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JeffB

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Everything posted by JeffB

  1. It is complicated. I think if I had the option, Id' rethink all of this. I don't. This travel was scheduled in mid-2019 for October 2020. It's already been pushed forward a year. Airline reservations were refunded in part in the form of a voucher for future travel. ....... issued almost a year to the date later after I had made a second set of reservations at my expense (long story). So, I'm going!!!. OTH, I have a particular viewpoint of the SARS2 pandemic .... that is the risk is out-sized esp. for the vaxed, that feeds a negative media narrative, that, in turn produces fear and low confidence levels for safe traveling among the folks. I'm bucking that trend. That doesn't mean I'm not taking precautions to prevent myself from getting ill or if I do become infected to protect others.
  2. When scheduling you'll fill out the reason for the test, it should be for travel (preferably) or symptomatic (alternatively). Insurers are starting to get picky about paying for testing - a factor if you have health insurance. You might want to check if this applies. By law this is supposed to be covered. Not surprisingly, insurance companies are trying to get out of paying for it.
  3. Speaking of planning ........We leave for Lisbon Portugal on the 28th then travel to Switzerland then via Zurich to Barcelona to Board Apex on October 10th. That's a 14d translant back to PEV. We travel to/through/from 4 countries including the US all of them with dissimilar entry requirements. Moreover, I've built in a self quarantine to our trip that will allow me to self test (BinaxNow) 72-96h post travel and after our arrival in Switzerland. I'm carrying 6 tests (box of 2 each X3). We'll be staying in a hotel close to my daughter's residence in Laussane. The purpose is to make sure I've not contracted a break-through SARS2D infection while traveling from the US and 3d in Lisbon. That is to protect my daughter's unvaxed children under 12. If we test negative, we'll stay with my daughter. Most EU countries won't allow entry to US passport holders that don't have proof of vaccination. Most don't require an antigen test to enter (Apex does to board but they do it for you in the terminal). Some require digitally accessed forms that have to be filed before entry. I've found these easy to locate and complete. All of this is subject to change. I'll go with the flow and feel good about the game plan. I relate this here to help others think like this. If you want to cruise/travel, you have to and not let the grind of the process bog you down. Keep goals of travel - seeing the beauty of life and the world - at the forefront. BTW, I've insured this trip at a level I've rarely done. The most important thing and most likely to happen is testing + for COVID in a foreign country and having to quarantine at your expense (notable that some countries pay for that). If that happens enroute to BCN/Apex, the cost of the flight from Zurich (booked with Celebrity Air for that purpose) and the cruise will be covered by Celebrity. Delays, alternative travel requirements as a result of COVID related quarantine expenses are explicitly listed as covered in the policy I bought. It wasn't cheap but the huge costs of a COVID + in a foreign country - an entirely likely possibility - make it worth it.
  4. I'd offer you may be overthinking this although I get your point. Look at it this way: The risk of an inclusive result is low but the implications of getting that result given the new windows is high. Do an evaluation of your own risk tolerance, If it is low, go get a PCR test 72h before you sail. I don't know what availability is in the area you live in so that could be a show stopper. Alternatively, schedule an antigen test 24h before you sail and run your home test at the 48h mark. If you get an inconclusive, take the antigen test you scheduled, If you get a solid negative on the home test, cancel the scheduled test. Backing up the testing requirement to board with alternatives tends to reduce the risk of the thing you're worried about - not being able to board - a lot.
  5. Correct ....... I'm realizing, actually more accepting, it is also the new travel reality. Look, it's been nearly 2 frigging years since SARS2 first appeared on the planet. Democratic governments and scientists advising them don't agree on most things pertaining to SARS2, it's spread, how to prevent it without crushing economies or restricting social mobility and basic freedoms. They can't get their shit together to either get their messaging right or provide guidance. Uniformity in managing the pandemic? Non-existent between states in the US and countries globally. Selfish nationalism is pervasive and prevents arriving at common solutions. Everyone is confused then political polarization rising globally sets people against each other and that prevents rational discourse and problem solving. My solution? I know how to keep myself healthy and protect others from COVID. My personal opinion is that SARS2 isn't going away and the primary reason for that is that more than half of the planet either can't get vaccinated or refuse to. That's reality. I can't change that. OTH, in addition to accepting inconvenience and change in the pandemic environment, if you take basic health steps, and avoid unnecessary infectious disease risk taking, avail yourself of available therapeutic protective measures including testing, you can travel safely ANYWHERE. I'm acting on that belief and pretty much ignoring what our own governments, federal, state and local, are telling us.
