CDC

[Pcardad]

1 hour ago, mj_holiday said:

98% and 95% on an Regent ship would amount to 30-40 people for a full ship.  And I do agree that we should expect 100%, but as said previously, some of those considered not fully vaccinated could easily be crew called back and only had a chance to get vaccinated while enroute and will need to get second vaccine and the 14 days to be fully vaccinated.  So yes it does give them some wiggle room.

 

But the cruise line is also taking the risk that is involved with letting a not fully vaccinated person on board.  One passenger coming down with COVID would be a huge impact to that ship and could easily impact cruising industry again.  So the Regent "IT" person who will make the decision of letting a "not fully vaccinated" person on board would probably demand reasons why to let this crew etc on board.

Regent will be going with 100%...

[loriva]

As much as it is an important industry--I live within 20 miles of Port Canaveral so feel for the many affected by the port's loss of 80 percent of its business due to the cruise shut-down--cruising is not essential transportation.  Airlines, trains, and buses are needed to get medical personnel to work--many hospitals have depended on nurses and other personnel from out of state during the pandemic.  Hotels and motels have been needed to house these essential workers. 

 

Cruising is for pleasure.  I do not believe one can fault the CDC (and DOT) for having different rules for cruise ships than other means of transportation.  Even within the CDC, the Maritime Division had to have shipping as its first priority--ensuring the health and safety of crews bringing essential goods to the United States.  Until recently, the CDC had issues of higher priority than bringing back non-essential activities such as cruising.  Now they have issued the guidance necessary to restart cruising from U.S. ports, so hope we can all move on. 

[A Tucson Guy]

58 minutes ago, loriva said:

As much as it is an important industry--I live within 20 miles of Port Canaveral so feel for the many affected by the port's loss of 80 percent of its business due to the cruise shut-down--cruising is not essential transportation.  Airlines, trains, and buses are needed to get medical personnel to work--many hospitals have depended on nurses and other personnel from out of state during the pandemic.  Hotels and motels have been needed to house these essential workers. 

 

Cruising is for pleasure.  I do not believe one can fault the CDC (and DOT) for having different rules for cruise ships than other means of transportation.  Even within the CDC, the Maritime Division had to have shipping as its first priority--ensuring the health and safety of crews bringing essential goods to the United States.  Until recently, the CDC had issues of higher priority than bringing back non-essential activities such as cruising.  Now they have issued the guidance necessary to restart cruising from U.S. ports, so hope we can all move on. 

Well spoken!!

[SWFLAOK]

19 hours ago, CruisetheCs said:

Sitting in an airplane for an hour or even a few hours with a mask on is not the same as living in close quarters 24-hour a day on a ship of several hundred passengers for multiple days if not weeks.  And yes, there has been some criticism that the airlines should have stricter distancing requirements, etc.  Public health decisions can always be second-guessed. Hindsight is one way to decide what could have been handled better.  But that applies to all businesses and to our personal lives.

 

At this point the CDC has approved cruise travel, so I'm not sure what the current criticism is about.  On which earlier day or week should they have given their okay?  What plan should they have put forth on that chosen date?

 

My preference is to wait and see how this plays out.  I have no interest in cruising with required masks and other onboard limitations or port restrictions.  If the vaccine truly works to quell the epidemic worldwide and cruising as well as other activities can get back to close to normal, then I'll be in line to cruise again. And I'm fully aware that the line may be long.

 

 

When would you only be sitting on an airplane for an hour or a few hours? That must be a small charter. We just flew for the first time since Covid 19 with a 2 hour 18 minute flight from Florida to Philadelphia for a family matter. We wore a mask for 2 hours before the flight. We spent over 90 minutes sitting close to each other in gate seating (where no social distancing occurred) while the previous flight was delayed. Our plane came in after boarding was supposed to start. The plane was full. I can assure you that no cleaning took place between flights, which only lasted 5 minutes. As I cleaned our seating area, I found trash and spills left behind. We boarded in the first group after disability, and about 20 percent of those boarding had their masks below their noses. No one said anything to them. Several people onboard were coughing constantly during boarding. Just before landing, we think one of them coughed a lung out (or at least it's contents several times) before landing.

