Vancity Cruiser

4 hours ago, UNCFanatik said:

Desantis chimes in...

https://www.abcactionnews.com/news/state/governor-desantis-responds-to-celebrity-cruises-vaccine-requirement-for-fl-cruises

 

DeSantis says the vaccine requirements put in place by the cruise line violate the spirit of the Governor’s Emergency Order 21-81, which prohibits vaccine passports and protects the fundamental rights of Floridians – including the right to medical privacy. The governor also says the policy would be a violation of Florida’s recently enacted law banning vaccine passports, SB 2006, effective July 1.

"Companies doing business in Florida, including Celebrity Cruises, should immediately cease to impose such discriminatory policies upon individuals. Companies that violate this law would be subject to a fine of $5,000 each time they require a customer to present a 'vaccine passport' for service," DeSantis said.

So after sueing the CDC to allow cruising he is now going to say Celebrity cannot sail under these rules? What a mess!

I could be completely wrong but my interpretation is this. Royal requires every eligible person to be vaccinated in order to sail. On the cruises that state ‘fully vaccinated’ they will only allow vaccinated folks (no children)on. On the other sailings they still require all eligible people to be vaccinated but will also allow children under vaccination eligible age as well.

So all eligible people must be vaccinated to cruise Royal Caribbean. Some ships will only allow these folks but some ships will allow children as well.

8 minutes ago, Matt said:

Cruise executives have always said their restart would be slow.

I think perhaps the pace of some protocol changes may seem like things may have changed, but the cruise lines are doing exactly what they said they would do.

I wonder what that will do to cruise fares in the short term as demand far exceeds supply

8 minutes ago, Tanner said:

Unpleasantly surprised how far down the road those dates are.

That was my reaction as well. 

8 minutes ago, Matt said:

Don't forget NCL is going to mandate 95% of its passengers be vaccinated, whereas Royal Caribbean will not.  As a result, Royal has to conduct test cruises and NCL does not.

I think that's playing a part in its plans.

Hopefully.......I was very surprised to see the dates for their restart plan. If Royal is able to restart more cruises quicker as a result of conducting test sailings this could open up more market for Royal as well.

Matts blog on NCL's restart plan shows a much more phased in approach than I was expecting with all the momentum in the industry the last few weeks. I wonder if this is indicative of what other lines will do. Most ships not starting until much later in 2021 or even early 2022. 

I was thinking my Jan 2022 on Symphony was a sure thing but if NCL's announcement is a signal of what is to come it may not be such a sure thing.  

January 2020, when covid was some just some weird thing happening over in China

21 minutes ago, PG Cruiser said:

But some people want to stay away from gadgets and devices while on vacation

Yep. On a cruise is the only time I truly disconnect and shut my phone off. I am fine with this move though if I can grab a paper copy from guest services. I understand most people just toss it.

3 hours ago, WesKinetic said:

Very intentionally not getting the internet package. In the normal world, I'm pretty much connected and on call 24/7. So one of the best moments of my cruise vacations is turning on that "I am out of the office and will not be checking email" notification. 

This is probably the biggest thing for me as well. My job requires me available for calls and emails at all times (often answering emails while on vacation) but when on a cruise my phone goes in the safe as soon as the cabin is available and I truly disconnect!

Sigh.............I really miss disconnecting

1 hour ago, twangster said:

This latest CDC guidance that it's safe to walk around outside and take a bike ride without wearing a mask gives me a lot of confidence that I made the right decisions to do both actions many months ago and I'm glad I live in a free country where I was able to make those decisions for myself, by myself.

It may have taken the CDC a little long to reach the same conclusion I did but I'm confident they will eventually come to the same conclusion I have regarding cruise ships and how safe they are given the current situation.  Just wish I lived in a free country where I could make that decision for myself, by myself.  

I couldn’t believe that statement from the CDC was real! Did they actually want fully vaccinated people to still wear masks outdoors prior to this?!

If this is their standard I’m starting to question weather cruising will start in the US before November. 

I believe we will hear of addition ships sailing from Caribbean ports this summer within the next couple weeks. I think it’s clear that sailing from US ports won’t restart till the fall at earliest.

