Milwaukee Eight

2 hours ago, ace2542 said:

If they pressure the CDC they are likely to just extend the order by another 12 months no?

Where or how do you event this stuff? 

2 hours ago, dswallow said:

How could he allow the cruise ships to sail when the CDC announced today a “possible” surge coming and they also suggested today a double mask mandate (I guess we now know why Dr Flipflop had on two masks even after vaccinated). Remember though, we can expect to have a small family gathering outdoors for 4th of July. 
 

Still looking for those surges that never occurred. I heard Michigan and NJ are having big spikes. Are they not in somewhat Covid restricted States?

M8

2 hours ago, dswallow said:

 

Like I said, it's a big ship, and the last thing I will be doing is being near rug rats on a cruise ship other than in passing. Doesn't mean I can't still have and express a considered opinion on the subject. Or for that matter, find someone in security to report misbehaving kids and their parents, when needed. 🙂

 

Do you put in the same effort for misbehaving adults?  I’ve seen more of them onboard than kids. 
 

M8

9 hours ago, 4774Papa said:

I love that I can find a balcony cabin for a transatlantic from Rome to Florida for less than $1000 per person on RCI.

I’ve seen new pricing for GS/OS in 2022 and it’s crazy high. Star Class high. 

1 minute ago, ace2542 said:

No in the UK Hanckey cabs the blacks cabs you see in London have partitions to protect the drivers from being attacked and robbed because they pick people up in the streets and don't know how they are. Private hire taxi drivers don't have a partition because they are hired privately and the police can trace the person who hired the taxi at least in theory so the drivers are safe. They are not but that is the logic behind it. In NYC at least the taxis have partitions in them. I don't know if they use them to keep from getting sick. But apparently taxi drivers and by extension of that people in front line contact jobs I suppose get very sick the first couple of years of work then build up great immune system or so private hire taxi drivers have told me when we have been discussing Covid.

 

There is no reason for workers on cruise ships to get sick if customers wear masks onboard and I think staff realise that.

I think we all here appreciate your expertise on all things Royal and Covid. 

31 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

I am sure your hospitals will face a similar ongoing problem

I’m sure your wrong unless we go to socialized healthcare in which case we are likely to end like other failing programs. 

13 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

I believe Bill Gates.

Add Bill Gates to TV reruns and NYC Taxi drivers.  God help the Queen. 

5 hours ago, ace2542 said:

I don't how it works in America though I have been in NYC Taxis.

So now, along with TV reruns, you’re using NYC Taxi drivers for your info?  Why am I not surprised. 😇

M8

5 hours ago, Lloyd555 said:

Now there's a view from the stern we don't often see. 

 

 

That’s a tight turn. 

1 hour ago, Baron Barracuda said:

DeSantis coudn't talk his best buddy Donald into opening up cruising (didn't seem like he really tried) so why does he think Biden will listen to him?

I believe the environment has changed. We now have a vaccine (Operation Warp Speed) that seems to be really doing well. I don’t recall any cruise lines asking to sail last year or early this year. The current administration is not going to do anything to make our Governor look better than he already is. The narrative has been proven wrong by Florida. 
 

M8

1 minute ago, molly361 said:

I'm beginning to think you and he are related, is that true??  Asking for a friend

No but met him when he was running for Governor and again the last Friday of Bikeweek. Nice guy  You don’t like him?  Better than the other guy that ran against him that got caught with his pants down to reveal his true colors. 
 

M8

31 minutes ago, sandebeach said:

From Florida Governor's Press Conference today at Port Canaveral: 

For Immediate Release: March 26, 2021

 

Contact: Governor’s Press Office, (850) 717-9282, Media@eog.myflorida.com

 

Governor Ron DeSantis Highlights Florida’s Vital Cruise Industry, Calls on CDC to Rescind 
No-Sail Order

Governor Also Recommends Over $250 Million to Rebuild Industry
 

 

Port Canaveral, Fla. – Today, Governor Ron DeSantis, Attorney General Ashley Moody and Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) Secretary Kevin J. Thibault, P.E. held a roundtable discussion with cruise industry executives and employees to highlight the importance of this critical industry to Florida’s economy. 

