CDC Statement issued today.

[island lady]

3 hours ago, molly361 said:

I need the cliff note version.  Will I be going on my 4 night Mariner cruise mid July or not??😇

 

Ummm...sorry, but IMHO...that would be a "not".  😞 

[island lady]

16 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Time to either wash your mask if washable or buy a new masks.

 

both

[BeachyBrowns]

2 hours ago, ace2542 said:

Sounds like the CDC intend to mandate mask wearing forever as I have said all along. After all how can you eliminate the risk without mask wearing plus vaccination? Not just vaccination alone.

CDC do not intend to eliminate all risk of Covid; they just don't want a significant outbreak on a cruise ship to happen on their watch.  They clearly consider cruising to be just about the highest-risk, least important activity possible, which means that it's the last to get the go-ahead.  Once herd immunity has been reached through vaccination, there will be no more mandatory mask wearing anywhere.  People will not stand for it, and CDC will not insist on it. 

 

Covid will always be with us.  Some people will get sick with it every year, just like they get sick from flu, cold, norovirus, etc.  Some of those infections will inevitably happen on cruise ships.  We just have to get past the point where the consequence of a few Covid infections is similar to the consequence of a few cruisers showing flu symptoms on a cruise: very little chance of hospitalization and no disruption to the cruise.  We're not there yet.  Covid is somewhere in between common cold and measles on the "oh $#!+" scale: many people could show symptoms of a cold, and there would be no cause for alarm; one person could show symptoms of measles, and there would be huge cause for alarm.  (If one case of measles were found on a cruise ship, the captain would know about it immediately, and the cruise would end abruptly and serious measures taken--https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/12/health/scientology-cruise-ship-measles-immunity.)  The fact that we weren't required to wear masks on cruises to stop measles outbreaks is because the measles vaccine has been so incredibly effective at nearly (though not entirely) eradicating the disease in the places where cruising happens.  We have to get close, though not completely, to that place with Covid.

[DCGuy64]

17 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Thank you for sharing this info.  It is a step in the right direction.     Happy to hear they are now listening and agreeing to sit down with cruise line executives and their experts.

 

Of course other posters will turn this into another political and no mask thread.  

Agreed, a step in the right direction. I'm desperate for ANY good news about cruising, no matter how small. This will do.

[mmcgann11]

As a journalist, used to reading and interpreting government speak, the key phase is "This goal aligns with the desire for the resumption of passenger operations in the United States by mid-summer, expressed by many major cruise ship operators and travelers."

 

That the White House is involved is more important than understood: Florida and to an lesser extent, Alaska, are key battlegrounds for control of the U.S. Senate in 2022. Biden knows he needs to put cruise industry people back to work, ASAP. It may mean requiring masks in public areas on board and, yes, vaccinations with lower passenger density, until COVID numbers drop (remember, we're kind of at a peak again right now), as the year goes on.

 

Reading the tea leaves, we'll see limited cruise service returning in July (between vaccinations and the summer weather tending to drop COVID cases, it could be where we knock it down for good), with full service in the fall.

 

Just my take, your milage may vary (and yes, masks work -- the medical field has used them for more than a century for a reason) and spare me your "studies" showing otherwise. Given 20 minutes I could find a "study" claiming Web forums cause cancer.😎

[BecciBoo]

12 hours ago, Goodtime Cruizin said:

I do think the start of cruising in the Caribbean and the Fain video fired up some folks. It definitely got some attention. At least they are at a table now having discussion. 

But are they using ALL the grey matter to figure out they are totally misinformed about cruising?  Or maybe just to get it right that you shouldn't be stopping cruising when you are not stopping other forms of mass travel?

Edited April 15, 2021 by BecciBoo

[BecciBoo]

4 minutes ago, mmcgann11 said:

As a journalist, used to reading and interpreting government speak, the key phase is "This goal aligns with the desire for the resumption of passenger operations in the United States by mid-summer, expressed by many major cruise ship operators and travelers."

 

That the White House is involved is more important than understood: Florida and to an lesser extent, Alaska, are key battlegrounds for control of the U.S. Senate in 2022. Biden knows he needs to put cruise industry people back to work, ASAP. It may mean requiring masks in public areas on board and, yes, vaccinations with lower passenger density, until COVID numbers drop (remember, we're kind of at a peak again right now), as the year goes on.

