POLL: Will you sail on a cruise before there is a COVID-19 vaccine?

[JohnK6404 1,175]

19 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

I personally hate wearing mask, I find myself touching my face to adjust said mask 23x more than I would not wearing one.

... and I cannot stand when my eyeglasses fog up when I exhale!

 

[Ampurp85 1,201]

@JohnK6404  and @SpeedNoodles I have tried 3 kinds and the one I tied myslef worked the best. I just cannot wear it more than an hour or two. I would forget for 20 or 30 mins but then my hair would tickle the strap or I would feel claustrophobic. My brother wears glasses and the fog thing is his only issue...he is also an engineer so he has worn mask at job sites.

[SpeedNoodles 4,847]

2 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

@JohnK6404  and @SpeedNoodles I have tried 3 kinds and the one I tied myslef worked the best. I just cannot wear it more than an hour or two. 

This is true.  I really don't know what it's like to wear it very long.  I'm at Costco for about 20 minutes, so that's my limit of having worn one, lol.

[Ampurp85 1,201]

@SpeedNoodles  I wore one a few days ago for almost 3hrs in 70 degree Chicago heat...I had a ton of errands and preferred to just be out once. By the time I got home I was cursing the creator, its worse in heat. It is the main reason I said no to this poll, I cannot imagine being on vacation with a mask.

[JLMoran 7,166]

44 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

I hate to say this but I fear we have become too impatient, just look at the refund thread, people want things to go back to normal fast.

Sadly, it was exactly the same during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic. Exact same attempts to get people to isolate, calls to reopen that were far too soon, people out protesting the shut-downs, and graphs showing how those towns that opened back up too fast suffered far worse in disease and death than those that held steady. My friends on FB have posted the photos of the old newspaper clippings, the graphs from the scientific journals, etc. for about a month now.

[JLMoran 7,166]

25 minutes ago, JohnK6404 said:

...I cannot stand when my eyeglasses fog up when I exhale!

 

And let me also add to that, I can't stand finding out the hard way just how bad my breath really gets.

At least it means I'm brushing my teeth even more than before! 

[Ampurp85 1,201]

@JLMoran And that lasted 2 years because they refused to listen. My neighbors keep saying we have way more technology than 100 years ago, so we should be able to snap back fast. I keep reminding him that technology is not science but said technology should make it easier for us to comply.

Also depending on the material of the mask, it could make your breath substantially worse. It is basically collecting bacteria and germs, holding them inside so you can breath over and over again.

[GrandmaAirplane 111]

On 5/14/2020 at 2:47 PM, JLMoran said:

I'm similar to @SpeedNoodles, in that I think both my younger daughter and I got it back in late January, when it first started showing up in the New York / NJ area. If that's correct and I can get an antibody test that proves it, you'll have to beat me off with a baseball bat to stop me setting foot on the gangway.

Hypothetical, and strictly out of curiosity, if you and your younger daughter indeed test positive for antibodies, but others in your family group do not, would you still cruise as a family without the vaccine?

[JLMoran 7,166]

3 minutes ago, GrandmaAirplane said:

Hypothetical, and strictly out of curiosity, if you and your younger daughter indeed test positive for antibodies, but others in your family group do not, would you still cruise as a family without the vaccine?

Heh, you just called out the unspoken qualifier from Matt's poll question. He asked if I was comfortable; he didn't say anything about whether the whole family unit was! 

If my daughter and I did test positive for antibodies, you can bet I'd have my wife tested as well since she was home with us the whole time we were sick, and I can't see how she wouldn't have caught whatever it was from us. The only wildcard is my older daughter, who was away at college for that whole time. But her campus was also dealing with a nasty bug, including at least one classmate who was tested for Covid-19 but came back negative, so who knows there. If either my wife or my older daughter came back negative for antibodies, and we still didn't have a vaccine, then I'd leave it up to them how they felt about doing the trip.

