No Mardi Gras sailings on the website until October

[lobster1313]

9 minutes ago, Happicruzin said:

Hi All, I'm Booked for Aug. 21st They pulled sailing over 5 weeks ago from site but it still shows in planner! My thoughts is capacity! I guess we will see by end of May. We sure do hope it goes!! Stay Safe out there! 

I am also hoping it's capacity but showing up in your planner doesn't mean much since all me cancelled cruises showed up for weeks after the official announcement,

[Happicruzin]

1 minute ago, regoodwinjr said:

I am also hoping it's capacity but showing up in your planner doesn't mean much since all me cancelled cruises showed up for weeks after the official announcement,

You are correct about that! It was the same for the last 3 re-books for us.

[BrotherCraig]

12 hours ago, 80sGal said:

Well -- this just in today.   May be time for me and DH to throw in the towel for summer even if MG sails.  The buffet I can live without -- but grab and go??   Come on!   And the rest -- I simply do not understand why, if people are vaccinated, that the masking and other requirements need to be so restrictive.   Who wants to wear a mask on ourdoor shore excursions in the heat??   Meanwhile, the CDC on home turf says there's little risk to outdoor activities, and even less so after vaccination.  Don't get me wrong -- we've been diligent mask-wearers all along, missing out on family and grandparent visits, etc.   But enough is enough.   Either the vaccines work, or they don't.  Either it's safe to be outdoors, in proximity to others, or it's not.   The CDC on one hand promotes and encourages vaccines, but then pushes back and maintains restrictions even after the fact.   That doesn't exactly give any of the reluctant people any real reason to get the jab.  Aside from protecting yourself and others, getting the vaccine should help us return to normalcy.   One thing is for sure -- these aren't normal cruise protocols, and it  doesn't sound much like a vacation to me anymore.

 

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

 

 

Self serve.  Carnival will probably do what they did early 2020 and still have the buffets but the staff serving the food.  I prefer that anyways.  I avoid ALL buffets when it is self serve.  I hope they get rid of self serve forever and have the staff serve the food.  I am all for this.  

 

As for the other things, yeah.  That is crazy and doesn't sound fun at all.  6 Feet?  Fully vaccinated cruise and 6 feet?  So the CDC doesn't believe in science?  Whatever happened to 3 feet?  This is why people are getting pissed off.  They can't stay consistent with their "GUIDELINES" and they constantly smack heads with science.  Frustrating.  

[Lee Cruiser]

With all the cancelled cruises, the Mardi Gras is definitely in high demand.  I have it booked for April of 2022 and 2023.  I went back last night to do a mock booking for early saver rate comparisons and the price has soared since I booked those a few months back.  April 2022 was over $500 higher and 2023 was around $300.

[TNcruising02]

4 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I very much doubt they will go with mock cruises. Carnival isnt saying a ship will start out of miami because they plan on doing mock cruises. There is nothing that indicates carnival hasnt talked to the ports already before they would announce the 3 ships to restart. 

 

Some on here have a political axe to grind to keep beining this up. From what I've read no cruiseline would ever consider doing the long list with mock cruises. Wouldnt happen and carnival wouldnt say horizon or whichever ship is out of miami they hope to restart in july if they didnt think they could.

 

Mock cruises are not going to happen. 

My cruise is at the end of August on the Mardi Gras out of Port Canaveral.  I just don't know if that will be one of the cruises that will happen.  I've thought about it and accepted that it will be ok if it is cancelled since wearing a mask during dinner, on pool decks, excursions in the hot sun, etc takes a lot of the enjoyment out of cruising.  Until they relax those stupid mask mandates, it really ruins experiences.  

I loved visiting Florida several times this year and eating at restaurants, attending outdoor concerts, and things like that without wearing a mask.  I really love the leadership in Florida.  Tennessee, where I live, is very good too.   I could never live in places like California where they want people to wear masks while checking their own mail.

[TNcruising02]

1 hour ago, BrotherCraig said:

 

 

Self serve.  Carnival will probably do what they did early 2020 and still have the buffets but the staff serving the food.  I prefer that anyways.  I avoid ALL buffets when it is self serve.  I hope they get rid of self serve forever and have the staff serve the food.  I am all for this.  

