Working on it

[SargassoPirate]

The latest CDC guidelines for vaccinated people bodes well for cruise lines, airlines, trains, sporting events in stadiums etc etc to require all staff and the public - to be vaccinated before participating in their services or events.  Especially for the cruise lines after the "floating petri dish"  labels were hung on them by the media.  All they need is one on-board super spreader event and it would be curtains for the industry.  Full vaccinations for all on board would take care of that.  Then they can go back to worrying about norovirus.

 

Requiring a negative test only shows that you didn't have the virus when tested.  

[Tranquility Base]

9 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

All they need is one on-board super spreader event and it would be curtains for the industry.  Full vaccinations for all on board would take care of that.  Then they can go back to worrying about norovirus.

 

Requiring a negative test only shows that you didn't have the virus when tested.  

I agree that they will want to be very cautious when first starting back up with international passengers as opposed to domestic passengers.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if initially the Gold standard includes daily onboard saliva testing as well as mandatory onboard electronic contact tracing.

If a case is detected onboard they will wanted to contact trace & isolate as quickly as possible in order to manage the situation and subsequent media focus.

 

There will probably be about 6 different vaccines in use onboard any ship.

Different efficiency rates against various virus variations will require additional countermeasures for a while yet.

[pinotlover]

1 hour ago, Tranquility Base said:

I agree that they will want to be very cautious when first starting back up with international passengers as opposed to domestic passengers.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if initially the Gold standard includes daily onboard saliva testing as well as mandatory onboard electronic contact tracing.

If a case is detected onboard they will wanted to contact trace & isolate as quickly as possible in order to manage the situation and subsequent media focus.

 

There will probably be about 6 different vaccines in use onboard any ship.

Different efficiency rates against various virus variations will require additional countermeasures for a while yet.

Mandatory daily salvia testing?  On a R ship, with 50% capacity,   that equals 340 passengers. Therefore, lining everyone up, and testing two (2) people per minute, it will take 2.8 hours of non stop testing. That means for cruisers to make their 8:00 am tours, mandatory  testing starts at 05:00 every morning! Double lines for the O ships! Yeah , Right! 😂

 

On a R ship, I fully assume I’ll come into close contact with 90% of the other cruisers within the first three days aboard . I will continue coming into contact with them through out the cruise. Don’t need an expensive monitoring bracelet to prove it.

 

 

Edited March 9, 2021 by pinotlover

[Tranquility Base]

11 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

 Therefore, lining everyone up, ....

No need, done in your room and collected later.

11 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

 

On a R ship, I fully assume I’ll come into close contact with 90% of the other cruisers within the first three days aboard . I will continue coming into contact with them through out the cruise. Don’t need an expensive monitoring bracelet to prove it.

 

Different criteria is used to differentiate close contacts as opposed to casual contacts.

 

[SargassoPirate]

19 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

I agree that they will want to be very cautious when first starting back up with international passengers as opposed to domestic passengers.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if initially the Gold standard includes daily onboard saliva testing as well as mandatory onboard electronic contact tracing.

If a case is detected onboard they will wanted to contact trace & isolate as quickly as possible in order to manage the situation and subsequent media focus.

 

There will probably be about 6 different vaccines in use onboard any ship.

Different efficiency rates against various virus variations will require additional countermeasures for a while yet.

 

 

Testing on board would be the belt and suspenders approach.  The easiest logistically would be for the cruise lines to require all crew and passengers to be vaccinated.  One has to meet other requirements to board, such as passport, visas, credit card, etc etc.  Just add proof of vaccination.

 

 

 

 

[Tranquility Base]

1 hour ago, SargassoPirate said:

Testing on board would be the belt and suspenders approach.  The easiest logistically would be for the cruise lines to require all crew and passengers to be vaccinated.

I agree, there is a very high chance vaccinations will be mandatory. 

EG: Royal Caribbean has announced this requirement for their Israel sailings starting in May.

I also agree this is the easiest approach.

Will some cruise lines initially have onboard testing at least available as an added layer of defence in the initial stages ? Some may well do so.

 

As always though, the cruiselines will follow the rules and procedures set out by the local authorities in the regions / countries they want to sail to.

 

 

 

 

[shank63]

1 hour ago, Tranquility Base said:

Will some cruise lines initially have onboard testing at least available as an added layer of defence in the initial stages ? Some may well do so.

 

 

 

 

 

Viking claims to have onboard testing and will require daily testing of all passengers and crew.  However, no statement of policy on vaccination requirement so far.  

