Mrs. Thomas

The date is wrong. This is from Aug. 2013

Which makes testing 48hrs before you go pointless or even temp checks. Temp check before boarding? Sure! However, if a person is in the middle of incubation period (asymptomatic or not) then you won't know if they are sick. There still isn't enough data to know how contagious a person could be at that point. If they are, then they don't know it. Quarantine the most vulnerable and the sick. If the rest of us get it then we should be fine. @PattiHere I agree. We need more good news. Unfortunately, the media (and some in this forum) only want to talk about the negative or pour out any glasses that are half full. It is horrid that they padded the numbers so bad in Florida. I wonder if those will be taken out of the total number of national cases. There is proof that numbers in other states are padded too. I know going state to state can be a problem, but seeing as how flying isn't being demonized, I may just be able to fly somewhere. However, I'm probably better off driving. I have family in other states that I wouldn't mind seeing. All of this is getting very heavy, but I don't think those in power (at least not many of them) actually care. We must continue to search out the unbiased truth and lift others up.

Even though cases have went up, the death rate continues to go down. Which I think is fabulous. I don't know about Canada, but in the US we don't ever look at flu cases. We look at flu deaths (well that's what the media reports on). Is this different because it is new? I understand that this can be really bad, but why are we confining the healthy in fear instead of quarantining the sick? I have a Feb. sailing booked. If it is canceled due to all of this, then I will get a full refund and not cruise again until I know that this insanity is over. That means I may never cruise again, which is sad. I will adjust though. There are plenty of beautiful places in the US that I haven't seen yet.

I think there may have been some communication break-down between my TA and RC. This isn't what I was told. Either way, I'm going to just "roll the dice" as Matt says and hope for Oct. If it is canceled again, then I will hang onto my FCC and any refunds and look to next year. I won't book anymore until the "No-Sail Order" is over. I can't handle the back and forth of the monies. At least I never told my kids what we were doing. They won't be as upset about not going anywhere.

@Jill Looks like they are creeping closer to our Oct. SOS sailing. I wonder if the lines will take the initiative and cancel into October or just hang on as long as they can. They may wait until the end of next month so they can see if what they are doing with the panel will be in their favor. Do you know if you can get a refund after opting for FCC and that cruise you use FCC for is canceled? @Rene Desmarais I'm glad someone is trying to find a silver lining.

We will definitely make sure he weighs all his options. He's 7 right now so we got some time. Thanks for the information.

@JimnKathy That sky!! Oh my! I can't wait to get going again.

That's awesome! My grandfather was Navy (WWII), Dad was Army, brother is Navy, in-laws that are Air Force, Husband is Marine. I figure if my son goes into Coast Guard we will have the entire military covered. He does love the water. LOL

Thank you for your service sir!

I have a 3 day booked for Feb. 2021. I don't really want that to be the first cruise for my family, but it may be. All we can do is wait and see. @WAAAYTOOO It's nice to meet fellow Marine Wives. Semper Fi

@crisgold52 I'm not sure how that would go. At first they may require everyone to have a test before boarding. Could you imagine RCL trying to test everyone onboard? That would be a nightmare. I would do the whole Atlantis thing, but you need a passport and none of us have one. Getting one, especially right now, would be a pain and take forever. IF we start back in October (I don't care if anyone thinks this will happen, it is just for example) and the islands have a spike in cases, which is feasible no matter when tourists are allowed back, then they (the islands) may shut everything down no matter what the cruise lines decide. With no ports there are no cruises. All of this is just crazy; too many unknowns.

Take the information as you will. This is the most up to date that I could find. Let's hope that things get better soon. We can't cruise if there is nowhere to go. https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/caribbean-islands-opening-travel-coronavirus

I was just able to add it the other day. I will tell him. Thank you. :)

Bless you dear! I have kids who like to fight too. Hooray for puberty. My husband doesn't understand why I enjoy traveling or getting away, probably because he doesn't do the housework or take care of our kids like I do. He's also a Marine so (thanks to Parris Island) he isn't a big fan of sand and says he got his "traveling bug" out then. Which part of the reason he doesn't go places with us. Personally I enjoy new experiences and helping others have them too. My Dad has always told my Mom about the beauty of the ocean. She has always wanted to visit the Caribbean and I want to help her see it before she gets to a place that she can't as my Dad has. I really hope that we can all get back to our happy place soon, whichever ship that may be. @Neesa I'm glad for your sake that you found out. I think that cruises like that should have a warning for others trying to book that aren't part of that group that it "may not" be appropriate for people with kids. I used to work at a hotel and they would have swinger weekends. The sanitization of things like that is insane! Not all "couples" think about the person staying in that room after them.

