toocruisin2

My two cents. 

I was okay with the testing and not so sure about the move to eliminate it; we used emed and it wasn't difficult. 

I have an upcoming cruise on Carnival Mardi Gras in September, so this definitely simplifies things for us; my next Royal cruise in in December. And yes, with or without the testing, we are going on the cruises we have booked.

We were on Oasis last month, and we did have a few cases reported after the cruise returned home; I'd be curious to know how many people tested positive within the two day rule (now three days) and couldn't board the ship. 

If the number of pre-cruise positives was relatively low, then the screenings may have prevented some spread, but not all. 

I ask for steamed milk for my coffee and peanut butter for my English muffins; please don’t judge me. 😊

There will definitely be men in tuxes, so they won’t be alone. Even on the most informal cruises I have been on people will get dressed to the nines.

The only thing about my particular cruise is that formal night is the first evening, and sometimes luggage arrives late, so getting ready may be a hectic proposition, especially if you have an early seating or dinner reservation. 

Whatever you do I hope you have a great time and a great cruise!

I’m on a NYE cruise on Anthem and as of now the men in our party are just wearing dark suits, with ties. The ladies will have dressy dresses, but not gowns. 

That other site has a page dedicated to our cruise, and I haven’t seen any men post they are wearing a tux. 

Hope me that helps, Paul

45 minutes ago, chiguypaul said:

I've found that the people I'm talking to on the phone are very accommodating at working through the vouchers, given you have someone who knows what they are doing. I would still strongly recommend people apply vouchers by phone instead of the site, even if you have to wait on hold.

We had a similar experience yesterday; the associate on the phone was very patient, went through everything in great detail, and we ended up having all our future cruise credits (from a 2020 Oasis cruise RCL cancelled) applied to a 12/31/2021 Anthem cruise and a July 2022 Oasis cruise. As it turns out we got the equivalent of trading the 2020 Oasis for a 2022 Oasis, and as a bonus got a 9 day Anthem for about $1,000 bucks (balcony) for the two of us. The 125% FCC really worked well for us, and I hope it works well for all you all!

I wouldn't pay the extra fee; if I were you I would stay home regardless of what Carnival does.

When I see Mike Pack hosting the Quest.......

44 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Interesting question as I cannot recall Royal having had cruises start and end on Jan 1as everything is closed so I looked and it looks like you must be on the Mariner Dec 28, 2021.  This is the only ship of Royals that has a sailing starting on Jan 1 in any country for both 2022 and 2023. 

 

I am kind of surprised and would have thought they would have turned this one into a 5 night ending on Jan 2 and changed the 5 night departing on Jan 1 into a 4 night departing on Jan 2

We are sailing with friends and kinda have the reverse; we are scheduled to leave on 12/31/2021 out of NJ on the Anthem. Not sure what to expect because it's the first day of the cruise. We've done a cruise with NYE sandwiched between sea days, and that was great!!

Hi all, just my two cents.

If we are sailing from an Eastern US port, we just try to pick the newest ship on RCL, NCL or CCL. 

We did that with the Oasis class, the Breakaway class, Quantum class and Vista class. We are now booked on Mardi Gras and will book Prima when that comes on line. 

We know there are differences between the lines, ships, pricing models and itineraries, but to our small traveling party, things seem to even out. 

Our personal favorite ship is Breakaway, but we had a great time on Horizon; you just can't beat Grand Turk.

Finally, we have homes in NYS and SC, so our next three cruises will be out of NY Harbor and Port Canaveral, allowing us to drive,  avoiding airlines and hotels. That saves us mucho dollars. 

Whatever cruises you select, we hope you have a great time, and smooth sailing!!

On 6/9/2021 at 8:11 PM, deliver42 said:

We live in S.C. and drive the day before and stay at a hotel. Completely rested to have fun when we board.

We're in Bluffton, and we'll probably just drive down the day of the cruise........

So far our traveling party is happy with the clarifications coming from Royal; we are all vaccinated. 
 

Under the current Royal Policy (which will evolve and change) we will sail on Anthem this coming December, on NCL next May and on Carnival in Sept 2022. 
 

For us, no need to change anything. 

56 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Ankle bracelets😱

53 minutes ago, dswallow said:

 

Has to be something reasonably and quickly visible.

