hours ago, crusinbanjo said:

I don’t get the mask after vaccination thing, I thought the vaccine would negate the need for all the precautions.  If everyone must be vaccinated to be on the ship, I just don’t get it.  Can somebody explain?

Vaccines are primarily intended to prevent you from getting sick. There has been very little study so far on how it effects the transmission of the virus. You can still be infected and shedding virus, but since you got vaccinated, your chances of getting seriously ill are reduced. I think I heard last night that the J&J vaccine also seems to reduce the transmissibility of the virus. So masking is still required, so that the chance of you passing it along to someone else is reduced, if you are wearing a mask. 

Edited February 5, 2021 by drowelf

[rodndonna]

 

This was posted on Carnival site - ship restrictions for cruising up to Oct 2021 - 

 

 

[Mary229]

5 minutes ago, rodndonna said:

 

This was posted on Carnival site - ship restrictions for cruising up to Oct 2021 - 

 

 

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.  I have been waiting for a statement from CCL.  As all of the people on these cruises are covered by the Sail with Confidence program they could cancel, penalty free, if they choose.

[crusinbanjo]

24 minutes ago, drowelf said:

Vaccines are primarily intended to prevent you from getting sick. There has been very little study so far on how it effects the transmission of the virus. You can still be infected and shedding virus, but since you got vaccinated, your chances of getting seriously ill are reduced. I think I heard last night that the J&J vaccine also seems to reduce the transmissibility of the virus. So masking is still required, so that the chance of you passing it along to someone else is reduced, if you are wearing a mask. 

No disrespect intended, but, Not sure how you can be shedding virus after being vaccinated, if the virus can’t take hold on you, spread seems to me to be negligible, isn’t that the point of being VACCINATED?  but whatever,  if I am required to mask up to be on board after vaccination, I’ll just stay home.

 

[VermeulT]

Only ship sponsored excursions wouldn't be a deal breaker per se.... I might choose to not go ashore.  I'd have to see offerings &/or pricing for the itinerary.  I'm not paying $79/pp for a ride to a beach...

[iancal]

Alaska is closed.  Australia/NZ is closed.

 

The numbers in Europe and in South America are not good, not improving.   Is the expectation that Europe will open it's arms to cruise ships?   Anyone want SA..perhaps a stop in Rio???

 

New covid variants are present in most countries.

 

SO....are there people who actually expect to cruise this year except perhaps to Mexico in Nov or Dec???   Or even want to cruise given the issues?

 

Why bother with all the gnashing of teeth and arguing about this or that at this point in time?

Edited February 5, 2021 by iancal

[kazu]

1 hour ago, crusinbanjo said:

No disrespect intended, but, Not sure how you can be shedding virus after being vaccinated, if the virus can’t take hold on you, spread seems to me to be negligible, isn’t that the point of being VACCINATED?  but whatever,  if I am required to mask up to be on board after vaccination, I’ll just stay home.

 

 

Well according to the scientists, doctors and immunologists vaccination will protect YOU but you can still be infected and shed the virus (spread it) to others.  That’s why until enough people are vaccinated to achieve herd immunity masks will be required to prevent further spread.

[Mary229]

8 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

Well according to the scientists, doctors and immunologists vaccination will protect YOU but you can still be infected and shed the virus (spread it) to others.  That’s why until enough people are vaccinated to achieve herd immunity masks will be required to prevent further spread.

I am sorry but that is not true.  The scientists are saying they just don’t have the data.  I posted the latest CDC statement concerning this yesterday and they continue to say we just don’t know yet 

[bennybear]

On 2/4/2021 at 9:37 AM, iancal said:

We are wait and see. 

 

But we are also 2.  Cruise line only excursions are a deal breaker for us. 

 

 Who wants to be forced into visiting trash and trinket stores or sit on a bus waiting for an extra  20 minutes while the group leader tries to find some person still  in the restroom or still shopping for more tat?  Not us.

You may be surprised!  Our friends who did a European cruise are like us very independent travellers.  They were very pleasantly surprised by unusual reasonably priced small group excursions.  

[bennybear]

On 2/4/2021 at 8:22 AM, kplady said:

Masks aren't a deal breaker for me - maybe we won't get the usual cruise crud illness!

 

Laura

Yes!   That completely ruined aTrip for me!  Our flu cases have been nonexistent this year so that would be a huge plus!

[Mary229]

17 minutes ago, bennybear said:

You may be surprised!  Our friends who did a European cruise are like us very independent travellers.  They were very pleasantly surprised by unusual reasonably priced small group excursions.  

Even the intrepid Rick Steves highly recommends the ship excursions for some Med sites.  He not only speaks to the ease of using them but the quality of the guides. I have to assume those who do not like excursions are likely cruising for a beach break and then I completely understand not wanting an excursion

Edited February 5, 2021 by Mary229

[kazu]

46 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I am sorry but that is not true.  The scientists are saying they just don’t have the data.  I posted the latest CDC statement concerning this yesterday and they continue to say we just don’t know yet 

 

While scientists can’t say with certainty - they are saying that a mask will be necessary for some time to come until we achieve herd immunity. (Unless of course, they find it is not being transmitted).

 

However, since the amount of spread is being measured (and said to be slower and decrease) with the Johnson and Johnson vaccine it seems to be a valid concern and makes the wearing of masks after being vaccinated  crucial for the time being.