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OMG please let this mean the end of vaccines and testing, please.

At least 2

Have some perspective, covid today isn't covid of 2020. I have 4,500 employees, in 2020, a few died and about every 20th one to get covid was hospitalized, Many were in the ICU, it was no joke. In 2022, I've had over a thousand catch it this year not a single hospitalization. These last few weeks at any one time 100 have it, 10 a day come back, 10 go out, I give them all free 2 weeks of paid leave if they test positive and it does not come out of their regular leave balances so as to not encourage people working sick so it is not under reported and I get daily reports. In January this year me and my three Moderna shots, wore a mask, still caught it. Wife got it in June, same shots. So why would I give a a darn about covid, masks, or tests, we caught it six months apart, had our shots at the same time, still shared a bed while we were sick, still kissed goodnight and didn't even give it to each other either time. Just stop the testing, I'll walk into a covid ward and kiss everyone there, nothing can stop it and I am not afraid of it. Even the head of county USC hospital in Los Angeles (the furthest from right wing conspiracy theorists you can find), in a county reimposing masks said that almost nobody in the hospital with covid is in the hospital because of covid. It's over! P.S., my employees are about 65-70% vaccinated, in 2022 there is no discernible difference in their odds of catching it or how serious it is based vaccine status or mask wearing or prior infection, not in catching it or catching it twice. What was true on 2020 and 2021 is not applicable to 2022 My study, because of workman's comp is in depth and is as big or bigger than other studies you read online and from my data, nothing stops it and its no big deal if you get it. If you are on death's doorstep or scared to death, stay home. It's endemic and it is the common cold now, let's move on, nobody was wrong and nobody was right, stop blaming but do accept that it is over.

I am envisioning a scene from an old Western movie where the cruise lines are standing around the O.K. Corral waiting to see who fires first. They are nervously watching each other, waiting for a flinch. Once one cruise lines drops testing or vaccine requirements the others will quickly follow. Who will flinch first?

As @Matthas stated many times, this is not the forum to discuss the efficacy of masking and vaccines. Please keep the discussion on topic.

We were in London for a few days at the end of March when we went over to the UK for our daughter's graduation. You seem to be pretty much hitting the same sites we did! I got this one of Tower Bridge from the top of the Shard. Because of the time of day and the position of the sun, you can see the shadow of the Shard superimposed on the bridge.

Thanks for the update 4 months later

Do you mean would I test myself regardless of the cruise line policy? Pre-covid I never got a complete health test before I went on vacation, I don’t test myself before I leave my house each day, so would I test before a cruise if the policy no longer requires it? I guess time will tell. I really don’t know at this point.

Girl I am over here in my office throwing things at anyone who comes in or sneezes near me. All I have left to throw are a stapler, a dead succulent, and an open can of green monster. I just need to pass our test on Saturday. I am legit loosing it. lol!

Would not recommend the norovirus craps.

