UNCFanatik

What is the typical percentage of Indian workers on a Royal ship?

9 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

The only way July cruises happen is if DeSantis' lawsuit causes it.

 

Even then I can't see a full slate of cruises. 

I sadly concur 

18 minutes ago, JeffB said:

If it's any consolation, when a Federal judge grants an injunction - essentially what the state of FL is seeking - it goes into affect when the judge says it does. FL has asked for immediate cancellation of the CSO/NSO. The US Justice department can appeal a favorable ruling for FL but the CSO/NSO will get cancelled and cruising will restart from FL ports while the appeal is processed. A successful appeal, which the judge can hear quickly or not, would return FL ports re cruise ships to the status quo ante

Thank you for the clarification 

it will be interesting to see how the motion goes and what if any urgency the federal court/judge will give to this motion. 
 

if I break out the ole Tin foil head gear, I could see this being put before a conservative judge and them making a favorable ruling which would give some cover for the CDC with the politics and optics with current administration. Federal judge/courts can be blamed if worst case scenario happens with restart. 
 

But at this point it’s anyone’s guess!!!

I have a July 17th cruise out of Miami planned. It has been a roller coaster of emotions watching all the posturing the last 2 months. In March, I would have went with 80/20 chance my cruise would happen. 80%chance I would be sipping something fresh and fruity from the deck. I thought surely with the great success and rate of vaccinations that cruises would resume in June. 
 

however, I have seen no indication that the CDC will cede any ground on this matter now and as stated above, the CDC will have to be forced to end the no sail order before Oct 31. Even then I could see the cdc and administration appealing that decision and dragging out resolution past the summer cruise season 

today, my hope has flipped to 20/80 that cruises will resume in July. At this point I would rather Royal announce any new cancellations sooner rather than later. I know from a business perspective that Royal wants to restart by July but it’s an uphill battle with the CDC

It took the CDC a year now to admit that masking outdoors in not necessary because the chance of catching Covid outside is very negligible. You will see the CDC announce this week on this matter. Fauci called it common sense today that chance to  contract Covid outside is very low and wearing masks outside are not necessary 

I bring this up because if the CDC comes out and says outdoor masking is not needed and even more so if vaccinated, Royal will drop any outdoor mask wearing rules because Royal can’t say the CDC is behind the data and then be not being current as well 

to wrap this up, I am not optimistic at this point that cruising will resume in July from US ports. I think August is more feasible if the legal process is what makes the CDC drop the no sail order. We are heading into May next week and it will be extremely difficult at this point for Royal to resume by July unless something big happens this week. 
 

however, if the case is heard by a judge and they side with the CDC, I think we won’t see cruising until after Oct 31. 

12 minutes ago, Sharla said:

FCC reinstatement and the fact that there is no central place to look up FCCs based on C&A numbers or your name.

And if we are talking about FCCs, If i pay for my family, I wish they would give a total FCC and not individual FCCs per family member.

-Automatic pre-paid gratuity on drink package purchases

-Cruise Planner. Trying to keep track of pricing and sales to feel like you arent overpaying and differences in Ships on prices on Cruise Planner items

-Just general consistent enforcing of any rules onboard

-Dynamic pricing on cruises and trying to keep track once cruise is booked prior to final payment

-Out of pocket expenses on the ship where you feel like you constantly are being asked to spend more and more aboard ship. I understand from a business perspective why its done but still frustration. Would rather see some tiered pricing with amenities included when booking a cruise rather than onboard constantly being hit up especially with small children and the arcades, ice cream and sweet shops

55 minutes ago, CGTLH said:

Full quote of the objection

SEN. MURRAY: Madam President, reserving the right to object. I understand the position of my colleagues from Alaska and Florida who want to see a return to cruising by July 4. I'm there with them. The cruise industry in my home state supports over 5,500 jobs and creates $900 million in annual local business revenue. Those jobs and that impact on the local economy have been severely disrupted. But we have to ensure the safety of our friends and our families on these cruises before they disembark. We have seen firsthand how devastating COVID outbreaks on cruise ships can be. 

Just last year, we saw thousands of passengers stranded on cruise ships, people put in quarantine, or refused entry to ports as borders closed. Over 31 million Americans have contracted COVID and 560,000 have died from this disease. Cruise ships require specific focus and protocols in place to prevent future outbreaks. While I am as eager as anyone else to see a return to travel, we cannot cut corners. Doing so risks lives and will only further delay returning to normal, hurting our economy more in the long run. 

