Ray

On 10/18/2021 at 9:26 PM, Reigert2008 said:

The questions I am still trying to figure out and have emailed Puerto Rico about (email address on the site)
 

1. How early can you complete the travel declaration form?

2. What do you need to do if you are staying in Puerto Rico for one night post-cruise?

I know that in Europe these forms need not only your flight details but also your seat number. So unless you pay well in advance for seats on flight you cannot fill out forms until after you have checked in on flight 

10 hours ago, KristiZ said:

There are Walgreens in Puerto Rico that offer the 1-hour result antigen test. You should be fine.

Do you know if there is a fee involved for this service for non PR or US citizens? 

Across here in the UK we get all testing done FOC, this includes packs of 7 Antigen tests sent to anyones home whenever they are requested. 

10 hours ago, MrMarc said:

 about 8 or so drinks every day to "break even".  

Challenge accepted

As soon as i hit the Airport Lounge thats me officially on Holiday! 

26 minutes ago, L454S said:

Wow, you sound like the Gestapo..............

Given the fact there are German and Jewish cruisers on this forum your choice of words in your comparison is very poor !!!! 

40 minutes ago, dswallow said:

 

One way to start would be to actually remind people they can drop their luggage off anytime but after they do that they should go somewhere else until closer to their check-in time.

If people are currently ignoring RC instructions regarding not turning up until near their check in time do you honestly believe they will take any notice of another email basically saying the same? 

Twangsters right its people that are the problem! Its people thinking they can do as the want and screw the rest as long as they are ok 

I absolutely hated the smell of smoke in the casino on FOTS! The smell and the smoke made it an unpleasant experience and if being honest i couldn't wait to get outside for some fresh air....so i headed to the smoking area at pool deck.........yes i was a smoker at the time...about 30 a day and it was bad even for me! Said a few times previously that it should be banned indoors hopefully it is right across the fleet

10 hours ago, Scoular said:

That doesn’t make much sense! Although to be honest neither does having free roam in Spain the day or two before and then being bubbled.

Its the government's of each country making the rules not RC 

Matt really annoyed as i didnt get any of these emails lol  

Joking got 1 from carib-life 

2 hours ago, ellcee said:

I'm talking about stores/restaurants closing 

Please tell me Carmines on times Sq is still open  

20 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

That's miserable. I feel for you.  I hope you at least are able to do the TA on Wonder.

We had intended doing a visit to New York follwed by a cruise in spring of next year but have decided it's not worth the anxiety, so we are pushing it out to 2023 and will just stay in Europe next year.

Im booked out of PR in March with a 4 day stop in NYC on way back to UK. Cant see it happening but cant change it as she who must be obeyed is missing the shops in New York and is having severe withdrawal symptoms  

20 minutes ago, Jdf said:

In Denmark we are 5 millions. The last 2 weeks we have had aprox. 350 positives a day. We have no more restrictions. Still I probably have to cancel symphony in november because I can't get into the US  IMHO it should be possible if one is vacinated and can show a negative test. I really hope some kind of agreement will be made soon otherwise I have to cancel 2 trips on Symphony and a TA on Wonder and there will be no cruises before may 2022

I read somewhere that the issue with UK and parts of EU relates to the fact that the US doesnt recognise UK vaccine so basically everyone is being classed as unvaccinated. 

Update on UK travel restrictions...All UK governments have moved their goalposts AGAIN!!!!

As of Oct the Traffic light system is GONE and new rules will be in place for each country.

 there will only a red list! If your country is not on the red list then you will be able to visit with very few measures needed to travel. 

For entry to England No preflight test is needed if person is vaccinated and only a lateral flow test on day 2. 

Most important thing is to check routes that you can travel without restrictions. A stop off even for just 50 mins in a country thats not on the green list of the country you are visiting could result in issues on arrival or when heading home. 

5 hours ago, Gary Pheasey said:

If you cannot be in most EU countries for 14 days before going to America, I wonder would Royal think about cancelling the stop in Malaga and just taking the 14 days to sail directly from Barcelona to Florida.  That way all passengers from the EU could travel?

Right now no EU or UK citizens can enter the US ( there are a exceptions but cruising isnt one of them) 

Would be ok for US travelers if whatever quarantine regulations are in place at time of travel are acceptable to those who wish to cruise.

Virgin Cruises appear to be for those looking for a party style Cruise.

