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It's a good thing there are community guidelines on this blog to prevent me from typing up how I feel about this statement.

I believe Jill to be right. They are having a tantrum they can't control the whole world. Today the Congress added a bill to the Senate one trying to bring this to an end. It doesn't bod well to have multiple states suing then bills from both house and senate looking to clip their wings. Bahama numbers very low. Their peak came in October with five times as many active cases as they have now (2500 vs 450). Most days have no deaths. About 40 new cases a day nation wide... CDC are behaving like spoiled children who's toys are being taken away...

Hey all! Doc said the surgery went great, no problems at all. I’ve got one heck of a sore throat from being intubated for anesthesia for 2+ hours, and I’m only just now getting off my usual post-surgery nausea (or maybe not so much; sat up to help with doing the breathing exercise that helps clear the anesthesia and felt another wave hit me ). But foot is decently comfortable with meds; and doc said he wants to see me tomorrow to change the dressing and do an initial evaluation.

Come on down to Florida ... barbecuing since July .... 2020 !!

I took a side to side cruise moving between ships. One was a 3 night weekend cruise. I had my scuba diving gear with me. Debarking I had my big XL size suitcase since I had packed for 2 cruises with dive gear. Everyone else in line had little roller bags. They were looking at me like "Dude, it's a 3 night cruise".

Got me a booking! Through a TA.

Nothing new here, really. But I just have to comment on how amazing modern surgery and pain relief have become. For context: Somewhere in the early 80s, when I was in middle school, I had to get bunion repair done. I woke from surgery screaming in pain and had to get a shot of whatever that time’s pain med of choice was right in my keister. Which knocked me right back out. In 2011 and 2014, I had bone fusion surgeries. I got a nerve block that let me wake up with zero pain, but desperately needed the morphine drip for 24 hours and was on strong pain meds round the clock for about t

Since Michael Bayley likely reads this blog every morning, I feel it is our duty as cruise fans to provide suggestions which might help Royal Caribbean stay in business. Once sailings resume, a potential reduction in passenger capacity may be in place. Therefor a reduction in crew seems appropriate. I think passengers could step up to fill the void and Royal could reward them accordingly. Job-Sing washy washy song at Windjammer entrance. Reward- drink package (helps with job) Job- Scan ocean for other ships/obstacles and report hazards to captain. Reward- keep the binocula

Maybe they locked the door and threw away The Key?

Saw the doctor today for dressing change and to confirm everything looked good. He said it looked perfect! Color of the flap is exactly what it should be, the skin graft is taking properly, and he had even been able to simply stitch the larger “paddle” section closed instead of having to graft that as well. I have a big lump where the graft is located, and he warned me not let that area get any pressure put on it; if it does that can badly impair circulation and cause me problems. So I’m being careful when propping it up on pillows, and going to make sure to baby it for the whole w

For planning purposes this is what my TA can see: 19Nov2021 7 Night Cabo, Vallarta & Mazatlan 26Nov2021 3 Night Ensenada 29Nov2021 4 Night Catalina & Ensenada 03Dec2021 3 Night Ensenada 06Dec2021 4 Night Catalina & Ensenada 10Dec2021 3 Night Ensenada 13Dec2021 3 Night Ensenada 20Dec2021 4 Night Catalina & Ensenada 24Dec2021 7 Night Cabo, Vallarta & Mazatlan 31Dec2021 7 Night Cabo, Vallarta & Mazatlan 07Jan2022 3 Night Ensenada 10Jan2022 4 Night Catalina & Ensenada 14Jan2022 3 Nig

Here's another one ....... Greece is a CDC designated Level 4 - don't travel there country. Greece just opened to international travelers including Americans today. If you can show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test you can travel to Greece and don't have to quarantine. Are Greek public health officials idiots? Nope, the Greek government has correctly ascertained that the cost of restricting tourism in Greece, fearing SARS2 transmission from travel associated mobility, is higher than the cost of dealing with the low risk that vaccinated or even unvaccinated tourists with proof of be

Some will argue the CDC is "just doing their job" adding countries to the don't travel to list. I look at it this way. Even though the advisory does offer that if you're going to travel to the Bahamas get vaccinated before you go is contrary to their general guidance that if you are vaccinated, you can travel...... with certain additional recommendations that are also contradicted elsewhere .... when you return from travel get tested, or don't get tested if you don't have symptoms. I mean, the CDC can't keep up with their own set of advisories that contradict each other. Exhibit one in m

Thought I'd post some interesting and good news today. We need that. Read an interesting Bloomberg News piece on government's authority to mandate vaccines. A good deal of it dealt with Governor Desants' EO banning "vaccine passports." His intent was to ban such requirements for a patron to enter any business operating in FL under a FL business license. There was lots of misinformation about this pretty narrowly focused EO as you'd expect that implied it had broad effect and would include cruise lines. I had argued it won't as I understood it. The debate continues - mostly because controv

Most of these jobs look like they will require sobriety to perform. I'm out!

Reminds me of the “I’m just a Bill” video by Schoolhouse Rock. Anybody remember that? LOL Oh I hope and pray that I will! But today I am still just a bill!

This act needs to be expanded with fresh eyes looking at the whole country. The US is too big for a one size fits all approach. Just as the CDC doesn't make rules or regulations for school health related matters these are left to each state to consider CDC guidance but in the end each state establishes their own laws for them. The CDC should be put back into the bottle and be contained to an advisory role with absolutely no police powers to establish blockades or bans for anything including cruise ship operations. A one agency federal police force with no oversight from the state

I'll take "Things You Don't Hear Every Day" for $1000, current Jeopardy host.

