Will testing be gone now after today's announcement from CDC?

[Jimbo]

9 hours ago, birdofsong said:

Maybe I'm slow, but I'm just not understanding why so many people want the testing mandate dropped.  Are you really okay with people going on the ship with you who are knowingly positive, or unknowingly, but don't find out because they don't have to test?  Or are YOU personally looking forward to being allowed on the ship even if you're positive, since you don't have to prove otherwise? I realize that for most people, Covid doesn't turn serious, but if you can keep people off the ships who would intentionally go even though they know they're positive, you could keep more people healthy.  

 

There are already cases on every ship and every sailing, and that is with vaxxing and testing.  I can only imagine how much higher that number would go if the mandate is dropped.  I know that there are a bunch of people who aren't cruising now because of the mandate.  Me, personally -- if they drop the mandate, I won't sail until this is far less transmissible.  

Your post and reasoning makes to much sense for a lot of people on this cruise board. They only care about themselves and don't care about anyone else onboard. 

 

Really why are people so against taking a test before getting onboard a ship? If it makes it a little more safer to take a cruise? why not just take the test.

 

People are making a big deal out of a test that takes like 10 to 15 minutes.

 

Come on people, wake up it's just a simple test. Take it and enjoy your cruise.

[LMaxwell]

9 hours ago, birdofsong said:

Maybe I'm slow, but I'm just not understanding why so many people want the testing mandate dropped.  Are you really okay with people going on the ship with you who are knowingly positive, or unknowingly, but don't find out because they don't have to test?  Or are YOU personally looking forward to being allowed on the ship even if you're positive, since you don't have to prove otherwise? I realize that for most people, Covid doesn't turn serious, but if you can keep people off the ships who would intentionally go even though they know they're positive, you could keep more people healthy.  

 

There are already cases on every ship and every sailing, and that is with vaxxing and testing.  I can only imagine how much higher that number would go if the mandate is dropped.  I know that there are a bunch of people who aren't cruising now because of the mandate.  Me, personally -- if they drop the mandate, I won't sail until this is far less transmissible.  

 

I wonder if ship staff will be able to handle an increased load of covid cases from where they are at currently; if unvaccinated guests have more severe symptoms is the cruise line experience dealing only with vaccinated guests to this point enough to continue to mitigate the situation, or will it get out of control? Personally, I believe there is a very large portion of the public that will not test and simply wants to get onboard. I predict a return to old style cancellation policies that would financially disincentivize people from testing or staying off the ship if known positive. 

 

Perhaps unvaccinated guests will be allowed after signing a waiver assuming all risks and agreeing to bear onboard quarantine and medical service costs if required. We will see what is going to change going forward. I largely agree and understand your sentiments. 

[Jimbo]

7 minutes ago, robmtx said:

 

 

 

Example: go to crowded movie theater on Sunday

Test negative on Wednesday

Board ship on Friday

Have Covid on Saturday and spread it around the ship for a week.

 

You are a 100% correct no test is going to keep a cruise ship 100% Covid free.  But if you keep some of the all ready positive passengers from boarding, the test has done it's job. Will be a lot less passengers this way spreading it a around the ship.

 

The test is never going to catch everyone, that's a given, everyone knows that.

 

If you can't understand this, sorry I can't help you.

Edited July 19, 2022 by Jimbo

[LMaxwell]

9 hours ago, twangster said:

unmask the crew!  Let them be free!  

 

You mean let them have the choice to decide if they want to continue wearing around guests or not? I would imagine some portion of the crew may want to continue to use them. 

[LMaxwell]

7 minutes ago, robmtx said:

Pre-cruise testing doesn't prevent the spread of Covid on a cruise ship. It doesn't prevent the severity of illness, and it doesn't protect the ports of call from bringing Covid to their location.

 

It absolutely reduces the spread of Covid on a ship.  I was due to sail memorial day.  3 out of 4 of us tested positive 2 days before and cancelled the trip.  That's 3 LESS infected people boarding a ship. The chances of us infecting others onboard is greater than 0.  It reduces, not prevents. 

 

Would you want to go into a room with 100 people if 1 had norovirus?  What about if 40 out of 100 had norovirus? Ahh...