No health checks were done in the airport at either end. I thought temp checks might we done on the jetways as we've seen in other countries, but not in the US. Neither airport stopped anyone walking around without a mask. The only health check done by the airline was to ask when we checked in online whether we felt sick that day, in which case they encouraged us not to fly. And there were only 4 seats empty on our plane. One in the row ahead of us who had not shown up. And the first row on the starboard side, which was reserved for someone next in line for the bathroom.

We are both vaccinated, but I did not feel safe at all. If we hadn't been vaccinated, I would have turned around at the airport before boarding. I would feel much safer on a Regent cruise ship than on a commercial airline at this point. There really is room to social distance onboard. And our postponed Regent cruise would provide us with Business class air, where our flight would be in a cabin with a limited number of people, and allowed social distancing in the business class lounge. 

 

[ronrick1943]

1 hour ago, SWFLAOK said:

When would you only be sitting on an airplane for an hour or a few hours? That must be a small charter. We just flew for the first time since Covid 19 with a 2 hour 18 minute flight from Florida to Philadelphia for a family matter. We wore a mask for 2 hours before the flight. We spent over 90 minutes sitting close to each other in gate seating (where no social distancing occurred) while the previous flight was delayed. Our plane came in after boarding was supposed to start. The plane was full. I can assure you that no cleaning took place between flights, which only lasted 5 minutes. As I cleaned our seating area, I found trash and spills left behind. We boarded in the first group after disability, and about 20 percent of those boarding had their masks below their noses. No one said anything to them. Several people onboard were coughing constantly during boarding. Just before landing, we think one of them coughed a lung out (or at least it's contents several times) before landing.

No health checks were done in the airport at either end. I thought temp checks might we done on the jetways as we've seen in other countries, but not in the US. Neither airport stopped anyone walking around without a mask. The only health check done by the airline was to ask when we checked in online whether we felt sick that day, in which case they encouraged us not to fly. And there were only 4 seats empty on our plane. One in the row ahead of us who had not shown up. And the first row on the starboard side, which was reserved for someone next in line for the bathroom.

We are both vaccinated, but I did not feel safe at all. If we hadn't been vaccinated, I would have turned around at the airport before boarding. I would feel much safer on a Regent cruise ship than on a commercial airline at this point. There really is room to social distance onboard. And our postponed Regent cruise would provide us with Business class air, where our flight would be in a cabin with a limited number of people, and allowed social distancing in there business class lounge. 

 

Wouldn't agree more with you---But I do hope that once we start cruising that Regent does the right thing and works at keeping people safe (even if we need to do things we haven't done before).

 

 

[Dolebludger]

My biggest worry is about airlines and airports — not about Regent — when we cruise again. We just flew from Durango CO. To Dallas today on American non- stop in what was called first class (?). Of course, the little Durango airport was socially distanced, but the plane was far from it. Masks were required, but no distancing. DRW airport was an overcrowded “zoo” as it was pre-pandemic. Masking was observed, but absolutely no distancing. Directions at obsolete DFW were hard to obtain, making matters worse.  Fortunately, we are fully vaccinated. The situation with airlines and airports would make us hesitant to cruise — even if there were no pandemic.

[CruisetheCs]

19 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

When would you only be sitting on an airplane for an hour or a few hours? That must be a small charter. We just flew for the first time since Covid 19 with a 2 hour 18 minute flight from Florida to Philadelphia for a family matter. We wore a mask for 2 hours before the flight. We spent over 90 minutes sitting close to each other in gate seating (where no social distancing occurred) while the previous flight was delayed. Our plane came in after boarding was supposed to start. The plane was full. I can assure you that no cleaning took place between flights, which only lasted 5 minutes. As I cleaned our seating area, I found trash and spills left behind. We boarded in the first group after disability, and about 20 percent of those boarding had their masks below their noses. No one said anything to them. Several people onboard were coughing constantly during boarding. Just before landing, we think one of them coughed a lung out (or at least it's contents several times) before landing.

