JAMESCC

Oxford is also a very respectable and trustworthy organization. I believe them when they say the test results are looking good. 

I agree, they wouldn't do anything to hurt anyone. They will make sure it's safe.

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I just watched a doctor on YouTube talk about "herd immunity" and it's a bit complicated because this virus is so new.

He said herd immunity is 70% or more infected and developed antibodies. The problems this time is obviously it's new and they are not sure if these antibodies last or how long they last at all. They are seeing unfortunately antibodies disappear in 8-9 weeks which he says is unusual. That may in the end not be there case but right now that is what they are seeing.

The vaccine is interesting. Oxford is the one I most have followed and they seem to be doing great, great work. I trust them that they will not endanger anyone with their vaccine. I would think with the vaccine it would be the same as the herd immunity, 70% or more would need to achieve the immunity we need.

As I have said I will get it when it becomes available to the masses. I'm not worried about it.

 

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I've never met a DUMB truck driver. When I'm with one I always have a million questions [emoji846] And you would likely be considered "essential."

Thank you, I didn't mean to offend. More of a stereotype joke but I guess wasn't too funny. [emoji1787] Yeah we are considered essential, we worked right through the pandemic. They give us time off to watch our kids if needed which was nice.

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Don’t put yourself down. There is nothing wrong with being a truck driver.

I was only joking but you're right.I make actually decent money driving a truck. We don't just drive trucks, we do manual labor, sort of construction, landscaping work, fixing things, pipe jobs, cleaning areas, jack of all trades kind of place. Snow plow in the winter too.
As long as I make enough to get a balcony every year on a Royal Caribbean ship I'm good. A bit clousterphobic so no insider cabins for me.

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The US government has not asked everyone to get a flu shot in the autumn. And even if they did, many, many would not. If you cannot even get people to wear a mask in a grocery store that covers both their mouth and their nose, how are you ever going to get them to get a flu shot?

I will never go without the flu shot again. I had the flu in March 2019 that knocked me on my butt. I miss 6 days of work and it was just awful. It turned to bronchitis after that. It was miserable and I vowed never to go without the flu shot. I figure it's worth a shot and if it knocks the effects down by half I'm still good with that.
Man that was the worst I every got the flu. It kicked my butt. Our son who was 5 at the time got it first and recovered fairly quickly and then my wife and I got it. And got it bad.

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Just how much money do you have?  or Just who do you know???

I ain't got 2 nickels to rub together and I know no one. There is going to be millions of vaccine shots right off the bat on this one. I bet within 6 months I will be able to get it or sooner actually I woukd say.
I'm just a dumb truck driver that takes a cruise every year with a few extra sheckles I scrap together. I do get 4 weeks vacation though so that's nice.

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Lenny- the Oxford/Astra Zeneca vaccine which is in trials, is already producing up to 2 billion doses just in case it is efficient, so that people can be vaccinated as soon as possible.
The UK government has announced that the first people to have this are front-line workers; people with underlying conditions, and everyone aged 50 years and over.
There has been no mention of any payment for this.
Also the government has asked everyone to also have the flu jab this autumn so that there is no mistaking the symptoms of one for the other.  

I bet I'll be able to a vaccine shot pretty quickly here in America as well. Right after front line workers. I'm not worried about it.

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If the US gets it first the Administration won't get any credit for advancing it.  Political opponents will argue that 1) it was rushed e.g., Operation Warp Speed, 2) the wrong one was chosen, and 3) you'll risk your health by taking it.

Well there is a whole lot of reason they won't get any credit that I will not going into here.

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Oh yeah I've been following his channel since this crisis started. He is home now or on his was home to Alaska. Great and interesting info on what it was like on an empty cruise ship just costing Royal Caribbean money by the minute.

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Cruise ships are incubators as their configuration leads to viral spread among passengers and crew.  Norwalk proved that long before COVID-19.  The odds of catching the virus from another passenger on a flight are comparatively low because you are on it for hours instead of days and there is less repeated contact among air passengers. 
 
You might have one or two infected passengers on an aircraft.  When the cruise ship pulls in you might have a boatload. 
   

I will concede that 5-6 thousand people on a ship is not a great idea with infected people on it. That would be dangerous. I just think planes are very dangerous too and they seem to be getting a pass.
Ah the whole world is a mess right now. Nothing is good about this pandemic. There really seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. I mean a vaccine would be nice but there are still questions after that. Who will get it, and I don't mean who will be selected but who will get it. I mean I know I will but how many will refuse. Is herd immunity a real thing? What a mess we are all in. [emoji24]

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This was what was posted  "dismayed at how cruise lines have managed the pandemic, and astonished that lines are apparently selling cruises that have no likelihood of sailing."
 
maybe there is a level of denial of the magnitude of the problem and there’s a certain amount of wishful thinking in recovery.”  He also said he suspects the cruise lines have only recently begun to grapple with the gravity of the challenge at hand"
 
You did read and then you twisted the whole thing, LOL.
 