Horns? 😈

2 hours ago, RFerrington said:

So it is entirely possible that a fully vaccinated person could well bring COVID onto a ship.  If everyone is not tested prior to boarding how would you ever know for sure that COVID is not present on a sailing ?  So even though an "outbreak" may have been started by a fully vaxxed passenger, it is the unvaxxed that will surely get blamed, even though the unvaxxed will have been tested prior to boarding and NOT be permitted onto the ship, if they test positive (which is entirely correct and fair....so long as it is not a false positive).  
Yeah, that sounds fair....

 

If the vaxxed can be "carriers" and the unvaxxed are going to be required to be tested, it is only logical that EVERYone should be tested prior to boarding.  We cannot permit those "ticking time bomb" vaccinated carriers to be admitted freely onto the ship !!

BTW, in this instance a 95% efficacy rate means that in a group of 1000 vaccinated people, 950 will be Covid free for at least 3 months, and 50 people would test positive for Covid at some point during the 90 days. 

Later her reports are that the efficacy was still very high at 9 months, Dr. Gottlieb a CNBC contributor said he expects the published number will be higher than 85%.

That means on Ship with 4000 crew and guests vaccinated exactly 9 months ago, you could have 600 people who had Covid at one time during during the prior 270 day period. The odds of running into one on a ship and catching Covid is remote even for an unvaccinated pax. 

1 hour ago, RFerrington said:

So it is entirely possible that a fully vaccinated person could well bring COVID onto a ship.  If everyone is not tested prior to boarding how would you ever know for sure that COVID is not present on a sailing ?  So even though an "outbreak" may have been started by a fully vaxxed passenger, it is the unvaxxed that will surely get blamed, even though the unvaxxed will have been tested prior to boarding and NOT be permitted onto the ship, if they test positive (which is entirely correct and fair....so long as it is not a false positive).  
Yeah, that sounds fair....

 

If the vaxxed can be "carriers" and the unvaxxed are going to be required to be tested, it is only logical that EVERYone should be tested prior to boarding.  We cannot permit those "ticking time bomb" vaccinated carriers to be admitted freely onto the ship !!

No problem for me; although I’m vaccinated, if I have Covid I’d sure like to know before I get on a ship with three days at sea. 

7 minutes ago, JoeFan said:

 

For people that are vaccinated and asymptomatic aren't testing, so no positives. This is highlighting a huge problem with breakthrough infections.  All sports teams are vaccinated but are still undergoing frequent mandatory testing. Look at the NY Yankees, they had 9 vaccinated players and staff test positive. 

Correct; and the Yankees have many staff members, so when you factor that in, they probably had about a 5% infection rate; the good news was that it was reported 7 had no symptoms and 2 had mild symptoms. The vaccine doesn’t promise immunity to all, just very low risk of hospitalization and death. 

7 minutes ago, catlady66 said:

The fully vaccinated golfer who was leading by 6 strokes yesterday tested positive & had to withdraw. Remind me again why people are getting vaccinated? 

I believe you made a significant omission; John Rahm was vaccinated after he was alerted via contact tracing that he was exposed. He tested negative for five days, and positive on Saturday forcing him to withdraw from the tournament. 

Other golfers have been allowed to continue, and fans are attending without masks. 

55 minutes ago, TheHawk1 said:

When you're in a store or a restaurant, you're there for like an hour and you can keep your distance from others if you choose?  Whereas a cruise ship is 7@24 in a confined space, for up to a week, with complete strangers.  Do you think you can really stay six feet apart from other cruisers in an elevator or a bar or that you're not breathing re-circulated air in a restaurant or a theatre on a ship?

 

Going on a cruise anywhere in the next year will be a big leap of faith that all the scientists have everything figured out.  It's not making it any easier when cruise lines want to put profits or politics above their customers' safety.

Okay so this is a poll, I stated my opinion. I’m not asking you not to be worried, I said I’m not worried, and I’m not worried. I trust the data that says vaccinated people have about a 5% chance of getting Covid, and no chance of serious illness requiring hospitalization. 

For the most part I like the strangers on a cruise ship better than the ones at Kroger’s. 😉 

I don’t know how things are by you, but here, nobody is wearing masks unless a facility specifically requires it, and we’ve been closer than six feet for months now. 