Unfortunately, the CDC is guided more by politics than public health and science. The CDC has become another hammer to wield by whatever administration is in control in order to match their agenda. And its sad to see the hypocrisy of those that ignore most of CDC guidance and suggestions on other matters (smoking, obesity, etc) but yet take CDC Covid recommendations as 100% Gospel that is never to be questioned and strictly adhered to

Yes! I also believe a certain segment of our population is approaching going off the deep end. A fully vaccinated acquaintance recently posted that she and her husband finally ate at a restaurant “don’t worry! We ate outside!” These are the same people that have now been conditioned to avoid Level 4 countries and if you do visit a restaurant and eat inside or travel to a Level 4 country you’re labeled reckless and putting others in danger. It’s past ridiculous in my opinion. Life is full of choices but I fear our freedom of choice is being smothered to put it mildly.

Some of us like to hear thoughts from a crew member's perspective. If you are not interested in any given thread just ignore it and move on.

If you wear the WOW band upside down, is it then a MOM band?

What is really concerning is that it says that they want to shut the ships down if an outbreak occurs onboard. If a outbreak of norovirus occurs the ships currently decide to end the voyage based on the number of cases. So going forward if one or two people test positive for COVID on a ship of 3500 people, are they going to end the cruise? This is where I think it will be necessary for the cruise lines to mandate the vaccine for the first year or two in order to make it feasible to sail again. I know that is controversial for me to say but I don’t think it works any other way. Adults will have

I always make it a rule to check prices regularly, even when there is not a sale. Some of the best prices I've seen, especially with excursions, have just shown up randomly between sales, never to be seen that low again. I check frequently enough that I really don't even pay attention to sale announcements.

Latest CDC press conference...

As we’re still two months from any potential cruise liveblogs from the Caribbean, I figured I’d take our trip next week and share with others. We decided back in November after a couple of years of talking about it, that we’d make the move down to Florida. Between work trips and vacations We’re there 6-8 times a year in a normal year, so might as well get the benefits of it. So, this January we signed a contract on a new home in the Winter Garden area of Orlando. While the house won’t be done till July, we were able to sell our home in the D.C area in a day, and the new owner needed to move

In the CDC's Technical Instructions, they list measures cruise ships have to do when it comes to the mitigation of crew members. I would love to know what you guys think about these rules, as some people have compared these rules to being in prison...

No it’s a scare tactic in my opinion. They had one small spike in cases 3 days ago (129), last 2 days zero cases. Sounds like a testing dump. Their numbers go from high to zero multiple times.

Oh my gosh, this is a good reminder about how untrustworthy online reviews are! Not shooting the messenger @SDHappy Girl, just wanted to use this as a good learning opportunity Why you can't trust online reviews of cruise ships

Being confined to them when not working has not existed and should not exist as long as crew members are vaccinated and there is no outbreak on the ship.

What do you call a bear with no teeth?.........a gummy bear!

Just goes to show how obsolete and out of touch (and downright dangerous for mental health) the CDC's rules are.

This thread is quickly going off the tangent rails. Keep it about cruising.

This is nothing more than "Look at us constituents! We're keeping you safe!" They (or their respective staffs) clearly have not done any research to see just how much the cruise industry has done to prepare for the resumption of operations. The language in the letter to the CDC gives the impression that they believe that the personnel running the industry and it's ships have been simply sitting with their feet up waiting to get back to business as usual. Nothing could be further from the truth. (Sorry for the run on sentences. I was "angry typing")

Job - QC expert to ensure the sun rises each morning Reward - Free specialty coffee

Why I think it's time to defund the CDC and abolish it The CDC is giving us a glimpse of what it would do if it had more power and control over our domestic lives. In shutting down and locking out the cruise industry the CDC has gone from a science based health research and knowledge agency to a federal police force. The United States of America is too big for a one size fits all approach. Each State should have the power to develop a response to any emergency for that State alone. No State or conglomerate of states should have the power to effect control over any other si

This is why it's so critical to have a plan when new deployments open. If you think you can wait and it will be the same the next day... think again.

Who gets the worm....out of the bottle....of tequila.... in Ensenada.

I've also seen price jumps as I've gone back in and looked around. I also saw some cases where refundable was the same as NRD. Duh! YOLO! It pays to be the early bird.

Got some 2 bedroom suites booked 11-7-2022.

To give you an idea of some excursions I am tracking for St Thomas visit on a cruise: Original Price 4/14/21 Price Buck Island Sail Snorkel $88.99 $73.99 Turtle Bay Sail and Snorkel $70.99 $58.99 St. John 1/2 Day Champagne Cat and Snorkel $92.99 $77.99 St John Island Tour $61.99 $64.99 Turbo cat Snorkel and beach

Beyond belief 10 years in the making Im booked on a RCI sailing out of LA!

Good news! They dropped off a truck with the stone for the kitchen. Depending on the weather, it's possible they will start that tomorrow.

That's a trick question. @mpoole3 has stopped cruising since having a baby

I can't believe how many times throughout the day I keep checking for this Navigator info to pop up!! It's totally insane...but I can't stop!!!

Looks like they've loaded more since it's now showing Nov. '21 through Apr. '22 but still not bookable. Any day now.

Would love to see a few 9 night cruises, opposite the 5 nighters. Could easily add Acapulco and/or La Paz to the 7 day itinerary. But won't get greedy at this point, just glad to have West Coast cruises back in the mix. Hopefully ship #2 will be based in SD.

The URL the should do the trick once they open: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruises/?departureCode_LAX=true&shipCode_NV=true