The CDC had a hate on for the cruising industry long before this pandemic even started. 

I’d say they give zero f$&@‘s about the increased pressure since they just doubled down on their website that going on cruises is the highest risk possible on their scale and they advise against getting on any cruise ship anywhere in the world.

27 minutes ago, Matt said:

True. It seems they made 2 updates. First they added the caveat, and now it looks like 12 hours has been dropped.

The whole line is ridiculous because of what CDC has said about surface contamination being extremely unlikely.

So they made amendments, but only to this one item?

24 minutes ago, johnt83 said:

How do you guys get these Crown & Anchor society emails? I have been a C&A member for years but have never received one?

They may go straight to a spam folder. Mine used to go there until I marked them as not spam

6 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

I think banning kids and families will backfire big time for NCL. And it'd be even worse for RC to change their mind now.

How is it going to backfire? They have stated it is their policy until October. So either they don’t sail at all till October and see zero revenue or (if it is somehow approved) they get three months worth of revenue sailing without kids. Seems like a no brainer to me.

Maybe they are simply referring to the cruises sailing from Caribbean ports Americans can go on because flying to these ports is much safer and sanitary than embarking at a US port

I’m a ship first person. I’ll take Oasis class all the time because of the entertainment options. It’s simply personal preference though.

I do believe when I reach a certain age and have more time to cruise I will transition to a port preferable cruiser

30 minutes ago, UNCFanatik said:

I get it. They are bleeding cash and need to get up and running. I just think its a short sighted plan.

Again, as NCL pointed toward data in their petition to the CDC they could have pointed to the data on small children and risk and spread as well. They could have copied Royal plan for those under 16. 

Given the CDC’s lack of common sense, NCL decided to play to the CDC’s own guidance that vaccinated people can gather with very little risk. They decided not to muddy the waters by including children under vaccination age.

I agree with your point about the data showing children are low risk but common sense has no place at the CDC’s table. I believe that is the reason NCL is taking the black and white approach.

4 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

But banning kids (and therefore families) could really backfire on NCL, too.

They would not be starting all their ships immediately. They are also only starting at 60% capacity. I believe there is enough pent up demand that they will be able to fill all available cabins with vaccinated adults only.

2 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/instructions-local-agreements.html

 

Second to last paragraph in the Purpose section.

Thanks for jumping on this. I just woke up here on the west coast

So under the ‘purpose’ section of the technical instructions is a sentence that states ‘for the purpose of these instructions, CDC considers cruise ships to constitute a residential congregate setting’.

In the CDC’s updated COVID instructions yesterday they excluded non-healthcare congregate settings from the update. They describe non-healthcare congregate settings as prisons and detention Centers.

So the CDC in their infinite wisdom classify cruise ships the same as prisons and detention centers!

While the entire industry realizes that the CSO is outdated and no longer valid (with the rollout of vaccines and the info and proof that cruises can be conducted safely in many other parts of the world) the CDC is blissfully ignorant of this. They are sticking with their outdated protocols and not budging. 

I wonder if Miami mayor stands by her comment ‘I am impressed by the Director’s knowledge of the industry, and her empathy to the economic hardships that the loss of this business has caused’?

5 hours ago, Terkop said:

We are scheduled for a cruise on Symphony of the Seas over Christmas. Any rumors or facts or speculation as to whether or not it will happen? 

I really hope you get to because that means my cruise on her just after New Years will be sailing!

1 hour ago, dream said:

Hi KW and Matt, thank you both for your replies. They have been helpful!! Wish the app had been more user friendly though!

You can also book through Royals website as well (usually earlier than the app).

11 minutes ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

SMH, it is truly a mess.  But I agree, cruising for Canadians does not look good for a while.  I will thank my lucky stars if I can get on Allure by December 2021.  That is honestly the soonest I see for us here in Canada, by the time you factor in full vaccinations, border issues, quarantine to relax. 

Same. While it’s exciting to see cruises restarting I believe my next cruise will be Jan 8. 2022 on Symphony. If we are able to go sooner I will try to book something earlier but right now that is my next booking (I have 4 booked for 2022!). That being said it is still exciting to see the cruise industry slowly coming back to life and knowing they’ll still be around for my 2022 bookings!