Recent email urging us to contact the "CLIA action center"

[OnTheJourney]

I disagree with what was proposed and so sent the following reply:

 

"As a loyal diamond-level customer of RCCL, I appeciate receiving this email. While I understand the sentiments expressed, I must admit to disagreeing with any sort of cruise restart as early as July and so unfortunately do not feel I can support the effort indicated. Given the number of virus cases surging in many parts of the US, along with the spread of covid variants, I do not feel it is the best time to restart cruising. I personally feel that the overall vaccination percentage, globally-speaking, needs to be considerably higher before the travel industry can safely begin to function again. I have a RCCL cruise booked for next year, and am more than content to wait until that time."

 

Hate to appear like a scrooge, but I just feel we're not quite there yet.  

 

[SingBill]

8 minutes ago, OnTheJourney said:

I disagree with what was proposed and so sent the following reply:

 

"As a loyal diamond-level customer of RCCL, I appeciate receiving this email. While I understand the sentiments expressed, I must admit to disagreeing with any sort of cruise restart as early as July and so unfortunately do not feel I can support the effort indicated. Given the number of virus cases surging in many parts of the US, along with the spread of covid variants, I do not feel it is the best time to restart cruising. I personally feel that the overall vaccination percentage, globally-speaking, needs to be considerably higher before the travel industry can safely begin to function again. I have a RCCL cruise booked for next year, and am more than content to wait until that time."

 

Hate to appear like a scrooge, but I just feel we're not quite there yet.  

 

You have a right to your opinion and this is well written 

[firefly333]

I deleted it. If they had said contact cdc I would have joined. Contacting my senator or congressman wouldnt move the cdc imo. 

 

I want cruises restarted, and disagree with op in that there will be a lead time to restart. Impossible to be immediate. Mock cruises, inspections and filings, cruises from a few ports after a few months is NOW. If they wait for later it means next year.

 

 

[Alakegirl]

Here is the letter in question
 



View this email in your browser > CALL US AT: 1-877-202-4344   http://image.email.celebritycruises.com/lib/fe741570746504797615/m/22/318ed049-603f-498e-8894-ac0ff8087a5e.png Dear xxxxxxxxx   Yesterday we extended the global suspension for most of our ships around the world through June. Unfortunately, this includes our United States (U.S.) homeports: Fort Lauderdale, Seattle, Cape Liberty (New Jersey), and other vital ports across the country. Right now, we are unable to sail from the U.S. due to the CDC’s Conditional Sail Order. Cruising remains the only sector of the economy that is prohibited by the U.S. Government from operating at this time.  Together with the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), we are petitioning U.S. policymakers and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to remove the Conditional Sail Order and allow cruising to resume along with other travel and hospitality industries. Over the past eight months, a highly-controlled resumption of cruising has taken place in Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific—with nearly 400,000 passengers sailing. Additional markets are scheduled to return in the spring and summer. It’s clear that as public health conditions have improved, our industry’s enhanced public health measures are working.  The cruise industry is a vital part of the travel and tourism economy. To date, over 300,000 jobs have been lost in the U.S. due to the suspension of cruises. The majority of those impacted are independent business owners or individuals employed by small- to medium-sized businesses. With the cruise industry supporting nearly 450,000 American jobs and contributing to over $55.5 billion annually, restarting cruises as part of the broader travel industry will provide a much-needed boost to our country’s economy.     TAKE ACTION: TELL CONGRESS TO HELP RESTART CRUISING Please visit the CLIA Action Center for easy-to-use tools to contact your elected officials in the House and Senate and ask them to make resumption of cruising an urgent priority and request that the Biden Administration lift the Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) by this July.  We believe we can – and must – be part of the country’s re-opening this summer, sailing from U.S. ports in July. Vaccines are a game-changer and together with our robust, proven protocols allow us to operate with a high level of confidence in our ability to return to sailing safely.  As a loyal guest of Celebrity, we know you are eager to sail again aboard our beautiful ships. Thank you to those who have already booked your next exciting journey with us.   We can’t wait to welcome you aboard.   #ReadySetSail #CELEBRITYCRUISES MANAGE PREFERENCES | FORWARD TO A FRIEND | UNSUBSCRIBE     ©2021 Celebrity Cruises Inc. Ships' registry: Malta and Ecuador.   If you wish to change your preferences or opt to be excluded from future commercial e-mails from  Celebrity Cruises, click here or visit: Celebrity.com.  We hope you enjoyed this e-mail from:  Celebrity Cruises Inc.  1050 Caribbean Way  Miami, FL 33132  www.celebritycruises.com  Privacy Policy

[Redtravel]

This is WRONG.  I will seek other vacation options.  

