Christine Duffy on GMA Today - Vaccine Question

[TerReuv]

6 hours ago, LHARTWICK said:

According to a conversation I had with my TA yesterday, ALL passengers will be required to be vaccinated regardless of line.  She also said the same for passports - must have in order to board.  No problem for us - we are ready!

 

Why would they start requiring passports?  That has nothing to do with the virus and they would lose a lot of their customers.  That totally sounds made up.  Not you, the TA.

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, SNJCruisers said:

But if they need more than 5% allowed, then they would have to do the test cruise route, which you had said in the past they would not do. 😉

You are mistaken as usual. I said just the opposite. Vista is already approved for test cruises. It's you who says half and half vaccinated and not. I said they are going the test cruise route. John posted  yesterday our CD and several hundred crew boarded vista. I never said they werent doing test cruises. I've even posted links to approval of test cruises out of Galveston. 

[keels81]

If you're a family that's booked, I wouldn't panic about younger kids not being able to cruise just yet.

 

High-ranking members from both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean have been pretty transparent in how they plan to re-open sailing in regards to vaccines and families. In Celebrity's case, at the max they've only had around 8-percent capacity on a ship being under the age of 12 (the vaccination age threshold), so they're going the route of 95%-98% to go without test sailings and will just use inventory management to make sure they can accommodate as many (if not all) families that want to cruise with children not able to be vaccinated. 

 

Royal is also requiring vaccinations for those that can be vaccinated with VERY SPECIFIC EXCEPTIONS (ie. religious reason or doctor saying they are unable to be vaccinated), however they're doing the test cruises to show the CDC their operations and protocols for a lesser percentage of 95-percent of cruisers being vaccinated ... and this is so they can accommodate more families with children under the age of 12. 

 

The RCCL model is what I imagine Carnival is going to go with as well.

 

80-percent of cruisers prefer to cruise on a vaccinated cruise -- and I'm one of them! -- and while I won't speak for everyone, I want adults and those that can be vaccinated to be vaccinated. Kiddos that can't be vaccinated yet? As long as all the members of their family are vaccinated, I've got no problem with it. I don't have a kiddo, but I'm not sure how comfortable I'd feel taking my unvaccinated kiddo on a cruise where the vast majority of those eligible to be vaccinated weren't vaccinated. And I certainly wouldn't want them to have to wear a mask on a cruise just because an eligible adult doesn't want to get a vaccine.

[amcankid]

One easy end around to avoid putting DeSantis on the spot would be to require a picture of your vaccination card (and each guest in your party) before your reservation for a cruise can be completed. Those already booked would need to show the pictures before on-line check in can be completed.

This way it takes it out of the jurisdiction of Florida since its on the World Wide Web originating from a Corporation flying a Flag from the Bahamas

[BlerkOne]

18 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

You are mistaken as usual. I said just the opposite. Vista is already approved for test cruises. It's you who says half and half vaccinated and not. I said they are going the test cruise route. John posted  yesterday our CD and several hundred crew boarded vista. I never said they werent doing test cruises. I've even posted links to approval of test cruises out of Galveston. 

Approval to do experimental cruises and actually executing them are two different things. When Carnival announces a date for a test cruise, it becomes credible.

[BlerkOne]

2 minutes ago, amcankid said:

One easy end around to avoid putting DeSantis on the spot would be to require a picture of your vaccination card (and each guest in your party) before your reservation for a cruise can be completed. Those already booked would need to show the pictures before on-line check in can be completed.

This way it takes it out of the jurisdiction of Florida since its on the World Wide Web originating from a Corporation flying a Flag from the Bahamas

Just have a drawing for a free cruise and people will crash the system with the volume uploaded.

[cruisingguy007]

2 minutes ago, amcankid said:

One easy end around to avoid putting DeSantis on the spot would be to require a picture of your vaccination card (and each guest in your party) before your reservation for a cruise can be completed. Those already booked would need to show the pictures before on-line check in can be completed.

This way it takes it out of the jurisdiction of Florida since its on the World Wide Web originating from a Corporation flying a Flag from the Bahamas

 The Wayfair decision could come into play there. Unintended consequences. 

[BlerkOne]

22 minutes ago, TerReuv said:

 

Why would they start requiring passports?  That has nothing to do with the virus and they would lose a lot of their customers.  That totally sounds made up.  Not you, the TA.

If you test positive and are put off of the ship in a foreign port they want you to be able to eventually fly back home.

[cruisingguy007]

1 minute ago, BlerkOne said:

If you test positive and are put off of the ship in a foreign port they want you to be able to eventually fly back home.

 

Citation? Seems like FUD. 

[firefly333]

25 minutes ago, keels81 said:

Royal is also requiring vaccinations for those that can be vaccinated with VERY SPECIFIC EXCEPTIONS (ie. religious reason or doctor saying they are unable to be vaccinated), however they're doing the test cruises to show the CDC their operations and protocols for a lesser percentage of 95-percent of cruisers being vaccinated ... and this is so they can accommodate more families with children under the age of 12. 

 

The RCCL model is what I imagine Carnival is going to go with as well.

 

80-percent of cruisers prefer to cruise on a vaccinated cruise -- and I'm one of them! -- and while I won't speak for everyone, I want adults and those that can be vaccinated to be vaccinated. Kiddos that can't be vaccinated yet? As long as all the members of their family are vaccinated, I've got no problem with it. I don't have a kiddo, but I'm not sure how comfortable I'd feel taking my unvaccinated kiddo on a cruise where the vast majority of those eligible to be vaccinated weren't vaccinated. And I certainly wouldn't want them to have to wear a mask on a cruise just because an eligible adult doesn't want to get a vaccine.