Sorry, this will be a long one!!! We woke Saturday ready for a long day. We are all Harry Potter fans so we had a Harry Potter walking tour scheduled. While not as impressive as the tour to the studios that @Lovetocruise2002 and her family did, this was still a lot of fun. It was also a good way to see more of London. The idea of the tour was to see some of the sites that inspired J.K. Rowling when she was writing the books as well as areas that the movie was filmed in. @Lovetocruise2002 check with D13 and see if can recognize some of these places. We met our guide along the Thames River in Minerva Square. Fans should get the reference there. We all got together in front of this statue…..look familiar? Our guide was fun. He asked everyone if they were fans, and what house we were in. Of course we all knew our houses. Johnny and I are Gryffindors while The Boss and Lydia are Hufflepuffs. Our guide sorted us all into houses because during the tour there would be questions and challenges and points would be awarded. Thankfully we had a Harry Potter ringer during trivia on the cruise because we had lots of banked knowledge. Once sorted we were off. First stop was Borough Market. This area was used in the movie, and was also really great to walk through. We had made plans to try to get back here for some food grazing, but unfortunately it never panned out. Here are some Of the amazing stalls. In this area, was the filming location for The Leaky Cauldon. In book three when Harry rode the Knight Bus and it stopped outside The Leaky Cauldron, this is the location that was used. Obviously the Taco Restaurant was removed digitally This building on the third floor was used for all of the filming of the interior scenes. As we continued our walk, we got to take a boat ride on the Thames, which was fun, to get to some other locations. Some fun trivia. J.K. Rowling had requirements for the studio before they could buy the rights to make the movie. The first one was that all of the actors had to be British, and all of the filming had to be in the UK. That brings us to this location. Does this remind them of anything? How about here? For those who aren’t up on their trivia like a certain D13. This is where the scenes where Harry, Hermione and Ron had to break into the ministry of magic, as well as where Harry used the phone booth to enter in movie 3. They digitally moved that overpass to try to “confuse” and disguise the filming locations, but people are smart and easily figured these out. Just like Borough Market, and a few more. Interesting thing to note. In the books, the first time Harry goes to the Ministry of Magic (Government building/politicians work here etc for the world of magic) Harry gets to use the visitor entrance which is via the iconic red phone box. When he has to break in at a later time disguised as a ministry worker, he has to use the “employee entrance” which if you read the books/saw the movie was by “flushing himself” down a toilet. This gives you some insight to how J.K. Rowling viewed the world…visitors get a phone booth, politicians flush themselves down the toilet…… The next location was across from Trafalgar Square. This should scream Gringotts Bank to you! Interesting story. Remember back when J.K. Rowling demanded that everything be filmed in the UK? Well the original scenes in Gringotts were actually filmed just down the street, in a building that houses the Australian Embassy. The producers had to get special permission, not only from the Embassy, but from J.K Rowling to film there. They were only able to film there for the first movie because the Embassy did not give them permission for later films. The producers ended up taking thousands of photographs and rebuilt Gringotts on the studio lot. Our next location was this little street. J.K.Rowling worked in a building here and walked this alley daily. This became the inspiration for Knockturn Alley. They attempted to film here, but it was too narrow, so again thousands of photographs were taken, and this area was built on the studio lot for the movies. Next up, this street was the inspiration for Diagon Alley This street is lined with small local shops and bookstores. Local rules will prevent any changes to this, so you won’t see a national chain type store on this street. Some more trivia for those not in the know. J.K. Rowling had sent the first book to many publishers and was turned down by all of them. When the publisher who actually did publish the book received the manuscript, the publisher didn’t actually want to read it, so he gave it to his daughter. 3 hours later she came back to him clamoring that she loved it and wanted to know where the second book was! The first thing that the publisher did was tell her that nobody will buy the book if she uses her full name and see that it was written by a woman. Sexist, I know, but that was the reality when the books came out. They were thinking along the lines of J.R.Tolkien and T.S.Lewis. J.K. didn’t actually have a middle name, so she used the initial for her Mothers name. Unfortunately her mother dies before the first book could come out. The publisher only did 1000 copies for the first edition, and we all know what happened next. As a “lesson” keep an eye out in local book stores for new first edition fantasy books from unknown authors. You may end up rich! A first edition Harry Potter book recently sold for over $300,000!!! Our tour ended here We have not seen the show yet……but we will. This show takes place 19 years after the events in the last book, and is in two parts totaling about 6 hours! Sadly, we didn’t not make it to Kings Cross Station…..the crowds there get really busy, and it was getting hot, and we were hungry and the kids were getting restless. Thanks for reading this long one…..more to come!!

Do you test yourself before you fly or before you go the Disney World or before you walk into a concert or your stay t your hotel. No! Wouldn't you want to know if you were contagious? The reality is No no one tests these days for it. Only cruising is being harassed and its absurd! We should not have to test to get on a boat! if you don't have to test to get in a tiny airplane and sit like sardines for a few hours with recirculated air. We should not have to test to go on a cruise.