 

Reading the tea leaves, we'll see limited cruise service returning in July (between vaccinations and the summer weather tending to drop COVID cases, it could be where we knock it down for good), with full service in the fall.

 

Just my take, your milage may vary (and yes, masks work -- the medical field has used them for more than a century for a reason) and spare me your "studies" showing otherwise. Given 20 minutes I could find a "study" claiming Web forums cause cancer.😎

You're on

[BecciBoo]

32 minutes ago, BeachyBrowns said:

they just don't want a significant outbreak on a cruise ship to happen on their watch. 

Outbreak on a ship is easily contained, more so than anything that has caused an outbreak on the beach or anywhere else including Michigan.  No one ever says anything about that.  And 5000 passengers on a ship is a teeny weeny drop in the bucket.  Ask the people who've had old folks in New York die.  Now throw in vaccines and their slant on cruising is entirely bogus.  Even on the Princess cruise, just a fraction of people got sick, most passengers were not, even before we knew much about it and no vaccines.

 

712 people out of 3,711 became infected (567 out of 2,666 passengers and 145 out of 1,045 crew), and 14 people, all of them passengers, died.

 

I know I know, that's too many, even one is...but comparatively speaking, a lot less than the outbreaks caused by sporting events and spring breaks this year.

Edited April 15, 2021 by BecciBoo

[molly361]

31 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Ummm...sorry, but IMHO...that would be a "not".  😞 

[island lady]

24 minutes ago, molly361 said:

 

Aww...sorry little one.  That is exactly how I felt with each of my cancellations too.  Waaaaaaaah....😥

[boscobeans]

44 minutes ago, BecciBoo said:

But are they using ALL the grey matter to figure out they are totally misinformed about cruising?  Or maybe just to get it right that you shouldn't be stopping cruising when you are not stopping other forms of mass travel?

Amazing amount of people in the media and politics still think people FALL off cruise ships, and a ticket on a cruise is an automatic ticket to NORO-VILLE.

[DCGuy64]

2 minutes ago, boscobeans said:

Amazing amount of people in the media and politics still think people FALL off cruise ships, and a ticket on a cruise is an automatic ticket to NORO-VILLE.

Indeed, even the CDC's guidance regarding cruise ships as being especially prone to virus transmission (I forget the exact verbiage but it's words to that effect) is based on what happened over a year ago.

Don't they bother to update their own data?

[ace2542]

1 hour ago, BeachyBrowns said:

Once herd immunity has been reached through vaccination, there will be no more mandatory mask wearing anywhere.  People will not stand for it, and CDC will not insist on it

The CDC will because they want to destroy the cruise industry.

[Husky1987]

1 hour ago, Jimbo said:

Time to either wash your mask if washable or buy a new masks.

If someone can't breath with a mask, they've got bigger problems than the mask.

[Jimbo]

6 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

The CDC will because they want to destroy the cruise industry.

Like to know where(how) you came up with that ?

Edited April 15, 2021 by Jimbo

[BonTexasNY]

1 hour ago, molly361 said:

Best post yet.  Poor baby

[cjmx]

novice here, i saw a video with our ceo and he said there were only 10 outbreaks of the virus which ones were he referring to?   and IMHO, if Fauci says he would be more than willing to watch a game with thousands of people who may or maybe not vaccinated masked there is no reason why we should not be cruising with thousands of people who Are vaccinated .. I believe DR Gottlieb made the same point.

Hope to cruise JULY 4!!!

[ace2542]

2 hours ago, TheMastodon said:

 

Yeah not going to happen.  

It is happening on flights already. Masks will likely be on flights forever as well. If what has been said on here is correct most flights are full people seem quite happy with that requirement.

[ArthurUSCG]

Before you compare shipboard life to any other industry, talk with a Sailor or Coastie about virus spread aboard ships. With consistent close quarters comes high virus spread. On the smaller ships, you will get treated like you have the plague if you start throwing up or have diarrhea.

With planes, your in a confined space for a few hours, with ships, it's for days. Just think about the dinning room, on my last cruise, I could touch people sitting at 3 other tables besides the table I'm at. And we were lucky to have enough family members traveling together that we didn't have to split at table with another group. At dinner alone you are sitting for an hour with the mask removed in close contact with at least 6 people that isn't part of your group.

