monctonguy

On 1/23/2021 at 8:37 PM, JeffB said:

 

Once your documents are approved by the BVI government, you'll receive an email with a printable, official entry approval letter. This must be presented to your airline upon departure and again at BVI customs. Once through BVI customs you will be tested again, this time by RAPID antigen test. A negative result and you proceed and pay your $175 entry fee that covers testing costs incurred by the BVI government. Next you are issued a GPS equipped tracking bracelet.  For your first 3d in the BVI you cannot go anywhere - you're quarantined. At the end of the 3rd day, you get tested again. If negative, on the 4th day you are free to travel unrestricted throughout the BVI although you've been wearing a GPS enable tracking bracelet since you arrived to insure you quarantine and then to track your movements while in the BVI. I'm aware of similar if not less restrictive protocols in other Caribbean countries. 

Is this sort of protocol possible for cruise lines, one that might include a 3d quarantine in your cabin followed by testing and release from quarantine on the start of the 4th day? Tracking bracelets already in use on Spectrum sailing out of China? Possibly highly restricted activities for 3d, then retest then free to roam and enjoy with bracelets? From the standpoint of viral spread and as close to a bubble as one could get to start a cruise, maybe this is the way to go. OTH, I think the cruise lines and many potential passengers would find this sort of approach, as good as it is in preventing the spread of the virus aboard a ship,  unworkable. Maybe the step down approach of just highly restricted movement during the first 72 hours would work.

 

Being realist we've lost 18 months of cursing maybe 2 years. 

Cruising aint ever coming back if this is the new norm. Nor will they be able to do this to even start up imho. Not feasible. the logistics of this would be insane....maybe for a cruise to nowhere, but to have to worry about all these rules for every port you stop at or want to visit?(if that's what is implied in the above message)

Vaccination passport yes perhaps(and no surprise)...but all these rules and regulations would further kill the cruise industry and travel industry 

On 1/22/2021 at 4:55 PM, Sandra Bernstein said:

When I was aboard the Celebrity cruise around the Mediterranean, I didn't get my luggage delivered. 

I had to stand on a long line and then try to locate my bag.

I had a bottle of wine in my bag and the cruise line would not allow me to get my luggage before I removed the wine.

That really upset my first day at sea.

Wrong spot to put this and has nothing to do with this topic.

We all knew this was coming...think I had predicted this as well.....some may call me psyhic...some may call me negative.....you may all be right!

I cant see anything moving really till the fall.....with vaccinations rates at .012% in Canada after 5 weeks..nothing is happening or changing here quickly....

Blame Canada for this I am sure...no ports will be open in 2021 in Canada I am confident at this point..

we have .012% of our population vaccinated in 5 weeks....do the math..lol

A lot can change by April...heck it changes from day to day. 

If the ship can sail and you are booked..its your responsibility to get there. If it costs too much or takes too long isn't for Royal to try and figure out...that would really be impossible at this point.

Man oh man..the excitement that will be here when something official like that happens here with Royal!!

I can only speak to pre-pandemic norms...but hotels in Coco Beach are not "budget-friendly" in  my opinion...nothing that is close to the port at least. I have cruised out of PC many times, the last time in Nov of 2019 and it was cheaper to stay in Orlando AND pay for a Uber than it was to stay in Coco Beach.

That has been my experience so far..only once out did I find a price friendly enough to make it worth it to stay in Coca Beach....but then again, i only book inside Cabins while others here only do Suites so its all relative!

Go Port Canaveral is usually the cheapest(can purchase online in advance for around $15 the last time I did it)...took about 20 mins to load the bus plus the drive. Good cheap option. Royal has one as well for more money.

Port Canaveral is pretty calm and easy to get in out and out of compared to FLL or Miami for sure.

We have used ride share the last few times..about $80 for 4 of us in a SUV Uber from Orlando to drop off at the port.....

haha.....probably not...probably I will still have to quarantine for 14 days when we get back ......but we can fly now if we are willing to take the risk.....we can leave the country..we just cant travel around our own country..lol

We are considering moving our November cruise on Brilliance out of Tampa to a 7 day on Grandeur in December...7 nights for under 400CAD is a steal....flight times are great there and back as well......

7700 ppl die each day in the US in "normal" conditions....we don't shut down for that......500/day die in car accidents..we dont shut down driving...