  6. I'm realizing that the pandemic will continue to create a myriad of travel problems. This is the new travel reality and it's not going away for a while, maybe ever. It seems most of us here are obsessive about planning and being prepared to not be surprised last minute, including myself. Up until just recently, it created a lot of stress that made the thought of traveling during the pandemic unpleasant. Surprise ...... things work out. This isn't to say throw up your hands and don't care. That's dumb. Do your research on the places you want to go and how you're going to get there. Know that there will be changes before you're traveling and probably while you're traveling. The most important thing is to get excited about the beautiful places you will visit and see getting there. Don't let the hoops you have to jump through to get there get you down or make you consider cancelling. Don't let changes that occur doing your travels upset you. Go with the flow ..... have a martini! Having said that, since July, I've been to Greece and sailed Apex out of Pireaus in the Greek isles for 8d and sailed a B3B on Equinox out of PEV for 28 consecutive days in the Caribbean. On September 27th we leave for 3d in Lisbon, on to Lausanne Switzerland for 10d to visit my daughter who lives there. She's had a baby, Elysa (my 12th grand child), who is now over a year old whom I have not yet held (current trip moved up from 2020). From there we fly to Barcelona and sail back on Apex to Fort Lauderdale, our current residence. So far, all the hoops jumped through have been totally worth it. For the trip to Europe coming up there have been multiple changes in flights, cruise itineraries and dates, health protocols for country entry and cruise ship boarding requirements. One good thing is that every carrier has been on top of these and kept me informed of what I need to do to comply. Like I said above, things work out. Testing in Europe is available all over, easy to locate and in some cases it's free. Traveling between EU countries almost always requires proof of vaccination and a negative COVID test (Molecular or Antigen). I'm ignoring the politics of COVID and most of the MSMS' reporting about it. Besides almost all of it having hidden agendas that bend their reporting on it to fit that agenda, It just causes me to get angry. Instead, I'm focusing on the joy of travel. It's there. It's just become more complicated to get to where you want to go ...... but rest assured, governments want their travel and leisure economies to grow and thrive while at the same time coming up with reasonable ways to keep COVID at bay. In some places, the travel and leisure sector IS that place's economy. The things I have to do to get to Europe and back this coming trip ARE complicated but easy to find what you need to know and do. Lots of testing and we are adding even more to protect my daughter's un-vaccinated little ones in case we were exposed during travel before we stay with them. We'll arrive from Lisbon, stay in a nearby hotel for 3d (a self imposed modified mini-quarantine; we'll visit outdoors or masked indoors but not stay overnight at their place), then test (easily available in Switzerland). If we're not infected, we'll stay with my daughter unmasked then test again at the airport to enter Spain/Boar Apex and on to Barcelona. This sort of thing is the new travel reality. Don't stress out over it. You can either let COVID keep you home or you can travel using the right approach to doing it safely. It's possible.
  7. On Celebrity, clearly using the same platform for the app, this is what I found: You can download it before you board but the only thing that is truly functional is the check in process. You cannot make main or specialty restaurant reservations until you're onboard and signed into the ships wifi. If you buy a specialty restaurant package you cannot book times in advance - only on the ship. I inquired about this with a CSR and was told that the restaurant managers know who is booking specialty restaurants by package and will reserve space for you - seems like you get some sort of priority when selecting times. Never had a problem dining when we wanted to and where we wanted to - we are anytime diners but dine at the same time in the mains. I used it for and found it easy to check in. One of the nice features is that using your phone allows you to snap pictures of your passport and the photo ID picture you'll use aboard. The web site check in looks a bit different but has the same process. You just have to download pics you snapped of your passport and yourself to your computer and then upload them. If you have a camera on your PC or lap top that works too. Once on the ship, the app works without an internet plan. You create an account, select the options you want (e.g. free wifi only or an internet package) and sign in. Once signed in to the ship's wifi the app works really well. There's a Daily Planner that lists everything going on aboard the ship. You can select events you want to participate in, check "schedule," and it will show up on the My Calendar section of the app. You can also follow your guest account spending and a bunch of other features. Its easy to use and fairly intuitive.
