Masks now required on Jade out of Athens.

[Rob-Bob]

After being told for months that there would be no mask wearing requirements on the Jade initial sailing leaving from Athens on July 25, we just were informed that we will need to wear masks indoors, and outdoors when social distancing cannot be achieved.

 

This is a real bummer.  very disappointing.

 

They will not make us wear one when we are in our room though.  Glad I don't need to wear one while I am sleeping and showering.

Edited July 15, 2021 by Rob-Bob
spelling error

[ricksurf]

Hopefully if all goes well with this sailing, then we will benefit with the following cruises and not have to wear the masks.

[Rob-Bob]

Big thing to us.  We haven't worn a mask in over a month.  Really not wanting to wear one now.  This was a pretty big factor in booking the cruise.  We are booked on another in March 2022.  I could have waited until then to cruise and taken a land vacation this summer.

 

Can't cancel now.  Inside 15 days.

[zerooveride]

2 minutes ago, Rob-Bob said:

Big thing to us.  We haven't worn a mask in over a month.  Really not wanting to wear one now.  This was a pretty big factor in booking the cruise.  We are booked on another in March 2022.  I could have waited until then to cruise and taken a land vacation this summer.

 

Can't cancel now.  Inside 15 days.

You should be able to. You booked the cruise under the premise, as told by the Cruise Line, that you did not have to wear a mask on a fully vaccinated cruise. I see that as a materially adverse change in your agreement with NCL. I would reach out to them and tell them that. I know I have plenty of e-mails from them that say that fully vaccinated cruise do not need to socially distance or wear masks.

 

If this happens to my Alaska cruise in 38 days, then I will fight them tooth and nail to get my money back.

[aubreyc1988]

Might have to do with local port authorities and precautions against variants. 

[JustAPilot]

Meanwhile our resident NCL poster now Celebrity transplant GraphicGuy is doing a semi live cruise blog on the Edge and Celebrity is just killing it. Awesome food pictures with entertainment to boot, ship looks great, drinks are flowing and no masks to be seen.
 

Meanwhile NCL is suing the Florida government and the best they can come up with is Cagney’s steak and a dark looking pub lol. Yeah great way to start your first return cruise back lol. 

Edited July 15, 2021 by JustAPilot

[Karaboudjan]

17 minutes ago, JustAPilot said:

Meanwhile our resident NCL poster now Celebrity transplant GraphicGuy is doing a semi live cruise blog on the Edge and Celebrity is just killing it. Awesome food pictures with entertainment to boot, ship looks great, drinks are flowing and no masks to be seen.
 

Meanwhile NCL is suing the Florida government and the best they can come up with is Cagney’s steak and a dark looking pub lol. Yeah great way to start your first return cruise back lol. 

I guess they're not in Europe, are they, because Celebrity's protocol doc says masks are required indoors and outdoors except when eating and drinking for Greece.  

[oteixeira]

Yea, sadly this is a Greece thing, they could choose to comply or cancel the cruise would by my guess.

[sverigecruiser]

41 minutes ago, zerooveride said:

You should be able to. You booked the cruise under the premise, as told by the Cruise Line, that you did not have to wear a mask on a fully vaccinated cruise. I see that as a materially adverse change in your agreement with NCL. I would reach out to them and tell them that. I know I have plenty of e-mails from them that say that fully vaccinated cruise do not need to socially distance or wear masks.

 

If this happens to my Alaska cruise in 38 days, then I will fight them tooth and nail to get my money back.

 

I absolutely agree with you.

 

I should not take that cruise and I should be prepared to fight to get my money back.

 

Before I made final payment I should have them promise me that no mask was needed so if they changed their mind it should be on them.

[DCGuy64]

I agree it'd be a bummer to have to wear a mask when you booked assuming you wouldn't need to. But having said that, I would be very surprised if NCL hadn't already covered its a** with something in the T&C's to the effect that "we reserve the right to make changes to our onboard protocols as conditions warrant." They'd be crazy not to. You might be able to make a case that this represents a material change to the cruise contract, but I would bet NCL's lawyers have already figured out how to make these changes in a way that guarantees you'll lose if you try to fight them on it. Too much riding on the restart with Covid still a problem in Greece right now. You could also be optimistic and hope things settle down by the time you sail and the mask mandate goes away.

 

Edited July 15, 2021 by DCGuy64
edited for clarity

[craig01020]

That is bad news. I am scheduled on the Jade for October, but I'll cancel if I have to wear a mask while on the ship.