[Tranquility Base]

33 minutes ago, shank63 said:

Viking claims to have onboard testing and will require daily testing of all passengers and crew.

From my reading whilst they are fitting the onboard testing facilities capable of testing everyone daily, they haven't announced as to whether it's planned to do daily testing.

Not sure I must admit.

 

However, if a country was to stipulate they want 2 days of test results before arriving in port they obviously need the capability .

As mentioned, because the cruiselines will be dealing with multiple countries with various levels of their own populations vaccinated, there may well be different requirements during one cruise.

 

We just don't know because it's up to each country to decide.

 

 

Edited March 10, 2021 by Tranquility Base

[Tranquility Base]

On 3/11/2021 at 2:06 AM, SargassoPirate said:

Just add proof of vaccination.

Qantas Airlines has commenced passenger trials on a vaccine passport digital system.

It is called CommonPass.

[Redtravel]

No response is making me nervous.  Just put a call into my TA.  Europe doesn't look very good for this summer. Lots of cabins empty and more each day on my booked cruise.  I can recognize that it is time to bail.  Time to be proactive and request an extension on my fcc. My fcc had a book by March 19, 2021 on it.  I don't even feel comfortable rebooking.  Has anyone asked for and received extensions on fcc?

[clo]

9 hours ago, Redtravel said:

No response is making me nervous.  Just put a call into my TA.  Europe doesn't look very good for this summer. Lots of cabins empty and more each day on my booked cruise.  I can recognize that it is time to bail.  Time to be proactive and request an extension on my fcc. My fcc had a book by March 19, 2021 on it.  I don't even feel comfortable rebooking.  Has anyone asked for and received extensions on fcc?

I assume you know that if they cancel then you can get a refund...assuming that you didn't use an FCC to book. On that, I don't know.

[Redtravel]

13 minutes ago, clo said:

I assume you know that if they cancel then you can get a refund...assuming that you didn't use an FCC to book. On that, I don't know.

Used fcc toward the deposit. we got it after that stuck at sea cruise last March.  We had asked for refund of port charges for all the missed ports that we didn’t visit.  Oceania wouldn’t refund the port charges. They issued some fcc.  At the time, nobody could’ve imagined that cruising would be stopped for so long.  We liked cruising and figured we would use the fcc. Now I’m wondering if we’ll ever cruise again.  We certainly won’t go on a cruise that is restricted to wearing masks, social distancing, mandatory ship excursions, covid testing, etc.  while some people are anxious to cruise with those restrictions, we will wait for safer times.  

[clo]

23 minutes ago, Redtravel said:

Used fcc toward the deposit. we got it after that stuck at sea cruise last March.  We had asked for refund of port charges for all the missed ports that we didn’t visit.  Oceania wouldn’t refund the port charges. They issued some fcc.  At the time, nobody could’ve imagined that cruising would be stopped for so long.  We liked cruising and figured we would use the fcc. Now I’m wondering if we’ll ever cruise again.  We certainly won’t go on a cruise that is restricted to wearing masks, social distancing, mandatory ship excursions, covid testing, etc.  while some people are anxious to cruise with those restrictions, we will wait for safer times.  

Honestly, I would go way up the ladder. I've emailed CEO or its equivalent and had successful results. Good luck.

[Tranquility Base]

58 minutes ago, Redtravel said:

At the time, nobody could’ve imagined that cruising would be stopped for so long.

I think you would be surprised  how many people were not surprised with this result.

[clo]

22 hours ago, Tranquility Base said:

I think you would be surprised  how many people were not surprised with this result.

Yup. I canceled a cruise almost a year ago and rebooked for 9/22. And I still wonder it it will be a go.

[Redtravel]

Canceled my August cruise. TA got Oceania to extend our fcc expiration date. Now I have time to just relax and worry about what Europe will be like this summer. The uncertainty was stressing me out.  Slept better after canceling.  Waiting to rebook until safe sailing resumes.  

[pandaTO]

Redtravel - what is your new FCC expiration date arranged by your TA? Book by date, as well as sail by date? We also sailed on that Sirena cruise to nowhere. Thanks you.

[Redtravel]

On 3/18/2021 at 9:49 AM, pandaTO said:

Redtravel - what is your new FCC expiration date arranged by your TA? Book by date, as well as sail by date? We also sailed on that Sirena cruise to nowhere. Thanks you.

Book by Dec. 31, 2021. Sail by Dec. 31, 2022

[pandaTO]

Thank you Redtravel. Most kind of you to share this information. We booked a 2022 sailing just before the FCC expiration date, but would like something later in 2022.