Dinner Night 2 - JAMIE’S ITALIAN My thoughts on Central Park being the best part about an Oasis class ship were reconfirmed once we stepped inside Jamie’s. It is just as lovely to look out at it through the windows of a restaurant, as it is to stroll through! We were seated at a table inside quickly, and I was glad to have a comfortable chair to rest my “I’m not twenty anymore and can ride waterslides continuously” backside — because the chairs out front in the outside patio looked like industrial hard metal. Our waitress explained the menu options including appetizer, 1/2 pasta, main and side - OR appetizer, full pasta and side. We opted for the latter, and there wasn’t anything in the main area that was calling our names, but a big bowl of pasta sounded great. For appetizers we had the Meat Plank, Garlicky Prawns, and Ultimate Garlic Bread. Standout of those was the Garlicky prawns which came with nice crispy bread slices. The Mest plank was OK, but it seemed like some of the meats such as salami and mortadella were probably the same ones upstairs on a buffet somewhere - just simple deli slices. Highlight was the pepperoncini which was hotter than expected, followed by the no I don’t have Covid sudden sneeze fest it prompted. On to the Ultimate Garlic Bread - I’ll just say if this is the Ultimate version, I don’t want to think about what previous iterations must have been. I could recreate this in 30 seconds with a room temperature package of King’s Hawaiian rolls, a brush of olive oil with garlic powder in it, and some Kraft Parmesan cheese from the fridge in a plastic container. I wouldn’t call it Garlic Bread by any stretch of the imagination, it’s dinner rolls. We had more garlic in Izumi last night The Penne Pomodoro was the better of the two pastas we tried, the other being carbonara, and I appreciated the easy size of the penne vs. a messy spaghetti sure to land on a shirt we need to reuse later in the week! The sides were freaky fries, and they were normal hand cut fries. The kids had ice cream for dessert we were all ready to head upstairs and cancelled our 10 pm Grease reservations. There was no way after all day in the sun and heat and the big pasta dinner we were going to make it until 11:30. overall on Jamie’s - meh. I am glad we don’t have it booked twice, I wouldn’t go again - I seriously think the Olive Garden is better and more flavorful, and I don’t necessarily hold that place in high regard or anything ** oh and funny side note - the size of the water glasses were so small that the staff had to constantly be refilling. Maybe a larger glass would save some of the extra effort !

Man, this London trip has been busy!! Also the wifi in this hotel is terrible, so that is not helping. The results on my laptop are even worse! so anyway, we were at the Tower of London up to closing time, we hung out in that area because we had tickets to go up to the observation platform at The Shard. This is a 72 story building, and is the tallest in the UK. The observation deck on the 72nd floor is 800ft up! You take two elevators to get to the top. Each ride is 30 seconds. Once at the top. You have 360 degree views of the city, and it’s open to the air. There is seating all around, and a bar as well. The Shard The kids being goofballs before heading up Views from the top, Tower Bridge St Paul’s Cathedral The London Eye and Houses of Parliament

I was actually in a Viking Crown Lounge when I learned the news

I have always been Loyal to Royal, but I'm going with the first line to drop the vaccine and testing mandates, no second thoughts. I'll come back to Royal when they do, but I'd rather cruise on any line that just lets me cruise without the stress. That said I do think they all end at the same time, all the lines.

I think most of the "vaccinated" in the US aren't up to date. I know there is information out there on booster uptake, but it was like half of the initial group, then the 2nd booster was half of that, etc. So a huge portion of the people the cruise lines consider vaccinate right now are actually not vaccinated. I think they should just go back to a health declaration. And they need to stop testing altogether. No tests means no outbreaks. Perfect.

After coming down off The Shard, we had all run out of fun and were pretty tired. After spending the week in temperate Norway, we were not ready for the heat of London. At this point we were past the time the hop on and hop off busses were running, so we headed to the metro station to grab some metro passes. We approached two of the workers to inquire about the visitor Oyster cards (subway passes) and the reduced rate card for Lyida. (11 and under ride for free, 12+ students are 1/2 price) The two workers looked at Lydia and said, she looks 11 to us, and to just get two adult cards and call it good. We said works for us, and we now had our transport arranged for the rest of the trip. The underground (subway) in London is very good and easy to navigate. Trains are quick(though there have been some delays due to the heat) and all of the magic attractions are within zone 1 and 2 which are the cheapest fares. We returned to the hotel tired and weary. Pizza delivered to the hotel hit the spot for us that night!

