100,000 passengers and only 10 cases...without vaccines

[Ourusualbeach]

4 minutes ago, OACAggie said:

Not sure if this was touched on in one of the other threads, but any mention of the bracelets for contact tracing on the Bahamas cruises?

I didn’t hear anything.  Maybe  news this week with the rest of the on board protocols they are supposed to release...well Celebrity stated they would release theirs, hopefully Royal will do the same. 

[ReneeFLL]

6 hours ago, Yorkvillain said:

That’s the date that Cruise Critic will be launching their “Ace-free in 2023” campaign.  

Do you really think we will last that long? I doubt it. 😆

[FamilyCruiserUK]

Good news that sows that cruising can be safe however has to be taken into context.

 

No-one is flying into the country to join these cruises. 

Country has had success at slowing down covid spread and limited infections

Testing before and after cruise i think

 

So what can we learn from it. And what will speed up a return to semi normal cruising.

 

I think we are looking at 100% vaccinated cruises, due to amount of people not getting the vaccine. 

Testing before boarding

Social distance will be a natural occurrence to start with.

Masks will be optional (Except for checking in/boarding)

No stops (dependant on the country visiting and covid rates)

Cruises to no-where, except private islands. (P&O and others starting this year and be good to see how that goes)

 

The vaccines do stop serious illness however there is little data on spread or carry of the virus at the mo. 

 

The industry needs to get going and show that they can operate safe and have good procedures in place that can be relaxed as we progress in defeating the virus. 

[Biker19]

21 minutes ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

No-one is flying into the country to join these cruises. 

A good chunk of the cruise numbers mentioned are likely from Tui, who have folks fly to Greece (last year) and Canaries (now).

[FamilyCruiserUK]

6 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

A good chunk of the cruise numbers mentioned are likely from Tui, who have folks fly to Greece (last year) and Canaries (now).

I assumed that the data is from Singapore and was referring to RCL cruises only.

[Biker19]

23 minutes ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

I assumed that the data is from Singapore and was referring to RCL cruises only.

Fain is in charge of the whole RCG group and the info he's talking about usually refers to all lines within the group. It is possible the 100K is from Quantum only, I haven't seen the customer numbers per line.  I don't recall any COVID cases on Quantum (there were some on Tui), hence my assumption he's talking about all lines.

 

When RCCL submits its quarterly report to the SEC next month, the customers carried should be obvious.

Edited March 22, 2021 by Biker19

[Ourusualbeach]

39 minutes ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

I assumed that the data is from Singapore and was referring to RCL cruises only.

The quote from the first post indicates that the numbers are from Royal Caribbean Group which includes more than just the Quantum out of Singapore. 
 

in the first 30 seconds of the video Fain also states that it was 100,000 guests over 150 cruises.  That is more than just Quantum.

Edited March 22, 2021 by Ourusualbeach

[Ocean Boy]

13 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Typical of your posts.  Second hand information and guessing.

You forgot fabrication.

[Ocean Boy]

10 hours ago, coffeebean said:

 

 

The above comparison does not take into consideration how many of those fully vaccinated people on the cruise ship will disembark and mingle with un-vaccinated people while in port. That is when it gets difficult to assess the outcome.

Why? As long as they are coming back to a fully vaccinated ship it shouldn't really matter.

[ace2542]

11 hours ago, coffeebean said:

IMHO, there is no comparison to a "bubble" of fully vaccinated passengers on a cruise ship and an island of 100,000 people who have not all been vaccinated. That is like comparing apples to oranges.

 

The above comparison does not take into consideration how many of those fully vaccinated people on the cruise ship will disembark and mingle with un-vaccinated people while in port. That is when it gets difficult to assess the outcome.

I thought no passenger on these sailings had been vaccinated? The Isle of Man had done very well but saw a surge when schools and after school facilities opened up. 

[ace2542]

4 hours ago, FamilyCruiserUK said:

I think we are looking at 100% vaccinated cruises, due to amount of people not getting the vaccine. 

Testing before boarding

Social distance will be a natural occurrence to start with.

Masks will be optional (Except for checking in/boarding)

No stops (dependant on the country visiting and covid rates)

Cruises to no-where, except private islands. (P&O and others starting this year and be good to see how that goes)

You are assuming they will have enough testing capacity. And no testing at the mid cruise point or before disembarkation? And if as you say masks at boarding/check in then why not also at disembarkation and muster drill and also maybe during excursion time. And what about the tender process to these private island who have not built docking facilities? Won't masks be need during the tender process.

[coffeebean]

3 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Why? As long as they are coming back to a fully vaccinated ship it shouldn't really matter.

It could matter if vaccinated people are exposed to Covid when on shore. There may be more positive tests to deal with although there won't be really sick passengers. Does that make any sense at all????

[ArthurUSCG]

18 hours ago, PCHENG said:

I suppose this data is from Singapore since that is the only place Royal is sailing at this time.  

 

I wouldn't read too much into this data.  Singapore only has 60k Covid cases which is about 1 percent of population (and most of these cases are found in migrant workers who stay in crowded dormitories and doesn't interact with the general public).  USA on the other hand has almost 30 million cases or almost 9 percent of the population,  When there are few infections in the general population, it is only natural that you have few cases on the ship.

 

I am more curious about the upcoming Odyssey of the Seas cruise out of Israel, since Israel has about 827k Covid cases out of a population of 9 million, and the ratio of infection is pretty comparable to that of USA.  

Yeah, I don't think people saying, "look they can cruise we should as well" realize that it would require a Singapore level of "Circuit Breaking" lock down to get the USA infection rate low enough.

[Ocean Boy]

1 hour ago, coffeebean said:

It could matter if vaccinated people are exposed to Covid when on shore. There may be more positive tests to deal with although there won't be really sick passengers. Does that make any sense at all????