  8. Day 24, Celebrity Equinox, B3B, W, E, S Caribbean itineraries. Just departed our last port Curasao yesterday evening headed back to PEV (2 sea days) to arrive on Friday. Equinox will turn around and do a 9n S. Caribbean itinerary and then alternate 9n and 12n S. Caribbean itineraries through the end of the year. Keeping in mind that I'm a Celebrity loyalist, this extended, 28n COVID sailing on Equinox could not have been more enjoyable. I highly recommend a cruise on her. Fantastic crew, ship's character and culture, food, activities and how ports and itinerary changes were handled in difficult circumstances. Entertainment, especially production shows, are Vegas equivalents. There were quite few port changes one two weeks in advance, one last minute and one (Coz and Costa Maya) where apparently ship was wrongly advised no touring in either on your own (note Twangster reported in another thread he was there a few days ago and both ports fully open to tour on your own). We booked 3 ship's excisions on this our 3rd leg of a B3B and all three were very good and reasonably priced. Of special note, Celebrity broke all it's tours down by groups of no more than 20. No giant buses with 80 of your closest friends. I'll just mention one and that was the tour in Roseau Dominica - The Emerald Pool and Trafalgar Falls. Maybe 10-12 years ago we were in Dominica and did this tour. Both of these venues are in nicely maintained State Parks. Last time we were there both parks were mobbed with tourists on dozens of huge buses. This time, we were it! This is one of the reasons you want to make the effort to cruise this year. It looks likely, barring the unforeseen, that the industry will return to around 75% operating capacity in the Caribbean by end of December. The only thing holding that back is going to be continued COVID restrictions implemented by governments in the ports of call. With an understandable cautious approach to start, I think benefits of restoring local travel and leisure jobs and revenues will outweigh the risks of COVID spread. So far, from what I know, cruise ships aren't causing spread of the virus. Ports will start to lift restrictions. One not so good thing is that among Caribbean locals vaccine hesitancy is high. That alone poses risks of rapid spread. That could keep conservative approaches to dealing with COVID in place. Back to Emerald Pool and Trafalgar Falls. Getting to and from the sites themselves involves a 30-40m van ride. To get to and from the viewing platforms of these two sites is physically challenging. Pathways and stairs are well maintained but there are steep inclines and declines to traverse. Lots of elderly were on this tour and struggled. Keep that in mind. If your in good shape, regardless of age, you'll be fine. One interesting adventure and side note. Last week, I developed some left leg pain from over-doing cycling. The symptoms were consistent with muscle strain and spasm that can be relieved with muscle relaxers and NSAIDs. I went to Medical never having sought medical care on a cruise ship before. First, I was very impressed with the services. The only problem was that they were out of muscle relaxers in their pharmacy. They were "on order." The provider I saw was frustrated about supply delays. I was treated with alternatives but these didn't relieve the muscle spasm. The visit was a simple one but not cheap. I was charged $170 for the visit and another $80 for the three medications used in my treatment - 2 of them injections, one oral. The $250 was charged to my guest account. I got on line to find a a clinic in Curasao yesterday. When we tied up in port I phoned. The clinic catered to tourists needing medical care and were very helpful and friendly. I explained my symptoms and what care I was seeking. The nurse I spoke with took my number, said she would talk to the doctor and see what they could do. Got a return call in about 10 minutes and was told the Dr. would call in a muscle relaxer to a local Botica (Pharmacy). The nurse did ask me to stop by the clinic and I jumped a cab and went there. The best part was that the staff in the clinic phoned multiple pharmacies close by to make sure they had the drug I needed, located it, wrote down the address and the waiting cab took me there and I picked it up. I paid $45 for the clinic visit and $17 for the medications at the pharmacy. The cab with waiting time and a nice driver that was helpful in finding the pharmacy inside a big mall was a bit pricey but, hey, I got a city tour and the medications I needed. Score!