Is this because Fauci announced retirement?

and no vaccines!

I would love to be able to go on this cruise. To be able to see all of the wonders of the world and so much more. But......I'm pretty sure that I don't have $120,000 laying around for an inside cabin for me and my wife. But it is fun to dream!

That is why I want the pre-cruise testing to end so badly. 4 cruises since the re-start and the “Will I test positive and need to cancel?” is so stressful.

All it took was Sorrento’s opening for the day to get the kids out of bed. The suite deck definitely is teen friendly, I saw toddlers in the hot tub so that’s good. I was going to sit in one of those cabana seating things on the suite deck over the Solarium, but man is it hot and no breeze! I am positioned nicely in a breezy spot with views of Atlantis, the pools and some really beautiful looking houses with private docks. I bet the occupants celebrate the departure of the massive ships at the end of the day giving back their view Here are couple pics - definitely chair real estate is cheap on a port day, plenty of open seats and loungers everywhere, and I have questions about this “ emergency exit” ? Not really understanding how I exit - let’s just hope there is not an emergency other than an empty cocktail !

Day 2 - Perfect Day at CocoCay I was up before the kids so I went the short distance to the Suite Lounge and used the coffee machine there to bring back a mug and watch our morning arrival to CocoCay from our balcony. I was kind of surprised there seemed to be no one awake at 6 am, which isn’t super early for docking at 8. We were pacing the Norwegian Breakaway the whole time and I didn’t realize how super close the NCL private island is to CocoCay. Once the kids were up we decided to head to coastal kitchen for a quick bite before starting our beach and Waterpark day. CK is the way to go for a quick, pleasant breakfast - just walking on 17 you could see the herd of people lined up for the Windjammer on 16 at the base of the stairs. Service was quick, and during our meal they started blaring “Perfect day at CocoCay” song that is basically Bill Withers lovely day retooled. Not sure that was necessary that early over pancakes, but it was funny to watch the crowd pick up significantly after it was done - in case anyone was still dozing or relaxing that song was the adrenaline shot needed to get the wheels in motion. We started prepping for the day. It was hot and sunny and well into the 80’s by 9 am so we made sure to bring extra sunscreen, hats and everything we might need for the day which was to include beach and Waterpark. I originally had a beach bed at Chill island reserved along with our Waterpark passes thinking we would have shade in the afternoon after wearing ourselves out on water slides, but I upgraded to a Chill island cabana that cost less than the original pricing in the cruise planner this week before our sailing. We checked into the Cabana and we were only minutes into unpacking our items and re-applying sunscreen after possibly sweating it off during the walk between the boat and the Chill Island cabanas ( did I mention it was hot today ? ) when the “disruption” began. I’ll spare someone’s identity with specifics and all of you the gritty details but long story short - when it’s already child meltdown city at 10 am and adult histrionics - loud and obnoxious adjacent to our Chill cabana, it’s worth asking about the possibility of a another location that might be open to enjoy the perfect day without disruptive neighbors, and I’m glad we did! We wound up moving to the end in number 11 and it was an awesome location away from other cabanas right along the breakwater. It was in the second row and didn’t have a direct view of the chill beach, but we could see directly out over the turquoise waters toward the NCL island and no people in sight. To the left was the Up and away balloon, behind us you could see the overwater cabanas and jet skis, and off to the right side just clear blue seas. It was definitely a windier location, so not ideal for a cooler day, but on this scorcher of a sunny day the breeze was welcome. Our cabana attendant Thaddeus was great, very helpful and quick to come check and bring anything we needed. From the time ordered food to having it served was always less than ten minutes and he surprised us with funnel cakes from somewhere that were not on the cabana lunch menu. We had initially planned to hit the Waterpark around 1 but were so enjoying the calm of the cabana, and the wonderful raft floats, we didn’t venture out until about 2:15. The Waterpark had plenty of open chairs with shade and short lines at 2:30 and we all headed to the wave pool to cool off. The line for the tallest tower slide attraction was less than 15 minutes and the rest of slides maybe 5 or less? We stayed until 3:45 and headed back to ship. I’m glad we didn’t spend the whole day at the Waterpark, everything we wanted to ride and use we were able to do in 90 minutes and it was so much hotter than the beach side - plus it’s close to the ship to end the day. Overall CocoCay was outstanding, we only explored a fraction of it and I don’t think it would get old visiting over and over again because there are so many neat areas and activities. I can’t say the same for Castaway Cay, nice but not 10 + visits exciting. Here are some pics