We must trust the science and we must allow the CDC to continue its work to help us return to what we love as safely as possible. So I will continue to work with CDC and the administration as they develop the next phase of their cruising guidance, but for now, I object.

I'm sorry but that is an uninformed objection ignoring the data AND science from the Cruises that have taken place since the pandemic started. Using last year as an example, ignores the major game changer, namely the vaccine. Sen Murray shows he does not trust the science as of April 2021. This is about more than just people taking a cruise but more so the economic damage it continues to cause the unemployed cruise adjacent workers. 

16 minutes ago, DanielB said:

I mean it was dead in last years senate as well and it was republican controlled then.

 

There is quite a difference in 2020 and 2021 when it comes to the data we have now and of course the vaccines

https://floridianpress.com/2021/04/senate-democrats-torpedoed-the-cruise-line-industry-block-cruise-act/

I didnt think the CRUISE act had a chance of passing but just shows where attitudes are with cruise resuming in summer in July

I am hoping that with the recent calls for people to end outdoor mask wearing by multiple mainstream media outlets because science shows us that outdoor transmission of Covid is EXTREMELY rare (the science and data has been showing this for a year now) that the cruise lines will drop any mask wearing requirements in outdoor settings. At the pool, they can eliminate chairs if needed since it seems cruises will run at reduced capacity to start

I know mask requirements especially for vaccinated people are basically theater at this point but its theater the CDC is looking for. I just hope the Cruise lines continue to say they follow data and science when it comes to masks outdoors otherwise it would be contradictory

16 minutes ago, JeffB said:

I've read plenty of articles from reliable sources that suggest the apparent position of the Biden administration that keeps the fear of COVID level high is purposeful. 

End of pandemic means an ends to justify spending bills. Just as in previous administration, they were motivated as well by pandemic politics during an election year. 

This is evidenced by seeing multiple times where the current CDC director came out with positive claims about schools being able to be re-opened and vaccinated people being able to spread Covid or get Covid. We see where the CDC Director's comments were walked back from direction of the Administration. 

While politics are being played and the US Citizenry was subjected to year long human experimentation via lockdowns that we will suffer consequences for many years after Covid has faded away. And to bring it back to cruising, the CDC is choosing to ignore data from cruises that sailed safely during the pandemic and subjecting US ports to continued economic loss. It was never meant for unelected health officials to set public policy but yet here we are. 

If the CDC continues to cling to the no sail order until Oct 31 from US ports or make the conditions unrealistic for cruise ships to follow, it will be interesting and telling to see how the cruises in the summer from Caribbean ports go with Covid. Imagine being an unemployed or underemployed cruise affiliated US worker to watch this over the coming summer. Politicians are supposed to do risk analysis and set public policy but somehow some politicians cling to a zero covid worldview. Perspective has been lost. For example, is it worth bankrupting towns in Alaska and the resulting economic and social damage done to their populace to keep cruising closed down in the US?  

Unfortunately, the CDC is guided more by politics than public health and science. The CDC has become another hammer to wield by whatever administration is in control in order to match their agenda.

And its sad to see the hypocrisy of those that ignore most of CDC guidance and suggestions on other matters (smoking, obesity, etc) but yet take CDC Covid recommendations as 100% Gospel that is never to be questioned and strictly adhered to 

If your cruise is cancelled do they give the FCC on cruise planner purchases the same as cruise fares? Example.. if I get beverages for all 4 of my family members, are the future credits linked to each individual family member or in one overall bucket ?

14 minutes ago, RBRSKI said:

Good Morning,

I really didn't know where to post this article so I picked this one!   

Finally giving the public a dose of reality that full vaccinated individuals are STILL getting Covid19.  And like the article said vaccines aren't going to be 100% effective, people will now know it's a possibility.  Just reporting what our lovely news outlets (aka journalism, yeah right) have to say this morning.  Multiple outlets are reporting on this today.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2021/04/13/986411423/a-mystery-under-study-how-why-and-when-covid-vaccines-arent-fully-protective

 

I saw this as well. Remember when the CDC Director said that vaccinated individuals could not get re-infected? More contradictory info coming from the CDC.

Also, its worthwhile to note that the lady in the beginning of this article said she was fully vaccinated and still continue to wear a mask  but still got Covid. 

But we know that Covid cannot be 100% eliminated. The goal in the should not be Zero Covid and also as the article mentions that when these rare breakthroughs occur, 5800 out of 76,000,000 among fully vaccinated people that it is a milder form of Covid and often asymptomatic. 