  9. I'm in general agreement with you @cruisellama. OTH, one should be cognizant of the exceedingly low risk of an unvaccinated child under 12 becoming infected with SARS2 and subsequently testing positive on an antigen test. I posted elsewhere that the calculated risk of that happening is quite low. This is especially true if you follow the most basic mitigation measures. It is certainly a personal risk/benefit assessment. Also keep in mind that RCL has gone to great lengths to protect your financial interests with various protocols to do that should you be unable to bard secondary to a positive COVID test. You could be putting airfare and accommodations at risk. Either insure that risk with an appropriate travel insurance policy or buy refundable air.
  10. Were you able to explore either port on your own? Two weeks ago with Quintana Roo State in a "red" condition (based on viral prevalence) business openings and mobility restrictions applied. We received letters in our cabins at the start of our cruise from PEV (Equinox) that included Cozumel and Costa Maya that guests could only debark on a ship's sponsored tours. Nothing was open in the immediate port shops at Coz. Some of the port shops at Costa Maya were open, mostly empty of customers. The pool, pool bar (beautiful btw) and dolphin adventure were open. After our ship's tour we were dropped off at the entry to these shops. You could not go outside though. Both ship's tours at these ports were reasonably priced and excellent. Celebrity limited group size to less than 20. Pretty nice.
  11. Correct ...... from about the June time frame, people I trust with enough background in the sciences I talk with, felt that boosters would be needed before the end of the year. This position was based on a very detailed understanding of how RNA amino acids substitute. There is a pattern to this process. Some of you may have heard of the term, "gain of function" experiments where specially equipped labs modify a virus to predict future transmissibility and lethality. That's what the Wuhan lab was involved in that started this pandemic. It's legitimate science when done safely. Multiple public and private agencies around the globe were involved in these studies. Scientific papers began to emerge in June predicting the need for a booster. I have no problem with boosters. I have no problem with Pfizer and Moderna advocating for them. The miracle of the mRNA vaccines is that they can be updated easily - in weeks - at scale when mutations demand it. The process to do that for typical viral vector vaccines takes a year. Sure, it can certainly be about money. I don't care. In defeating this thing I don't care how much it costs or who profits. The problem I have with the Biden administration announcement was that it was not presented in enough detail to make it clear the benefits of getting started now, logistically, so as to be prepared to distribute boosters at scale in a time frame that made sense .... the end of the year. I just did that in an understandable and simple way that makes sense and doesn't allow for people to take a position that vaccines don't work. Instead what we got, IMO, was fear producing narrative augmented by the media as well as an underlying message that vaccines don't work. This approach stems from a decidedly liberal administration with a paternalistic view towards its citizens. I don't like that approach at all.
  12. I think you could still book tours but make sure the agency you're booking with has a cancelation policy you can live with.