.....this is LONG LONG LONG OVERDUE.....a cruise line deciding today or tomorrow in relative time terms....is FAR from going fast. This was inevitable and they could change it overnight. We all could ink the press release. Yes, it is that simple. If a country only allows vax/tested....then individuals can prove it, or we can keep our precious and much needed $ on the ship. RCCL can single out on my SeaPass whether I have the drink package, what room I have, a picture, etc.. They can certainly state vax/tested for those countries that need it. Until then, take me to Coco Cay and keep the rest.

I actually tested positive on my pre cruise test in Feb. It wasn't a false positive and was followed up with additional tests. I would have never known I had it if I wasnt going on a cruise. For me, not knowing I had it , I could have infected many more people had I not tested.

The "Best" time to do a Holiday type cruise is in-between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It is when we cruise. The ships are decorated and the children are still in school back from Thanksgiving break and not yet out for Christmas break. It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year....fa la la la la !!!

Please let Royal be next! lol At least for short sailings....

This will be us on our next cruise...

Hallelujah ! Some honest reflection. Thank you...and thank you for the way you are handling your staff. This is the most generous policy for COVID that I have ever read about. Good for you.

Day 3 - Nassau We are having a lazy morning and I’m out on the deck watching the booze catamarans take off from the dock beneath us, and the lines of people heading into Nassau along the concrete. Our balcony is in the shade now and I don’t know which way the sun will be later, so I am enjoying it and have a great view of the happenings at the Nassau pier. When I went for coffee in the lounge yesterday morning there was no one there, so I didn’t know you could “stop” the coffee machine by pressing the button again - but with todays later start I was able to get unsolicited assistance in that regard as my mug was about to overfill with Cafe latte . Yes we have a coffee maker in the room, but it’s about two inches from my sons dozing head on the sleeper sofa and I’m sure he wouldn’t appreciate me fumbling around trying to figure it out and brew when I can literally walk 40 steps to the lounge. I’m not a fan of Nassau in general, although I toyed with the idea of doing the Margaritaville day pass for that new waterpark, but we are staying onboard. I feel like there’s still 50 percent of the ship we haven’t even checked out, including the suite sun deck which we may hit later. I think teens are allowed up there? I actually don’t know so we’ll find out. As far as I can tell it’s not an adult only area, just a suite only area. I do know it’s going to be another hot day

Absolutely ! ...and BTW to @Stelkp, we have been in the 2 BR ATS 3 times so obviously I think it's a cool suite ! The 2 BR ATS were our first 3 SC suites and it wasn't until I tried a suite on 17 that I "graduated". I still think that the ATS have the very best views and awesome balconies in the entire fleet....so go and enjoy this suite and all of the SC amenities. There's nothing like them.

Thank you all so much! I appreciate all the feedback! I’ll follow up with how we decide to go…the clock is definitely ticking! Hoping this cruise goes well and testing soon becomes a thing of the past.

I am asking a lot, and I know it won't happen, but if they would make some changes and not leave the testing/vax protocols in place through September that would be awesome. Even give a little, like no more testing if you're vaccinated, antigen tests if you're unvaccinated, something.

Your desiring a LOT from the RC IT staff to have a change that fast!

I boarded Mariner on Sunday using results from AZOVA.

Boarding Mariner yesterday we were treated to a SpaceX launch putting another 53 Starlink satellites into orbit. The launch was at 10:20am just 10 minutes before my assigned check in time so I watched the launch from the terminal 5 parking garage in Port Canaveral. Today I was walking around Mariner and visited the deck 13 mini golf area. I noticed there are now a set of four poles outside the glass in an area close to where the Starlink antennas were placed on Freedom for the Starlink test on that ship. I don't know for certain these will be used for Starlink antennas but there is that potential. Only time will tell what these will be used for.