You could take the train from Venice to Bologna then from there to Porto Corsini, travel time is about 4hrs but would work out less $$$$ for the trip. 

How easy / difficult will it be for non US citizens to get tests done 2 days prior to cruise if flying into NYC on wed then down to PR on the Friday for Sunday Cruise! 

Presuming tests would need to be done on the Friday in PR.

11 hours ago, JasonOasis said:

.  If individual countries enact these recommendations they need to clarify who is in and whose out.

The best and easiest way for anyone to find out the regulations for countries they are visiting is to read that countries government website.

4 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Seems kind of late in the game to suddenly be concerned about USA covid counts.

 

Are they just mad the USA hasn't reciprocated on travel freedom from Europe?

No!! Most if not all European counties have the traffic light system in place, your R Rate increases then you are moving down the colours! 

A country has been placed on green list, 2 weeks later its amber again due to increase in cases, this is nothing against US its just how it is countries looking after there own, What US does is to most people of little concern only those like myself that has cruise booked check to see whats happening across the pond 

1 hour ago, Traveler said:

You can follow in this CDC link : 

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/from-other-countries.html

Bloody hell by the time you read all that quarantine would be finished

 when they cancelled they probably had discussed things and had a few ideas of what they would do with FCC, i would just stick to those plans! 

2 hours ago, Dan Swayne said:

I am a Diamond Club member and actually am paying for another room on this same cruise.  They treat you like a first time cruiser in an interior cabin, zero regard for customer loyalty at RCL.

The amount of cruises any person has been on or their level of membership should not even come into the equation! 

When it comes to drinks package, excursions or anything else on the cruise planner everyone is and should be in the same boat..

19 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

You won't need your vax card on board since there will be other ways to identify if you're vaxxed or not

Those that are coughing and sweating to the left those that are not to the right

On 8/19/2021 at 4:09 PM, JeffB said:

As an example of what I'm talking about - perceptions v. reality and the manipulation, often intentional, of the former - there is this from the respected Economist that appeared in it's Expresso AM news feed of top stories:

A new study by Oxford University found that the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine’s efficacy against symptomatic infections dropped to 75% after 90 days, compared with 85% two weeks after a second dose. The study, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, also showed that the efficacy of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab declined by 7% over the same period.

Sounds bad, right? You might conclude vaccines don't work which is exactly the concern I voiced yesterday about the irresponsible headline announcements yesterday that boosters will start to be administered in September. But these percentages are out of context. What are the actual numbers? I don't know them and I believe they are out there but not being disclosed publicly for political reasons. 

First, the terms efficacy (determined by controlled studies) and effectiveness (what's actually happening on the ground) are frequently conflated. We can't compare these two figures because they are not released side-by-side.

Second, if the efficacy is reduced, in the case of the Pfizer vaccine, from 85% to 75% (a 10% reduction) what are the actual numbers in the study. Let's say 1000 people were in the study, all vaccinated, and the accepted percentage of vaccinated people that actually develop symptoms is around 2% (and that's a high benefit of the doubt number). Given that figure, 20 vaxed people developed COVID symptoms (not hospitalized or dead and that figure is less than 1%). The study demonstrated a 10% reduction in efficacy or 2 more people got symptoms. TWO!!!

The bull-shit narrative emerging in the US, partly from misguided analysis of studies in Israel due to the same misleading errors, is that the vaccines aren't working that well and to contain the virus we need boosters. What? This is so horribly wrong that it defies credibility. 

Look, I think the study authors know this, the Israeli's know this. The US government's PH authorities? They know it but instead choose to encourage or at least allow without rebuttal the misleading press releases. The typical basis attributed to liberal governments like the Biden administration, is paternalism ...... the tendency to believe the government knows best and the details are two complex for Americans to understand. Bull-shit on that one too.  

I can only speculate the reasons but I suspect they involve convincing the public to not let their guard down. To get vaccinated. They've done just the opposite. The CDC, where this non-sense is coming from, has, for the most part become irrelevant - no one is listening to them despite the fact that there are honest, hard working people there who are probably being ignored.

I read this report and the figures you quote are for the delta variant. The oxford vaccine was down in the low 60 % mark if i remember correctly. This is why they are saying booster is needed, simple fact vaccine was for covid type 1 ( chinese ) we are now on type 4 ( delta) the report i read mentioned the worry about future variants and how ithings could get a lot worse!