 

As for the other things, yeah.  That is crazy and doesn't sound fun at all.  6 Feet?  Fully vaccinated cruise and 6 feet?  So the CDC doesn't believe in science?  Whatever happened to 3 feet?  This is why people are getting pissed off.  They can't stay consistent with their "GUIDELINES" and they constantly smack heads with science.  Frustrating.  

Exactly.  They are encouraging everyone to get vaccinated, yet once we do they want us to still act like we are walking covid super spreaders.  Give me a break.  People are tired of it.  We have played by the rules for a year, got our vaccines, and the point is to live life again.  Covid may never go away and people have to learn to live with the risk of living life again.

Edited May 6, 2021 by TNcruising02

[KmomChicago]

5 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

Exactly.  They are encouraging everyone to get vaccinated, yet once we do they want us to still act like we are walking covid super spreaders.  Give me a break.  People are tired of it.  We have played by the rules for a year, got our vaccines, and the point is to live life again.  Covid may never go away and people have to learn to live with the risk of living life again.

I prefer the cautious approach. I understand people don’t want to wear a mask on deck in hot weather of course and the vaccines make that a reasonable expectation. However norovirus was already a problem and it is food borne so I prefer staff service for buffeteria type, plated portions 

[SwordBlazer Cruising]

On 4/30/2021 at 10:36 AM, maryann2 said:

The usual spiel before it's cancelled.

You said the exact same line on John Healds Facebook page. Out of curiosity what would you expect/ want them to say? 

[SNJCruisers]

5 hours ago, firefly333 said:

 

Mock cruises are not going to happen. 

I say they will because then the statement that their idiot CEO Arnold Donald said about vaccinations not being required will come true and then Carnival can open up those ships to all of the unvaccinated and families that would be over the 5% limit on the initial ships.  And if NCL and RCI go 100% of their fleet with the 95% rule, then that opens up more Blue cards to come to Carnival since they would thus be the cruise line with part of their fleet welcoming families and the unvaccinated with open arms.

[firefly333]

18 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

I say they will because then the statement that their idiot CEO Arnold Donald said about vaccinations not being required will come true and then Carnival can open up those ships to all of the unvaccinated and families that would be over the 5% limit on the initial ships.  And if NCL and RCI go 100% of their fleet with the 95% rule, then that opens up more Blue cards to come to Carnival since they would thus be the cruise line with part of their fleet welcoming families and the unvaccinated with open arms.

Ben and David the cruise bloggers have a good video supporting why they wouldnt. That the crew on mock cruises has to be vaccinated and so do the volunteers. Plus the volunteers all need a note from their doctors. Plus a impossibly long to do list. I agree with them. A overnight stay. The 30 day filing to advise the cdc of the mock sailing. They believe the cdc is being cheeky and wants to mandate vaccines but this is a clever way of putting the blame back on the cruiselines by making the mock cruises so onerous that no cruiseline will do them.

 

Ok. We already have a bet on this from before. Last week we bet, still dont know the verdict. Look up their video, worth a look as they put the reasons clearly. We will probably know within a week.

 

Rcl came out yesterday saying the 5% will be unvaccinated children. They just havent decided if the cut off age will be 12 16 or 18. 

[SCBarker]

9 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Rcl came out yesterday saying the 5% will be unvaccinated children. They just havent decided if the cut off age will be 12 16 or 18. 

This has had me wondering what Disney is going to do. I can't imagine they'd ever have less than 5% children.  I haven't paid any attention to them, but my guess is they will just be the last to restart after other changes are made.

[firefly333]

6 minutes ago, SCBarker said:

This has had me wondering what Disney is going to do. I can't imagine they'd ever have less than 5% children.  I haven't paid any attention to them, but my guess is they will just be the last to restart after other changes are made.

This has me wondering if carnival too wouldnt have to go down to age 12. (Which should be approved next week). Carnival has quite a few children. Especially if they start in the summer when school is out. Time for the cruiselines to let us know! 

[TNcruising02]

1 hour ago, KmomChicago said:

I prefer the cautious approach. I understand people don’t want to wear a mask on deck in hot weather of course and the vaccines make that a reasonable expectation. However norovirus was already a problem and it is food borne so I prefer staff service for buffeteria type, plated portions 

I absolutely think then buffet food should be served by the staff. but wearing a mask while lounging on the deck is overkill.  Spread out the lounge chairs three feet apart for groups and let people take off their masks.  The mask rules go overboard beyond common sense, which is what frustrates people.  