[yogimax]

The decision to restart cruising should not be made by politicians.  It has to be based on science and medicine.

Edited April 9, 2021 by yogimax

[RobInMN]

53 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I deleted it. If they had said contact cdc I would have joined. Contacting my senator or congressman wouldnt move the cdc imo. 

 

 

6 minutes ago, Redtravel said:

This is WRONG.  I will seek other vacation options.  

CLIA: "Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) is the world's largest cruise industry trade association..."

One of their primary functions is Advocacy:

https://cruising.org/en/about-the-industry/policy-priorities/Advocacy

"...coordinate the collaborative work of CLIA Cruise Lines on key maritime policy and legislative matters that impact the cruise industry..."

Essentially "lobbying"

 

As such, this is their job.

 

[Redtravel]

CDC says no cruises in United States.  They are protecting Americans. Lobbying to sail on a cruise is open from other countries. However, if you check most of those countries are Level red warning. Do not visit.  CDC cannot protect those people who leave on their own accord. I will stay home.

[orville99]

One of the major benefits of living in a free republic is that everyone has a right to their opinion and the absolute right to express it without rebuke. To quote Evelyn Beatrice Hall, “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it.” 

[RobInMN]

1 minute ago, Redtravel said:

CDC says no cruises in United States.  They are protecting Americans. Lobbying to sail on a cruise is open from other countries. However, if you check most of those countries are Level red warning. Do not visit.  CDC cannot protect those people who leave on their own accord. I will stay home.

Then stay home. 100,000's of people have signed up as volunteers for test cruises. It's not for everyone, but the CDC should not be preventing an entire industry from moving forward and proving that it can operate safely. There are so many other threads on this. They have allowed every other industry in the county to resume business, many at or near pre-COVID operations. The last airline is removing the center seat block and planes will be just as packed as pre-COVID. 

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

If they wait for later it means next year.

 

 

I have no problem waiting to next year. Been 13 months so far what's another 8 months.

[yogimax]

46 minutes ago, RobInMN said:

planes will be just as packed as pre-COVID. 

I doubt it.  Do you have any proof of your claim?

[Emelda1967]

I’ve never understood how people are willing to kill themselves or others (or worse have chronic post disease issues) because of they think they have the right to do so. You have the right to not get vaccinated but you don’t have the right to jeopardize someone else’s health. If you don’t want to get vaccinated, stay home a little longer...The latest survey indicated that most people would definitely cruise if everyone was vaccinated.

 

Airplanes have HEPA filtration air systems that are efficient in deactivating most viruses and bacteria. Most cruise ships do not. And you don’t remain on a plane for 3 nights.

 

The CLIA letter is supporting the restart of cruising from U.S. ports without appropriate safeguards in place. They can resume cruising in other countries because theIr disease rate is much lower than the United States and they have appropriate restrictions in place. So there is less risk of COVID departing from other countries than leaving from here. Comparing those countries to the United States is almost ludicrous.

 

The CDC is not going to change their requirements just because of CLIA or any other entity; the United States has the highest number of cases, 31,000,000 and deaths (560,000) in the entire world. This is a shame and an embarrassment because the U.S. has the best medical resources in the world. But unfortunately, the past administration minimized the disease and the risks and therefore did not do what was needed to control the disease here.  (I know because it was my job, before I retired at the end of 2019 from the federal government, to keep diseases that affect animals and humans out of the U.S.)

 

Norwegian was planning to request the CDC to accept cruises with “fully vaccinated” adult passengers with negative testing for 16-yo children and under along with other safety procedures to speed up the process of allowing cruises from Florida and other states; which probably would have worked, especially if other countries were successful.

