Face Mask update

[Ourusualbeach]

7 minutes ago, UNCFanatik said:

Tests are a snapshot in time and dont prevent people with Covid from boarding

You are correct that they do not stop everyone that may have covid from boarding but they do stop a significant % of those that do

 

Royal knows exactly how many people are testing positive on those tests as they give anyone who cannot board because of a positive test a full refund.  Until royal sees that number drop to near 0 I would wager that you will see testing continue.

[kjacruiser]

17 minutes ago, UNCFanatik said:

 

Are you also not going to do any indoor dining? 

 

Again..masks are strictly Covid theater on ships because of the indoor dining aspect of cruising. If you dine with 1000s of unmasked people for hours, you will be exposed if anyone around you has Covid. Th

 

Tests are a snapshot in time and dont prevent people with Covid from boarding

 

Vaccines dont stop the spread of the virus.

 

Remember the days when people assessed their own level of risk and took appropriate mitigation measures for themselves? I long for those days....

now if only the follow the science idiots would wake up....lololol...wear a mask don't wear a mask be yourself without stupidity telling you what to do...

[MommaBear55]

25 minutes ago, Maitaivegas said:

I am bringing N95 and I made sure they are not the fake ones.

I wish the testing would go away, testing people with no symptoms makes no sense. For the testing to work someone has to have a big enough viral load to show on the test.

Testing before symptoms absolutely makes sense, as you can be shedding virus to infect others 2 days before you become symptoms. Go on a ship without testing is away to cause outbreaks.

[LuCruise]

I may be in the minority, but I am one who votes yes to testing and yes to masks....but that has to do with politics because I am Canadian.  The fact that everyone on the ship recently had a negative covid test makes me comfortable to cruise so am glad this is still in place, even though it means we could have to cancel our much needed cruise 2 days prior.  

 

And for masks, the only reason I wish they didn't drop the rule right now is because we need a negative test to return to our home country (or we can return but we take the chance of a hefty fine).  We have a bunch of N95 masks we (most likely) will wear.  But it's not the fear of catching covid itself that worries us, it's not being able to return home.  On the flip side, it's been two years and we just want to live our lives which is why we chose to still go on our cruise for our upcoming March break.

 

Note that masks are still required where I live....kids wear them to school, and they are needed at any public place.  So wearing them on the ship isn't so different for us (of course, I can't wait for the day when we really don't need them anymore).

Edited February 24, 2022 by LuCruise

[SRF]

21 hours ago, Maitaivegas said:

But Covid 19 is not gone, there are still cases with the existing variant.

 

Also measles is not gone.  Polio is not gone.  Chicken pox/singles is not gone.  Ebola is not gone.

 

The ONLY disease that has ever bee eradicated is Smallpox, which now only exists in a few labs.  At least until it gets out in the wild again.

[gonole1972]

I'm hoping the crew gets to take off the masks soon.  The crew was double masked all day long in January on Allure.  It was tough to understand them, especially with the accents, inability to lipread - which is important to me because of having hearing issues (even with hearing aids).  Many crewmembers told me they go back in their cabins and just stay there so they can take off their masks for several hours.  Sad.

[bucfan2]

4 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

I may hold a minority opinion in these forums. Masks are important and useful.

 

Yep, you sure do.

[ONECRUISER]

22 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

You are correct that they do not stop everyone that may have covid from boarding but they do stop a significant % of those that do

 

Royal knows exactly how many people are testing positive on those tests as they give anyone who cannot board because of a positive test a full refund.  Until royal sees that number drop to near 0 I would wager that you will see testing continue.

Agree. Testing doesn't bother me as much, though wish would it go back to 3 days. Masking, more then Grateful to retire them forever. Except for Dr appt and Flying havent needed wear one last two yrs myself. Dont have much of a Social Life

Edited February 24, 2022 by ONECRUISER

[Biker19]

5 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

 

I may hold a minority opinion in these forums.

@ace2542   shares your view. 

