Kata

So I guess NCL will not be participating since they dropped masks all together? I think it’s time the industry gives the CDC the middle finger. CLIA had a pretty scathing response to the CDC again issuing warnings not to cruise. 

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My Mother in law had a test done  last month at Miami Airport and payed $175 dlls for the PCR. We had the results in about 30 min.

My Mother in law had a test done  last month at Miami Airport and payed $175 dlls for the PCR. We had the results in about 30 min.

I have an entire thread about moving to FL as it relates to cruising. 
There are so many things to consider but after many visits and much analysis, we chose the Treasure Coast as it is equidistant between MIA/FLL and Port Canaveral.  It is only slightly further over to Tampa.  We chose this area strictly b/c of its location relative to the cruise ports.  
We built a house in Port St Lucie, which is 1 hr north of West Palm Beach.  This area is exploding with development which is both good and bad.  Prices are becoming completely unreasonable and we are fortunate to have made our move when we did (signed construction contract in Sept 2020 and moved down here in Nov 2020 while the house was being built).  FL is like anywhere else….different parts of FL have different vibes and different influences.  As a general rule (always exceptions), south FL is more expensive than northern FL and the west coast is less expensive than the east coast.  The interior of FL is rural.  These are all generalizations and there certainly are exceptions but that will give you a good rule-of-thumb.
I guess if I have any advice it would be -DON’T WAIT.  I mentioned prices.  It’s really getting insane.  The base price of the house we built has gone up $109K in 16 months….and you can’t build my house right now at ANY price b/c all of the lots are long gone. Of course, like anything else, it depends on what you’re looking for.  We wanted an over-55 gated community but there are plenty of other  options.  Since you are going to be snowbirds, I would definitely recommend some type of gated community just for the security since you will be living elsewhere for months at a time.
There are many others on this blog that have made that move somewhat recently, so, no doubt, you will get lots of other advice !

However, Royal just posted another quarterly loss. They’re still bleeding. At some point they need to fill the ships and I’m not so sure that continued protocols (masking, testing, possible boosters) will allow that. They’re are still a lot of people out there wanting to cruise but the protocols are preventing them. 

Latest poll: 70% of Americans are ready to put Covid in the rear view. Double vaxxed and boosted are getting sick too. I don’t think boosters are the answers to what appears to be the new common cold. 
 
I’ve got 3 cruises (Caribbean, Alaska and Holy Land/Greece) through October. I’ll do the damn booster to take the 2 bucket list cruises but I’ll stop cruising after that if boosters are required year after year after year. I’ll have to retire as a brand new Diamond Plus and never get to enjoy the benefits. 
 
70% is a pretty substantial number. 

I don't think many would say "ditch all protocols" but I think many want realistic protocols that match the current state of things.  Most protocols (other than vaccine requirements) developed by CLIA and CDC are from summer 2020. 

I agree with you.  We were on the Harmony in Nov.  The mask thing did not make the cruise more pleasant, for sure.  But now they've tightened the requirements.  So we canceled our March cruise and are going to spend that time at the beach in an oceanfront hotel.  It's in SC so no mask requirements.  Hopefully things change before our Dec cruise on Oasis.

Exactly.  

Independence of the Seas 
February 3, 2023
 
Added the 3 night to the existing 4 night to make it a week. 

BA.2 was first discovered in early December.
 
1.5x more transmissible is noise.  It's also an estimate.  That kind of estimate is noise.

Viruses evolve. They evolve to survive. That's what they become more infectious yet weaker.

 

Have a great time. Hope you enjoy Mama Mia,

I'm currently on Allure Of The Sea. So far so good. No cancelations of ports or shows. No, you don't have to wear a  mask while dancing.

I'm currently on Allure Of The Sea. So far so good. No cancelations of ports or shows. No, you don't have to wear a  mask while dancing.

I'm currently on Allure Of The Sea. So far so good. No cancelations of ports or shows. No, you don't have to wear a  mask while dancing.

I'm currently on Allure Of The Sea. So far so good. No cancelations of ports or shows. No, you don't have to wear a  mask while dancing.

I'm currently on Allure Of The Sea. So far so good. No cancelations of ports or shows. No, you don't have to wear a  mask while dancing.

👏👏👏👏

👏👏👏👏

Jan 22, on Allure.🤔

Jan 22, on Allure.🤔

👏👏👏👏

It's not the virus itself that has a hold on the psyche of the population because we have lived with disease and viruses our whole lives. It's the over reaction of those in charge of us that has us scared and talking nothing but Covid19 as if it has the death rate of Ebola - it doesn't even come close.
As this is a cruise site, and I'm sure this thread will get locked soon enough, I'll keep the rest of my opinions on those in charge of the Covid response to myself.

Jan 23rd Jewel of the Seas, first cruise.