CDC should still be pro-actively trying to help and encourage things to open back up and get to normal and realizing that its going to take time to implement and make all the changes required etc.

Lots of ppl have the flu..its part of life...always has been...only issue is when older ppl or vulnerable get it and get really sick..hospitalized or die.

Same for this.....if 4billion ppl have it..half of them are probably asymptomatic and dont know they have it...if the other half have it with symptoms but not serious enough to even go to the hospital..then no, it really doesn't matter.

The reason why the panic and worry is if ppl die or hospitals overflow......having a sore throat and a fever is nothing to shut down the world over.

33 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

It wasn't cancelled due to weather?? So you made it there??? You can always fly there.

Should have said it WAS cancelled....

Flying there not a great option for us....from Canada I am guessing it would be $2000/person or so.

Really hoping that if by Nov cruising has started back on a limited basis and our cruise is ago, that perhaps Cayman Islands will be letting some back in by that point.....only time will tell I guess.

Doesn't look good for my Nov cruise to finally get to Cayman Islands.......tried a few years ago and was cancelled due to weather.

Although at this point....any cruise anywhere is becoming a long shot for 2021 it appears.

Get it rolling out quicker!!!

May also be what Royal and others require to start sailing again..proof of vaccinations?!

So, its safe to deduct that if May 1st they have been suspended until..and then with the 30 day/60 day notice for the CDC to approve sailings we are now looking at  August at the earliest for cruising to resume?

If they have suspended sailings till May...I cant imagine they can do test cruising during that time.

11 hours ago, bretts173 said:

I guess it's all relative to what you are used to. If 3000 deaths from covid a day is usual then when you get 2000 you are doing relatively well. Our state borders in Australia get closed when there is a couple of cases in a day because most states have been covid free for months and dont want even one case. Bonus for these states is that life is pretty much normal other than some social distancing measures.

Not sure if life is "normal"...locked down for a year and social distancing still enforced.....but hey, to each their own. Not how I want to live my life ever.

Number of cases means nothing really..only thing that matters is  deaths and hospitalizations to a point(if it becomes overwhelming)......

Yes..been that way here in Atlantic Canada since last March..they relaxed it slightly and they shut it all down with 1 person hospitalized .......pretty much.

2.4 million ppl...300 cases of covid and 1 person in the hospital and we are locked down tighter than fort knox....lol

Don't get me going on the government's plans to vaccinate criminals in jail before the rest of the population..that's another whole story....

Listen..here in Atlantic Canada..I cant even go visit family in the neighboring province..not even if I want to quarantine for 14 days.....we are banned.....not a chance Canada is opening to cruise ships in 2021....we MAY see the border open for land crossings at some point with conditions I am assuming..but thats all I am hoping for this year and even that is a stretch it appears at this point.

I wish....and we may...once they lower it to 40 plus.......be worth the trip down and the 14 day quarintine at that point....although we may decide not to come back at that point!...

Oh.....i would be 100% ok with that..no issues at all.....but in this political climate, i don't think that is going to happen at all. If it was an option, i would be there yesterday

But there is no rational or reasonable discussions around it...its all or nothing with no middle ground for the most part(except in Florida it seems and maybe a few others states)

Only thing that is going to allow me to ever travel again from Canada is mass vaccinations.......

18 minutes ago, J_Keeble said:

Alright calm yourself down! you seem to relish off the bad news!

Realist....glass half empty kinda view here.

Much better to temper expectations moving forward than for people to have a unrealistic blind sense of optimism for something that probably wont happen...no?!

Don't plan on any cruises that stop/start or have to port anywhere in Canada for 2021......we are a mess up here with cases and lack of vaccines/and or vaccination plans so when we are lagging behind the US for vaccinations per captia.....nothing is happening here in 2021 cruise wise!

Yeah..I haven't followed it much for Europe and Med to be honest as I have no skin in the game for cruising there....i think it will be back on a larger scale quicker in North America to be honest...but will there be a few cruises over there first to test the waters so to speak on a small scale?.....could be I suppose...but I am not so sure

I have been saying this here for months.....nothing happening til the summer and then it may be just the "test" cruise the CDC requires(90 day process or something)......even the fall is starting to look iffy at this point. We need MASS vaccinations to happen in the next few mths or 2021 is a write off for cruising.