No health checks were done in the airport at either end. I thought temp checks might we done on the jetways as we've seen in other countries, but not in the US. Neither airport stopped anyone walking around without a mask. The only health check done by the airline was to ask when we checked in online whether we felt sick that day, in which case they encouraged us not to fly. And there were only 4 seats empty on our plane. One in the row ahead of us who had not shown up. And the first row on the starboard side, which was reserved for someone next in line for the bathroom.

We are both vaccinated, but I did not feel safe at all. If we hadn't been vaccinated, I would have turned around at the airport before boarding. I would feel much safer on a Regent cruise ship than on a commercial airline at this point. There really is room to social distance onboard. And our postponed Regent cruise would provide us with Business class air, where our flight would be in a cabin with a limited number of people, and allowed social distancing in the business class lounge. 

 

 

I haven't flown since this epidemic started and given your experience I don't want to.  The point I was trying to make in a prior post was that airline travel and cruising carry different risks.  And I don't think that decisions about cruise travel safety should be made based on approval of air travel any more than I think that air travel should be approved because travel via Uber is approved.

 

On cruises, the exposure to people outside the ships is considerable.  Most people fly to or from cruise ports so they may be exposed to others in all the ways your post detailed.  In addition there are local buses for transportation, local tour guides, boat transfers, etc.  So cruising multiplies the possibility of exposure to Covid far beyond just air travel.  What should make cruising safer is the requirement for vaccination if it is enforced.  A requirement for vaccination for air travel would make air travel much safer.

 

 I disagree about ample room to socially distance on Regent.  Corridors, elevators, stairs, etc., are really not wide enough to handle distancing especially during busy times.  Nevertheless, if everyone is vaccinated on board, distancing may be of much less importance  

 

 

 

 

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

Why all the lengthy conversation....

Be vaccinated at least two weeks before boarding a ship!

Period!

[lisajltx]

And....A negative test is currently required within 3 days for international travelers returning to the US. How is this going to be accomplished?

 

Lisa

[d9704011]

4 minutes ago, lisajltx said:

And....A negative test is currently required within 3 days for international travelers returning to the US. How is this going to be accomplished?

 

Lisa

Perhaps by the time cruising starts up again the testing requirement(s) will have changed.  Lots of time yet for that to develop.

[mj_holiday]

16 hours ago, lisajltx said:

And....A negative test is currently required within 3 days for international travelers returning to the US. How is this going to be accomplished?

If this is still the requirement when cruises start, it could easily be accomplished on board before the last port.

[CruiserFromMaine]

For travel within the US, consider taking the train! Amtrak covers the country and you can book a sleeping compartment for just you and your travel companion and gets meals delivered there. The stations are far less crowded than airports and some waiting is outdoors. Much less exposure than on a plane. 
 

Yes, it takes longer but if one is concerned about planes and airports, it’s definitely an option. 

Edited May 4, 2021 by CruiserFromMaine
To complete the post.

[Dolebludger]

I think the answer is for some of us, that we need a complete and final list of rules and restrictions for taking a cruise before we spend one dime booking one. Every time I look at this board, there is something new to consider. There are always risks in travel, but most if us know what travel insurance covers or not.. But I do not know if it covers denial to board (or reboard) due to a positive Covid test. That may not even be accurate — and considering that ALL on board SHOULD be required to be fully vaccinated. In the meantime, airlines and airports are allowed to cram people in like sardines in a can. I don;t know if cruise lines have corporate attorneys or not. But if they do, they need to be put to work pronto. Cruise lines are being given negative preferential treatment, and this is clearly unlawful.

[mrlevin]

Rest of instructions have been released:

 

WASHINGTON, May 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said Wednesday it had issued the next two phases of its framework for Conditional Sailing Order, a key step for the eventual resumption of U.S. cruise industry operations.