  13. The port restrictions for Cozumel and Costa Maya were last minute changes. When we got to our cabin aboard Equinox, there was a letter on the bed with the port restrictions limiting entry to cruise ship sponsored tours only. To my knowledge, this is a Mexican Public Health Department outcome. Quintana Roo had been yellow coded up until April when it moved to orange in May and then Red sometime in June. That restricted the ports of Cozumel and Costa Maya. My take is that Celebrity waited until the last minute hoping for those restrictions to be dropped. Didn't happen. I've posted elsewhere that itineraries and port openings and closings are changing almost on a weekly basis. All Caribbean ports have some type of COVID protocol in place, e.g., restricted shore excursions, masking indoors and outdoors. Most of them require vaccination to enter even for ship's tours. You're advised to carry your vax card and at Nassau, ships' security checked your vax card before letting you off the ship for your ship's sponsored tours. Under 12s and unvaxed have to go on ship's tours. If vaccinated, adults can go on their own in some ports. Caribbean governments and the Mexican government are being very tough on travelers. The reason for that is that in Mexico, vax rates are low and viral prevalence is high. In the Caribbean, vax rates are also low but viral prevalence is low too and these governments want to keep it that way. That is because their health care systems would be easily overwhelmed with a surge of new cases. All I can tell you is be prepared for changes to your itineraries based on the COVID situation in each port. you may be visiting. Celebrity has done a great job keeping guests informed but at times, last minute changes happen. We had one of those at St. Lucia. We were expecting only tours from the ship but at the last minute everyone could explore on their own. The link below will take you to itinerary changes on Celebrity ships. You can explore these or, if RCL's web site has a similar section, look for that. https://www.celebritycruises.com/travel-alert/itinerary-modifications
  14. Just there to both ports last week sailing Western Caribbean itinerary on Celebrity Equinox. Right now you can't tour independently at either port. Only way to leave the ship in Cozumel was with a ship's excursion. Costa Maya has a large shopping area adjacent to the pier. You can go there but not outside .... not much outside anyway. Quintana Roo is in condition red based on viral prevalence. Nothing will reopen in these two ports until that changes. Recommend you follow Mexico's public health web site for updates. Don't book private tours until the COVID status changes. Ship's tours are reasonably priced and a safe way to tour either port.
  15. I think your hope will be reality. Earlier today and for a sports blog I post on, I looked at the question of masking K-12 in the public schools. I found a web site that publishes excess mortality secondary to the pandemic. Schools being congregate settings I think you can draw the same conclusions from this analysis for cruise ships. Here's what I found. I'm always looking for clean data. It is that kind of data that should guide SARS2 public health policy at the federal, state and local level. It's been a while since I have visited this chart - excess mortality. From the link I provided below: Excess mortality is a term used in epidemiology and public health that refers to the number of deaths from all causes during a crisis above and beyond what we would have expected to see under ‘normal’ conditions.1 In this case, we’re interested in how the number of deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic compares to the deaths we would have expected had the pandemic not occurred — a crucial quantity that cannot be known but can be estimated in several ways. Excess mortality is a more comprehensive measure of the total impact of the pandemic on deaths than the confirmed COVID-19 death count alone. It captures not only the confirmed deaths, but also COVID-19 deaths that were not correctly diagnosed and reported2 as well as deaths from other causes that are attributable to the overall crisis conditions. While the raw number of deaths helps give us a rough sense of scale, this measure has its limitations, including being less comparable across countries due to large differences in populations. A measure that is more comparable across countries is the P-score, which calculates excess mortality as the percentage difference between the number of deaths in 2020–2021 and the average number of deaths in the same period — week or month — over the years 2015–2019I cant cut and paste the chart here on the lap-top I have available to me on the cruise ship. The link below should take you directly to the chart of P-Scores. It's in interactive chart. I set the chart up to display the P-Scores for the US, Israel, UK and Sweden. I've created a table to show excess mortality defined by P Scores (a P-Score of 100% is double the period 2015-19) April 2020 January 21 April 21 UK 76% US 52% US 4% Sweden 47% Sweden 30% IS 3% US 45% UK 25% Sweden -8% Israel 5% Israel 17% UK -18% The dates I chose are for obvious comparative reasons - height of the pandemic, Introduction of vaccines, one year later. The chart goes out to August 18th and excess mortality has remained with the country ranges for April getting no worse or no better. The important point here is that vaccines drove excess mortality in the right direction to exceedingly low numbers of excess deaths compared to the peak of the pandemic.A conclusion I can draw from the P-Scores is that management of COVID either in early intervention of care and in hospitalized COVID patients is very effective. A P-Score analysis renders looking at new case numbers a pretty much useless undertaking. Nevertheless, it appears in the US anyway, that it is new case numbers erroneously driving public health policy and the re imposition of various mitigation measures without any significant PH benefits. The mask mandate debate for K-12 ..... the side that is demanding them - is an example of the illogical reasoning behind the demands for masking kids in classrooms. I believe this logic applies to Carnival's mask mandate, something IMO is unnecessary. Carnival's consideration for a mask mandate is admittedly probably based on the potential for liability. That takes us right back to the idiocy of the CDC's recommendations on masks indoors regardless of vax status that put Carnival in a difficult position. https://ourworldindata.org/excess-mortality-covid** the link may take you to the excess mortality section but won't retain my country selections I used on the chart. You may have to redo those. The visuals in this chart are stunning wrt the conclusions that can be drawn from them.
