CDC issues test cruise instructions

[ipeeinthepool]

On 5/9/2021 at 6:46 PM, nocl said:

The CDC does not decide.  The CDC provides guidance then either approve or disproves the plan submitted by the cruise line.  ...

 

If the CDC approves or disapproves, it still sounds like a CDC decision to me.

[ipeeinthepool]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Remember when the vaccines were first being worked on and there were posts that they would probably be less than 50% effective? And now they are well over 90%, and people still complain. 

 

Just another example of the expertise of our experts.  🤔

[ontheweb]

3 hours ago, K.T.B. said:

 

We've become such an "all or nothing" world....

Yes, and that seems to included the CDC which seems to want cruise ships to be 100% safe as per Covid, while nothing is really 100% in the real world.

[Steelers36]

7 hours ago, K.T.B. said:

 

And this is a bad thing?  I'd take a 6% chance over a 100% chance of being infected.  And even then, if you're vaccinated, the effects of the virus will most likely be far less than if you were unvaccinated.

I am not an "anti-vaxxer" just to set the stage.  I get what your angle is in the above, but you are not at 100% chance of being infected if not vaccinated.  If that were even close to true, the Covid-19 infection rates would be approaching 100% of all populations.

 

I don't think there is an actual measurement of the chances of being infected.  All you can do is go roughly by the percent population being infected where you live.  But your life and work style also affect susceptibility, not to mention your personal immune system.  The only way I know of to have close to 100% chance of being infected while not vaccinated is to spend time in close proximity with an infected individual, preferably indoors, and breathing their air for some period of time.  A sneeze or two by them would help to hit that 100% marker.  😉

 

 

[Redwing55]

On 5/10/2021 at 7:15 AM, chengkp75 said:

And, again, that teeny, tiny, problem of work visas that has absolutely nothing to do with the PVSA.  Would you prefer the additional cost of having to go to Ensenada or paying 3-5 times the total cruise fare to bypass it?

Yes, unless you advocate renouncing SOLAS, you cannot "carve out" one type of "passenger vessel" from another.  Or, you could try to get a majority of the 164 nations who are signatory to SOLAS to agree that the US needs to have a special definition of "passenger" vessel so that their vacations are improved.

 

2021 Alaska Cruise Season May Be Saved as U.S. Senate Passes Key Bill - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News

Care to explain how the US Senate passed an act to allow for Alaska cruises for foreign flagged ships?  I guess they did figure out a way to carve things out a bit.  Hopefully it passes soon.  I still don't follow how other nations matter for this.

[chengkp75]

28 minutes ago, Redwing55 said:

 

2021 Alaska Cruise Season May Be Saved as U.S. Senate Passes Key Bill - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News

Care to explain how the US Senate passed an act to allow for Alaska cruises for foreign flagged ships?  I guess they did figure out a way to carve things out a bit.  Hopefully it passes soon.  I still don't follow how other nations matter for this.

They have made an exception for one route (Washington to Alaska), but not for a type of vessel.  So, any vessel that carries more than 12 people for hire would be allowed to sail on the route specified for the time period specified.

 

As for why other countries matter, it is a matter of international law.  If the US ratifies an international convention like SOLAS (which we have), it requires the US to pass legislation putting the language of that convention into US law (i.e. whatever is written in SOLAS now has to be written, completely, into US law).  If we were to change the definition of "passenger vessel" in US law, that would be a renunciation of SOLAS.  The only way to remain compliant with SOLAS, and get a new definition of "passenger vessel" for cruise ships would be to have the IMO (the UN's maritime organization, with 174 member nations, modify SOLAS, so you would need to convince these nations that it was in their interest to do so.

[Redwing55]

12 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

They have made an exception for one route (Washington to Alaska), but not for a type of vessel.  So, any vessel that carries more than 12 people for hire would be allowed to sail on the route specified for the time period specified.

 

As for why other countries matter, it is a matter of international law.  If the US ratifies an international convention like SOLAS (which we have), it requires the US to pass legislation putting the language of that convention into US law (i.e. whatever is written in SOLAS now has to be written, completely, into US law).  If we were to change the definition of "passenger vessel" in US law, that would be a renunciation of SOLAS.  The only way to remain compliant with SOLAS, and get a new definition of "passenger vessel" for cruise ships would be to have the IMO (the UN's maritime organization, with 174 member nations, modify SOLAS, so you would need to convince these nations that it was in their interest to do so.

Come on.. So if they did it for 4 routes, it can't be done?  Like Cal to Wash.  And maybe FL to Maine?   I said I was done before.  I'm done now.  Sorry if I offend, but it looks like there is a fix.  This is a US issue as shown by this legislation.   You won't convince me and you say know the laws so time to move on.  On to other topics.

[caribill]

3 hours ago, Redwing55 said:

Come on.. So if they did it for 4 routes, it can't be done?  Like Cal to Wash.  And maybe FL to Maine?   I

 

The CDC is still limiting until November cruises to 7 days or less. California to Alaska would take more than 7 days. So would FL to Maine (unless there were no port stops).

[Barklee]

9 hours ago, Redwing55 said:

 

2021 Alaska Cruise Season May Be Saved as U.S. Senate Passes Key Bill - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News

Care to explain how the US Senate passed an act to allow for Alaska cruises for foreign flagged ships?  I guess they did figure out a way to carve things out a bit.  Hopefully it passes soon.  I still don't follow how other nations matter for this.

The Alaska Tourism Recovery Act is not a done deal.  A similar bill needs to be passed by the House of Representatives, and then signed by the President. Its rare for anything in DC to pass quickly, unless the Alaska delegation has already lined up the required House votes.

[B Midged]

2 hours ago, Barklee said:

The Alaska Tourism Recovery Act is not a done deal.  A similar bill needs to be passed by the House of Representatives, and then signed by the President. Its rare for anything in DC to pass quickly, unless the Alaska delegation has already lined up the required House votes.

I hope it passes and they make it permanent.  The stop in Canada was always a wasted day anyway. 

[Steelers36]

3 hours ago, B Midged said:

The stop in Canada was always a wasted day anyway. 

Now I take offense to that!!!!    LOL.

 

[cruisingrob21]

20 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Now I take offense to that!!!!    LOL.

 

As you should!  Having done many coastal cruises with full day stops in Victoria, I wish PCL would occasionally sub out the 6am to noon call in Ketchikan on some itineraries for a full day stop in Victoria - it has so much to offer.  I was pretty bummed out in 2019 when they cancelled a May 2020 Voyage on the Grand that was to sail from SF to Astoria, Nanaimo and Vancouver.  Then to my surprise, they reinstated it a few months later - and then covid happened.

 

There are many excellent Canadian cities that deserve more than just a token stop that Alaskan cruisers would probably enjoy.  Wait for NCL to try it, then Princess may.  I really like how NCL was planning to offer Alaskan itineraries that were slightly more or less than 7 days in 2020 and 2021.  Its wishful thinking to hope that PCL or another line may someday offer a Seattle to Vancouver, inside passage, Prince Rupert, Nanaimo, Victoria, Seattle voyage.

 

Ironically today I'm wearing my Phillips Brewing and Malting shirt from Victoria - a great stop easily reached by the mosquito water taxi fleet.

Edited May 14, 2021 by cruisingrob21

[memoak]

8 hours ago, B Midged said:

I hope it passes and they make it permanent.  The stop in Canada was always a wasted day anyway. 

I love stops in Canada both on west and east coasts