The CDC said cruise ship operators now have all necessary requirements needed "to start simulated voyages before resuming restricted passenger voyages and apply for a COVID-19 conditional sailing certificate to begin sailing with restricted passenger voyages." CDC said on April 28 it was "committed" to the resumption of cruise industry passenger operations by mid-summer.

[SWFLAOK]

So in other words, there won't be any cruises leaving from US ports until the CDC makes some reasonable rules. These are not reasonable. It's the same rules that they gave before vaccines were readily available to anyone in the US who wants to cruise.

Personally, we only cruised once from a US port, in Fort Lauderdale. We took a HAL cruise on the Prinsendam before it was sold off.  We thought it was a beautiful ship, and since we could drive there and leave our car at the park and cruise, it was convenient. It was much cheaper than Regent so we booked a Neptune Suite, and spent 2 weeks onboard over Christmas and New Years.

Our suite was great, our service was great, and the bars were great.

What wasn't great were the other passengers onboard. Because you can board from Florida without flying, there were large numbers of very old people and very obese people, and the number of scooters and wheel chairs blocking the way everywhere we went was unbelievable. At each port, one or more ambulances met us to take away those who couldn't make it through another day. There were a number of ports where we didn't stop since tendering was needed and many onboard wouldn't be able to take advantage of the port. And disembarking took many hours since those that needed assistance were allowed to leave first.

That was our first and last HAL cruise, as well as our first and last cruise from a US port. Just let us back into our country by air when we're vaccinated, and we can easily start cruising again, while US ports lose money.

 

[BBWC]

So no buffets and no independent exploration, probably somewhat expected. But CDC is recommending alternative meal options such as pre-packaged grab-and-go meals, no thanks. I agree will stay away from US ports.

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24942-cdc-will-eliminate-cruise-ship-buffet-require-organized-shore-excursions.html

[rcandkc]

1 hour ago, BBWC said:

So no buffets and no independent exploration, probably somewhat expected. But CDC is recommending alternative meal options such as pre-packaged grab-and-go meals, no thanks. I agree will stay away from US ports.

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24942-cdc-will-eliminate-cruise-ship-buffet-require-organized-shore-excursions.html

This is not a cruise I’d go on.  After several canceled cruises..next is May 2022 from US port.  I agree with ALL being vaccinated and so can be somewhat normal onboard.  If someone gets sick with covid it should not be a serious illness...just like risk of many other illnesses.  The guidelines listed on link...im out.  

[fizzy]

10 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

So in other words, there won't be any cruises leaving from US ports until the CDC makes some reasonable rules. These are not reasonable. It's the same rules that they gave before vaccines were readily available to anyone in the US who wants to cruise.

Personally, we only cruised once from a US port, in Fort Lauderdale. We took a HAL cruise on the Prinsendam before it was sold off.  We thought it was a beautiful ship, and since we could drive there and leave our car at the park and cruise, it was convenient. It was much cheaper than Regent so we booked a Neptune Suite, and spent 2 weeks onboard over Christmas and New Years.

Our suite was great, our service was great, and the bars were great.

What wasn't great were the other passengers onboard. Because you can board from Florida without flying, there were large numbers of very old people and very obese people, and the number of scooters and wheel chairs blocking the way everywhere we went was unbelievable. At each port, one or more ambulances met us to take away those who couldn't make it through another day. There were a number of ports where we didn't stop since tendering was needed and many onboard wouldn't be able to take advantage of the port. And disembarking took many hours since those that needed assistance were allowed to leave first.

That was our first and last HAL cruise, as well as our first and last cruise from a US port. Just let us back into our country by air when we're vaccinated, and we can easily start cruising again, while US ports lose money.

 

I absolutely agree. We had the same experience although it was after experiencing one of the miracle flights from ny to fl. We had a palatial and beautiful Neptune aft but it was clogged with scooters in the hallways and no enforcement of the safety rules. The 2 tender ports were skipped "for our safety" on apparently calm and beautiful days,  however the casino was sure packed if you could get in around all the devices. The buffets were lovely except for the people using them. The amount of food consumed and wasted was upsetting and we also vowed never again.