Makes sense. That is certainly a concern if they will be testing asymptomatic vaccinated people at the end of the cruise. I have no idea what the response would be to any positive tests.

[Pizzasteve]

9 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Makes sense. That is certainly a concern if they will be testing asymptomatic vaccinated people at the end of the cruise. I have no idea what the response would be to any positive tests.

I think the goal would be to understand how frequently and whether fully vaccinated cruisers would possibly pick up new varients overseas or from crew, which could then lead to more global spread of varients in a home community upon a return.  Modeling this by gathering end of cruise data on the results of this test would be good information.  All negatives great news for ramping up restarts.  If we had some positives, this is good data for tracing and addressing possible spread causing vectors like shore, crew, shows, dining etc., based on tracing of activities (bracelets in test cruises?).  Its good data to have and could support or hurt restart goals, depending on the outcome.

 

I would highly support frequent testing and capture/sharing of results in initial test cruises

Edited March 22, 2021 by Pizzasteve

[Milwaukee Eight]

9 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Makes sense. That is certainly a concern if they will be testing asymptomatic vaccinated people at the end of the cruise. I have no idea what the response would be to any positive tests.

Would a viral load not significant enough to infect others give a positive test?

 

M8

[Yorkvillain]

6 minutes ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Would a viral load not significant enough to infect others give a positive test?

 

M8

Whenever my next cruise is - my first trivia team name is definitely going to be “viral load”. 
 

 

[Ocean Boy]

1 minute ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Would a viral load not significant enough to infect others give a positive test?

 

M8

They could.  PCR's can be quite sensitive. I don't know what viral level would trigger a positive rapid test like a Binax.

[Milwaukee Eight]

1 minute ago, Ocean Boy said:

They could.  PCR's can be quite sensitive. I don't know what viral level would trigger a positive rapid test like a Binax.

Interesting. That throws all kinds of monkey wrenches into the equation. 
 

M8

[steamboats]

Some facts...

 

Those 100 K passengers are not just only of the Quantum of the Seas in Singapore but also TUI Cruises which started out with the first cruises out of Hamburg, Germany, in late July 2020. Cruises out of Kiel followed. Then Mein Schiff 6 did cruises out of Crete, Greece. Currently Mein Schiff 1 and 2 are cruising the Canary Islands. This number also includes Hapag-Lloyd cruises which started in Hamburg as well. Currently there´s no Hapag-Lloyd ship running as they pause in March. But by the end of the week MS Europa 2 resumes the Canary Island cruises.

 

And yes, of course, this did include flights to Greece or the Canary Islands.

 

Recently in early February 4 cases where reported on Mein Schiff 2. By the end of February 3 more cases were found (including 1 crew member). All have been isolated and quarantined on land including roughly 20 first grade contacts (boths "outbreaks" each).

 

How did they find those cases? For quite a time Spain was regarded as high risk country in Germany. Therefore you had to have a test for flying back home to Germany. They did perform Antigen tests onboard for the flights back home. Of course all cases were retested with PCR tests and confirmed. A couple of weeks ago German health authorities downgraded Spain to just a "risk country". Therefore you don´t need a test anymore for flying back home but have to be tested within 48 hours after arrival. TUI Cruises stopped the onboard Antigen tests.

 

Everyone onboard needs a PCR tests not older than 72 hours. That´s not just a requirement by TUI Cruises but also by Spain.

 

As for TUI Cruises you can only get to the ship on a full charter flight (and also back home). So all onboard the flight are passengers.

 

Where do I get "my" facts... I am German. I have cruised with TUI Cruises in Greece in October 2020. I have cruised with Hapag-Lloyd in December 2020 (Canary Islands).

 

steamboats

[steamboats]

Here are two press releases by TUI Cruises covering the two incidents in February (first one  and second one). Both are in German of course. The first one is speaking of 60,000 passengers and the second one of 70,000 passengers. Add those of Hapag-Lloyd and the Quantum of the Seas and you come up with 100,000 passengers.

 

BTW, no vaccinated guests onboard TUI Cruises. We still vaccinate the age group 80+ here in Germany and health care workers.

 

steamboats

[smokeybandit]

So the onboard tests weren't people complaining of symptoms during the cruise, but just found in the routine post-cruise screening?

[steamboats]

13 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

So the onboard tests weren't people complaining of symptoms during the cruise, but just found in the routine post-cruise screening?

 

Exactly, but not quite "post-cruise" but "end of cruise" tests (two days prior to departure).

 

steamboats

[Sail n Snow]

22 hours ago, ace2542 said:

I am sorry I do not believe the figures. Not if no one is vaccinated. Aren't these cruises on Quantum very light on the masking side? Like no masks in the theatre/270 lounge once seated? No mask once seated at the bar, no mask by the pool or in the gym? Mask on for walking around only in the hallways?

No incorrect for Quantum.  Masks are needed at all times except eating/drinking and pool/exercising and is enforced due to Singapore regulations.  With that being said Singapore essentially hasn’t had a community break out in over 4 months.  There have been a few cases that mostly are traced to the Maritime Sector or Airport. 
 

Also for the first 4 1/2 months a fast swab was required upon disembarkation along with the  PCR test that is done 48-72 hours prior to boarding. 

Edited March 23, 2021 by Sail n Snow

[John&LaLa]

23 hours ago, ace2542 said:

I am sorry I do not believe the figures. Not if no one is vaccinated. Aren't these cruises on Quantum very light on the masking side? Like no masks in the theatre/270 lounge once seated? No mask once seated at the bar, no mask by the pool or in the gym? Mask on for walking around only in the hallways?

 

I get it now, you own stock or work for a mask company.😷