Cruise ship are great incubators with their close proximity of large crowds from all over the world.   Little social distancing and little safety protocol.  They most certainly will incubate and spread among the passengers, there is ample evidence of that.

I didn't twist a thing pal, sorry. I do not believe they are selling cruises that have no chance to sail and consumers have the ability to choose or not choose to book these cruises.
Please stop with the BS incubator BS, please just stop. Planes have the ability to fly millions of people per day that are asymptomatic and then those people go off into countries and could spread. There is absolutely no difference between planes and cruises.

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Yes. One wonders if the undoubtedly large payment he is receiving as the newly minted "co-chair" of the RCL + NCL "Healthy Sail" panel has anything to do with that change of opinion?

Oh Scott Gotlieb, I know this guy, he is on cnbc almost every day now. I'm not saying he is not dedicated to people's health but he is on like 5 different boards I think of drug companies. To me he seems like a guy that is just cashing in paychecks and is about making as much money as possible. I'm not saying that is a bad thing, we all are trying to do the same but just seems a bit more into the cashing paychecks thing.

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Ok I read the article and I still believe the CDC is not being fair and they are very dismissive of the cruise lines in general. That is just my opinion.

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Sorry, but it's kind of futile to argue points with someone who doesn't read the information and already has their mind made up regarding the 'facts'. 
 
 

I read what you posted. The highlights are enough to be annoyed with.

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I didn't read the full article but just what you posted but I'm sorry this is a bunch of BS. Can they actually prove that cruise ships spread anything into the US? But hey planes, airports I guess are the golden child here and didn't spread a thing. Millions of people coming in from all over the world in January, February and March didn't spread anything I guess? I mean give me a break, and planes are allowed to fly and they are selling every single seat, middle seat an all.

By the way I'm not complaining airlines are doing that, fine by me but when people say cruises aren't being singled out I have to laugh. If they have their way the cruises lines will be out of business.

The last I heard about this "guidance" was, hospital ships all over the world. Yeah that sounds feasible. I'm not saying cruises should start tomorrow and fill em up and send them out but there is a middle ground here that the CDC is being short sighted and not cooperative. But hey that is just me opinion.

 

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I do wonder if that is part of it.  My whole family gets the flu shot every year, no big deal at all.
 
Orlando
 

I got the flu so freaking bad,I mean so bad I'm 2019, March 2019 that I vowed never ever to go without the flu shot. I mean is it 100%, of course not but I can't take the chance again. I was out of work for 6 days early in the year and I was hurting bad. I don't remember ever having the flu that bad before. Then it turned into to bronchitis. What a disaster.
So now when we sit there at Walgreens, my wife and son too, to get the flu shot we will sit just a few minutes longer for the Covid vaccine. No biggie to me at all.
Oh my son, he was 5 at the time got the flu first, probably from school, gave it to me and then my wife. Somehow my mom didn't get it and she was around us all a little bit. Thank God she didn't though. Now we all go together to get the flu shot and smile as we get it. [emoji3][emoji3][emoji3]

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Steve,
 
   Just to run this thread out, you think people will be more afraid of the vaccine than the disease?   I think there are plenty of people that will line up for the vaccine, me included, as I have a handicapped son who is in the high risk category and I want him to be safe.
 
Orlando

Count me in that lineup to get the vaccine. I'll trake my regular flu shot and then this shot. No biggie at all. Everyone else who is on the conspiracy train can walk around not protected.

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The CDC has issued an RFI (Request For Information) on the resumption of passenger cruising.  All comments are welcome (i.e. organization, individual, anonymous).  The link below takes you to the comment page.  You should first download the RFI itself as it asks for comments on specific questions.  There are a lot of questions.  If you've got the time and want to be heard, this is a good opportunity to tell them what you think.
 
Here's the link to download the RFI text and read the specific questions being asked 
https://beta.regulations.gov/document/CDC-2020-0087-0001
 
Here's the link to the comments page....
https://beta.regulations.gov/search?filter="CDC–2020–0087"

Even if you don't want to take the time to comment, reading the RFI text will give you insight into the kind of things the CDC is considering.
 
 

Oh wow, very cool. I will give them some insight or my thoughts.