[Jimbo]

2 minutes ago, renza said:

The test is not working. People are still getting on sick. They can catch it on the plane and it doesn’t show up till middle or end of cruise. Yes it’s a pain in the ass to buy the test and take it when it is doing nothing. Just like the vaccination is a joke. I got the J&J over a year and A half ago and that’s ok. Will not get a booster or any other shot and I am good to cruise. It just needs to stop. All of it. It’s a cold now. 

Guess if they drop testing we will find out quick if testing really did anything to prevent the cases onboard to be a certain number.

 

If you still think numbers onboard for positive will be the same with testing or no testing. Doesn't seem it will turn out that way in my opinion.

[LMaxwell]

Man, people will get gold medals in Mental Gymnastics to justify THEIR vacation. 

 

Here I am vaxxed and boosted and tested and my biggest sin is wearing shorts to the dining room; but even I know enough to test before going to a crowded event because I have a little bit of compassion for others and wouldn't want to be in a crowd and be the cause for transmitting covid.  As evidenced above, many of my fellow countrymen vehemently scream it's not their responsibility to protect anyone or anything. Well, I feel that finding out if I am sick and modifying my social agenda is literally the least I can do for society. Others feel it's their patriotic duty to do whatever they want regardless of any negative outcome. 

 

When we tested positive 2 days before a cruise that certainly kept us off the ship.  3 less positive people onboard to contend with.  If someone doesn't think that helped reduce onboard spread they are simply ignorant and unwilling to consider any point of view that doesn't result in them expressly getting to vacation with a minimum of hurdles.  It's like people just don't accept mathmatics anymore. 

Edited July 19, 2022 by LMaxwell

[UNCFanatik]

8 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

It absolutely reduces the spread of Covid on a ship.  I was due to sail memorial day.  3 out of 4 of us tested positive 2 days before and cancelled the trip.  That's 3 LESS infected people boarding a ship. The chances of us infecting others onboard is greater than 0.  It reduces, not prevents. 

 

Would you want to go into a room with 100 people if 1 had norovirus?  What about if 40 out of 100 had norovirus? Ahh...

 

And just because your family didnt sail, it doesnt lessen the risk of any individual getting covid on a cruise ship. I could just as easily catch it from another passenger whether or not your family was on the ship or not. 

[LMaxwell]

1 minute ago, smokeybandit said:

All the testing proves is if you're positive 2 days before a cruise.

Correct.  That is all the testing proves. That is 100% accurate and true statement. 

 

The question is: Would you want people who test positive for covid 2 days before a cruise to still come on the ship? 

[LMaxwell]

1 minute ago, UNCFanatik said:

 

And just because your family didnt sail, it doesnt lessen the risk of any individual getting covid on a cruise ship. 

Yes it does, it's a statistical fact. 

 

Sorry, this isn't a matter of opinion. It's just math. Not debatable point. If you can't accept "math" there's no meeting in the middle. 

[smokeybandit]

Just now, robmtx said:

You only need 1 person to spread covid to 3,000-6,000 in a one week period. That's how this works.

 

That's not how it works. It didn't even work like that at the very beginning of covid and the Diamond Princess.

[LMaxwell]

Just now, smokeybandit said:

Honestly, it wouldn't bother me one bit,

lol, not buying it. 

[robmtx]

2 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

The question is: Would you want people who test positive for covid 2 days before a cruise to still come on the ship? 

 

Why not? I am 100% certain infectors are boarding the ship who tested negative. So what's the difference? If they feel well enough to travel then so be it. We don't test for Norovirus, I know 100% there's a chance of it, but I cruise anyway. .I washy washy all day long.

[Jimbo]

4 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

All the testing proves is if you're positive 2 days before a cruise. You could go out after taking your test, be exposed and as fast as omicron works test positive on cruise day. Also the antigen tests have shown to be less effective in catching omicron (false negatives) as it was the older variants. And again for as fast as omicron works, you could go on a shore excursion, be exposed, and 2 days later be positive. It's not like the older variants which would take 5+ days to appear.

That's is completely correct, the test isn't going to catch everyone. No one every said testing 2 days prior would catch everyone.  If it catches some that were positive, the test has done it's job.

3 minutes ago, UNCFanatik said:

 

And just because your family didnt sail, it doesnt lessen the risk of any individual getting covid on a cruise ship. I could just as easily catch it from another passenger whether or not your family was on the ship or not. 

All it did was lessen the percentage onboard that were positive. Sounds  like a  good thing to me.