  16. Disagree. Fundamentally and in accordance with the CSO, you've laid out the procedure. Let's ask this. What happens if they dump the family in the designated quarantine hotel and schedule a limo and air-ambulance back to wherever this family lives. All the time the guest is asking about his car. He's told Royal won't accommodate that? The guest, now, let's say 500 miles from home, calls RCL and asks about his car and they say "not our problem." Guests talks to CNN about RCL's approach to COVID mitigation that includes stranding guests miles from their homes and/or vehicles so as to arrange that "it's not our problem." When RCL is asked by CNN to comment, they don't. CNN then writes a story that blows this up and RCL is caught flat footed trying to defend their actions as indefensible as they are in CNN's and the public's eye. Not going to happen. RCL corporate is smarter than that. They'll take care of his car one way or the other. Chicken feed to do that compared to the soft costs of responding to CNN's hit piece.
  17. I'm also an android user using the Celebrity App. I'm assuming that app and RCL's app are fundamentally the same. With the Celebrity app, the only things that work when you're not aboard and connected to the ship's wifi is some boiler plate safety and health information and the check-in process. The check-in is going to be ship and port specific wrt what you need to do to get through check-in and board. I'm not confident recommending the check-in on the app is as up to date as it should be. The web site information you're looking for is going to be the best source of information. It's hard to find this stuff on Celebrity's web site but it is findable if not with an undue amount of effort considering how important it is to be in compliance with ever changing healthy sail rules and protocols. I posted a link to Celebrity's single source .pdf file that has ships and their home ports across the top row and the list of things you need to know in the far left column. You find your ship/home port then move down the column for information on vaccine and testing requirements for departure port, ports that will be visited, masking rules and so forth. The best way to read the file's incredibly small print is to download it and read it in a .pdf file reader, enlarging areas you're interested in. It's not perfect but it got updated a lot and was current when I boarded Equinox out of PEV three weeks ago. Royal may have one of these too if you can find it. Anyways, the apps aren't perfect. On Equinox yesterday, IT changed over to a new program that supported the app, internet, TV, phones and a whole lot of non-critical system functions. It took a long time for the new system to boot. No surprise. These kinds of updates never go without a glitch. It's working now but during the changeover, all my account information was lost (later restored) and the app crashed. I had to uninstall it on my android phone and download the app again (it's free to access it at google play). Voi la, it started working again and all the events I had scheduled on it were still there. It's basically a good app with a lot of functionality to do things on it without human interface. When it's working. I like it and use it extensively. TBH, rules are changing daily if not hourly. I'm currently on the last leg of a B3B sailing a S Caribbean itinerary. It was changed once 2w before departure and again a day before. St. Kitts and Barbados were dropped and Curacao and Aruba were added. Caribbean governments are implementing new COVID rules often these changes based on current country and port town viral prevalence. Today, we arrived in Castries St. Lucia. At the announcement the ship had been cleared by local authorities, the rules were that the only way you could leave the port area shops was by cruise excursion. We knew this after a letter we received in our cabin on the first day of the cruise stated as much. 30 minutes later the announcer cheerily advised that if vaccinated, you could explore independently. Not vaxed, e.g., kids under 12, you could still get off the ship but only on a cruise ship sponsored tour. Cruising during COVID is a fast movingball game. If you want to cruise aboard the safest congregate setting on the planet despite what the CDC thinks, be flexible, expect change and do the best you can to stay informed - not easy. My view is that RCL and Celebrity will do what they can to accommodate guests testing needs in the face of last minute changes. Vaccination rules? If you are not in compliance with the latest information on requirements, your responsibility to know them - even last minute - there won't be exceptions and the lines are well within their legal right to be hard-asses on this.
