boatseller

44 minutes ago, garywatson said:

 

If someone gets covid onboard a supposedly-vaccinated cruise, the authorities are going to call the provider on the vaccine card on file to see if it is counterfeit.  If it is, said person will be turned over at the next port for prosecution.  If it's the Bahamas, for example, it's punishable by up to 2 years in jail, and that 2 years starts once you finally get a chance to see a judge.

 

Yep.  Didn't say it was smart.  But if the investigation is handled anything like the contract tracing fiasco, it won't get far.

10 hours ago, Rolla4fun said:

I am wondering how the cruise lines are going to verify if the vaccine cards provided are legitimate since there is not currently a vaccine passport. Anyone can make or purchase “fake” vaccine cards these days. 

They're not.  The only travel doc that is verifiable is your Passport and some Visas.

They will look at a piece of paper, but that's it.  This is exactly what the airlines are doing for inbound passengers.  There is no way to verify the test results.

This is why we can descrbe the CDC as clueless nitwits.  The ease with which their protocols are evaded, avoided & ignored render them meaningless.  I am no more concerned about the use of fake vax cards than I am the people who get prohibited items past TSA.

9 hours ago, mianmike said:

 

Makes you wonder how Royal Caribbean was able to survive only paying their CEO a paltry 12M.  And 36M would only cover 30-60 jobs?  Wow.  How much does NCL pay their employees?   

His cash compensation, salary+bonuses, is ~$8m.  The rest of the $36M is stock which may, or likely may not, be fully vested.

With an average line cost* of ~$125,000 for a professional role, that's ~60 people.  

However it works out, it's not significant to a company the size of NCL and would just be a lottery.  Everyone still working is doing their job and should be paid.  The company has survived so Frank definitly did his.

Rememeber, this is a Government caused problem.  The cruise line execs should be lauded for how they handled it.  

*Line cost being the total cost to the company for an employee which includes salary, taxes, benefits, etc.  A lot of which the employee doen't see.  This can be 30-40% above pre-tax employee pay.  Meaning to pay an employee $70k can cost the company $100k.

16 hours ago, Junkhouse said:

Its uncanny the resemblance to AOC!

 

And speaking of Disney, we were walking along the canal that connects EPCOT and Disney studios.  We saw one person and we were at least 30 feet from him.  He started yelling and screaming at us for not having our masks on.  There were no other people within 100 yards of us.  These One Meter Monitors will be yelling constantly on a ship.  Oh what fun....

Good heavens.  I've walked that path many times when masks were required and compliance was 60% at most with the awkward mask-up approaching people.  

35 minutes ago, cscurlock said:

By the time we get to November this will all be pointless.  Everyone will be eligible for the vaccine and then it will be 100% required.  No mask and no social distancing.  It would be that way already if children under 12 were approved.   I suspect that their titles will be renamed from One meter monitors to chair hog monitors.

It's been pointless for weeks now, since two weeks after the first unused vax appointment.  Or two weeks after the first bribe to get vax'd.  Everyone has has ample time to make their choice.

And yes!  Guests would be much happier with chair monitors.

Ok, let's talk about the reality here.  I get they have to do a little show for the CDC but in practice....

The theme parks have been 6' (2m) for months but the guests are a different story.  I've seen guests reminded about face coverings but never, ever, not once asked to spread out.  American distancing, which is about 2-3ft anyway has been the norm since the holiday crowds.

Joe Biden again stated last week no vaxpass for US.  Now if the CDC would listen to the data and literally everyone else in the world....

Love the Studios.  There's lots of pictures and vidoes about them.

You will probably fine the bed unnecessarily large, even if...well...ok then....  They fixed that on Bliss.

If you don't drink alcohol, check the cost of the mandatory grats on the adult package vs the soda package.  Maybe it works out, maybe not.  The Soda package ~$10/day.  (Does anyone know if they can sub this?)

Use the dining credits as early as possible, otherwise, you risk scrambling on the last nights to use them.

Right, because there's totally nothing do so while cruising is shut down, they all might as well just go play golf all day.

There is still a business to run folks.  Guest operations may be at 0%, but the machine has to keep running.

And, the majority of that $36M is performance based.  Donating his salary+bonus would be a nice virtue signal but would cover maybe 30-60 jobs.  Jobs they's have to pay for anyway or don't need.

When the hiring and contracting begins, they will all be thankful there are jobs to come back to.

IIRC, they bites menu at DB is either directly inspired by or just is Food Republic, they share a kitchen.

Come to think of it, I've never asked if you can order from the FR menu at DB.  Please try and report back!

I've sailed on Getaway, Escape, Epic and Encore.  I hope to sail Bliss in January.

Escape is currently my favorite ship of all, over Symphony and Anthem also.  However, I predict my new fav will be Bliss because of the Observation Lounge and Q.  Ropes Course vs Go Karts is split even.

From those 3, Getaway, no internal debate.

It's a longer trip.

Better ports, especially if Isreal goes.

