Would you cruise out of Florida if the sailing was allowing more than 5% un-vaccinated?

[jrapps]

1 hour ago, harkinmr said:

RCI is still going to discourage unvaccinated adults from cruising with lots of restrictions and additional testing and costs. 

Sadly the part Royal isn't talking about is that even with discouraging unvaccinated adults, by going the test cruise route for all of their ships sailing from Florida, there will be tighter protocols meaning everyone will have to wear a mask including the vaccinated.

 

If you are looking for a cruise based on personal freedom of choice not to get vaccinated, Royal has you covered. If you are looking for a cruise that has an experience as close to pre pandemic as possible, look elsewhere.

[harkinmr]

2 minutes ago, jrapps said:

Sadly the part Royal isn't talking about is that even with discouraging unvaccinated adults, by going the test cruise route for all of their ships sailing from Florida, there will be tighter protocols meaning everyone will have to wear a mask including the vaccinated.

 

If you are looking for a cruise based on personal freedom of choice not to get vaccinated, Royal has you covered. If you are looking for a cruise that has an experience as close to pre pandemic as possible, look elsewhere.

Agree.  They just aren’t breaking the bad news to everyone else yet.  Can’t have all those cancellations now can we. 🙄

[winterbliss]

 Any percentage numbers vaccinated or not wouldn't stop me from boarding a ship. However, knowing people will be automatically deviating around me... because they believe I'm just a ball of virus coming towards them....now that I would have to say no to. 

[harkinmr]

21 minutes ago, jerseygirl3 said:

Actually a woman on Facebook said her mother is onboard that sailing and she told her the Captain announced that a second PCR test was negative. She said the original antigen test was positive. Not sure if they is verifiable. 

There have been numerous other reports from those on board saying the PCR was positive. Two positive antigen tests and a positive PCR. Given that the cruise line kept them in isolation and flew them home by private carrier certainly backs up a final positive diagnosis. Folks need to stop hanging on to this “false positive” narrative.  

[broberts]

36 minutes ago, jerseygirl3 said:

Actually a woman on Facebook said her mother is onboard that sailing and she told her the Captain announced that a second PCR test was negative. She said the original antigen test was positive. Not sure if they is verifiable. 

 

It seems very unlikely to me that a public announcement would be made about the results of a personal medical test.

[smokeybandit]

13 hours ago, jerseygirl3 said:

Actually Royal only changed from vaccinated to unvaccinated after DeSantis said he would not allow them to ask for proof of vaccination. They caved to the politics. NCL, Carnival and Celebrity are calling his bluff and still mandating 95% must be vaccinated, which was Royal’s original plan. 

 

 

This is not true.  RC's decision had nothing to do with the Florida law

[cscurlock]

42 minutes ago, harkinmr said:

There have been numerous other reports from those on board saying the PCR was positive. Two positive antigen tests and a positive PCR. Given that the cruise line kept them in isolation and flew them home by private carrier certainly backs up a final positive diagnosis. Folks need to stop hanging on to this “false positive” narrative.  

Yeah once the PCR test was done its pretty much game over.  Those things are very effective.  Not much to discuss after that.  Hopefully someone can build a PCR test kit that can be run in 5 minutes or less.  Then you are gold on the testing front.  

[jerseygirl3]

3 hours ago, broberts said:

 

It seems very unlikely to me that a public announcement would be made about the results of a personal medical test.

Well it was made public when it was positive… I’m sure it’s fine if no names are given. 

[jerseygirl3]

3 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

This is not true.  RC's decision had nothing to do with the Florida law

And you know this how? 

[jerseygirl3]

3 hours ago, broberts said:

 

It seems very unlikely to me that a public announcement would be made about the results of a personal medical test.

https://m.facebook.com/watch/?ref=watch_permalink

[jerseygirl3]

1 minute ago, jerseygirl3 said:

https://m.facebook.com/watch/?ref=watch_permalink

Snd this is a travel agent who was onboard. You would think she wouldn’t spread false info🤦‍♀️

[smokeybandit]

5 minutes ago, jerseygirl3 said:

And you know this how? 

Because by the time these cruises sail it'll be announced that the FL mandate doesn't apply to cruise ships.

[not-enough-cruising]

4 hours ago, jerseygirl3 said:

Actually a woman on Facebook said her mother is onboard that sailing and she told her the Captain announced that a second PCR test was negative. She said the original antigen test was positive. Not sure if they is verifiable. 

Antigen testing in the asymptomatic population has a high false positive rate.  This is a major problem in the current protocol.

[not-enough-cruising]

4 hours ago, broberts said:

 

It seems very unlikely to me that a public announcement would be made about the results of a personal medical test.

They reported the positive results to the general public........

[Carol28]

I canceled my Odyssey cruise in December and changed it to Alaska next July on the Radiance, a smaller ship.  I changed because of our governor's decision.

[Catnip]

5 hours ago, jerseygirl3 said:

Christine Lasko Gebhard https://www.facebook.com/TravelOnADream/videos/492068198687595/

That seems to be an invalid link.   Who is Christine Gebhard?

 

[jerseygirl3]

1 hour ago, Catnip said:

That seems to be an invalid link.   Who is Christine Gebhard?

 

This is her post:

We have been given update information that the 2 people tested positive on the antigen test tested negative on the follow up 2 day lab test was negative. The press is blowing it up as though we have Covid on the ship and all of us have been tested and are 100 % negative. A lot of people were texting me and this is what the Captain just claimed over the loud speaker. What else would you expect from the press!