Could you provide a link to this policy on rcl out of the usa, other than alaska? I havent seen it posted at rcl or on their threads. I am vaccinated... just havent seen this policy. 

 

I googled it and found this on rcl site ...only for nassau and out of seattle ... not other usa ports. 

Edited June 4, 2021 by firefly333

[BlerkOne]

8 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

Citation? Seems like FUD. 

Citation for what? It is in the ticket contract they can disembark you. 

[lazydayz]

5 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Our passports were expired for over a year (what was the rush, I thought!), but we renewed them earlier this year - in preparation. Now we're good for 10 more!  🙂

 

Tom

 

Funny, we did the same thing.  Woo hoo - vaccinated and ready to go. 

[cruisingguy007]

5 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Citation for what? It is in the ticket contract they can disembark you. 

 

Citation for saying that passports are required for closed loop cruises. 

[Eli_6]

9 hours ago, BrotherCraig said:

And no kids.  Going to make a lot of folks happy.  

 

Also, will break a lot of hearts as well.

I would rather cruise without my kids than not cruise at all.  I think most reasonable people would feel the same way.

[cruisingguy007]

45 minutes ago, TerReuv said:

 

Why would they start requiring passports?  That has nothing to do with the virus and they would lose a lot of their customers.  That totally sounds made up.  Not you, the TA.

 

They're not. Hearsay FUD from a travel agent is hardly reliable source.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

8 minutes ago, lazydayz said:

 

Funny, we did the same thing.  Woo hoo - vaccinated and ready to go. 

Though... I did prefer our old passport photos compared to the new ones!

[lazydayz]

Just now, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Though... I did prefer our old passport photos compared to the new ones!

 You and me both.  Hubby looks great, but somehow I look 10 years older! 

[cruisingguy007]

Just now, Eli_6 said:

I would rather cruise without my kids than not cruise at all.  I think most reasonable people would feel the same way.

 

Yeah. No. LOL. Most reasonable people want to cruise with their families and not be away from their kids for a week.

[bdever]

30 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Approval to do experimental cruises and actually executing them are two different things. When Carnival announces a date for a test cruise, it becomes credible.

Bingo. Christine Duffy eluded to the difficulty of execution and the effects it would have on the cruise experience today in her interview today with GMA. In terms of still working with the CDC and other regulatory agencies, IMO they are probably trying to get an exemption for passengers under 12 years of age so that not only would they be allowed to sail with a negative test but also not be subject to protocols such as wearing a mask, social distancing, and being allowed to self explore in ports with vaccinated family members. If Carnival was my daddy’s company I would still be trying to get that exemption but at the end of the day if 80% of the population prefers to sail on a fully vaccinated ship and the CDC isn’t budging then I’m going to try to restart based on the preferences of the majority of my potential clientele. 

[Mallow]

11 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

Yeah. No. LOL. Most reasonable people want to cruise with their families and not be away from their kids for a week.

We take family and just the wife and I vacations each year.  The family generally prefers vacations that aren't cruises so we leave them at home.

[ouse456]

16 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

Yeah. No. LOL. Most reasonable people want to cruise with their families and not be away from their kids for a week.

 

 

 

Can you provide documentation  for this?🙂

[TNcruising02]

2 minutes ago, ouse456 said:

 

 

 

Can you provide documentation  for this?🙂

He could do a poll, but would be faced with the challenge of finding enough reasonable people on CC.  LOL

[IntrepidFromDC]

2 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

He could do a poll, but would be faced with the challenge of finding enough reasonable people on CC.  LOL

I can see this about to be threadjacked into a debate over what constitutes reasonable.

[BlerkOne]

25 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

Yeah. No. LOL. Most reasonable people want to cruise with their families and not be away from their kids for a week.

Debatable. Cute wears off after a while, There are lots of I'm Spending My Kids Inheritance tee shirts out there.

[BlerkOne]

35 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

Citation for saying that passports are required for closed loop cruises. 

They aren't required for closed loop cruises. They are required to fly internationally, if you get put off the ship for covid treatment/quarantine. And especially if you get put off for disrupting the cruise,

 

(a) Proper travel documentation and eligibility to travel is required at the embarkation and throughout the cruise. In addition to immigration and customs requirements, the U.S. government and others place restrictions on the carriage of Guests whose names appear on government watch lists or who are deemed legally ineligible to travel. It is the Guest’s sole responsibility to ensure his/her legal eligibility to travel and to bring and have available at all times all required travel documents. Guests are advised to check with their travel agent and with the appropriate government authority to determine the necessary documents and travel eligibility requirements for their particular cruise. Carnival may cancel the booking of any Guest who is or becomes ineligible to travel for any reason, who is traveling without proper documentation, or who fails to abide by Carnival’s COVID-19 Guest Protocols (as described in Sections 5 and 6 below or on Carnival’s website). Any such Guest, or any Guest who fails to follow Carnival COVID-19 Guest Protocols or to board the ship at embarkation, shall be ineligible to board the ship thereafter without Carnival’s consent, and shall not attempt to do so at the same or another port. Under these circumstances the Guest shall not be entitled to a refund or compensation of any kind. Guest is responsible for all related costs and fines, including without limitation travel expenses and for proper travel documentation for any port, or for departure from or arrival to their final destination. Under no circumstances shall Carnival be liable for any costs, damages or expenses whatsoever incurred by any Guest as a result of such failure, cancellation or denial of boarding.