vaccine required?

[K.T.B.]

16 hours ago, nbsjcruiser said:

This is certainly a complication I hadn't thought of. OP, perhaps you may not be allergic to these new mRNA vaccines. I hope that's the case so please investigate before you give up. 

 

This issue does highlight the worry I have about cruising. Once I get vaccinated, I'm confident that I'll be safe from serious illness if somehow I manage to contact the virus but if I'm on a cruise ship and there are others on board who didnt get vaccinated, either by choice or like OP here, what happens when the inevitable happens and there's a breakout? If the cruise lines are going to allow non-vaccinated people on board, they're also going to need to have a plan that is going to allow them to dock in their home port at a moments notice and disembark the ship. Without a plan like that, I cant put myself in a position to be floating around aimlessly for weeks while people on board are seriously ill or worse while the rest of the passengers are confined to their rooms.

 

I had a severe reaction to a flu shot many years ago. I've been reluctant to try again.  I asked my doctor if I could safely take any of the Covid vaccines. She let me know that I should have absolutely no issues in taking either of the current mRNA vaccines.  So people with allergies to certain types of vaccines can definitely get a Covid vaccine, there will be 3-4 types eventually.

[nbsjcruiser]

22 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

There are medical exemptions for other vaccines due to contraindications.  If someone has a medical condition such that a medical doctor advises no vaccine, then I am thinking such an exemption letter will suffice, similar to an exemption for Yellow Fever.  I may be wrong, but anything we write here is a conjecture at this time.

You may be right but you know people will take advantage of this. In a late February survey, over 30% of Americans say they will not get a vaccine. I'm sure that many of those people who want to cruise will find a doctor somewhere that will sign a piece of paper exempting them from vaccination. If you get enough of them on a ship and there's a breakout, it will be a PR disaster as every news organization follows that ship around, takes phone calls from passengers on board who are confined to their room while interviewing every expert they can find about the health dangers of cruising. And if that ship cant get into port to offload their passengers - ugh. All this to say I dont think the cruise lines will allow themselves to go back to normal and allow the non-vaccinated on board. Its just too risky. Not yet. Maybe in 2-3 years but not right away.

[nbsjcruiser]

22 hours ago, franktown said:

I always get a bad reaction from the yearly flu shot.  Was very hesitant to get the Covid vaccine and finally decided that would rather have the reaction to the vaccine then get covid.  Much to my surprise I had very mild reaction Moderna vaccine.  Sore arm and felt kind of tired the second day.  Same reaction on the second shot.

Awesome. Maybe good news for others in your position.

[medsed]

23 hours ago, franktown said:

I always get a bad reaction from the yearly flu shot.  Was very hesitant to get the Covid vaccine and finally decided that would rather have the reaction to the vaccine then get covid.  Much to my surprise I had very mild reaction Moderna vaccine.  Sore arm and felt kind of tired the second day.  Same reaction on the second shot.

I cannot get a flu shot because I turn into one gigantic walking red welt and itch and wheeze for months...going to get my second Pfizer shot today..first one lead to a sore arm, fatigue and a headache for a day.  I can deal with that if it gets me back to some sort of normal, especially given that I am a high risk patient for other issues.  Everyone needs to consult their physician before making the decision.  If I could not be vaccinated I wouldn’t even consider cruising any time in the next year, maybe longer...which would totally stink!

[dog]

13 hours ago, Lucky TGO said:

This is just me. If all the crew isn’t vaccinated I’m Not Going. 
Tony

Same. 

[Esprit]

Whether the crew are vaccinated or not, I’ll be happy to cruise and adhere to any protocols the cruise line implements, regardless of the fact I’ll have had my second jab by this June.

[delliemd]

20 hours ago, sugcarol said:

There is no way i will cruise unless all passengers are vaccinated. While i feel for the unvaccinated passengers, i wont risk the chance of Covid affecting my cruise ship. They need to be excluded from being allowed on a ship until they determine there is little risk at least in the short term. I love dogs but am allergic, so i cant visit some of my friends in their homes. That is my reality and i accept that. Covid is much worse than an animal allergy, unvaccinated people should not even expect to be allowed to cruise, that is the height of selfishness. 

