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The world has gone bonkers over a disease that has a survival rate of 99% and where pretty soon most of the adult population will be vaccinated.  I just don't get it????
I'm beginning to believe the conspiracy theorists are more credible than the leaders of this world!

The world has gone bonkers over a disease that has a survival rate of 99% and where pretty soon most of the adult population will be vaccinated.  I just don't get it????
I'm beginning to believe the conspiracy theorists are more credible than the leaders of this world!

The world has gone bonkers over a disease that has a survival rate of 99% and where pretty soon most of the adult population will be vaccinated.  I just don't get it????
I'm beginning to believe the conspiracy theorists are more credible than the leaders of this world!

I'm vaccinated, I have a greater risk of dying traveling to the cruise than dying on it from covid. Benjamin Franklin once said: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." I love me some Ben!  100 years from now Benjamin Franklin will still be quoted, the CDC, not so much.
 

Im not sure vaccine apartheid is a good look! And fwiw I am vaccinated. I can only hope for those that choose not to be vaccinated for any reason get to enjoy the same freedoms as those who are.  Whilst not on the same scale, the flu vaccine was never a requirement and does kill people, we need to live with this just like flu! Its a case of people fully understanding the risks, which will be minimal (as it is now for the majority of people-99%survival rate, avg age of death 82 in UK)

The worlds gone mad, it will soon be 'show us your papers' to do anything!
I can only hope I get one more cruise in before this all happens.

I have Symphony coming up in July.  Booked over a year ago. Vaccine requirement was not part of the contract i booked under.  That has to be grounds for a refund.
 
For the record, I am vaccinated, but am not interested in cruising with any of the apparent protocols.

Im not sure vaccine apartheid is a good look! And fwiw I am vaccinated. I can only hope for those that choose not to be vaccinated for any reason get to enjoy the same freedoms as those who are.  Whilst not on the same scale, the flu vaccine was never a requirement and does kill people, we need to live with this just like flu! Its a case of people fully understanding the risks, which will be minimal (as it is now for the majority of people-99%survival rate, avg age of death 82 in UK)

The worlds gone mad, it will soon be 'show us your papers' to do anything!
I can only hope I get one more cruise in before this all happens.

If children are eligible for the vaccine, and Royal / NCL / etc say that all who can be vaccinated must be, then yes. You’ll be locked out until such time as you feel it’s safe for your kids to get vaccinated. 
It is your choice to not have your children vaccinated with an emergency-approved novel vaccine, and I totally understand your reasons. It’s easy for me to make the choice because all of my kids are 17+. If they were younger, I might well also have reservations about rushing to give them a vaccine the second it was approved. So I’m in no way passing any kind of judgement here; everyone must make that choice on their own.
But Royal and all other cruise lines are businesses. And business have the autonomy and authority to make rules and requirements such as this when it directly affects their ability to do that business. As @twangster has noted multiple times on other threads, the press is irrationally biased against the cruise industry and this is going to drive many decisions the industry makes. They know what will happen if a single case happens on board, and they will not take that risk after a year of no sailings. Their choices are grim: Mandate vaccination for all who are eligible, or don’t and instead mandate the safety protocols in effect on Singapore sailings, the upcoming UK sailings, etc.
It’s a no-win scenario. Mandating means losing potential customers like yourself and others who don’t want the vaccine. Not mandating means losing both those who vaccinated expressly to avoid having to wear masks while outside (and hopefully indoors as Health protocols continue to evolve) and those who demand that absolutely zero restrictions be placed on them during a vacation; AND losing any port that won’t allow unvaccinated tourists. But they need to get back to business and stop hemorrhaging money. So they’re doing the math, running the numbers, and offering what they hope is the best way to get themselves up and running again.
Its not permanent. May end up being longer than anyone wants, even well into next year depending how worldwide vaccination rates go. But it will eventually end.

I couldn't care less if I were on a ship full of unvaccinated people (as it used to be). The risks are minimal, and  those at greater risk should be vaccinated.  I don't like the idea of this mass coercion into getting the whole world vaccinated (that's a another topic), we need to live with this like we do flu! Not making people scared of the  'unvaccinated'.  There is now no reason in my mind why cruising cannot resume immediately.

