danv3

I'm legitimately confused/amazed that nearly 30% of people claim that they would voluntarily test themselves for an infection, at cost to themselves and risking their entire vacation, when not required to do so and not experiencing symptoms.  

To question #1, yes, just as I "roll the dice" every day when I go to work, Target, etc.  
To #2, no, if I was not feeling sick, boarded the cruise, and then later found out that I was infectious, I would not feel guilty.  

To question #1, yes, just as I "roll the dice" every day when I go to work, Target, etc.  
To #2, no, if I was not feeling sick, boarded the cruise, and then later found out that I was infectious, I would not feel guilty.  

I would not feel guilty if I went on a cruise feeling perfectly healthy.

I'm legitimately confused/amazed that nearly 30% of people claim that they would voluntarily test themselves for an infection, at cost to themselves and risking their entire vacation, when not required to do so and not experiencing symptoms.  

I'm legitimately confused/amazed that nearly 30% of people claim that they would voluntarily test themselves for an infection, at cost to themselves and risking their entire vacation, when not required to do so and not experiencing symptoms.  

Is the third question for real?

Was the play good at least?

Have some perspective, covid today isn't covid of 2020. I have 4,500 employees, in 2020, a few died and about every 20th one to get covid was hospitalized, Many were in the ICU, it was no joke. In 2022, I've had over a thousand catch it this year not a single hospitalization. These last few weeks at any one time 100 have it, 10 a day come back, 10 go out, I give them all free 2 weeks of paid leave if they test positive and it does not come out of their regular leave balances so as to not encourage people working sick so it is not under reported and I get daily reports. In January this year  me and my three Moderna shots, wore a mask, still caught it. Wife got it in June, same shots. So why would I give a a darn about covid, masks, or tests, we caught it six months apart, had our shots at the same time, still shared a bed while we were sick, still kissed goodnight and didn't even give it to each other either time. Just stop the testing, I'll walk into a covid ward and kiss everyone there, nothing can stop it and I am not afraid of it. Even the head of county USC hospital in Los Angeles (the furthest from right wing conspiracy theorists you can find), in a county reimposing masks said that almost nobody in the hospital with covid is in the hospital because of covid. It's over!
 
P.S., my employees are about 65-70% vaccinated, in 2022 there is no discernible difference in their odds of catching it or how serious it is based vaccine status or mask wearing or prior infection, not in catching it or catching it twice. What was true on 2020 and 2021 is not applicable to 2022 My study, because of workman's comp is in depth and is as big or bigger than other studies you read online and from my data, nothing stops it and its no big deal if you get it. If you are on death's doorstep or scared to death, stay home. It's endemic and it is the common cold now, let's move on, nobody was wrong and nobody was right, stop blaming but do accept that it is over.

I was actually in a Viking Crown Lounge when I learned the news 🙂 

Would not recommend the norovirus craps. 😄

Literally just danced around the house with my wife.

Also...the CDC just VOLUNTARILY gave up power? There's gotta be more to the story. But I will be in my mental Viking Crown Lounge celebrating!

My wife and my cousin's wife are going on a 4 day out of New Orleans on Carnival...I'm praying for them

I hate to say it, but the 3 and 4 day cruises just attract a different customer.

No, that ended as well.  They went from most restrictive testing regime to least restrictive overnight.  

You are the first to report that you have done this successfully. Thanks for the info.
Assuming you each had an appointment at the same time and were able to obtain available proctors nearly simultaneously. Very serendipitous based on reported wait times to have a proctor available, even with an appointment time.
If that's the case, the total time for at home proctored and drive through testing is about the same for those convenient to a pharmacy. Guess now the only advantage to the local pharmacy is that I don't have to trust the delivery of the tests (none of USPS, UPS, or FedEx is particularly reliable around these parts).

But did a second person in your home also test "at the same time" as you? Add another 20 minutes because the tests must be consecutive, not concurrent. We have done the Walgreens drive through in less than 20 minutes for two of us, including the drive time.

It takes less than a minute to make the online appointment and we haven't had to wait in a line. From what people report about the proctored in-home tests, there is less total time involved by using Walgreens (make the appointment, get there, test, get home) than the in-home (make the appointment for your proctored test, wait "in line" for a proctor, perform the test, wait some more). Time from test to getting the email confirming a negative result appears to be about the same.

Side note for what it's worth - During the President's Cruise Q&A w/Michael Bailey - Michael Bailey was asked about both the pre-cruise testing and vaccine requirements. He stated he was hopeful the pre-cruise testing requirement would be removed "in a couple of months" as conversations with the CDC were moving in a positive direction. However, he did not exude any confidence that the vaccine mandates would be removed anytime soon due to the requirements of other countries. So we'll see what happens.

The bottom line is that society must learn how to live with this new virus much like society has learned to live with other viruses.  
We collectively have taken great strides forward from the days when there were lockdowns and vaccine passports implemented in some form in various cities and countries.  Those have all but disappeared and we are free to go watch Top Gun in a packed movie theater sitting beside strangers with no protocols for 3 hours. 
Yet cruising is still subject to excessive government regulation and the only industry subject to the scrutiny of government oversight related to the virus to this extent.   

I saw that Viking dropped all pre-cruise testing yesterday (except where required like US and Canada). If they can do it, RCI and other lines can too (at least overseas).  
 
As others have said, pre-cruise testing really sucks a lot of the joy out of the pre-cruise period since you have no idea if you’re going on the trip until two days before. 

No, that ended as well.  They went from most restrictive testing regime to least restrictive overnight.  

Not sure it really mitigates anything, catches a few carriers. But most likely a lot more un-confirmed +s are getting on-board.   As we've moved on to living with this bug, might as well drop it.   A zero infection case strategy is impossible.

Critical piece of information in the article:
Yet, since the phased restart of cruise travel in July 2021, there have been no critical emergency situations where any ship has been overwhelmed with the need to evacuate guests due to a crippling outbreak of COVID-19.
Even where higher numbers of cases have been reported on vessels, the cruise line’s emergency measures, including contact tracing, isolation measures, and quarantine, have proven effective, and most passengers who do test positive have been either asymptomatic or experienced only very mild symptoms of discomfort.

No, that ended as well.  They went from most restrictive testing regime to least restrictive overnight.