  18. Are you driving to the cruise port from an airport or from your home? If from your home, I would think they will debark you with an escort to your car in the parking garage. Once your in it, your appropriately quarantined and no longer RCL's problem. But this is unique and a question others will probably be interested in. If you call an RCL CSR in Miami, I doubt they will know details to this level. While corporate has written health protocols that get forwarded to ships, the captain of the ship has wide latitude in the way he complies with them. IOW, how your unique situation is handled aboard the ship you're sailing compared with others may vary. If the captain has questions of how he should handle you, he'll call the operations department who will consult their health and safety department then advise the captain how to proceed. My recommendation is that you proceed with confidence and sail knowing that how you might be handled IF YOU GET INFECTED (and that is unlikely) will work out. RCL won't leave your car stranded in the parking garage.
  19. There are two possibilities that are behind this announcement. 1. The CDC is in possession of information not released to the public. This may include trend data assembled from the myriad reports on infectious disease the cruise lines are required to report both within the scope of the CSO and outside of it. Confidential infectious disease data from other countries or agencies. 2. A continuation of their usually baseless hyper-conservative approach. I favor the former with a touch of the later. IOW, the announcement is probably not without basis - I do believe the estimated R(0) or how many people can one infected person infect and the unavoidable exponential growth attendant to Delta is higher than first expected. It's a precautionary measure consistent with the CDC's tendency to be hyper-cautious. I'm on day 20 of a B3B sailing W, E and S Caribbean itineraries. We have experienced 4 COVID positives - none of them acquired aboard ship. One fully vaxed. If Celebrity Equinox, the ship I'm on, reflects cruise ship wide COVID experience - and I have no doubt that it does - unless something else the public isn't privy to is going on and it could be, this is the kind of public pressure/ media push to "do something" I've warned this group about. The pregnant question is what are line CEOs going to do with this latest CDC position in the way of PR damage control? The lines seem to have a good working relationship with the CDC. As much as I'd like them to slam the CDC. I think they'll let it slide figuring the news cycle will pass in its usual 4 days. The lines have enough to worry about than to open wounds with the CDC.
  20. @Ray, a few weeks ago we were on Celebrity Apex sailing out of Pireaus (Athens). It was announced that an unvaccinated child had tested positive on day 3 (just before our first port call), was quarantined, close contacts quarantined and after testing negative released. The captain also announced that the infected child and his/her family would be debarked at the upcoming port and all flown home to the US. Can't confirm that actually happened but seems to me that protocol remains in place. TBH, I think the numbers are low and as ships go to all vaxed. The numbers will get lower.
  21. TBC, I have no problem with getting boosters WHEN AN APPROPRIATE TIME TO ADMINISTER THEM TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC IS DETERMINED. IMO, unless the CDC is in possession of study details not released to the public, if they relied on only the Israeli experience, the announcement that boosters will start to be administered In September, is irresponsibly premature. That's because it will encourage people to conclude the vaccines aren't working so, I'm not getting them. Posters have implied that profiting by Moderna and Pfizer is behind this. That's possible but I suspect that what is available to the CDC and not the public is proprietary study results from one of these companies. Those should go through a non-biased review committee and I'm not sure that's happened. In any event the announcement is poorly timed for the reasons above. Just another example of bad pandemic messaging from the Biden administration.