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People are always arguing about how long we can go before we HAVE to have cruising for our favorite company to survive.  I was reading a piece this morning from yahoo finance today that had an analyst that lowered projected price points on all 3 major stocks but had this to say about the latest cash raised and how long NCL can go.  Seems to me this is pretty good news for anyone holding stock, since I think most can agree we should have some sailing by the end of next year.  BTW, Carnival was estimated as good until July, even with all the ships sold.
 

Norwegian plans to use the $1.4 billion in proceeds from the debt and equity offering it announced last week to pay down its $675-million revolver, Didora said.

With beefed-up liquidity of $3 billion, a cash burn rate of $120 million to $160 million per month and an estimated $35 million per month in cash refunds, the analyst said he expects Norwegian's liquidity to last through November 2021.

This estimate assumes continued suspension of cruises and no improvement in cash refunds. 

 

Interesting, I have read that all 3 big lines can last nearly until 2022. Let's pray to the Lord we don't need that long. I love all 3 big lines, we need all three to be in business competing against each other. Plus we all have our favorite line, I would not want to see one disappear.

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Port fees and taxes change all the time.  If you do a mock booking on a cruise you booked a while ago, there is an excellent chance that the fees on the new booking are different than what you have on your reservation.
 
Tom

Yeah that would he my guess also. With the virus i wouldn't be surprised the port fees and taxes go way up.

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Different Port Fees and Taxes???

Yes, that's what I was told but it's the same ports. [emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787] Oh well no biggie.

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My lift and shift worked perfectly but we went from Oasis Coco Cay to the same exact cruise just in August 2021 from Sept 2020. We owe 65 bucks which I don't get but 65 bucks is not a big deal.

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Since we were not going to Maine this summer (month of August in Alaska this year) I did schedule a 9 night NE/Canada out of Baltimore in June and another with 5 night B2B with Bermuda for September of this year.  Well....we know what happened to those cruises.  [emoji20]  Normally though, we are in Maine from June through September.  I already miss it dearly.  

I was planning to book us a 9 night NE/Canada cruise with the rest of our FCC but unfortunately can't under the rules.
Our May Oasis cruise was cancelled, used FCC to book Sept. And that was cancelled. Lift and shift to August 2021 (fare for 3, 1,355 in a central park balcony) which is why we had to lift and shift that fare. Now we can't use the rest of the FCC till after August 2021 cruise. We have to then book before December 31 and sail by April 30th 2022 which is not gonna be easy.
My guess is when the full 2022 schedule is released the deadline for sailing with FCC will be expanded.

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If we dig deep, a silver lining to being banned from travel to almost everywhere outside the US is that we are more or less "forced" to see the greatness that is our own country and pump our tourist dollars right back into our own economy!
 
My personal recommendation is to spend a few days seeing Seattle & the islands and then spend a week or so driving down the PCH along the Oregon coast to San Francisco, stopping to spend time in the charming beach towns along the way.  The pacific coastline is breathtaking and will make you wonder why you ever wanted to vacation outside the US!

We actually had this same idea a few weeks ago after our second cruise was cancelled. We wanted to hop on Amtrak and go somewhere. First we wanted to take Amtrak to Vermont for a few days/week but Amtrak due to the virus isn't going all the way to Vermont, stops in Connecticut right now. Then we were thinking of going to Maine for a week. Amtrak to Portland and then explore different parts of the state. In the end we just felt it wasn't even there right time to do that, and just save the money.

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Nah..not lucky.  Planned!  [emoji6]  Left the cold winters of Michigan in the early 80s.  
 
Though I am not a fan of our hot and humid summers at all.  Normally we spend the summers in Maine...gosh I love Maine in the summer!!  [emoji7]   This year we cancelled our Maine plans to be able to travel to Alaska next month, doing 2 week land tour and B2B Radiance (so much for those cruises [emoji20] ).   
 
Still hoping the Bahamians open their doors back up for our Harmony December cruise to dock there.  I wouldn't even care if I got off the ship.  Just want to cruise again.  

Ah that is a splendid idea. Maine summers and Florida winters! Maine is my favorite state I have visited, I just love it. We have taken 2 cruises to Maine/Canada, 1st was out honeymoon and I could have just unpacked and started forever. The fall is stunningly gorgeous.
Florida winters must be just incredible. As I said I'd love to walk out if the house on Christmas day and it be 70+ degrees.
We are planning to do another 9 day Canada/NE cruise with the rest of our FCC. Not sure we will be able to with the rules Royal Caribbean has on FCC. Just the dates don't mesh the deadline for using FCC.

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