[travelhound]

On 2/23/2022 at 11:04 AM, Maitaivegas said:

But Covid 19 is not gone, there are still cases with the existing variant. I have read studies where the Omicron 2 spreads faster than the first one. In my opinion this is not the time to relax re Covid. The CDC used to be trust worthy,  but they have flipped flopped so many times trying to play politics.

im glad people are happy about being maskless, but I hope case counts don’t increase on the ship since the crew will be affected the most.

Most people are already assuming that small risk, by staying in a hotels.

[travelhound]

On 2/23/2022 at 11:21 AM, MommaBear55 said:

But you'd have to go to Florida. You'd also probably pay a lot more money for the same food and entertainment.

It's much better than being locked in quarantine on a cruise ship.

[davekathy]

4 minutes ago, travelhound said:

Most people are already assuming that small risk, by staying in a hotels.

For us it starts way before that. We haven't lived in a bubble or hid in our basement and still heathy. We only wear a mask where/when it is mandatory. We are glad RC is going forward with the no mask policy. 

[travelhound]

1 minute ago, davekathy said:

For us it starts way before that. We haven't lived in a bubble or hid in our basement and still heathy. We only wear a mask where/when it is mandatory. We are glad RC is going forward with the no mask policy. 

Yup it's a small step forward, but I hope RCL can do more to relax these ridiculous protocols.

[davekathy]

1 minute ago, travelhound said:

Yup it's a small step forward, but I hope RCL can do more to relax these ridiculous protocols.

Agree. Do away with the pre cruise testing. 

[smokeybandit]

With cruise lines foolishly opting into the new CSO, pre-cruise testing is probably here for another year

[PTC DAWG]

2 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

With cruise lines foolishly opting into the new CSO, pre-cruise testing is probably here for another year

Sadly, I agree, Govt agencies do not like to give up power once it is procured.  

[smokeybandit]

1 minute ago, HappyInVan said:

After the bad PR from the festive season fiasco, RCI will proceed carefully.

The only bad PR that lasted more than a day is the fact the CDC still insists cruising is very dangerous and you're very likely to get covid on a ship. Both of which of course are total lies.

 

You're right, no downside to you wearing an N95. Though I hope you don't miss out on something fun because you have to do several fit tests per day for the many masks you'll have to wear in a day to stay true to the recommended usage of an N95 mask

[Ocean Boy]

2 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

Well, I'm not worried about the safety protocols. After the bad PR from the festive season fiasco, RCI will proceed carefully. Building confidence from the current 25% capacity. Baby steps. Being guided by the CDC. 😍

 

I'll be cruising with a supply of N95 masks. There's no downside. With the N95, I can go anywhere that masks are not mandatory. Should the mask mandate be reinstated, I'll be ready. You won't get any drama from me! 😷

 

Where did you get that current 25% number? Allure was over 50% three weeks ago.

[ONECRUISER]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

Where did you get that current 25% number? Allure was over 50% three weeks ago.

Agree, even Passengers I've heard from on other Ships both also well over 50%. Baby Steps at this point, nope!

[Mikew0805]

2 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Where did you get that current 25% number? Allure was over 50% three weeks ago.

Freedom last weekend could not have been less than 75-80%, if not more. It felt very pre-covid. 

[sgmn]

On 2/23/2022 at 8:02 PM, Maitaivegas said:

 For the testing to work someone has to have a big enough viral load to show on the test.

It took five days from exposure to showing positive on LFTs even though I had developed a cold by day three, it still showed negative 

Eight days after, I'm still showing positive on tests 

Edited February 25, 2022 by sgmn

[Biker19]

13 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

That's why all the RCI ships are green.

You must be looking at some other info:

 

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

On 2/24/2022 at 2:00 PM, davekathy said:

For us it starts way before that. We haven't lived in a bubble or hid in our basement and still heathy. We only wear a mask where/when it is mandatory. We are glad RC is going forward with the no mask policy. 

Agree 100% same here.

[murph1031]

We boarded the brilliance yesterday, masks required. Woke up this morning to no masks, all social distance signs in elevators gone. 

[LucasLikesToCruise]

47 minutes ago, murph1031 said:

We boarded the brilliance yesterday, masks required. Woke up this morning to no masks, all social distance signs in elevators gone. 

Got to love those midnight miracles of science. 🤔