Getaway is a better ship.

Arrival in Miami.

The best time to go to the gym is when you go to the gym.

The crowd varys almost randomly so all I've done is just go when it fits my schedule and adjust my routine to work with what's available.  There's almost always enough equipment for each exercise between weights and machines.

Staying healthy is the best thing we can all do to prevent future nonsense.

My first visit to Coco Cay will be in just over two weeks but, based on all the other private islands and pre-Perfect Day, it's highly likely you will be able to find a spot on the beach that suits you.  Near the crowds, away from the crowds.

My real advice though, there are plenty of vidoes on YouTube showing every spot on Coco Cay HD detail.  Take an hour and watch a bunch in at least 1.25x.

I've booked one day at Thrills and one day at Coco Beach Club.

9 minutes ago, vpearlkc said:

After reading about the case of the fully vaccinated folks in the Yankee organization testing positive I just wish that the testing requirement would be dropped. It would ease my mind.

It's more than the Yankees.  But this is why I'm so critical of the CDC, they can't have it both ways.

Either the vax is safe and effective and means no more protocols at all.

-or-

Well...we're not sure...we have to think about it...we'll get back to you...we need more information...oops, did we forget about that one?...what will make us look good...will we get fired?

IIRC, there was only a requirement to have a 'reservation' on Day 1 (or 2 I guess).  I didn't have a res for Day 1 on Symphony TA and doubt I had one on Day to at Jamie's.

My semi-educated guess was that the reservation was just for compatibility with the existing res app and billing.  Meaning, it was easier to charge it that way.

26 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Can you imagine trying to test everyone on the ship? 2 weeks less a day to the first Adventure sailing. 

Acutally, after thinking about it for 3 minutes...it's pretty easy.

Deliver the specimin kits to everyone's stateroom ahead of Day 5.  All pre-tagged.

Before Day 5, you choose a Virtual Queue time on Days 5/6 for collection.  Just like Hagrid's.

You walk in, self sample, drop it in the bucket and you're done.  The sample seems to take <15 seconds.  I've only seen videos, never been tested.

It'll be faster than check-in for an Oasis or Quantum class ship.

A CDC committee of 25 experts would take 6 weeks to come up with this plan.

7 minutes ago, vpearlkc said:

By then every American that wants to get vaccinated will have had more than enough time and I will not feel responsible  for those who get sick. 

There's way more than enough vax and has been for some time.  Everyone is good to go right now.  Go forth and enjoy, no worries at all.

1 minute ago, BirdTravels said:

Can you imagine trying to test everyone on the ship? 2 weeks less a day to the first Adventure sailing. 

I will be carefully observing the process.  If they do collection, I expect a 'stop by when you want' approach.

Since the CDC already allows self-tests, I wouldn't be surprised to see group sessions where a few dozen people are watched-ish taking the sample.

This requirement is definitely more theatrical in nature so do expect a bit of show.  They've been doing this in Singapore for a while so I hope they've learned how to do it somewhat well.

2 minutes ago, milolii said:

 LOL  ok back to topic.   Bird Provided helpful information. OP asked if the test can the test is a available on board.  

Pretty much all of them are doing it.  Planning on taking the test at the earliest oppty on Adventure to reduce risk.

6 minutes ago, RaftingJeremy said:

What kinda nonsense are you rambling about here?

The same kind of humor most people are enjoying at the CDC's expense.  You should either get out more or widen your media landscape.

Also pointing out that your statement is incorrect.  A neg test is still required for returning to the United States even for vax'd travellers.

I'm making fun of the absurdity that this is still the case.  Even the Bahamas & Guatemala are way ahead of the CDC on this.

So, let me ask you, what nonsense am I rambling on?  The correct information that the neg test is still required?  That their guidelines are wildly inconsistent?  That the CDC's headcount is ~10,000?  That the CDC is being drawn into the NIH/Fauci scandal?

Tell, what of this nonsense?  Be specific.

2 hours ago, RaftingJeremy said:

Not necessary if vaccinated 

Oh, you would think an Agency of 10,000 super duper sciency professionals would have by now realized getting the totally safe and effective vax would exempt you from this.

Nope.  Because God forbid 3 new covid cases arrive in the US from abroad.  Maybe that's the "impending doom" the Director was crying about a few weeks ago.

Face it folks, these people are have no clue what they're doing.  Just wait until the next scandal breaks and poof, there goes this requirement.  At this point, they're just protecting what few chips the have.

Clever.  I predict it will fail grander than Fyer Festival but at least they're thinking.

My question will be how many of those $18 tix are sold using fradulent vax cards?  They're trivially easy to replicate.  I think State law enforcement might want to investigate if this is inducing illegal behavior.

54 minutes ago, sandra3022 said:

Not true on the news they said 3 were transformed to area hospital 

They were all asymptomatic. 

30 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

But you said there was a change in masking guidance today; what was it?

 The post is from Wednesday? The day they changed the mask order for conveyances.