At the roundtable, Governor DeSantis called on the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to rescind its no-sail order which the CDC has indicated will remain in place until November 1, 2021. The federal government has provided guidance to all other passenger transportation modes and other industries; however, it has failed to issue guidance for the cruise industry to assist in its recovery.

In addition to the lack of guidance, the federal government has neglected to provide relief funding to seaports while airports and transit agencies have received assistance through previous relief packages. Earlier this month, Governor DeSantis recommended Florida’s seaports receive $258.2 million out of the state’s share of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, to account for the losses accrued due to the no-sail order.

“If there is one thing we’ve learned over the past year, it’s that lockdowns don’t work, and Floridians deserve the right to earn a living,” said Governor DeSantis. “The cruise industry is essential to our state’s economy and keeping it shut down until November would be devastating to the men and women who rely on the cruise lines to provide for themselves and their families. I urge the CDC to immediately rescind this baseless no-sail order to allow Floridians in this industry to get back to work."

“It’s anchors aweigh for almost every travel industry in the U.S., yet the Biden administration is keeping our cruise liners docked—while many other major countries begin to operate cruises safely under health guidelines. The rationale for keeping U.S. cruises shuttered through the foreseeable future is based on outdated data and guidelines put in place before we had a COVID-19 vaccine," said Attorney General Ashley Moody. “The federal government is acting outside its authority in singling out and docking the cruise industry while other tourism-based businesses continue to operate in accordance with health guidelines. This heavy-handed federal overreach is harming our nation’s economy and is especially damaging to Florida’s economy and our vital tourism industry. That is why, we are calling on the Biden administration to lift the outdated lockdown order on Florida’s cruise industry and allow workers who rely on this important industry to get back to work.”

“Under Governor DeSantis’ leadership, the state continues to make key investments in our transportation system, but, because of the CDC’s no-sail order, the cruise industry is still struggling,” said FDOT Secretary Kevin J. Thibault, P.E. “The Governor and the state continue to do all that we can to help these members of our communities regain their livelihoods and we hope our federal counterparts follow suit.”

On March 14, the nation marked its one-year anniversary of the CDC’s no-sail order. A September 2020 report from the Federal Maritime Commission estimated that during the first 6 months of the pandemic, losses in Florida due to the cruise industry shutdown totalled $3.2 billion in economic activity, including 49,500 jobs paying $2.3 billion in wages. In addition, Florida saw wide-ranging indirect impacts throughout the state – from airports and ground transportation to hotels, restaurants, and tourist destinations. 

The COVID-19 pandemic’s effects on the cruise industry are part of a larger struggle facing the entire travel industry, which ended 2020 with $1.1 trillion in losses, a 42 percent drop from 2019.
 

The Feds are not likely to do anything as our great Governor is making them look bad. 
 

M8

4 minutes ago, yogimax said:

Better to be an alive "doom and gloomer" than a dead Mr. Sunshine.

6 minutes ago, yogimax said:

Enough already.  Simple logic says that if you have two exactly alike conditions and one group follows basic health rules (including lockdowns) and the second does not, the second group will have a higher infection and death rate.

Proof. Source?

I think this is what you always ask for. Your narrative ain’t working. Sorry 
 

M8

6 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

If they vaccinate, there is no quarantine requirement. It's been lifted. One of the side benefits to getting vaccinated. Otherwise, they need to quarantine for 3 days and get tested. Or they can just fly into Newark,NJ airport and bypass everything. It's on a voluntary basis there, no follow-up.

 

When did Florida drop the ban on New Yorker's? Friends of mine drove there last June or July. Got stopped by a trooper about an hour away from Tampa and was told they need to quantine for 14 days when they got to Tampa. But he admitted there would be no follow-up, nor would the Tampa heath dept be notified. My friends, being somewhat rebellious like @Keksie ignored the quarantine.  Was BD#47 being a control freak then? 

 

I believe that only lasted through April. It was never enforced. I mean if you wee asked to pull over I believe they gave you a sheet of paper explaining what to do. Same at airports. News crews showed passengers getting the notice when they got into the terminal and most threw them in the trash as they were leaving the airport. We had a friend who lives out on Long Island. He and his family tested positive. He said they were harassed daily to insure they were in their home under quarantine. 
 