[maryann2]

1 hour ago, SwordBlazer Cruising said:

You said the exact same line on John Healds Facebook page. Out of curiosity what would you expect/ want them to say? 

Not me. I don't follow him.

He has to say what they tell him to say.

[LHARTWICK]

I hope our September 11 MG cruise is cancelled, in light of the new guidelines from CDC.  No FUN at all.

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, LHARTWICK said:

I hope our September 11 MG cruise is cancelled, in light of the new guidelines from CDC.  No FUN at all.

You can move your cruise to a later date including any obc.

 

I'm betting my sept 11th is a go. 

[SNJCruisers]

4 hours ago, firefly333 said:

This has me wondering if carnival too wouldnt have to go down to age 12. (Which should be approved next week). Carnival has quite a few children. Especially if they start in the summer when school is out. Time for the cruiselines to let us know! 

This is the exact reason why I think that Carnival will indeed have the test cruises on a few of their ships.  This way they can welcome all of the kids and adults that are unvaccinated with open arms.

[SNJCruisers]

5 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Ben and David the cruise bloggers have a good video supporting why they wouldnt. That the crew on mock cruises has to be vaccinated and so do the volunteers. Plus the volunteers all need a note from their doctors. Plus a impossibly long to do list. I agree with them. A overnight stay. The 30 day filing to advise the cdc of the mock sailing. They believe the cdc is being cheeky and wants to mandate vaccines but this is a clever way of putting the blame back on the cruiselines by making the mock cruises so onerous that no cruiseline will do them.

 

Ok. We already have a bet on this from before. Last week we bet, still dont know the verdict. Look up their video, worth a look as they put the reasons clearly. We will probably know within a week.

 

Rcl came out yesterday saying the 5% will be unvaccinated children. They just havent decided if the cut off age will be 12 16 or 18. 

The doctor's note for the volunteers I believe is only for those that are not fully vaccinated.  The hassles of dealing with the test cruises will be outweighed by the monies generated by the unvaccinated.

[SNJCruisers]

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

You can move your cruise to a later date including any obc.

 

I'm betting my sept 11th is a go. 

But if the 9/11 is cancelled, then LHARTWICK will pick up 600 in OBC, unless they already have it from a previously cancelled cruise.

[ZoeyVictoria]

I would like to see all of the cruise lines start with two vaccinated-only ships, while simultaneously doing test cruises on some of their other ships.  At some point the requirements will go away or change drastically and they can then add as many ships as they can staff/prepare.

[TNcruising02]

6 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

This is the exact reason why I think that Carnival will indeed have the test cruises on a few of their ships.  This way they can welcome all of the kids and adults that are unvaccinated with open arms.

I thought the requirement was age 18 or over:

 

• All volunteer passengers must be at least eighteen years old or older on the day of the simulation and at the time that their consent to participate is obtained.
  
  https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/ti-simulated-voyages-cso.html

[SNJCruisers]

37 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

I thought the requirement was age 18 or over:

 

• All volunteer passengers must be at least eighteen years old or older on the day of the simulation and at the time that their consent to participate is obtained.
  
  https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/ti-simulated-voyages-cso.html

I was not implying the unvaccinated and the kids on the test cruises, but when things get approved by the CDC to open it up for other ships after the test cruises have been completed.

[SNJCruisers]

42 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

I would like to see all of the cruise lines start with two vaccinated-only ships, while simultaneously doing test cruises on some of their other ships.  At some point the requirements will go away or change drastically and they can then add as many ships as they can staff/prepare.

When you say vaccinated only, do you mean 100% or 95% that has been allowed by the CDC?

[ZoeyVictoria]

1 hour ago, SNJCruisers said:

When you say vaccinated only, do you mean 100% or 95% that has been allowed by the CDC?

I would suggest 100% vaccinated for the first 60 days or so.  Things are changing very quickly, and by that time test cruises should have been completed and requirements could be the same for all ships.

[SNJCruisers]

3 hours ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

I would suggest 100% vaccinated for the first 60 days or so.  Things are changing very quickly, and by that time test cruises should have been completed and requirements could be the same for all ships.

It's all speculation at this point as to the exact percentage that the cruise lines will choose and whether they will split their fleets or not to allow children and unvaccinated adults to have more of an opportunity to cruise.