  22. RCL is probably the same but here is how Celebrity handles testing for B2B cruisers. I'm on a B3B so, I can attest by personal experience to how Celebrity does it. You will receive an envelope with a letter in your cabin two days before your ship arrives back at its home port. The envelope will contain a transfer pass. The letter will tell you in detail how the check-out, testing, debarkation and re-boarding process will work. It will tell you that there will be a meeting, a day before debarkation, usually in the morning, for all B2B'ers. You'll do two things at this meeting: talked through the process, get your antigen test. You'll be advised only of a positive antigen test result. You'll have the option of walking off the ship and returning later or walking off and returning immediately to the ship. On the day of debarkation you'll assemble in a meeting place aboard the ship for B2B'ers around 7;30am. If you're walking off and returning later, you'll get a new Sea Pass card and tracelett, complete the health questionnaire and have a new picture taken at the meeting. You can walk off when the ship has been cleared by the port authority. You'll pass through Customs and Boarder Patrol (CBP). The CBP uses facial recognition to clear at Port Everglades and I suspect elsewhere. It's a quick walk-through process. Otherwise, you go as a group around 9am and pass through CBP, do the facial recognition thing, then wait in a waiting area to re-board the ship. You'll receive your new Sea Pass and traclett here. When the ship has been readied to re-board guests, you walk back on. The whole process takes about an hour. If you start at 9am, you'll be back aboard by 10am.....and have the whole ship to yourself and the other B2B'ers. We had 75 between first and second legs and 41 between 2nd and 3rd legs.
  23. Crazy. In the last week I've read two excellent articles criticizing government's national approach to border entry and exit. The myriad rules and confusion is choking global travel creating unnecessary road blocks to a continuing economic recovery. Much of the push behind this unnecessary nationalism involving boarders is misinformation and overreaction to Delta. I don't see an end to it until the "Delta Surge" peaks and predictably steeply declines in the regions driving country new case numbers counts. When that happens, maybe by early September, boarder crossing hassels will ease ..... only to be followed by rising cases again and reimposition of border closures. That ends when vax rates in most places reach 70% or more.
  24. ....... if RCL wants to operate in the Caribbean, they're going to have to switch gears and require everyone to be vaxed. I hold that what's going on throughout the Caribbean is hyper-conservative but completely understandable given limited health services. These islands cannot afford an outbreak and all it takes with Delta is one 12 yo getting infected in route to a cruise, passing antigen screening during the incubation period, going on a tour, spreading virions at high concentration levels and infecting unvaxed islanders.....1 to 5, 5 to 25, 25 to, you get the point. While the risk of that occurring remains low, it's a risk that governments protecting a vulnerable population and vulnerable health care systems are unwilling to take.
  25. I'm clearly in the get vaccinated if you want to play crowd - my qualifiers on choice and medical contraindications not withstanding. As harsh as it sounds, you WILL deal with COVID should you choose to not get vaxed because the unvaxed are going to fall I'll from it at some point. The only question for the unvaxed is how ill will I get? It's a craps shoot. You can play the numbers, you may not get sick at all or you could die. I prefer the odds with getting vaccinated. Not everyone does and can tell you the math supporting their choice. I'm fine with it. But, I said it earlier today. Stop haranguing those that have thought this through and made a reasonable decision to not get the shots. Instead focus on the crowd that doesn't know about the shot - and believe it or not there are such people - can't get off work, get relief with child care, lack the capacity to get to places administering vaccines. Focus on that group that is convinceable and we'll get to an 80-99% vax rate in the US. Unfortunately, for us cruisers that's not the case in some Caribbean nations. Ported today in St. John's Antigua. Toured on a ship's tour - the only way you could leave the ship. I asked our small group guide in a private conversation after the tour about labor unrest. Pre-COVID, that was a big deal in the West Indies/Lesser Antilles. Especially in Barbados where violent protests occurred Her response? That's quieted down with expanded social programs. What's causing protests now is vaccinations. She said 50% or more are resisting them. Mostly out of fear. They are fully available now in Antigua down to age 12 ..... but the folks don't want them. Of course that causes the government to restrict mobility and busnesses to keep heath care services from being overwhelmed. These kinds of headwinds are going to impact the travel and leisure economy of the Caribbean nations. They are going to affect cruising everywhere. Clearly the devastating impact can already be seen. The St. St. John's port area had undergone extensive improvements Pre-COVID when the economy was ticking. Now beautifully renovated shops are either boarded up or empty of customers. Forlorn sales staff inside empty stores. Sad.
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