Moon FLL to FLL

[les37b]

Just over a week to go now before boarding... Surprisingly no new Covid travel restrictions have been introduced.... But a week is a long time. That said, I think Ecuador has made things more difficult with test timescales - genuinely finding keeping up with this stuff more and more stressful.

 

I note SS are issuing antigen certificates for disembarkation but will provide PCR at a "nominal cost". I dread to think what that might be... And I'm still unsure if that antigen test is acceptable. The details are as clear as mud.

 

Hope you continue to enjoy and disembarkation is stress free. Any tips appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

[les37b]

Silver Moon just coming out of the Panama Canal at the Gatum lock... Not in view yet other than from a distance. The ship in front is in the lock and just departing.... more pics shortly.

 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2021 by les37b

[les37b]

Container ship Mandalay was the vessel directly in front.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Got to dark after this point (or more to the point, Silver Moon was too bright for the image and became a big white blur.) At least I've now seen what I have to look forward to.

Edited December 24, 2021 by les37b

[zqtchas]

 



Twas the night before Christmas, but Covid was here,
 

So we all had to stay extra cautious this year.

Our masks were all hung by the chimney with care

In case Santa forgot his and needed a spare.

With Covid, we couldn't leave cookies or cake

So we left Santa hand sanitizer to take.

The children were sleeping, the brave little tots

The ones over 5 had just had their first shots,

And mum in her kerchief and me in my cap

Had just settled in for a long winter's nap.

But we tossed and we turned all night in our beds

As visions of variants danced in our heads.

Gamma and Delta and now Omicron

These Covid mutations that go on and on

I thought to myself, "If this doesn't get better,

I'll soon be familiar with every Greek letter".

Then just as I started to drift off and doze

A clatter of noise from the front lawn arose.

I leapt from my bed and ran straight down the stair

I opened the door, and an old gent stood there.

His N 95 made him look pretty weird

But I knew who he was by his red suit and beard.

I kept six feet away but blurted out quick

" What are you doing here, jolly Saint Nick?"

Then I said, "Where's your presents, your reindeer and sleigh ?

Don't you know that tomorrow will be Christmas Day? ".

And Santa stood there looking sad in the snow

As he started to tell me a long tale of woe.

He said he'd been stuck at the North Pole alone

All  his white collar elves had been working from home,

And most of the others said "Santa, don't hire us!

We can live off the CERB now, thanks to the virus".

Those left in the toyshop had little to do.

With supply chain disruptions, they could make nothing new.

And as for the reindeer, they'd all gone away.

None of them left to pull on his sleigh.

He said Dasher and Dancer were in quarantine,

Prancer and Vixen refused the vaccine,

Comet and Cupid were in ICU,

So were Donner and Blitzen, they may not pull through.

And Rudolph's career can't be resurrected.

With his shiny red nose, they all think he's infected.

Even with his old sleigh, Santa couldn't go far.

Every border to cross needs a new PCR.

Santa sighed as he told me how nice it would be

If children could once again sit on his knee.

He couldn't care less if they're naughty or nice

But they'd have to show proof that they'd had their shot twice.

But then the old twinkle returned to his eyes.

And he said that he'd brought me a Christmas surprise.

When I unwrapped the box and opened it wide,

Starlight and rainbows streamed out from inside.

Some letters whirled round and flew up to the sky

And they spelled out a word that was 40 feet high.

There first was an H, then an O, then a P,

Then I saw it spelled HOPE when it added the E.

"Christmas magic" said Santa as he smiled through his beard.

Then suddenly all of the reindeer appeared.

He jumped into his sleigh and he waved me good-bye,

Then he soared o'er the rooftops and into the sky.

I heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight

"Get your vaccines my friends, Merry Christmas, good-night".

Then I went back to bed and a sweet Christmas dream

Of a world when we'd finished with Covid 19.

 

 

  

[les37b]

Hope all is well. I see you are just arriving in Cozumel. CDC now advising guests not to travel on cruise ships I just saw, which quite likely signals the end to boarding on the 3rd. Have you heard anything?

 

https://blogmickey.com/2021/12/cdc-advises-against-cruise-travel-regardless-of-vaccination-status/

 

 

 

[Catlover54]

2 minutes ago, les37b said:

Hope all is well. I see you are just arriving in Cozumel. CDC now advising guests not to travel on cruise ships I just saw, which quite likely signals the end to boarding on the 3rd. Have you heard anything?

 

https://blogmickey.com/2021/12/cdc-advises-against-cruise-travel-regardless-of-vaccination-status/

 

 

 

 

Why would this signal "the end to boarding on the 3rd"?

 

CDC issued an opinion, not a mandate.

"The CDC did not instate a no-sail order. The CDC recommends that anyone who plans on cruising be fully vaccinated and obtain a booster."

[Lois R]

Here is another article.......agreed they did not put a "no sail order" in place but they are recommending not to cruise, regardless of your vaccination status.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/30/us-cdc-says-people-should-avoid-cruise-travel-regardless-of-vaccination-status.html

[Catlover54]

5 minutes ago, Lois R said:

Here is another article.......agreed they did not put a "no sail order" in place but they are recommending not to cruise, regardless of your vaccination status.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/30/us-cdc-says-people-should-avoid-cruise-travel-regardless-of-vaccination-status.html

This article also does not say lines won't be able to cruise, it just recites the recommendation.

However, it increases risk of litigation if lines still cruise, and even one person gets really sick and dies *having contracted Covid on a ship* , while sailing against CDC opinion/recommendation/comment/pronouncement.

So that may be why the Spirit, with 2% positive,  is not porting and has all sea days for the rest of its current cruise. 

Edited December 30, 2021 by Catlover54
Typo

[les37b]

Key Information for Cruise Ship Travelers

 

• Avoid cruise travel, regardless of vaccination status.
• Even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants.
• The virus that causes COVID-19 spreads easily between people in close quarters on board ships, and the chance of getting COVID-19 on cruise ships is very high, even if you are fully vaccinated and have received a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose.

 

I rather suspect the UK will follow suit. US citizens were allowed to cruise as soon as ships started sailing. We were not. Our “advisory” was an instruction because you couldn’t get insurance with that in place. Hence why I’ve a feeling this will happen very soon. 
 

Just a gut feeling.

 

 

[Lois R]

Hi Catlover, I thought that is what I had posted..........they are recommending folks don't cruise.