I’m not sure the lockdown was helpful at all and Florida NEVER sentenced those in LTC facilities to death by Covid. 
 

We are vaccinated. The boss pretty much had too as she works around Covid patients daily. 
 

M8

20 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

NY/NJ/CT have been coming out of lockdown since early last summer. It's just at a much more....."measured"....pace. Weather last summer was the best in years so we always ate outside even when indoor dining was available. Even hit the beach a few times and only wore a mask to and from the car or going indoors to the restroom/concession stand. While each state set it's own rules, they did coordinate with each other.

 

Mind you, I don't live in NYC. I'm an hour away so the rules are different. I haven't been to NYC since last Feb.  The media focuses more on NYC than the rest of the state. But to give you the long and drawn out explanation if you're really interested: NY was divided into 10 geographic regions: NYC, Long Island and 8 others scattered around the state.  Based on a whole bunch of metrics such as rolling 7 day average of hospitalizations, ICU capacity, % testing positive, R0, etc, etc, certain restrictions on each regions could be lifted. There were initially going to be 4 planned phases. For example, Phase 1 would be outdoor dining at 25% capacity and hair salons allowed to open. Phase 2 could be outdoor dining at 50% and indoor dining a 25%. I don't remember what the exact criteria was for each phase but you get the idea. 

 

At one point, it did get  bit confusing at there would be 5 regions in Phase 3, 4 regions in phase 2 and NYC still stuck in phase 1. But eventually, all the regions outside of NYC quickly synced up so the rules fell into 2 groups: NYC and the rest of the state. NYC was always a phase or two behind the rest of the state.  And as I said earlier  the media focuses on NYC which is not representative of the rest of the state.  That would be like me judging all of Florida based on what happens in Miami.

 

Now, do you want to hear about micro-zones? LOL

 

I know people who work in the city as first responders but live outside the city. The other is a teacher. They can’t come to Florida because returning requires a quarantine. 

That’s not “lockdown”?  It is to me. Control. 
 

M8

49 minutes ago, broberts said:

 

Source?

 

 

This argument suggests that all other factors are non contributing. An obviously incorrect assumption. Demographics, densities, general health, climate, and actual practice to name just a few factors do contribute to outcomes.

It depends on what Kool-Aid one drinks. Florida is fine and wasn’t locked down for more than a month or two. We just had Bikeweek a few weeks back with ~500k people including Spring Breakers. All hotels open and were sold out. No super spreader event here. The control is NOT working. Even Miami, where my son is an ICU Nurse at Florida’s largest hospital, they are fine. 

We actually went to a concert last night. Sold out. Great to be a Floridian. We have dense inner cities. And speaking of those, our Federal Government took over the vaccine distribution (took away from our Governor who is making them look bad) for these dense cities and it appears the vaccines are by all reports, underutilized. 
 

So, what’s wrong with my assumption?

M8

4 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

What states are in lockdown?

 

I've been going out to restaurants and bars to eat and drink since last summer. Both outdoors and indoors. I just don't post it every day on every thread 😉😇.  Just purchased my 20-game season pass to Yankee Stadium. First game in April 6th.  The state does have some bizarre rules about live music. Bars can have bands play but not advertise them. Weird as most local bands have a following & their fans will find them no matter what. Not exactly the strictest of lockdowns.

 

It’s my understanding that NJ/NY have been coming out of lockdown. Are you saying you were never in total lockdown? I’d like to know more. 

Why then I wonder why we have a thread about returning to normalcy?

Thanks

M8

1 minute ago, HBE4 said:

 

Thanks. I did see that earlier.  Of course, it relies on the numbers reported by the state. Of course, I'm sure you know my stance on that by now so no need to rehash😇

 

 

 

I don't know who the doom and gloom people are but on the rest of the post, I agree with you. It's always been about (or should have been about) keeping the hospitals from being overrun. At the very beginning of the pandemic, when there were no covid-19 protocols in effect, a few NYC hospitals were hit hard but where quickly brought under control.  Much faster than expected. 

 

Nice to see both NY & FL doing a great job!