[UNCFanatik]

3 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

Man, people will get gold medals in Mental Gymnastics to justify THEIR vacation. 

 

Here I am vaxxed and boosted and tested and my biggest sin is wearing shorts to the dining room; but even I know enough to test before going to a crowded event because I have a little bit of compassion for others and wouldn't want to be in a crowd and be the cause for transmitting covid.  As evidenced above, many of my fellow countrymen vehemently scream it's not their responsibility to protect anyone or anything. Well, I feel that finding out if I am sick and modifying my social agenda is literally the least I can do for society. Others feel it's their patriotic duty to do whatever they want regardless of any negative outcome. 

 

 

 

Do you test before you do anything in crowds in your normal every day life. When you dine indoors with your fellow citizens, do you test EVERY time you go to a restaurant? You must go through a lot of tests. And if you dont test EVERYTIME you leave your house, do you have no compassion for your fellow citizens? And what if the test is faulty and shows negative when you are positive, where is your compassion for your fellow countrymen? 

[smokeybandit]

2 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

lol, not buying it. 

There are covid positive people (knowingly or unknowingly) everywhere we go in society. And we still go out in society.  Same with many other infectious diseases. Yet we don't expect anyone we come in contact with in our daily lives to present a negative test.

[Tulsacoker]

5 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

Yes it does, it's a statistical fact. 

 

Sorry, this isn't a matter of opinion. It's just math. Not debatable point. If you can't accept "math" there's no meeting in the middle. 

No it's not math... its probability not statistics 

Edited July 19, 2022 by Tulsacoker

[island lady]

Test on Friday:  Negative.

 

Two days to travel to ship, you unknowingly get exposed to Covid.  (And there are plenty of venues to do so)

 

Sunday board ship...spread it around among your fellow pax and crew members.  

 

The only way to really insure there are no positive cases...is to test at the terminal before you board.  

 

 

 

 

 

[UNCFanatik]

5 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

Yes it does, it's a statistical fact. 

 

Sorry, this isn't a matter of opinion. It's just math. Not debatable point. If you can't accept "math" there's no meeting in the middle. 

 

No, because of the infectious rate of the variant. Just because your family doesnt cruise, it doesnt lower my risk of getting Covid from other passengers who were positive getting on the ship. I may never come in contact with your family on an Oasis size ship but be around others that are positive. 

[Keksie]

5 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

Correct.  That is all the testing proves. That is 100% accurate and true statement. 

 

The question is: Would you want people who test positive for covid 2 days before a cruise to still come on the ship? 

It all depends.  When in the course of their illness did they test positive?  Since people can be contagious before testing positive and may not be contagious but still testing positive at the end of their illness.  There is no testing to see if people are contagious and that is what the problem is.

[UNCFanatik]

Just now, island lady said:

Test on Friday:  Negative.

 

Two days to travel to ship, you unknowingly get exposed to Covid.  (And there are plenty of venues to do so)

 

Sunday board ship...spread it around among your fellow pax and crew members.  

 

The only way to really insure there are no positive cases...is to test at the terminal before you board.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Testing at terminal still wont catch every case because of incubation period. People develop symptoms often before the test positive

[robmtx]

1 minute ago, island lady said:

The only way to really insure there are no positive cases...is to test at the terminal before you board.

 

Unfortunately, this won't work either. You can test negative at the terminal and test positive the next day. You can even have symptoms and test negative, so discount it as the common cold or flu. 

 

 

[Jimbo]

9 minutes ago, robmtx said:

The testing isn't working. I calculated about 4% infection rate from our June 24th FB group, and that was just people in the group, volunteering to tell us they tested positive near the end of cruise or right as they got him. Explain to them how 2-day testing helped them? And how many more were not in our group or didn't post they tested positive?

I think the tests worked for your group, had they not tested before boarding the infection rate of your group may have been higher then 4%.  Do you agree?

[smokeybandit]

2 minutes ago, island lady said:

The only way to really insure there are no positive cases...is to test at the terminal before you board.  

That won't prevent it either.  The only thing that will prevent cases on cruise ships is to stop cruising.

[island lady]

1 minute ago, UNCFanatik said:

 

Testing at terminal still wont catch every case because of incubation period. People develop symptoms often before the test positive

 

But testing two days prior would be more effective?  🤔