 

CLIA should be urging the states to support “fully vaccinated” cruises for now, and getting these governors from FL (my home state) and TX to reverse their executive orders banning businesses from requiring proof of vaccination in order to provide services. I am constantly amazed how these two continue to shoot their constituents and their economy in the foot by their thoughtless actions. And by people who support those actions. Cruise lines are busy moving their business to other countries, their economies will grow. The states that do support fully vaccinated will have cruises long before FL and TX. 

 

The requirement for vaccination wouldn’t even last that long, probably a year or less. It would give time for the pandemic to slow down and also give those of us who are vaccinated a chance to sail and use up some of those future cruise credits (12 cancelled cruises and counting.) 

[RobInMN]

11 minutes ago, yogimax said:

I doubt it.  Do you have any proof of your claim?

Delta is the last carrier to block the center seat. They are removing that block soon. There is no talk of any social distancing on aircraft. So yes, while their may be less flights, those flights that do exist can have every seat booked. Therefor just as packed as pre-COVID. The airlines will pack the planes full before adding additional flights.

[Shorewalk Holmes]

14 minutes ago, Emelda1967 said:

CLIA should be urging the states to support “fully vaccinated” cruises for now, and getting these governors from FL (my home state) and TX to reverse their executive orders banning businesses from requiring proof of vaccination in order to provide services.

 

If most cruisers are more comfortable with vaccine-required cruises, then this may be the right approach for the CLIA to take.  I can only speak for myself, but I was willing to book the Adventure this summer only because of the vaccine requirement (for adults).  Perhaps others feel the same way.

[neverbeenhere]

I always thought of myself as the expert at every subject 😄, but Covid has brought out many expounding their expertise. I appreciate the grand knowledge.

 

Like any business, encouraging your patrons to express an opinion to people of influence is smart business.

 

 

 

 

 

Stay on the bus, forget about us, put the blame on me.  Cruise on!

[Sunshine3601]

IMO the CDC is not going to change their mind on the CSO until covid cases decline.   

 

Right now, cases continue to climb back up in some states due the variants, everything being re-opened (which they should be) and the fact people are just plain tired of whole situation.      Where I live in PA, everything has been re-opened since last June.   We only had 3 or 4 weeks in December/January when some businesses (mostly bars and restaurants) were cut back due to the high surge then.     In the last couple of weeks we have been seeing a slow increase of cases but businesses are "back to normal" (as they should be).     As more people are fully vaccinated the cases will decline.    IMO, once the CDC sees the cases are down and staying down then they will work with the cruise lines.   

 

If RD is going to say the cruise lines operating out of FL cannot enforce all passengers and crew be vaccinated, he may be hurting businesses more than helping them. 

 

I believe the only way for the CDC to grant permission for cruise ships to sail is to say okay to their requirement of everyone being vaccinated.     

 

We are fully vaccinated and ready to get on a ship.    My next one booked is Bermuda Aug '21.

[grandgeezer]

1 hour ago, RobInMN said:

Then stay home. 100,000's of people have signed up as volunteers for test cruises. It's not for everyone, but the CDC should not be preventing an entire industry from moving forward and proving that it can operate safely. There are so many other threads on this. They have allowed every other industry in the county to resume business, many at or near pre-COVID operations. The last airline is removing the center seat block and planes will be just as packed as pre-COVID. 

The last I heard, there was over 250,000 people who signed up, as volunteers, for the test cruise. Why? because it was free. Celebrity has six cruises scheduled for the Caribbean, leaving from St. Maarten, starting in June, and as of 10 minutes ago, non of them were very close to be sold out. Why?, because people have to pay for them. Talk is cheap, action is entirely something else.

[yogimax]

59 minutes ago, Emelda1967 said:

I’ve never understood how people are willing to kill themselves or others (or worse have chronic post disease issues) because of they think they have the right to do so. You have the right to not get vaccinated but you don’t have the right to jeopardize someone else’s health. If you don’t want to get vaccinated, stay home a little longer...The latest survey indicated that most people would definitely cruise if everyone was vaccinated.