Feb.2020 I got influenza A on my cruise & stayed in cabin 4 days I was so ill I had to go straight to emergency room in FT.Lauderdale.I have had covid & it was not as bad as the flu.So you could easily get the flu or something else on board.

[dog]

I rather see everyone adhering to the same requirements so there is less chance of ship being turned away from ports as they were a year ago  I’m not in a hurry to get on a ship or atleast a year from now 

[Scotmay]

My hubby and I are booked on the Enchanted in late November, but reluctantly will not sail if everyone, including the crew, have not been inoculated.  We both have other health problems and don’t want to be compromised. 

[maggie777]

1 hour ago, Scotmay said:

My hubby and I are booked on the Enchanted in late November, but reluctantly will not sail if everyone, including the crew, have not been inoculated.  We both have other health problems and don’t want to be compromised. 

We are also booked on the Enchanted Oct/Nov. We have received Moderna x2 but will not sail this year if all passengers and crew are not vaccinated.

[deliver42]

Maggie777. I agree completely. We have both been vaccinated, and want to sail with other people vaccinated. I know the vaccines aren't 100%, but at 90 to 95%, I'd feel pretty good about cruising.

[brisalta]

9 hours ago, medsed said:

I cannot get a flu shot because I turn into one gigantic walking red welt and itch and wheeze for months...going to get my second Pfizer shot today..first one lead to a sore arm, fatigue and a headache for a day.  I can deal with that if it gets me back to some sort of normal, especially given that I am a high risk patient for other issues.  Everyone needs to consult their physician before making the decision.  If I could not be vaccinated I wouldn’t even consider cruising any time in the next year, maybe longer...which would totally stink!

 

When was the last time you had an influenza inoculation?  The reason I ask is because the way they are created is different now a days.

[medsed]

I had one this past year although prior to this it had been probably seven years I was on a prescription antihistamine  for three weeks afterward.  I didn’t wheeze a lot this time.    I am also currently on a medication the suppresses my immune system some.    The welt was only on my shoulder and upper back...a big improvement.   Lol..if you don’t laugh at these things you will be miserable so I just laugh away.   The doc only tried it this time around because with covid he wanted to keep his patients out of places like hospitals and urgent cares and he consulted a specialist before we did it.  They have concluded that I am not a candidate once more. I have reactions to most vaccines. Still try to get them all. A few days of reaction is worth it not to get covid, or lockjaw, or whooping cough, etc.........(FWIW I am also allergic to mosquitoes, fleas, ticks (it wasn’t Lyme disease it was an allergic reaction), lady bugs, bees 2asps, hornets, spiders, chiggers, and many medications. I’m interesting, or so they tell me............)

[caribill]

17 hours ago, nbsjcruiser said:

 In a late February survey, over 30% of Americans say they will not get a vaccine. I'm sure that many of those people who want to cruise will find a doctor somewhere that will sign a piece of paper exempting them from vaccination. If you get enough of them on a ship and there's a breakout, it will be a PR disaster as every news organization follows that ship around, takes phone calls from passengers on board who are confined to their room while interviewing every expert they can find about the health dangers of cruising. And if that ship cant get into port to offload their passengers - ugh. All this to say I dont think the cruise lines will allow themselves to go back to normal and allow the non-vaccinated on board.

 

If the itinerary includes a USA port, the CDC edict says that the cruise line must make arrangements in advance with ports that will accept Covid-19 patients from the ships.

[Daniel A]

6 hours ago, caribill said:

 

If the itinerary includes a USA port, the CDC edict says that the cruise line must make arrangements in advance with ports that will accept Covid-19 patients from the ships.

I remember reading that in the framework.  How does the CDC expect small ports like Grand Turk and similar size ports to promise to take unknown numbers of ill passengers?  This requirement is just one more regulation that is strangling the cruise ship industry.  I thought that was an unrealistic expectation from the start.  Hopefully the current advances in prevention and treatment of Covid-19 will factor in to a relaxation of some of these requirements.