That said, my wife is talking about maybe going up to Niagara falls (NY side) during the summer if things open up enough to make interstate travel possible again. So clearly she's not over-worried as long as we're following precautions of social distancing, wearing our masks in public, avoiding restaurants that didn't seat us outdoors, etc.

[JLMoran 7,166]

57 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

And that lasted 2 years because they refused to listen. My neighbors keep saying we have way more technology than 100 years ago, so we should be able to snap back fast. I keep reminding him that technology is not science but said technology should make it easier for us to comply.

And science / technology is not at a level where we can beat spontaneous evolution / mutation. What made Spanish Flu so incredibly deadly was the mutation that happened over the summer; the death toll in the initial outbreak was bad, but not horrifying. The horrifying part came when fall rolled around and the new strain began killing 10x more than the initial strain did.

So far at least, Covid-19 is proving to be far more stable in the key parts of its genetics than Spanish Flu ever was. So with luck we won't have to face the hell of an even deadlier strain than what we've got now. Because this is already quite enough for me, thank you very much.

[Larry Muster 83]

I think the next question is CAN you still go on a cruise if your work requires a 10 day isolation.   I've heard of people restricting travel because of quarantine restrictions in place by their employers.  

Larry

[mworkman 2,370]

12 minutes ago, Larry Muster said:

I think the next question is CAN you still go on a cruise if your work requires a 10 day isolation.   I've heard of people restricting travel because of quarantine restrictions in place by their employers.  

Larry

i'm retired and self employed.  I will quarantine myself upon return. 

[Marlena 176]

13 minutes ago, Larry Muster said:

I think the next question is CAN you still go on a cruise if your work requires a 10 day isolation.   I've heard of people restricting travel because of quarantine restrictions in place by their employers.  

Larry

We booked our right before christmas holidays for that reason. We will be off for 2 weeks after we return so that work doesnt make an issue

[Rose City Cruiser 546]

20 minutes ago, Larry Muster said:

I've heard of people restricting travel because of quarantine restrictions in place by their employers.  

That opens up another conversation.  How much information about your vacation does an employer have the right to know?  There are many who refuses to wear a mask.  I am certain most will not disclose their actual travel plans to their employers.    

[Albondigas 3]

The odds of a single contact involving the virus are small, assuming independent events and random exposure.  However, the probability of being exposed to the virus after several hundred contacts approaches certainty.  Just do the math, and you will see.  So we will all be exposed at some point.  I won't cruise until my wife and I feel it is safe -- that we can mitigate the risk, or have access to effective treatment, or have access to a vaccine.  This is still a virus the kills healthy people without underlying conditions.  

But  we face parallel risks at home  -- going for groceries, gas, etc.  Again, we will all be exposed within a year unless we are recluses.  At some point we will make a personal decision to balance the risks at home and travel.  

We are scheduled to cruise in early 2022, and I believe that will be a good time.

[Albondigas 3]

22 hours ago, mworkman said:

@RCIfan1912 I'm a firm believer that masks currently being worn do nothing for you, as they are not the proper masks required. The general population doesn't understand the transmittal process, much less what it requires for a true decontamination. Think of it this way...you wear a mask, but no gloves and go into a store, pick up an item then decide you don't want it, like many before you have. You place it back on the shelf continue with your shopping.   Later on after you get back home and unload the items that you purchased from your bags, placing thing where they needed to be.  Did you decontaminate the items before you put them away?  Who all touched those items before you did? Did they have the virus? Did you touch your face or any part of your body, without thinking about it?  Did the store decontaminate the items before they put them on the shelfs? What about the people loading and unloading?

 

Good points, the gloves are needed with the masks, and other cleaning procedures are also needed.  The purpose of the mask is to prevent you from infecting others.  The  masks do  mitigate the distribution of droplets that contain germs.  If everyone wears masks and gloves,  there are simply fewer particles anywhere.  That is the real point.  We could shut this down if we all cooperated.

I know it is frustrating, but we must all be smart about this.

