Gears

2009 on the Independence. A very disruptive passenger who actually threatened to kill me and one other person...hauled off to the brig (they do have them so I learned!).
One entertaining part...disembarkation day...guest services announcing (numerous times) his name to come to the Service Desk...usually the ones who have not settled up a cash account. ?

A danger of a zero covid strategy.

Yup, that's the one I meant. And I saw pix of the sloped ceiling. No thanks!

Part of what I used was ship tonnage divided by max number of guests. That will give an idea of how many passengers per square foot-ish of space (not a specific metric, but a general guide). Any time I compared RCL to Carnival, RCL always had a higher (by a good amount sometimes) tonnage to max guests ratio (inferring more space per passenger).

This kind of topic has been around for a long time. The best overall value, RCL seems to always come out on top.

Part of what I used was ship tonnage divided by max number of guests. That will give an idea of how many passengers per square foot-ish of space (not a specific metric, but a general guide). Any time I compared RCL to Carnival, RCL always had a higher (by a good amount sometimes) tonnage to max guests ratio (inferring more space per passenger).

This kind of topic has been around for a long time. The best overall value, RCL seems to always come out on top.

Part of what I used was ship tonnage divided by max number of guests. That will give an idea of how many passengers per square foot-ish of space (not a specific metric, but a general guide). Any time I compared RCL to Carnival, RCL always had a higher (by a good amount sometimes) tonnage to max guests ratio (inferring more space per passenger).

This kind of topic has been around for a long time. The best overall value, RCL seems to always come out on top.

Media reports are out that the Canadian government will announce today that it will lift the 14-day quarantine requirement AND the three day quarantining in an authorized hotel requirement for fully vaccinated Canadian travelers.
Expecting the changes will go into effect in early July.

Actual video footage from @Lovetocruise2002 earlier today

Let's go!  It's been way too long in dry dock!

Media reports are out that the Canadian government will announce today that it will lift the 14-day quarantine requirement AND the three day quarantining in an authorized hotel requirement for fully vaccinated Canadian travelers.
Expecting the changes will go into effect in early July.

Media reports are out that the Canadian government will announce today that it will lift the 14-day quarantine requirement AND the three day quarantining in an authorized hotel requirement for fully vaccinated Canadian travelers.
Expecting the changes will go into effect in early July.

Media reports are out that the Canadian government will announce today that it will lift the 14-day quarantine requirement AND the three day quarantining in an authorized hotel requirement for fully vaccinated Canadian travelers.
Expecting the changes will go into effect in early July.

Media reports are out that the Canadian government will announce today that it will lift the 14-day quarantine requirement AND the three day quarantining in an authorized hotel requirement for fully vaccinated Canadian travelers.
Expecting the changes will go into effect in early July.

I think you are going to see a debate on what defines public transportation versus private transportation.

I think you are going to see a debate on what defines public transportation versus private transportation.

WooHoo...my mask is now history!!  Of course, I will keep it handy for certain circumstances...per CDC: The requirement to wear masks during travel -- on buses, trains, planes and public transportation -- still stands, Walensky said, and guidance for travel will be updated as science emerges.
#Gears...thanks for providing the updated info!

Bring on the vaccine tourists!  
Come on Canada, get your beavers down here!

 

Predict the 4th wave.

I'm keeping this cruise-related, don't worry. CDC has confirmed (via a study of ~4,000 US essential workers who were monitored as they continued to work) that after two doses, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines both are 90% effective at preventing infection. And if you don't get infected, you can't spread the virus (not even asymptomatically).
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/03/29/vaccine-effective-essential-workers-study/
The article goes on to talk about the study design and logistical challenges it faced (e.g., having to negotiate with UPS and FedEx to get thousands of sample kits shipped out and sent back in every week), as well as other potential challenges (e.g., the comparatively small number of participants, and compliance of participants with properly taking their own nasal swabs and sending them in on time each week).
But this is great news for the ship's crews and the upcoming vaccine-mandated cruses. Crew members are probably breathing a huge collective sigh of relief as they learn about this. And with such great prevention of infection, a ship that has nothing but vaccinated crew and mostly vaccinated passengers (i.e., most kids on board won't be vaccinated) is effectively a community with true herd immunity. I would sincerely hope it would also allow for elimination of mask requirements while on board, at least while outside on the pool deck and other very well-ventilated areas. Heck, given the studies that proved the cruise lines' ventilation improvements truly blocked airborne spread of the virus across the ship, it might even allow for elimination of masks throughout.
That light just keeps getting brighter, and it's not an oncoming freight train. It's the sun rising on a cobalt blue sea, with a ship sailing serenely across the waters.

https://cruising.org/en/clia-action-center

TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress to Help Restart the Cruise Industry! Yesterday, CLIA called on the Biden Administration and the CDC to lift the Framework for Conditional Sailing Order (CSO) and allow cruising to be on track to resume sailing in the U.S. by the beginning of July 2021.    Today, we get to work—and we need your help! Please visit the CLIA Action Center to email, call, and/or Tweet at your elected officials in the House and Senate and tell them to urge the Biden Administration to lift the CSO. Our announcement was a big step, and the journey is just beginning. We have our work cut out for us, but the facts are on our side.  • Since the industry’s voluntary suspension one year ago, cruise lines have been prevented from operating in the U.S. even as public health conditions have improved and other sectors have opened or continued to operate throughout the pandemic.    • Over the past eight months, a highly-controlled resumption of cruising has continued in Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific - with nearly 400,000 passengers sailing and additional markets scheduled to come online in the spring and summer.    • The industry’s enhanced public health measures are working, with fewer than 50 confirmed cases of COVID-19 onboard CLIA member cruise line ships since resumption started last summer, based on public reporting.    • More than 300,000 jobs have been lost in the US due to the suspension of cruises. The majority of those impacted are independent business owners or individuals employed by small- to medium-sized businesses.    • Restarting cruises as part of the broader travel industry will provide a much-needed boost to the U.S. economy - with the cruise industry supporting nearly 450,000 American jobs and contributing over $55.5 billion annually, prior to the pandemic.    • An early-July resumption is in line with President Biden’s forecast for when the US will be “closer to normal.”    • There is no such thing as ‘normal’ without cruise ships! The cruise community is a vital part of the travel and tourism economy and should be afforded the same opportunities to begin to recover from the devastating impacts of the pandemic.  It will take every single one of us to be successful. The Time is Now. Will You Join Us? JOIN US!    

Booked through a travel agent.

I started to type something similar yesterday but decided not to post it. My comment was that an important announcement like cruises restarting wouldn't be delivered via "coffee chat" no matter their position in the company. However, everyone was still being so optimistic about the (sorry to say) "click-bait" "must tune in to my podcast" title I decided to let everyone have their moment. ?

That's just your 'book your next cruise' reminder alarm mechanism...