Once upon a time during this pandemic we were told in the US we needed to keep the hospitals from being overwhelmed. My....how the goalposts have shifted 

What ships currently have the chat feature on the Royal app up and running?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/cruise-ships-in-the-cdc-dock-11618526805
 

“

To add insult to injury, the CDC also reiterated its recommendation that “all people avoid travel on cruise ships, including river cruises, worldwide.” It apparently irks the CDC autocrats that they can’t rule globally. Because while CDC officials still have nightmares over the botched Diamond Princess cruise saga, the rest of the world has moved on. European and Asian cruises have reopened with great success. The Cruise Lines International Association says more than 400,000 passengers have traveled since last summer, with few Covid cases. Cruise lines are perfectly capable of operating with protocols.

The Biden team has made no effort to intercede, as it sees the benefit of using the continued lockdown as proof we are still in a “crisis” (and therefore in need of more spending). White House press secretary Jen Psaki reminded the nation we should remain grateful the president will allow us a small, July 4 barbecue, which “is quite different from cruises, of course.”

“The Covid crisis created many new power players, but none so frightening as the public health official. The cruise sector is evidence of the urgent need for a discussion about how best to keep that megalomaniacal bureaucracy in check.”

8 minutes ago, princevaliantus said:

Yes it is as the Senators are for opening U.S. Ports under strict guidance unlike prior which they explicitly stated they wanted it closed. It's a move forward despite how small it may be.

Outdated guidance that was given before vaccines that ignores the data on cruises that have happened during the pandemic. 

15 minutes ago, CruisinForABruisin said:

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/09/trump-officials-bragged-about-pressuring-cdc-to-alter-covid-reports-emails-reveal-.html

Hmm...kinda like the Administration made the CDC walk back the CDC directors claim that schools should re-open after pressure from teachers unions.

I get it

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24792-u-s-politicians-urge-cdc-to-keep-cruise-industry-closed.html

Newsflash Senators, Americans will be cruising outside the US this summer. Americans will be swarming to Vegas Casinos this summer. Crowds will happen this summer.

But sure, ignore all that and focus on the continued US shutdown of an industry. Ignore the data from the cruises during the pandemic and how many cases there ACTUALLY were. 

Data>Politics

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.usatoday.com/amp/7229222002
 

Not a good sign with this as the kicker from the 2 Democratic Senators 

22 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

 

The CDC is still stuck a year behind the times.  Their study is a bunch of theoretical and computer models based on simulations and mock ups not consistent with an actual airplane. Even their conclusions are a bunch of "maybes" and "coulds"

 

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7016e1.htm?s_cid=mm7016e1_w

Agreed. But unfortunately, coulds, maybes, perhaps, possible are all terms that seem to dictate policy these days

In other travel news. the CDC just released study saying that airlines should not fill middle seats because leaving the middle seat open reduces the chance of Covid spread. 

Do you think airlines will adhere to this guidance? I have flown American about 5 times since pandemic and they have filled middle seats. Not to mention the smaller planes with 2x2 or 1x2 seating where every seat is filled.

The airlines know and have seen a ramped up, pent up demand for air travel this summer and how well Vaccination has been going (minus the J&J fiasco the CDC and FDA ae in now which is a TOTALLY other matter of incompetence) and Delta has announced it will fill middle seats starting May 1. 

Do you think the airlines are going to listen to the CDC regarding middle seats and give up revenue for the summer? No! But they are not bound to the CDC and at their mercy the way cruise lines are. 

58 minutes ago, PG Cruiser said:

The CDC is in a "damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't" situation with this pandemic.  They're being damned right now for the restrictions/suspensions they have imposed on the cruise industry.  If, heaven forbid, another outbreak happens on just one cruise ship, guess which direction fingers will be pointed at.  I understand why they've chosen to err on the side of caution.   Of course, from the viewpoint of cruise lovers like us, the CDC is erring on the side of TOO MUCH caution.

I can understand wanting to err on the side of caution when it comes to public health but what frustrates me personally is the lack of consistency and contradictions that come from the CDC. 

I think part of it is theater. The CDC under the direction of the current administration is not inclined to do anything that would indicate a semi-return to normalcy for several reasons which have far more to do with politics than science. Its becoming more and more obvious that the CDC does not believe that the US populace are capable of their own risk mitigation. The CDC does not want to signal that the pandemic is coming to an end which lifting the no sail order would do. 

Meanwhile, cruise adjacent US jobs continue to be lost and the unemployed workers are suffering. 

Any hope I had because of all the recent pressure being out on the CDC to lift the no sail order before Oct 31 is starting to fade. 

Which one would you choose? Chill Island or South Beach?

What are pros and cons of both? Trying to decide