[Catnip]

14 minutes ago, jerseygirl3 said:

This is her post:

We have been given update information that the 2 people tested positive on the antigen test tested negative on the follow up 2 day lab test was negative. The press is blowing it up as though we have Covid on the ship and all of us have been tested and are 100 % negative. A lot of people were texting me and this is what the Captain just claimed over the loud speaker. What else would you expect from the press!

Thank you.  I guess everyone just needs to keep in mind that there will be false tests, negative and positive, which has been proven before. 

[sugcarol]

18 hours ago, Catnip said:

 

I have not seen this reported yet, maybe I missed it.  Can you provide valid links?

The only thing that I read came from a passenger that was a TA. She stated the two people both had 2 positive ANTIGEN tests but the 48 hour PCR test was negative. That is why Hawaii will not accept Antigen test, only PCR and IDNOW. If the antigen is the test that they will give onboard for end of cruise i will cancel in a heartbeat, they are way too unreliable.  Those two passengers went through all that anxiety for nothing.

[Twitchly]

On 6/12/2021 at 7:22 PM, MrMarc said:

Most of the time this happens, it is because they have taken proper precautions after the diagnosis, and by chance had not had close enough interaction for long enough to catch it.  However, while they have not found any natural immunity, there are people who are more or less likely to be infected.  It is based on the viral load they are exposed to.  For many viruses they have done human challenge test to determine the range needed, but because this is possibly deadly to any particular person and there is no clear rescue path, they decided that human challenge tests would be unethical.  The only test that I have seen planned was in England, but I do not know if they went forward with it.

It’s a bit of a mystery. My DH got Covid from work way back in March 2020. I took care of him. He didn’t isolate from me, and we didn’t wear masks. (This was when we were told not to bother.) I never got it. We both took the antibodies test a couple months later; he had them, I didn’t. Why didn’t I get it from him? Who knows? I pretty much never get sick, so maybe it’s an immune system thing. 
 

Anyway, we’ve both since been vaccinated. So I’m comfortable sailing on any ship, with anyone, regardless of their vaccination status. 
 

But there are two reasons I think it’s a good idea to require vaccinations for travel right now:

- the impact on fellow cruisers re: missed ports if someone tests positive (as just happened in the Mediterranean)

- the fact that citizens of many other countries don’t yet have as much access to vaccines as we’ve had, so it seems like the decent thing to do whatever we can to protect them when we visit. 

[MrMarc]

3 minutes ago, Twitchly said:

It’s a bit of a mystery. My DH got Covid from work way back in March 2020. I took care of him. He didn’t isolate from me, and we didn’t wear masks. (This was when we were told not to bother.) I never got it. We both took the antibodies test a couple months later; he had them, I didn’t. Why didn’t I get it from him? Who knows? I pretty much never get sick, so maybe it’s an immune system thing. 
 

Anyway, we’ve both since been vaccinated. So I’m comfortable sailing on any ship, with anyone, regardless of their vaccination status. 
 

But there are two reasons I think it’s a good idea to require vaccinations for travel right now:

- the impact on fellow cruisers re: missed ports if someone tests positive (as just happened in the Mediterranean)

- the fact that citizens of many other countries don’t yet have as much access to vaccines as we’ve had, so it seems like the decent thing to do whatever we can to protect them when we visit. 

Glad things turned out well.  Too many people take that to mean it is not that contagious,  rather than proof that this isn't acting like other viruses.   I agree with your thinking though.  There are so many different reasons to go with 100% vaccinated cruises for now, but who knows what will actually happen.

[coffeebean]

On 6/10/2021 at 1:54 AM, smalltimecruiser100 said:

I would not feel comfortable. Hope DeSantis changes his executive order

It is a Florida law, one I am adamantly opposed to. 

[Twitchly]

5 minutes ago, MrMarc said:

Glad things turned out well.  Too many people take that to mean it is not that contagious,  rather than proof that this isn't acting like other viruses.   I agree with your thinking though.  There are so many different reasons to go with 100% vaccinated cruises for now, but who knows what will actually happen.

Thanks, I’m glad, too. DH works in a hospital, so we know it can be quite contagious. It’s just a mystery why some get it and some don’t, and why one friend just got the sniffles from it while another recently died. They were the same age, too (mid-60s). Strange stuff.

Edited June 14, 2021 by Twitchly

[Catnip]

2 hours ago, sugcarol said:

The only thing that I read came from a passenger that was a TA. She stated the two people both had 2 positive ANTIGEN tests but the 48 hour PCR test was negative. That is why Hawaii will not accept Antigen test, only PCR and IDNOW. If the antigen is the test that they will give onboard for end of cruise i will cancel in a heartbeat, they are way too unreliable.  Those two passengers went through all that anxiety for nothing.

Yeah, and nervous Nellie's here are getting all bent out of shape.  Do you remember , maybe a few months ago, when Elon Musk had 4 covid tests in one day?   As far as I remember, he got the same test by the same nurse and got back both 2 positive results AND 2 negative results!   😮

[not-enough-cruising]

4 hours ago, Catnip said:

Thank you.  I guess everyone just needs to keep in mind that there will be false tests, negative and positive, which has been proven before. 

 

3 hours ago, sugcarol said:

The only thing that I read came from a passenger that was a TA. She stated the two people both had 2 positive ANTIGEN tests but the 48 hour PCR test was negative. That is why Hawaii will not accept Antigen test, only PCR and IDNOW. If the antigen is the test that they will give onboard for end of cruise i will cancel in a heartbeat, they are way too unreliable.  Those two passengers went through all that anxiety for nothing.

The false positive rate for antigen tests in asymptomatic people is quite high. This is a fault in this plan, and as stated, why Hawaii and some other entities will not accept them.