[Ride-The-Waves]

6 hours ago, Daniel A said:

I remember reading that in the framework.  How does the CDC expect small ports like Grand Turk and similar size ports to promise to take unknown numbers of ill passengers?  This requirement is just one more regulation that is strangling the cruise ship industry.  I thought that was an unrealistic expectation from the start.  Hopefully the current advances in prevention and treatment of Covid-19 will factor in to a relaxation of some of these requirements.

It doesn't.  Not sure why you extrapolated a requirement for a port to be able to repatriate COVID-19 patients into all ports.  Selected ports, to include those like Port Everglades and selected Caribbean ports, will need to be certified to take COVID-19 patents off ships and quarantine them before further transfer.  That is unrealistic.

[Roger88]

The European Commission will announce new regulations regarding Covid passports in May. I doubt that they will issue such a measure with all those Covid passports.. but we have to be ready I guess 

[caribill]

35 minutes ago, Roger88 said:

The European Commission will announce new regulations regarding Covid passports in May. I doubt that they will issue such a measure with all those Covid passports.. but we have to be ready I guess 

 

I suspect the regulations will be about the standards for Covid passports, not requirements for when they can or should be used.

[Ride-The-Waves]

Good discussion.  However of concern is that cruise line are reticent about releasing internal information, especially health and security information, to the cruising public.  Of concern is whether we can trust, and who will certify, that what the cruise lines are telling us about vaccinated crew is truthful.  We saw how that obfuscated information a year ago over the numbers of case on board ships, conditions on board and release/transferring sick passengers to ashore facilities.  Those of us will have further bookings really need some way to insure everything is being done for our safety on board.  The major cruise lines have so far not provided the US CDC or similar equivalent governmental organizations in other countries with anything close to safety and health protocols for crew and passengers and how those protocols will be managed on board.

[nocl]

2 hours ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

Good discussion.  However of concern is that cruise line are reticent about releasing internal information, especially health and security information, to the cruising public.  Of concern is whether we can trust, and who will certify, that what the cruise lines are telling us about vaccinated crew is truthful.  We saw how that obfuscated information a year ago over the numbers of case on board ships, conditions on board and release/transferring sick passengers to ashore facilities.  Those of us will have further bookings really need some way to insure everything is being done for our safety on board.  The major cruise lines have so far not provided the US CDC or similar equivalent governmental organizations in other countries with anything close to safety and health protocols for crew and passengers and how those protocols will be managed on board.

I would have to disagree when it comes to other countries.

 

I would suspect that before Germany approved the short cruises from their ports, Italy did the same with MSC, that their national health authorities did pretty serious looks at the health protocols and made sure that they met the EU standards which were published last year.

[Potstech]

How can anybody accurately determine if ALL crew members have been vaccinated?  There is no way any passenger can guarantee that.  All they can go by is what the cruise line says. 

[memoak]

18 hours ago, nocl said:

I would have to disagree when it comes to other countries.

 

I would suspect that before Germany approved the short cruises from their ports, Italy did the same with MSC, that their national health authorities did pretty serious looks at the health protocols and made sure that they met the EU standards which were published last year.

Now that Italy is having another wave and lock down I assume they would change any cruises that had been scheduled 

[Esprit]

14 minutes ago, memoak said:

Now that Italy is having another wave and lock down I assume they would change any cruises that had been scheduled 

It's just for shops, restaurants and schools at the moment until Easter. Then there will be a total lockdown for three days over the Easter holiday.

[nocl]

4 hours ago, memoak said:

Now that Italy is having another wave and lock down I assume they would change any cruises that had been scheduled 

One would expect so.

[delliemd]

On 3/13/2021 at 4:48 PM, deliver42 said:

Maggie777. I agree completely. We have both been vaccinated, and want to sail with other people vaccinated. I know the vaccines aren't 100%, but at 90 to 95%, I'd feel pretty good about cruising.

How can you be sure while you are off the ship you  won't be infected by someone?