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

The CDC rules for cruising are stricter than those for nursing homes, trains buses or airlines! Biggest question is...why??
We are resigned to the fact that we will no longer be able to sail out of Florida. 
Caribbean here we come!

Its time for Regent to stop wasting their time and reorganize their winter sailings to begin and end on a Caribbean island!

sheila and herb

[Pcardad]

https://apnews.com/article/travel-florida-coronavirus-pandemic-health-business-eb9db87299caeb813bb7aa4c0194c780

[Babr]

On 5/3/2021 at 9:43 PM, Dolebludger said:

I think the answer is for some of us, that we need a complete and final list of rules and restrictions for taking a cruise before we spend one dime booking one. Every time I look at this board, there is something new to consider. There are always risks in travel, but most if us know what travel insurance covers or not.. But I do not know if it covers denial to board (or reboard) due to a positive Covid test. That may not even be accurate — and considering that ALL on board SHOULD be required to be fully vaccinated. In the meantime, airlines and airports are allowed to cram people in like sardines in a can. I don;t know if cruise lines have corporate attorneys or not. But if they do, they need to be put to work pronto. Cruise lines are being given negative preferential treatment, and this is clearly unlawful.

I just read through the policy offered by Regent because I wanted to know how it treats Covid related issues. I did not find any specific language, but it does cover cancellation due to quarantine.

 

As a fully vaccinated person, I probably would not have given it much thought except that a friend of mine, who is also fully vaccinated, recently tested positive when checking into the hospital for routine medical test. The procedure was cancelled, and she was sent home to quarantine. It was a complete surprise because she was never sick or even symptomatic.

 

I suppose the same thing could happen when checking in for a cruise. I expect that boarding would be denied and quarantine required. If I understand the Regent policy, cancellation would be covered but not any of the expenses for quarantine such as hotel, meals, or additional testing.

 

If a positive test happened upon disembarkation, insurance would probably pay for changing the return flight but not for quarantine.

 

The medical coverage mentioned treatment for illness during the trip without naming Covid, though I would not think a fully-vaccinated person would be seriously ill.

 

These are the questions I have that need clarification, but they may not matter at all  if the testing requirement is dropped by the time I cruise again.

[commodore2010]

How will any Cruise line know if anyone is fully vaccinated?

CDC has a database that I am sure the cruise lines will NOT be given access.  HIPPA privacy.   

Those little cards are easily forged/faked. Just google fake vaccine card. 

 

 

[Pcardad]

Regent will ask to see your vaccine card. If you present a forgery and are caught you will be prosecuted for multiple felonies...as you should be.

 

Easy to catch. If you test positive and had presented a card, it would be easy to verify the veracity of the card. Especially considering I would involve the local police if I were the cruise line. I would do my best to set an example of anyone presenting a forged document.

Edited May 7, 2021 by Pcardad

[flossie009]

49 minutes ago, commodore2010 said:

How will any Cruise line know if anyone is fully vaccinated?

From mid May those of us from the UK will have a method of digitally proving our vaccination status.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/demonstrating-your-covid-19-vaccination-status-when-travelling-abroad

 

So we just hope that by later this year Regent, the CDC and any other relevant authorities have all resolved their issues to enable us to enter the U.S.A and then sail from Miami on Mariner 🤞 🍾 😎

[pingpong1]

Why did we never seem to even worry about (or even consider the possibility of) "faked or forged" paper vaccination cards that have been used for well over the past 80 years (at least)?  Do we now simply live in a more devious/criminal/corrupt world today, filled with many more dishonest people, then what it used to be?  Just wondering?

 

The same question could be asked about someone's Social Security number (in the U.S.).  40 years ago, we (I) gave our SSN's out to everyone, when asked, and without a second thought.  Banks, schools, employment applications...everything.  Now, we have to treat them "state secrets"!  Are people simply "different today" (and not in a good way), then years ago?

 

One thing that is "different" today is computers.  But wait!  I thought computers were going to make everything "simpler" and were going to "simplify our lives".  I'm not sure that really happened.  🤓