Flying to Caribbean instead of Sailing there?

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

It is the silliest thing thus far, having to fly to a Caribbean island for a seven day cruise in the Caribbean. Instead of sailing out of Florida, we are being forced by the CDC to fly out of the US to sail in the Caribbean. We are US citizens, fully vaccinated, and need to endure flying for the same cruises we would normally sail out of a Florida, Texas, New York or California port. We are the same people that would cruise out of these ports. And, remember we will return to the US, by air, when the cruise is completed. 
Enough is enough! Hundreds of thousands of cruise related workers cannot earn an honest living because of the CDC. There are many safety procedures being proposed. The CDC must have an honest conversation with the cruise lines. 
It’s time to open the ports in the US for cruise ships!

sheila and Herb

[cruiseluv]

Hi Sheila! Yep!! Can you believe this insanity?? Why does the CDC have this kind of power?

Right now I’m on a plane, packed like sardines! Guess the CDC has no problem with that. “Science “!

[mrlevin]

My first cruise was Montego Bay round trip.  My second cruise left from San Juan;  there is a lot to be said from starting a Caribbean cruise from the Caribbean; you don't have those three sea days.  Regent used to use San Juan as home port; yes the flights were a pain but it was nice to start from the Caribbean.

[mrstanley]

The Port of Miami is the busiest cruise port in the world. Millions have been spent to develop it. Millions of dollars will be lost by people flying elsewhere to embark. The hotels and restaurants in Miami benefit from these cruise passengers. It will be a real shame for any cruise line to suspend departures from any of the USA ports.

Enough from the CDC already!!!

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

2 hours ago, cruiseluv said:

Hi Sheila! Yep!! Can you believe this insanity?? Why does the CDC have this kind of power?

Right now I’m on a plane, packed like sardines! Guess the CDC has no problem with that. “Science “!

This is the definition of insanity...the CDC allows flights to be completely full, crowded airports, no vaccine requirements and flight delays during incumbent weather. 
But the CDC will not allow ships, offering safety, social distancing and security..including limiting guests to those who are fully vaccinated. 
What’s wrong with this picture?

 

sheila and Herb

[ChucktownSteve]

2 hours ago, mrstanley said:

The Port of Miami is the busiest cruise port in the world. Millions have been spent to develop it. Millions of dollars will be lost by people flying elsewhere to embark. The hotels and restaurants in Miami benefit from these cruise passengers. It will be a real shame for any cruise line to suspend departures from any of the USA ports.

Enough from the CDC already!!!

 

You must have mistaken the CDC people as bureaucrats who shiv a Git?

[Snore42]

You are forgetting Domestic airlines are US based and pay US taxes.  Also you are on the flights for a few hours vs days/weeks on cruises.  The big three cruise lines do everything they can to not pay taxes in the US and very few crew are from the US.  Because of this, the CDC/federal government has put the cruise industry in the back of the line in terms of priorities.   
 

As impacted as the port of Miami and other US cruise ports have been, the Caribbean ports depend 100% on the travel industry.   I’d look at the potential of starting a cruise in these islands, as one more thing we can do to help those who were decimated by the pandemic over the past year.  
 

Cruising from the US will return soon enough.   We should all think positively (test negative) and have patience.  🙃

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

I think I am getting the message..... because the cruise lines aren’t based in the US and pay no taxes.....

Forget about the cruisers who want the convenience of sailing out of a US port. 
Forget about the hundreds of thousands of US citizens, who’s income is based on the cruise industry here.
Forget about the hotels and restaurants in the port towns in the US that benefit from cruising. 
And, these folks pay taxes here!
And, then blame it on covid!
Come on....if everyone is vaccinated, including the crew, and are social distancing, why are we forced to sail out of the Caribbean?

The answer, the cruise lines are not paying taxes to our government!

sheila

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

Ok.. we surrender!

We booked Crystal..Nassau.. 7 day cruise beginning July 31. 
We are flying out of Miami.. which is always packed..and returning to Miami when the cruise ends. 
Now, how is this safer or healthier for us?  
But, we do whatever it takes to resume cruising!

Sheila  and Herb

Edited April 12, 2021 by Bellaggio Cruisers

[SWFLAOK]

And as Fauci said yesterday, don't eat or drink indoors at a restaurant, even if you're vaccinated, and going to a restaurant that requires employee masks, and has tables more than 6 feet apart, because it's still not safe. But sitting on a full plane for hours, after spending hours in a jam packed airport in Florida (as all FL airports were yesterday because of the storms passing through) is apparently safe.

We have a flight to PHL from RSW at the end of next month for a memorial service for a sibling who passed away from cancer in December. PA recently stopped requiring a negative Covid 19 test before arriving there, which saved us 400 dollars. But they still have a restriction on a memorial service of less than 17 people per 1000 square feet, and the church where this is occurring currently only does online services. But we will be sitting next to someone in the 3rd seat of our row on the plane, and RSW will most likely be packed with no social distancing as it has been most of the winter.

I am so tired of this. Our next cruise is the Paul Gauguin in December (after cancellation of my birthday cruise Fiji to Bali last April, and our rebook to the January Reunion cruise). No other Fiji to Bali (or Bali to Fiji) is offered during the time that our FCC (no refund available despite their cancellation) is valid. That itinerary was the only reason we booked our 4th PG cruise.

We've also started thinking about flying to a Caribbean destination and staying in a hotel. We had thought of going to St Vincent since we had never been there, but I think we'll skip that for now.