 

I think you know and it’s not you. Some of the same that complained about getting “kicked” out of the CL.  Just doom and gloom. My opinion. 
 

M8

8 minutes ago, time4u2go said:

In any event, 500,000+ more people have died in the US in the last 12 months than normal.

I agree but there doesn’t appear to be much difference in numbers from lockdown States versus States not in lockdown. This is just deaths by State. 
 

However, deaths by 100k, open States are doing much better than those in lockdown.  The two worse States Deaths by 100k are New Jersey and New York. And they have been in some form of lockdown for a year. 
 

It’s hard to keep arguing against the data. Lockdowns are not working but saying so the Government loses control of the people. 
 

M8

14 hours ago, HBE4 said:

 

It's useless to compare any states numbers to Florida as its seems Florida is  consistently under reporting cases & deaths claiming "backlog" or "non-resident"  death (ignoring the fact that the non-resident may spend 8 months of the year living in Florida, contracted covid there and died there) or changing the rules as to what constitutes of Covid death.

 

Below are just a few links dating back to the beginning of the pandemic last year.  I could probably find another dozen if I try hard enough. You don't even need to click into the line to read the report, the title says it all.

 

https://www.sun-sentinel.com/coronavirus/fl-ne-florida-coronavirus-deaths-delays-explanation-20201024-jb2qc2plcvedzi6hg2e4rq2bke-story.html

 

https://www.wfla.com/community/health/coronavirus/covid-19-death-toll-could-be-higher-than-floridas-data-shows-cdc-says/

 

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/opinion/columnists/gil-smart/2020/12/18/floridas-covid-19-numbers-worse-than-we-know-some-say-yes-opinion/6531877002/

 

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/public-health/florida-state-officials-not-releasing-medical-examiners-coronavirus-death-data.html?utm_campaign=bhr&utm_source=website&utm_content=related

 

https://www.salon.com/2020/12/16/desantis-faces-renewed-scrutiny-following-discovery-of-mysterious-gap-in-floridas-covid-death-tally/

 

These really don’t matter. It’s always been about overrunning our healthcare system and hospitals. With few exceptions, Florida Hospitals have not been overrun and still maintaining a 20-25% average ICU bed availability, which is normal. 

Just more Doom and Gloom from the same few. 
 

This link doesn’t remove people based on  Residency.

M8

https://bi.ahca.myflorida.com/t/ABICC/views/Public/ICUBedsCounty?%3AshowAppBanner=false&%3Adisplay_count=n&%3AshowVizHome=n&%3Aorigin=viz_share_link&%3AisGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y&%3Aembed=y&%3AdeepLinkingDisabled=y

44 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Did ours, just waiting for that magic price protection.  Big shock seeing current prices on the invoice. 

That’s for sure. It was sticker shock with the current booking rates. 
 

M8

19 hours ago, BigRoger said:

Just hard to say right now.... would like to be a yes... but... imponderables right now:

- speed of vaccination roll out for over 40

- cost of flights when certain will be vaccinated

- what happening with anthem

- what happening with harmony

- what happening with Rhapsody

- what happening with MSC

- what happening with NCL...

It’s a long list that we need to have at least an educated guess about before we can jump....

 

 

 

Florida is already at age 40 and goes to 18 on April 5th. 
 

M8

1 hour ago, vacationlover_mn said:

Holy cr@p!  Just looked up the price for our Feb 6 cruise, and the grand suite has gone up over $1100!  It had been hovering around $6100 for months, and today I noticed that the price had shot up!  So glad we booked already...

We did a L&S from Empress to Odyssey and got a great price. 
 

M8

7 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Yes, FL is doing great!  I'm early 50s and now fully vaccinated in southeastern, pa.    Morning news just announced mass vaccine site in Phila opened this morning for anyone 18+.   Huge lines, great to see large turnout.

They have 2 lines, 1 for moderna 1 for j&j.

My county giving people choice of moderna or pfizer as of yesterday.  No choice was available when I went for first one early march, but I'm happy I got pfizer.

Glad to see a few States are opening up to 18+.  Reports continue that the Federal sites (inner cities) continue to be underutilized. 
 

M8