 

Airplanes have HEPA filtration air systems that are efficient in deactivating most viruses and bacteria. Most cruise ships do not. And you don’t remain on a plane for 3 nights.

 

The CLIA letter is supporting the restart of cruising from U.S. ports without appropriate safeguards in place. They can resume cruising in other countries because theIr disease rate is much lower than the United States and they have appropriate restrictions in place. So there is less risk of COVID departing from other countries than leaving from here. Comparing those countries to the United States is almost ludicrous.

 

The CDC is not going to change their requirements just because of CLIA or any other entity; the United States has the highest number of cases, 31,000,000 and deaths (560,000) in the entire world. This is a shame and an embarrassment because the U.S. has the best medical resources in the world. But unfortunately, the past administration minimized the disease and the risks and therefore did not do what was needed to control the disease here.  (I know because it was my job, before I retired at the end of 2019 from the federal government, to keep diseases that affect animals and humans out of the U.S.)

 

Norwegian was planning to request the CDC to accept cruises with “fully vaccinated” adult passengers with negative testing for 16-yo children and under along with other safety procedures to speed up the process of allowing cruises from Florida and other states; which probably would have worked, especially if other countries were successful.

 

CLIA should be urging the states to support “fully vaccinated” cruises for now, and getting these governors from FL (my home state) and TX to reverse their executive orders banning businesses from requiring proof of vaccination in order to provide services. I am constantly amazed how these two continue to shoot their constituents and their economy in the foot by their thoughtless actions. And by people who support those actions. Cruise lines are busy moving their business to other countries, their economies will grow. The states that do support fully vaccinated will have cruises long before FL and TX. 

 

The requirement for vaccination wouldn’t even last that long, probably a year or less. It would give time for the pandemic to slow down and also give those of us who are vaccinated a chance to sail and use up some of those future cruise credits (12 cancelled cruises and counting.) 

Welcome to Cruise Critic.  Excellent, well thought out post!

[Tippyton]

1 hour ago, yogimax said:

I doubt it.  Do you have any proof of your claim?

I've flown 20 times since July.  Mid summer was dead.  Every plane since before Thanksgiving has been packed (American Airlines).

[NavArch64]

I thought that the email to the RCCL Crown and Anchor mailing list was a bit self-serving for RCCL. While I would like to safely go to sea again, I would also like the CDC CSO process to play itself out.  Asking me to engage in a political process to "force" the CDC to back down is not something that I can currently support. I have faith in Rochelle Walensky to do the right thing. 

[not-enough-cruising]

1 hour ago, yogimax said:

I doubt it.  Do you have any proof of your claim?

Have flown twice monthly since November, granted there are fewer flights, but each individual plane I was on was shoulder to shoulder 

[voyager70]

9 minutes ago, Tippyton said:

I've flown 20 times since July.  Mid summer was dead.  Every plane since before Thanksgiving has been packed (American Airlines).

 

I've flown multiple times since the pandemic started and flying again next week to Florida for a land vacation.  Planes have been close to full capacity.  No worries for me.  We take the necessary precautions.  Not going to stop living, albeit cautiously.  Will be vaccinated as soon as we are called.

 

[firefly333]

On the topic of flying, there was someone on a station I watch that rental cars in florida are sold out at every florida airport. Plan ahead if you need a car. Snow birds didnt go home says another episode, people working from home are in florida and told to stay there, dont come back to work yet.

 

Hotel prices are still rising. Typically after Easter demand should be dropping.

 

What other facts do people want to show flights have picked up. 

[Tree_skier]

I sent the email clia requested.  I doubt it will do much good being sent to the worthless politicians that it is being sent to but you can always hope.  With regards to flying... I'm heading to the airport in an hour and half.  I'll let you know how full my plane is and what seats are marked off.

 

The idea that cruising can't restart with reduced capacities and a fully vaccinated ship is preposterous.  While cruising is a more extended period of time compared to flying, flying is a far more concentrated congregate setting.  The malls are packed, restaurants are operating and all sorts of activities are being engaged in safely.  To suggest that cruising can't do the same isn't reasonable.

Edited April 9, 2021 by Tree_skier