I’m just here for the comments

The point of pre-cruise testing is to keep people off the ship who knowingly have COVID. While I'm sure the test catches some people unaware, and false positives can be retested before embarkation for a negative result, without the required test there would be people who know they have COVID, but have no qualms about exposing others so they can have their vacation.

I bought my quick picks for tonight's MegaMillions, I'm ready to jump onboard tomorrow morning.

I would like to see both restrictions gone... The Vax shot is reportedly good for minimizing the consequences of getting the virus, but don't think it prevents the shot-ee from getting it (obviously, based on people getting it on cruises).... I know from a business perspective, having shot-ed passengers keeps Cruise Lines out of the news (in case of unfortunate post-cruise tragedies)... but really, I'm not sure it's not just Optics at this point with the shots. (full disclosure, I'm 4x shotted).

Twenty four cruises since the restart. It isn't that bad. If you can handle a classroom full of kids I'm sure Covid testing is nothing compared to that.

Looks like Azamara fired the first shot. Azamara Announces Removal of Embarkation COVID-19 Testing - Cruise Industry News

You have more faith in people self reporting than I do.

Thanks for the report, but long-term Covid effects are the real threat now. Scans show brain swelling even when symptoms are mild or nonexistent. Just one example. So we still need to be vigilent and treat Covid 19 seriously, but we also have other public health issues. We can't just focus on Covid 19.

The garlicky prawns are my favorite thing at Jamie's ......well also they have a very good Moscato.

Living in NJ this is why my wife loves sailing out of Bayonne, NJ (Not NY). She can pack extra and not worry because we are not flying. 15 minute drive to the pier makes it so easy for us.

“Quick” testing is not quick when you are talking about thousands of people. I sailed out of Bermuda last year and we all had to test at the pier. The Sailing was only allowed to be at 30% capacity, who knows if they hit that. Each person had to be processed in, move along and be processed, then go sit and await results. Remember a rapid test takes at least 15 minutes. If a test is inconclusive it has to be redone . Once you passed you were given an appropriate bracelet and allowed to board. This was not a10 minute process, it was quite long. Additionally they had families socially distanced. Remember the healthy sail, if you’ve been in close contact to a Covid positive you can’t board. At 30 % capacity they had difficulty keeping families socially distanced during testing. So, I think the odds of testing everyone as they board are slim to none. Perhaps a % of random people would be easier to test. I do know that I would not be flying to a cruise again if I have to test to board on day of. There’s a lot of risk involved if positive. Cost of quarantine of the family, hotel, meals and a change in transportation. It’s not an expense I would take on for my large family.

Bahamas is a good start. If Bahamas can go without testing it opens the door for all short 3/4 cruises to drop testing and/or vaccines.

There are no doubt issues with pre-cruise testing. However, the alternative is generally worse. Many, many people get Covid sometime during a cruise. There are several factors involved including ports. When people get off at ports, they may become exposed to covid-positive people, whether residents of the port city or other tourists. This may be one of the biggest reasons that cruisers still get covid during or after the cruise. Now, the 2-3 day pre-cruise testing is not a perfect science either. For example, the typical incubation period for the virus is said to be 5 days. So you may test negative prior to boarding because the virus has not multiplied enough to be detected, but a couple of days later, you may have covid. Another reason thatmany cruisers are getting covid during or after the cruise. People misunderstand what the term "science" means. Science is NOT always fact. Theories in science are the result of multiple testing under strict conditions and close observations, but this does not mean that the result becomes law, or indisputable fact. For example, the theory of relativity has been tested with math. Newton's Law, which explains the gravitational constant, is indisputable and is scientific law or fact. So following the science does not mean that for every one way of doing things, you will get absolute results EVERY time. Back to testing. It is anxiety-ridden and stressful. But in my humble opinion, it helps in the number of overall covid spread. It is not perfect. It sucks. But it is what it is.