NCL has not yet updated their Sail Safe page: https://www.ncl.com/sail-safe

[DCGuy64]

5 minutes ago, craig01020 said:

That is bad news. I am scheduled on the Jade for October, but I'll cancel if I have to wear a mask while on the ship.

NCL has not yet updated their Sail Safe page: https://www.ncl.com/sail-safe

And here it is, right on the page you linked to:

 

"As government regulations evolve, our health and safety protocols will evolve as needed to ensure compliance. This may mean different protocols from ship to ship based on local requirements."

 

BOOM. I knew they'd cover themselves somehow.

Edited July 15, 2021 by DCGuy64

[Jamesatgsu]

3 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

And here it is, right on the page you linked to:

 

"As government regulations evolve, our health and safety protocols will evolve as needed to ensure compliance. This may mean different protocols from ship to ship based on local requirements."

 

BOOM. I knew they'd cover themselves somehow.

 

Except government regulations didn't change. They are basing on EU Healthy Gateways guidance, which isn't actually a requirement to follow (anything can change in the next 10 days).

But in the cruise contract it is covered so I don't think we can do much other than say false advertising at best:

 

mandatory use by each Guest (except for children under the age of 2 years) of face coverings in most locations outside of the Guest’s cabin while onboard, during embarkation, disembarkation and shore excursions

[DCGuy64]

6 minutes ago, Jamesatgsu said:

Except government regulations didn't change

No, but local requirements did. Anyway, as you said, it's in the cruise contract so if I were the passenger I'd just sail and deal with it. Trying to demand a refund would be an uphill battle, in my opinion.

[Seany527]

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

I wouldn't consider it a cruise if there is a mask requirement.

I completely agree. So many other lines are not requiring them. If I saw masks were required by a certain cruise line, I would close my browsers and move on to my next line. 

[kimandtim]

Communication will be sent to all guests in the 30 days prior to setting sail

[soonernick]

Website still isn’t updated… it’s been 12 hours since I got the letter from NCL about my sailing in 10 days. I really want NCL to be successful and come back, but they’ve got to start communicating with one another and with their customers. If this has been in place since April, their website shouldn’t be promising mask free cruising. 

[qdog123]

20 minutes ago, soonernick said:

Website still isn’t updated… it’s been 12 hours since I got the letter from NCL about my sailing in 10 days. I really want NCL to be successful and come back, but they’ve got to start communicating with one another and with their customers. If this has been in place since April, their website shouldn’t be promising mask free cruising. 

Can you post a copy of the letter? I’m booked on the August 29th sailing and if we’re required to wear masks, I’m definitely cancelling…

[soonernick]

8 minutes ago, qdog123 said:

Can you post a copy of the letter? I’m booked on the August 29th sailing and if we’re required to wear masks, I’m definitely cancelling…

Here’s the PDF we were sent this morning. 

Norwegian Jade Embarkation Information.pdf

[qdog123]

24 minutes ago, soonernick said:

Here’s the PDF we were sent this morning. 

Norwegian Jade Embarkation Information.pdf 88.14 kB · 8 downloads

Well that settles it. I’m going to reach out to NCL and let them know I’ll be cancelling if this will be in effect for my sailing. Thanks for the heads up!

[HaveWeMetYet]

Once the stupid mask mandates come back then ports banning cruise ships will not be far behind, some like the British Virgin islands have already started. others will extend current bans. Next will be covid test even for the vaccinated since they are getting covid at an increasing rate which is what is happening in the UK and Israel. Then another round of covid test to get off the ship to go home.

It sure is nice to not have any cruises booked and not have to sweat out what is going to happen.

[Muckyduckway]

I'm not convinced that this is anything other than a failure to update previously prepared documents (or a catch-all position in case the need arises).

 

The first paragraph of the second page says that UK guests are required to present PCR negative results, but that is no longer the official Greek requirement:

 

 

[8420PR]

I think it is a fair assumption that all cruises in Southern Europe will require masks through to the end of 2021.   Cruising from Greece restarted in September 2020 with masks, and I am not aware of any country making mask exceptions for vaccinated people in Europe.

 

Since Summer 2020 I have spent 4 months in Mediterranean countries (Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece), and wearing a mask in public indoors places is pretty much universal (with exceptions when people think nobody else is watching) and accepted without the culture wars masks have generated in US (and other countries).  I say when in Rome....

[craig01020]

For months Norwegian has been promoting their cruising will be normal with no masks while onboard because the ship is 100% vaccinated. I have no problem wearing masks while on land, but to suddenly be told that masks are required while sailing is an abrupt kick in the teeth. 😬😷

[ColeThornton]

It's deja vu all over again.  😉