LizzyBee23

Go ahead... Laugh... One of these extensions will be the last and there will be a first new sailing. Nobody knows when that is...

Well, travel stocks in general were up about that much today. There was suggestion that consumers were beginning to act on pent up demand based on activity over the weekend.

For what it's worth, Norwegian's president/CEO/chairman/whatever said they're planning on Q2 of 2021 for something resembling the old days in terms of cruise schedule.

Yes, I’m aware of that. The “loophole” is actually not a bad policy decision - it adds a layer of intent and commitment to travel. It also provides the means for the authorities to better vet, as well as more closely monitor the mandatory 14-day quarantine on arrival.
This means that if the reason to travel is important enough, you can still travel across the border, but subject to strict conditions.
We really don’t want U.S. citizens to show up in cars at our border for a “cheap & safe” vacation, or for a sort-of longer “getting out of Dodge” stay. Montreal did end up with a couple of NYC residents show up at one of our ERs early on... 
It also prevents me from doing a short hop across the border, into a hot zone, and possibly bringing it back to my home community... sure I can fly, but I’d have to seriously consider the cost and quarantine conditions on the return.
There will always be people who will think that masking, safe distancing, and travel restrictions should not apply to them... at least we’re keeping most of those from coming up here right now. We’ve got plenty of our own covidiots to deal with anyway.

For what it's worth, Norwegian's president/CEO/chairman/whatever said they're planning on Q2 of 2021 for something resembling the old days in terms of cruise schedule.

Absolutely. A death rate of 6% is horrific.

To me this is the reason cases are not going down. To say 94% cases recovering is good is unthinkable to me. 

It's a sad but deserved criticism of the US right now. We still have people who doubt the severity of what is going on, or question the reality before them. It's one of the ultimate injustices that we, as a country with all of the resources in the world to mitigate the spread within our borders but who lacked the political will and communal commitment to do so, will probably have early access to a vaccine while the countries that we exported cases to (who have a fraction of what we have in terms of medical resources) will have to deal with the mess that we hand delivered to them. 

@Mrs. Thomas How have you determined if 98% of American's have not had the virus? Given the new and changing facts of the virus it is possible that more than half of Americans have had the virus.  Also there are facts and perceptions. Since are numbers keep increasing...whether you attribute that to testing or actual spread....we look like we are incompetent and diseased filled to the rest of the world. I mean people who try to treat this as nothing or the flu in America, while other countries take it serious, is idiotic. So in this case that woman is at fault, not the island.
 

The ongoing uncontrolled community transmission in the States is making it impossible for other countries to accept your citizens as tourists. Saying this does not make any of us treat a person who is American as “a nasty virus”  - as you state in your strawman argument. You can, however, justifiably be regarded as a society that lacks the collective will and direction to change your situation.
I am sure that the American tourists now in quarantine in Tahiti will be treated very well, and if she becomes sick, will get good medical care in Papeete.

It's a sad but deserved criticism of the US right now. We still have people who doubt the severity of what is going on, or question the reality before them. It's one of the ultimate injustices that we, as a country with all of the resources in the world to mitigate the spread within our borders but who lacked the political will and communal commitment to do so, will probably have early access to a vaccine while the countries that we exported cases to (who have a fraction of what we have in terms of medical resources) will have to deal with the mess that we hand delivered to them. 

I'm not going to pretend to know the intricacies involved in clinical trials, but as a scientist I know the importance of getting good data and using strong analytical techniques to draw conclusions from it. The reason so many of us feel like we have whiplash regarding advice we've been given about the virus is because we're discovering new things nearly every day. You can see that born out in the falling mortality rate as doctors continue to zero in on a standard of care that works. 
The process may seem slow, but it is complex and despite all the shortcomings here in the States, history will probably judge the world's response to this as relatively rapid (and hopefully it gets us to lay the groundwork for future, faster response efforts).

I'm not going to pretend to know the intricacies involved in clinical trials, but as a scientist I know the importance of getting good data and using strong analytical techniques to draw conclusions from it. The reason so many of us feel like we have whiplash regarding advice we've been given about the virus is because we're discovering new things nearly every day. You can see that born out in the falling mortality rate as doctors continue to zero in on a standard of care that works. 
The process may seem slow, but it is complex and despite all the shortcomings here in the States, history will probably judge the world's response to this as relatively rapid (and hopefully it gets us to lay the groundwork for future, faster response efforts).

It's a sad but deserved criticism of the US right now. We still have people who doubt the severity of what is going on, or question the reality before them. It's one of the ultimate injustices that we, as a country with all of the resources in the world to mitigate the spread within our borders but who lacked the political will and communal commitment to do so, will probably have early access to a vaccine while the countries that we exported cases to (who have a fraction of what we have in terms of medical resources) will have to deal with the mess that we hand delivered to them. 

Back to this issue of the Paul Gauguin.
It’s now been confirmed that the infected passenger is one of a few Americans who travelled earlier in the week to Papeete to board the cruise. She was tested negative 3 days before leaving home.
She was probably infected 0-5 days before leaving home. She could have been in contact with an infected person at a Home Depot or Walmart or Macy’s, doing last minute shopping. She could have been infected at LAX. Who knows... with the U.S. having uncontrolled COVID-19 community transmission, it’s really not important where or how she came in contact with the virus before arriving in French Polynesia.
However, it will matter to the French authorities, and to every other country who is considering allowing American tourists to return, that she very likely arrived already infected and pre-symptomatic before her second test was done.
Almost all of the ship’s passengers right now are residents of French Polynesia, which has literally been COVID-free for weeks, after having very few cases to begin with. Many onboard went to visit family members on Bora Bora. Some are just a couple of miles from home, stuck on the ship in Papeete right now, who at best will need to strictly self-isolate for 14 days if they are allowed to disembark in the next day or so and return to their homes.
Island nations do not have the medical resources to respond to large outbreaks. Tahiti has a large hospital, Bora Bora does not. Returning residents who go back to their homes on other islands than Tahiti, and those exposed residents and locals who may later develop a positive test or symptoms, or draw a losing ticket and become very sick with COVID, may not have quick access to adequate care.
This is what the rest of the world is looking at. So stop making any and every discussion about cruising and this pandemic a uniquely U.S.-centered problem. And stop making it a political issue.
All that the rest of the world is perceiving right now is that American tourists are covidiots. 
By reading many of the responses here, I’d agree.

