KWofPerth

I would argue you've got that wrong with respect to water. 0 degrees celsius is the freezing point of water, while 100 degrees celsius is the boiling point of water. Unless I've missed your point in relation to 'describing human-based temperature.' Which I no doubt have 😛

With a 60% effectiveness, my understanding is that you'd need the entire population to take it for it to work as intended. I don't like the chances of that.

Absolutely. A death rate of 6% is horrific.

Great analogy!

The more people that take a vaccine, the more effective it becomes at protecting the entire populace. That is how herd immunity will be achieved. I do however understand your angst at the fast-tracking. But don't confuse fast-tracking with taking shortcuts. All the protocols still need to be followed, they are just being done in a condensed manner.

I'll give you a 2-for-1 Matt. Which feature of RC ships would you be most sad to see disappear? Which feature of RC ships would you be least sad to see disappear? e.g. flowrider, kids club, specialty restaurant, aquatheatre, etc...

I completely agree. As all parts of the world are finding, once you start opening things up again, the virus makes a comeback. So until a vaccine is found, things such as cruising cannot resume. Even then, as you say Joe, it will take some time for enough people to be vaccinated to nip this thing in the bud. My advice for months has been - DON'T WILLINGLY HAND OVER YOUR MONEY FOR A CRUISE VACATION!! The chances of any given cruise proceeding is exceptionally low and all you are doing is giving your money to a company that has a non-zero chance of not existing in its current form in the near future. /End rant

Stick a fork in 2020, it's done. My brother has a March 2021 sailing has booked out of Sydney for his 40th, and he's resigned himself to that not going ahead. I concur, sadly. My question at this point is how long can RCL (and Carnival and NCL) last with no revenue coming in? At what point does this get critical for their survival? Because I don't see any of them sailing for a long time, sadly.

I love the bungee jumping idea. But why not make it outdoors? I'm picturing a ledge jutting out over the ship...

It's looking more and more like there will be no down under cruising for the remainder of the year https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/health-safety/coronavirus-australia-borders-likely-to-stay-closed-until-2021/news-story/8a1c8e41dd412c20ff1b4704832adf4b

The general vibe amongst Joe Public is that cruise ships are a source of Covid spread and are viewed very negatively at present. A massive chunk of cases in NSW came as a direct result of infected passengers being allowed to disembark the Ruby Princess. However I don't know of anyone that thinks cruise ships are solely to blame. Far from it. We've had non-essential international travel banned since March and several of our states have shut their borders. We are now down to less than 150 active cases of CV19 so these measures have worked and worked beyond expectation. Our geographical isolation for once has been beneficial. As has New Zealand's. As a result of this success we have begun easing restrictions. Larger gatherings are now permitted, restaurants have just opened, sport is starting again. No one is in a rush to open our international borders - to aeroplanes or ships - anytime soon, because all that does is allow in cases from countries who have not been as successful in eliminating the virus as we have. I love cruising, but I disagree with many others on this site. Cruise ships are a source of spread and best avoided at this juncture. Just because there are other sources of spread, it does not mean that cruise ships should just be allowed to freely go about their business. Like I referenced in a prior post, there are other ways to vacation that are every bit as enjoyable and I will support the local tourism industry for the foreseeable future. All the while I will be following RC's progress as it navigates its way through this mess and look forward to one day cruising again. I hope you can appreciate my honesty.

Coming from Perth the biggest hurdle to going for a last minute deal would be getting last minute flights at a reasonable price. The planets would need to align in once-in-a-century-fashion.

There's too much uncertainty for my liking. You and I (along with our North American friends I'm sure), are lucky to have plenty of great holiday spots within our own country, and even within each individual state, so I'm going to stick to local travel for the foreseeable future. Foregoing cruising for a year or two is hardly a sacrifice in my view.

I love Radiance Class, but I am going to miss Voyager Class. Q Class I can take or leave. It's a moot point anyway. In the current climate I'm not handing over my cash for a booking that may never eventuate. See: Twangster's experience in one of the other threads.

Disappointing to have no Voyager/Freedom Class. Also, two Q Class ships, both out of Sydney, is too much. If we must have two, I would have preferred to see one of them swap with Radiance from Brisbane.