I couldn't care less if I were on a ship full of unvaccinated people (as it used to be). The risks are minimal, and  those at greater risk should be vaccinated.  I don't like the idea of this mass coercion into getting the whole world vaccinated (that's a another topic), we need to live with this like we do flu! Not making people scared of the  'unvaccinated'.  There is now no reason in my mind why cruising cannot resume immediately.

Im travelling with a 13, and 17 year old who more than likely wont be vaccinated ( my wife and I are).
I also do not want my children vaccinated whilst the vaccines are still officially under trial. I can only hope that for this summer they allow children on board with a negative test.  If after that cruises are for vaccinated persons only I will no longer be cruising!

I couldn't care less if I were on a ship full of unvaccinated people (as it used to be). The risks are minimal, and  those at greater risk should be vaccinated.  I don't like the idea of this mass coercion into getting the whole world vaccinated (that's a another topic), we need to live with this like we do flu! Not making people scared of the  'unvaccinated'.  There is now no reason in my mind why cruising cannot resume immediately.

Your logic makes sense from the Wal Mart perspective, meaning, if someone catches Covid at Walmart, it doesn't make the news, and it becomes a statistic for the county.
Cruise ships are different because of the optics involved. You cannot have a cruise ship sailing and oops, there are 1, 5, 11, or 50 cases of Covid onboard, because the media will go absolutely bananas covering it as a "super spreader" event with non-stop helicopter coverage.
Is that right? Of course not. It's not fair, and it's not what should happen.  But it absolutely will happen. When there was that false positive on Quantum in December, that one case made the national news here in the U.S. for a Singaporean sailing.
If you think they can ignore the media coverage, then it becomes even worse. Unfortunately, you start getting legislators and public officials involved because the media hounds them with "Why where they allowed to sail? Why haven't they stopped the cruise?" Nevermind the public relations black eye of perpetuating the "petri dish" stereotype.
So you're absolutely right there's no reason cruising cannot resume immediately, but they also cannot restart without a great deal of safeguards in place first and then ease back on them slowly.

I've come to realize more and more that this is essentially my position, especially as cases continue to follow a seasonal trend despite containment efforts. It seems obvious to me that this is here to stay, vaccine or not. A lot of the arguments we're using right now to frame the problem will set us up for a future where we can once again be told to put our lives on hold if cases begin increasing again (as they likely will this fall). The only argument that has any lasting power is essentially the one you made: COVID is here to stay, people have the power to make choices which will limit their personal risk to a great degree (IE vaccines), and we are prepared to care for the ones who come down with serious cases of the virus.
I also think the coming fall will be a bell weather of sorts for future cold/flu/COVID seasons. The earlier than expected and more severe onset of RSV cases in Australia suggests that we may have inadvertently done harm to young children by locking down and depriving them of the opportunity to get infected and train their immune systems with commonly circulating viruses. If we have a worse than normal flu season, I can forsee a future where an emboldened CDC uses the last year of experience with COVID to continue recommending some of the same precautions that exist today.

Given my age, health status, etc. I felt safe getting on a ship as far back as last May with just a t-shirt (aka mask) wrapped around my face.
A year later and having been vaccinated I have zero concern about what the status is of the people around me.

I couldn't care less if I were on a ship full of unvaccinated people (as it used to be). The risks are minimal, and  those at greater risk should be vaccinated.  I don't like the idea of this mass coercion into getting the whole world vaccinated (that's a another topic), we need to live with this like we do flu! Not making people scared of the  'unvaccinated'.  There is now no reason in my mind why cruising cannot resume immediately.

I couldn't care less if I were on a ship full of unvaccinated people (as it used to be). The risks are minimal, and  those at greater risk should be vaccinated.  I don't like the idea of this mass coercion into getting the whole world vaccinated (that's a another topic), we need to live with this like we do flu! Not making people scared of the  'unvaccinated'.  There is now no reason in my mind why cruising cannot resume immediately.

Im travelling with a 13, and 17 year old who more than likely wont be vaccinated ( my wife and I are).
I also do not want my children vaccinated whilst the vaccines are still officially under trial. I can only hope that for this summer they allow children on board with a negative test.  If after that cruises are for vaccinated persons only I will no longer be cruising!

How does that affect unvaccinated children?