I'm not going to pretend to know the intricacies involved in clinical trials, but as a scientist I know the importance of getting good data and using strong analytical techniques to draw conclusions from it. The reason so many of us feel like we have whiplash regarding advice we've been given about the virus is because we're discovering new things nearly every day. You can see that born out in the falling mortality rate as doctors continue to zero in on a standard of care that works. 
The process may seem slow, but it is complex and despite all the shortcomings here in the States, history will probably judge the world's response to this as relatively rapid (and hopefully it gets us to lay the groundwork for future, faster response efforts).

Completely disagree with you about the seriousness of the disease and what we should be doing in the short term, but I agree that eventually we will all probably get it and soon we will just assume the risk as we rush back to normalcy.
I'd just like to share that there are over 600 compounds under investigation for treating COVID (including 255 clinical compounds, nearly 100 of which are in Phase III or IV), and the FDA has expedited much of the approval process for starting trials (using the Coronavirus Treatment Acceleration Program). All of that to say, most people who could possibly help us find a treatment or a cure are doing so, and there are lots of good reasons to wait a few more months to give them some time to do so.
(The link is at www.bio.org if you want to see the status of the trials... Updates every Monday and tracks vaccine development as well.)

WhY iS the CdC dEsCrImiNaTiNg AgAiNsT cRuISeS?!?! 

We were set to go in August, but ended up cancelling on our fully refundable reservation before all of this got crazy back in March (you really could see the writing on the wall). So happy to reschedule for the end of April! Got the same itinerary (double dip at CocoCay), and while I doubt we'll see a repeat of the two-day pass for $69 in the cruise planner, we did get a good price for our drink package at $53. 
Oh, and our room is bigger (got the spacious, panoramic oceanview this time) and we are oh-so excited to have something to look forward to again. Hooray!

We were set to go in August, but ended up cancelling on our fully refundable reservation before all of this got crazy back in March (you really could see the writing on the wall). So happy to reschedule for the end of April! Got the same itinerary (double dip at CocoCay), and while I doubt we'll see a repeat of the two-day pass for $69 in the cruise planner, we did get a good price for our drink package at $53. 
Oh, and our room is bigger (got the spacious, panoramic oceanview this time) and we are oh-so excited to have something to look forward to again. Hooray!

Talk about overreacting to something that is nothing to worry about...this coronavirus wont change peoples vacation plans, its overblown, more ppl die from the flu..blah blah blah.......nothing to see here folks..
 
Yeah right.....if it WASNT a big deal or concern do you think Royal would be doing this......not a chance in hell.
 
I stick with what I said awhile ago and many here belittled my argument..this is a MUCH bigger deal than the flu and will have a huge impact on the cruise industry..both in the short term and I am guessing for the foreseeable future.
 
And no, people losing vacation plans, companies losing money and ppl dying are NOT things we should be taking lightly, joking about and criticising those who took it more serious from the beginning....imho
 
 

People who are young and healthy shouldn't worry unnecessarily about it -just be vigilant. 
On the other hand, there are some of us (me and my husband included) who are in the "senior" age group and although we may be very healthy for our age group and generally travel with no problems, for whom this particular virus can have dire consequences . My husband has damaged lungs which cause absolutely no problem in our day to day life, but Covid-19 attacks the lungs. Some people get pneumonia and pass away; some have to be on a ventilator.  We have no way of knowing if someone on the ship will get on with the virus, even unknowingly, and spread it in an enclosed environment. We can't take the chance.
Therefore we will be canceling our cruise departing April 12. We have pined over it and have spent hours already trying to unravel travel arrangements with the least affect on our pocketbooks. Yes, we have travel insurance, but no insurance allows you to collect because you MIGHT get the virus. So we will be eating a percentage of this trip.
This has not been an easy decision and it is disheartening to read the condescending remarks of some on this blog- we are not over reacting. We are making an informed decision. Some sensitivity to people in our position  would be appreciated.

Could not agree more. At least in the US, we were subjected to "the flu kills more people!" headlines for more than 2 weeks after it became abundantly clear this was something else entirely. The US media carried on with that narrative well after Wuhan was quarantined, and only really started to change their tune after the spread in Europe became impossible to characterize any other way.

People can muster any statistics they like for or against something and they will push their agenda on others. Make your own decisions.
Before this all got the coverage it was getting now in the world people didn't have the information or really understand what the disease was. Those folks were not as informed as we all are now.
There is a clearly a health risk in the world. A simple way to avoid it is to avoid it. For us, we have chosen to avoid it and skip cruising for a bit. 
Almost everything in life comes with risk. Whatever your choice is it will be the right one for you.
When it comes down to it we are just talking about vacations here. People are actually getting very sick and many have died. We should keep that in perspective here.
. 

Let me rephrase: we're parents of young children. We're not particularly young, which I feel at a physical level most mornings, haha.