[RCIfan1912 727]

1 minute ago, Albondigas said:

Good points, the gloves are needed with the masks, and other cleaning procedures are also needed.  The purpose of the mask is to prevent you from infecting others.  The  masks do  mitigate the distribution of droplets that contain germs.  If everyone wears masks and gloves,  there are simply fewer particles anywhere.  That is the real point.  We could shut this down if we all cooperated.

I know it is frustrating, but we must all be smart about this.

I'm not getting into this again. It's whatever. 

Back to cruises, hopefully cruises can start by August without crazy restrictions. Sounds like the buffet is ending at least for a while. We only eat at the buffet usually for breakfast, sometimes, maybe once or twice on a cruise for lunch or snack. It's nice to have though if you need a quick bite though especially if you are running out for an excursion or between excursions in port. 

[Rose City Cruiser 546]

1 hour ago, RCIfan1912 said:

We only eat at the buffet usually for breakfast, sometimes, maybe once or twice on a cruise for lunch or snack.

It would be nice if they have an expanded room service breakfast menu at no additional cost if the buffet is shut down.

[RCIfan1912 727]

4 minutes ago, Rose City Cruiser said:

It would be nice if they have an expanded room service breakfast menu at no additional cost if the buffet is shut down.

Well that is the million dollar question. It's it "shut down" or just buffet served by servers? I can't imagine it's completely "shut down". If it's shut down it can't be wasted space and everyone that would have eaten there will cram into the MDR and that certainly wouldn't be shy kind of distancing. It will be interesting to see the solutions the cruise lines come up with. I agree with one thing most people say, you cannot social distance nor would you want to on a cruise. 

Maybe our cruise on Oasis Sept 6th will be one of the first and we can see first hand. I'll be a ginny pig if only for curiosity sake. I just don't want to be quarantined for 14 days after the cruise. 

[Rose City Cruiser 546]

1 hour ago, RCIfan1912 said:

If it's shut down it can't be wasted space and everyone that would have eaten there will cram into the MDR and that certainly wouldn't be shy kind of distancing

They could use the Windjammer and Star Lounge space as a satellite MDR.   Not ideal but would satisfy proper distancing protocols.  

[RCIfan1912 727]

9 minutes ago, Rose City Cruiser said:

They could use the Windjammer and Star Lounge space as a satellite MDR.   Not ideal but would satisfy proper distancing protocols.  

Yeah that would stink to be honest. I have to say, and I don't want to but I could see Royal looking at this elimination of the buffet as a cost savings thing too. I mean the buffet has got to be a money eater as well. It costs a lot of money to keep up with and maintain a buffet, especially of the size on cruise ships. 

[Rose City Cruiser 546]

1 minute ago, RCIfan1912 said:

I mean the buffet has got to be a money eater as well. It costs a lot of money to keep up with and maintain a buffet, especially of the size on cruise ships. 

I don't see the buffet being eliminated.  It really caters to families really well.  Families and new cruisers are Royal's cash cow.  I do think we will see more health and food handling measures being implemented at the buffet.  Honestly, some of those measures were a long time coming.  

[RCIfan1912 727]

Just now, Rose City Cruiser said:

I don't see the buffet being eliminated.  It really caters to families really well.  Families and new cruisers are Royal's cash cow.  I do think we will see more health and food handling measures being implemented at the buffet.  Honestly, some of those measures were a long time coming.  

Now that I agree with. I get sick at some of things I see inconsiderate people doing in there. Servers are just fine to me. Keeps unwashed pigs from touching everything. If it's servers at each station I'm good. 

[Scrumps 117]

We will cruise again when it can be 100% guaranteed that even with an active (or suspected) covid case onboard, we can get off the ship at the end of the planned cruise and be on our way without being held or quarantined, and our companies not ordering us to self isolate without pay for 2 weeks.

Until then, we plan US based vacations where we can drive to.

 

[Pooch 556]

When we took our first cruise in 2002, for dinner the windjammer was table service with self serve appetizers, sort of like MTD.  That doesn’t of course solve breakfast or lunch.  I’m guessing a served buffet.