Fox Forlenza

The CDC dropped its appeal.
 
https://cbs12.com/news/local/feds-drop-appeal-on-cruise-industry-restrictions-ships-cdc-centers-for-disease-control-prevention-desantis-florida-attorney-general-ashley-moody-norwegian-line-covid

I left a panicked voicemail this afternoon for @Sharlaalso for options. This cruise has turned into a celebration of the end of cancer treatment for one in our group so we HAVE to be on a ship that week. Royal better come through with Wonder. 

Lol. But it completely left out the mere mention of March or April departures from Florida and instead gave Florida departure dates in November.  I’m not claiming that there is going to be a delay.  I’m saying that one of these schedules is wrong.  Done with this.

Here's the thing..... aside from previous research over a year old that suggests a post COVID infected person can test positive by PCR test for months after symptomatically clearing the COVID infection, more recent studies of Omicron reveal that your maximum period of infectiousness occurs between days 3 and 5.5. you'll continue to carry virions but in decreasing numbers with less infectiousness following that through day 9. At that point, most people will sufficiently clear viral particles and test negative by AG testing. Molecular testing is another story.
The CDC is still pushing the most infectious period following exposure to COVID is 1-3 days.  Thus, cruisers doing a 48h pre-boarding antigen test in the Omicron environment may have an insufficient viral load to produce a positive test result. Molecular tests that include the PCR tests are more sensitive (lower threshold to pop positive) and likely to pick up an Omicron COVID infection at days 1-3. There also appears to be gradations of the appearance of the positive pink line on typical COVID AG tests below the control line that correlate with viral load - the darker the line indicating infection, the higher the viral load = higher potential for the infected person to spread virions by aerosolization.
To be clear, studies are demonstrating that yes, after 5d, most Omicron produced C19 infections resolve and you'll feel better. Sometimes this happens surprisingly quickly, like waking up the day after you felt terrible feeling fine. You are also not usually infectious on days 6-9 even though you may show increasingly feint positives on the AG card through day 9. The CDC has been criticised for not recommending testing before leaving isolation on day 5. Part of that recommendation was political, part of it science. So, yeah, having become infected with Omicron, you're not infectious days 6-9, may still test positive but won't be spreading virions becasue your viral load is too low. 95% of the time you'll test negative by AG test on day 10. Longer by molecular testing but for most, you're not spreading virions.
This may be the cause of increased outbreaks aboard cruise ships with Omicron as opposed to Delta and previous variants..... people are legitimately pre-board testing negative by AG test, feel fine, have no symptoms, board and become infectious on days 3 to 4.5, maybe or maybe not developing symptoms. I'm not advocating for molecular testing as a pre-boarding COVID screening tool. I believe that would cause more problems than solve them.
There will be leakers with Omicron produced COVID19 regardless of testing strategies. Cruise lines have successfully relied upon a multi-tiered strategy to prevent outbreaks - namely requiring vaccinations, masks when viral prevalence increases, isolation and contact tracing of the infected. So far so good but this relies upon guests being super attentive to URI symptoms. For vaxed guests, these include a sense of being mildly ill (your immune system battling the virus and why you feel that way), raspy/sore throat, runny nose and sneezing. Cough is apparently not a prevalent C19 symptom in the Omicron environment.  Report to medical and seek testing. Do your part even though your cruise is scuttled if your positive. Other guests and crews will appreciate that
 

Thank you!

Huge thread on just this topic here
 

I can't deal. Always looking forward to the next cruise. Planning for it, staring at my app, staring at old photos..which is only from last month.
I'm addicted.  
Hi I'm Dara and I'm a Cruiser. 👋
How do you guys deal with these in-between days, weeks, months?  
Work sucks, so that's not a good answer.
 

From a press release today from Royal, still mentioning March

 

Yup, there is a double standard for the cruise industry and it sucks.
But... you can't trace a positive case back to the theme parks, WWE event, or NFL game; at least not with any certainty.  They have that major advantage over cruises.

You can get an idea of what to expect by going into the app and looking at the daily planner for the cruise your ship is doing at the moment. To get there, you just to scroll down to the bottom of your app's home page and click on "Get more details on ships we support". From there you choose your ship and whatever cruise is at the top of the list.
Hope this helps. We sail on Odyssey in May so I hope you will all take good care of her for us. 😊

Everyone already knew the omicron wave was going to be over before they got these things out.  They aren't going to be good for travel or any formal needs.  Just basically a test "so ya know".  Reliability is going to be questionable as well.  But, it could work to kind of give you an idea of what your status is before you spend money for a pre-cruise test for example.

The reason I see for a delay is from the vantage point of maximum publicity impact.  Royal might not want to launch the largest ship in the world with the backdrop of a surging Omicron. 

A hopeful reply from a Facebook group: 
I saw it too on Parodeejay and it really bothered me because she admitted it was just a rumor. I found it totally unprofessional for a travel agent to pass on rumors. 
I watched Matt from Royal Caribbean cruise vlog and someone brought up this very question.  He hadn’t heard anything about the ship being delayed and chalked it up to rumors.
I have followed the buildout of Wonder from someone who worked on her and I know her shakedown cruise is complete and she left to get her final appearance completed. I saw videos of the promenade with the carpenters adding the finishing touches. I can see no reason why she would be delayed at this point.

No, not all posts need to be approved.
There's an algorithm the message board software uses. I'm not privy to what it is, but rest assured you will eventually make it out of probation. Moreover, the mods and I are pretty good approving posts in a timely fashion.

Sitting at the pool where I’m staying in Cabo, and watching Navigator make her way in to port. Thought I’d post a photo in case anyone on the boards is on her and wants to see “themselves.”  Sorry it’s not a better pic, I only have my iPhone 

They will test you on the ship for a back-to-back.  Visit Guest Services and they will arrange it for you.

Unfortunately, I think it DOES mean something !

I just watched a YouTube video that spanned a couple days onboard. They brought the cans they brought onboard to the WJ for lunch and dinner. They allow you to bring it onboard, so I don't think anyone would mind. Now if you snuck on a fifth of Jack and asked for a shot glass... 

In addition to the conferences mentioned above, they have other uses as well.
3 years ago, we received an invitation by RC to participate in a survey session on Freedom early on embarkation day. A representative asked us and another couple about our thoughts and impressions on several current and potential cruising aspects in one of the conference rooms and we were compensated with a AmEx gift card. Snacks and refreshments were also served. The whole thing was about 15-20 minutes of our time.
They had arranged for several small groups to participate throughout the day until time of sailing.

I need to work for a company that'd require me to use a cruise ship conference room

This rumor wound up being true, see the main page on this site  https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2022/01/19/royal-caribbean-will-offer-southern-food-restaurant-wonder-of-the-seas
 

Totally true. But it's worth reminding non-cruisers of this double standard when brought up.

Here is what my email says...

Looks like Wonder will get the Mason Jar for sure.  Just got a marketing email.
 

Thanks!  I'm "over it" already, thanks to your reply! ha ha  
I'll do it on my next cruise, hopefully the Wonder Inaugural.