Two years ago life was a bit easier and carefree. Also, this lady was at dry dock. Click the link for a video of what the Symphony of the Seas looked like then at dry dock, still getting some work done. I hope that she will be filled with smiling faces and laughter soon. (preferably mine and my family's lol) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YWQZCBK5N0&t=11s

But why would a person get a test if they don't think they ever got sick? Those who may be or have been asymptomatic will likely never get a test. I personally wouldn't get one because I wouldn't want to add to the positive test numbers for something I no longer have. That's just me. @cruisellama depends on where the band-aid is LOL @crisgold52 What you described is part of my problem with the whole asymptomatic idea. Everyone goes around looking at everyone like typhoid Mary. It reminds me of the "red scare" in the 50's. No one trusted anyone else. It is causing division between people. No one wants to go near anyone else and normal courtesies are abandoned. Heck, you can't even smile at anyone because of wearing a mask and if you try you just look like you're squinting. LOL I understand the why (mostly) but that doesn't mean I have to like it. If we look at how many people are asymptomatic to the flu (and I use it because it is the closest thing we have to COVID at the moment) and use that data for this, then you could say that up to 20% of people are asymptomatic to COVID as well. On a ship that has 4000 passengers and 1000 crew, for a total of 5000 people, 1000 of them would be asymptomatic. That sounds like a lot of people and it is. However, according to world wide statistics of how many people have gotten sick verses total population, 500 people on board will have already gotten sick and recovered. A hundred of those people will have been asymptomatic. So, we all know that stats aren't perfect because there are other variables, like how safe were the people before boarding etc. However, we can use it to say that we have more of a chance of getting if from someone who is in the incubation period than a person who is asymptomatic. Every cruise is at your own risk, always has been. Everyone also needs to understand that this virus isn't going away ever. We need to learn how to live with it as people in the early 1900s did with the flu. We washy-washy, don't kiss strangers or lick doorknobs and do our best to keep being kind to people because the effects of this thing is starting to do more than just physical or financial damage.

The cameras thing about all of Britain and not just London, that was my oversight with how it was worded. The idea that the telephone is an American invention is because Bell was working in Boston when he developed and applied for the patents for it. Yes he was Scottish, but he lived in Canada too, so who actually gets the claim? I say Bell and not the countries. The documentary I watched was actual CCTV footage and was more of a TV series than just a movie. Like I said though, I'm not heading out to big US cities either, especially right now.

Over the years I have learned to stay chill. I run the mouth first and find the right people. However, if I found myself surrounded by those kinds of people we would have done our best to steer clear of them. I may have even made a complaint about not knowing such people were chartered with my small kids.

This is a general question, not necessarily towards you. But, how do we know that there are lots of asymptomatic people? If a person doesn't have symptoms and doesn't know they are sick, then they are most likely NOT going to be tested. How do we know how many people are actually NOT sick but everyone thinks they are because they don't have symptoms? I'm not trying to make people scared of everyone. I know people can be asymptomatic of many things like strep or the flu as well. I think I may be of strep as my family gets it but I never seem to. What if the majority of people AREN'T asymptomatic and everyone is getting sick from people in the 2 week gestation period? That whole gestation period makes me wonder how well taking a temp before boarding helps. A person could be within that 2 weeks and not know it and not show signs for DAYS after their cruise.

@TempoGL @Ray I saw a documentary about all of the crime in Britain, not just London. I wasn't just talking about violent crime. Basically, if you want to be robbed then London is the place to go. Even with the 2 million+ cameras they have, there isn't much the police actually do. That's a lot of money to spend to go somewhere just to be pick-pocketed. However, I'm not planning a trip to any major US cities either, especially right now with a lot of people acting crazy. I'm not naïve. Right now, going to grocery store without my kids is as close to a vacation as I can get.

Same. I'm hesitant to rebook my extras for my Oct. sailing. I may just sit on the money until closer to sailing. It may cost more if we do get to go, but then I won't have to worry about waiting on refunds again.

@YOLO That is crazy! I understand the policy of protecting certain charter groups. Unfortunately we all know that some people are hateful. However, the things that were going on is unacceptable. I'm a bit of a Momma bear so I would have had my husband stopping me instead of the other way around. I'm glad you have learned from it and now I know we all need to behave ourselves.

This virus doesn't make you just "drop dead". It isn't the black death. If you have an underlying condition then by all means, please wait until you feel safe. For the relatively healthy person you have a small chance of dying from the virus. There are multiple statistics on it. That being said, do what you think is necessary to stay healthy.

@crisgold52 I was mostly meaning that I can't get a refund if they cancel again, instead of FCC. I almost wish I would have opted for the money and just did something else with it. However, I'm trying to have something to look forward to. This all HAS to end EVENTUALLY! We can all sit and be pessimistic about how things will go and it is easy to. But, there is that small ray of hope that since there are previous CDC and government officials on the panel that it will help/speed up the time frame of getting back into the water. They know the ropes of the CDC and can keep that in mind while working on the new policies. If we can't get going by Sept. 16, then maybe Oct. 1st. We cannot stop looking towards the brighter spots of hope.

Thank you for posting this! The article says that it may be safer than a vacation in London. With their crime rate, I would have to agree.