It's not if you get sick, it's when.

[BecciBoo]

22 minutes ago, ArthurUSCG said:

Before you compare shipboard life to any other industry, talk with a Sailor or Coastie about virus spread aboard ships. With consistent close quarters comes high virus spread. On the smaller ships, you will get treated like you have the plague if you start throwing up or have diarrhea.

With planes, your in a confined space for a few hours, with ships, it's for days. Just think about the dinning room, on my last cruise, I could touch people sitting at 3 other tables besides the table I'm at. And we were lucky to have enough family members traveling together that we didn't have to split at table with another group. At dinner alone you are sitting for an hour with the mask removed in close contact with at least 6 people that isn't part of your group.

It's not if you get sick, it's when.

Aren't you forgetting that onboard, you aren't near that close, and you can social distance, on a plane INCHES, and it only takes a few seconds to get infected not days.  If you come in contact with the virus, SOMEHOW, with or without mask, you may get it.  It doesn't take a week, just a moment,  So all the close quarters for any amount of time will do it.  Ergo, ships or planes, it works the same way.  And BTW, it came in on planes.  People got it from one Thanksgiving meal with their own family.  And, you can ask to be at a small table you know or eat in your room.  But on a plane, it's right next to you, eating with mask off!

[BecciBoo]

38 minutes ago, ArthurUSCG said:

It's not if you get sick, it's when.

Then how did 2000+ passengers and 900 crew onboard the Diamond Princess escape getting a virus which at the time, we knew nothing about and had no known vaccine nor treatment for?  It was quarantine that made that happen, but it took a couple days to even know they had a problem.  Watch the documentary on it, surprising.  At lease on a ship you can quarantine the sick, not on a plane.

 

And that's why nothing the Completely Destroy Cruising folks do makes any sense to me.

Edited April 15, 2021 by BecciBoo

[RooksWS6]

3 hours ago, lovescats5 said:

And who is in charge of Health at the White House.  Yup, Dr. F who has no clue what is going on either.  He just took his policies to a different place.  And I still do not get why if the vaccine is so good why the masks are necessary.  As soon as I put one on I can't breath.  There are studies (nope, cannot list one but have read them} that show the mask does not work and if worn for long enough time the collected bacteria can make you sick.  IMHO

I mean....does it really take a study to determine that bacteria can collect on a mask and make you sick?  Isn't that why we wash and/or change them frequently (ya know, kinda like we do underwear)?  The fact that people still argue that masks don't work is just mind boggling.  Are they a perfect solution?  No, but they do work to various degrees of effectivity depending on whether you're talking about an N95 to a homemade cloth mask (and everything in between).  If masks didn't work, they would be worn in hospitals.  Masks work.  From an anecdotal perspective, I've been wearing them as required since last March(ish) and haven't had so much as a sniffle...  Don't get me wrong, once I am fully vaccinated in a matter of weeks, I will stop wearing a mask in most situations.  I hate wearing them.  But until then, they make sense and have been proven effective.

[ace2542]

Just now, RooksWS6 said:

I've been wearing them as required since last March(ish) and haven't had so much as a sniffle...

 

Well there you go then. And no need to sick on a ship from anything.

 

Just now, RooksWS6 said:

But until then, they make sense and have been proven effective

Then why the high death toll in the USA?

[Redtravel]

It's very straight forward..CDC says DO NOT CRUISE!!!

Beating up on the CDC doesn't change what the virus does.

CDC isn't doing this to be mean. They do this to prevent you getting sick.  If you want to ignore the warnings and the science, you sail at your own risk. Hopefully you will be ok.  Just don't come back and get angry if you get sick. If you do sail, be careful. 

[orville99]

14 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

 

Well there you go then. And no need to sick on a ship from anything.

 

Then why the high death toll in the USA?

On a per capita basis (the only accurate way to measure these types of data) the U.S. ranks 14th with a death rate of 1,712/million. The U.K ranks 11th with 1,898/million. Perhaps you should be asking why your death rate is so high. At least you're doing better than Italy at 1,916, but not as good as France (1,466) Spain (1,630), or Portugal (1,648).