WhiteSoxFan

I totally agree with point #1 about printing your COVID results and would add your see pass to that. I'm not sure what the obsession is with having it all on your phone and having to swipe back and forth. We had all our paperwork printed and in hand prior to entering the building for our Apex sailing last month and it could not have gone faster or smoother. As a side note we had 11:30 check-in and actually arrived at 11:00. We walked right up to the line labeled for 11:30 and they let us right in. we were on the ship in 10 minutes.

We completed the Binax Now proctored home test three weeks ago before our Celebrity Apex Cruise. A couple words of warning. I purchased 2 at home test as did my daughter & SIL. My test went off without a hitch. My wife's, however, did not. When she went to put the drops of solution into the test card all she got was a foamy bubble exiting the bottle. The bottle was effectively empty. Luckily, and probably improperly, they allowed her to use the solution in my bottle to complete the test. We told my daughter who is on the west coast and hadn't taken hers yet. When she went to take hers she had the same issue, empty solution bottle. She had to get her husband out of bed to take his so she could also use his solution. Not sure if this is common or if it had anything to do with the fact that these tests were beyond their original expiration date but within the 3 month extension. Other than that hiccup everything else was amazing. Loyal to Royal for 13 cruises but Celebrity definitely has a great product.

I would imagine that if the CDC comes out and says you need a booster to be considered "fully vaccinated' then yes. Until that time I doubt it.

IHU could be a big nothing burger. First sequenced in early November weeks before Omicron. It hasn't really taken off whereas Omicron obviously has.

We have a Celebrity cruise booked for January and I received an email yesterday stating that all final payment for all cruises through March 31st would have 60 day final payments. Not sure why there is a difference with them and Royal.

Makes sense. I'm curious how they determine the current R0.

I'm trying to wrap my head around how the R0 for Florida has apparently dropped below the magic number of 1 yet case load is continuing to increase. (so far) In regards to COVID and any seasonality, we only have 18 months under our belt. I don't think we can learn much about how seasonal it may be. I'm keeping my January sailing, if its anything like last year it should be at the peak of the holiday surge. ?

A thread on CC says that 10 people on a Carnival Horizon facebook group have tested positive since returning home. Carnival confirms there is a "small number" of cases on the Vista.

In one way they are already doing this. It's called Celebrity. ?

Not sure why Royal has set it up this way. It's very easy to view and price flights on Celebrity's website.

I tend to agree with you. In the short term, however, these are things to consider as possible impediments.

@JeffB You are using Florida cases as your guide on the Delta but i know here in Illinois the number of Delta cases was doubling every 10 days. Also there are increasing rates of Delta in certain parts of Missouri, and other parts of the country, where the vaccination rate is low. As cruisers come from all over this is at least a consideration. I'm not saying it will have a negative impact, just that it has potential.

I do think that US cruises will be successful to the point that the public finds the number of cases that will undoubtedly occur to be of a sufficiently low level as to allow the continuation and expansion of cruising. That said I do not think the industry would have been nearly as successful had they started back in September 2020. The whole US surge that occurred late fall early winter could have been disastrous to the industry. IMO the overwhelming thing that has everything pointing in the right direction is not the policies and protocols, although they are important, but the vaccine. Vaccinations work and are driving levels of cases down dramatically in places that have embraced it. IMO cruising could have, and should have, been possible earlier than it has started but possibly only by a few months. Just my humble opinion.

This would be my concern also. This time it was only 2 under 16 on a reduced capacity cruise with every adult vaxxed. So what may (stressing may) possibly occur when the pax count increases, Florida sailings have unvaxxed adults in addition to the unvaxxed children and we have a surge in the delta cases among the unvaccinated (and possibly more breakthrough cases)? Just a question, not a prediction.

Celebrity has been upfront with the fact that they are sailing from Florida with 95%+ vaccinated. Regardless of how they choose to manage that, anyone that is not vaccinated and thinking about booking a Celebrity cruise should know things may not turn out in their favor. Of course, sometimes they never let the facts get in the way of a good story.