Anyone concerned about the risks of cruising can stay home; I got the vaccine so that I don’t need to. I’m sailing baby! 

We are booked on Anthem December 31, 2021 out of Bayonne.

Our decision will have less to do with allowing unvaccinated folks on the ship (our family is fully vaccinated), and more to do with RCI's approach should Covid infiltrate the ship.

I intermingle with unvaccinated people all the time in stores, restaurants, etc. so I'm not worried about getting Covid on a ship any more than I would be worried anywhere else.

The issue for me is how RCI will handle a positive case, should it appear on board. Pre-screenings don't always work: Golfer John Rahm was contact traced last Monday as coming into contact with a Covid positive, and he was tested every day until Saturday when he finally tested positive (twice), disqualifying him from a tournament. The other players will be allowed to continue the tournament and spectators will be allowed, without masks.

As long as RCI has a plan that meets my expectations should a case arise, I'm going to sail; if they don't I'll cancel and re-book. It would be unacceptable to me to: force me to wear a mask when I'm vaccinated and have proof via NYS Excelsior Pass; quarantine an entire ship because of a case or cases; force me to stay in my stateroom for 14 days because I came in contact with a Covid positive; abandon ports of call or dis-embarkments because of a case; etc.

If RCI has a plan to handle cases on the ship that doesn't disrupt the sailing, I'll go; if not, I'll cancel, even if they claim 95%, 98% or 100% covid vaccinated. 

NCL Breakaway

RC Allure

Disney Magic

Carnival Horizon

September 2022, and looking forward to being able to drive, not fly, to the port!

Anthem of the Seas, December 31, 2021 out of Bayonne!

My family and I received our first Pfizer dose, and will be fully vaccinated at month's end; we are booked on Anthem for a New Years Ever cruise out of Bayonne, and if it goes, we'll be on it, even if I need to wear a space suit for everyone's protection. 

3 hours ago, gizfish said:

The wording is something to the effect of if you are "fully vaccinated" within 90 days of your travel, you are exempt from the restrictions.  There is no mention of waiting the 2 weeks after last dose to be "fully" immune.  So once the 90 days expire, you have to follow the restrictions.  The 90 day thing is likely to change, and at this point I think few if anyone would even be at that point yet.

Thanks gizfish for a fuller explanation of Cuomo's action. 👍

Here's a link to an article that I found, although the two-week period for the vaccine to be "fully effective" is not mentioned. The CDC guidelines are based upon exposure to covid once vaccinated, as opposed to traveling while vaccinated (during which time you may or may not have been exposed).

My hope is that the 90 day exemption is a first step until further data is available on the persistency of the vaccine defending against covid; if the infection rate for those fully vaccinated stays within the range of the clinical trials for more than 90 days, the CDC may be inclined to increase the time frame of exemption. 

For me the message is that the CDC and NYS is treating vaccinated people differently than un-vaccinated people, and I see that as an acknowledgment that officials are taking a bifurcated view regarding travel restrictions. 

Regarding international travelers, the term is not fully defined; I can see why the CDC and NYS wouldn't want foreign nationals coming to the US to have an exemption because we can't independently verify whether the traveler was actually fully vaccinated. For US Citizens who travel abroad and return after full vaccination in the US, it really doesn't make any sense to have harsher restrictions; the vaccine either works or it doesn't. 

Finally, if a sufficient number of people are vaccinated, and stay free of the virus for 90 days after full vaccination, the spread should slow significantly, meaning even unprotected people will be less likely to contract covid. That will be better for all of us.

https://www.natlawreview.com/article/new-york-state-announces-new-covid-19-travel-guidelines-fully-vaccinated-individuals

Hey all, one bit of positive news for NYers; Governor Cuomo had fairly strict travel restrictions in place for people leaving and entering NY State.

Yesterday the travel restrictions were loosened in that people who are fully vaccinated can travel in and out of NYS without the need to show a negative test and or quarantine.

Hopefully as post-vaccine data is accumulated, those vaccinated can travel in and out of the USA without severe restrictions; I hope that would make cruising a possibility for us this year. I hope 😃

We have one cruise booked for Dec 2021, two more for 2022 and are looking to book Spring 2023 as soon as Alaska cruises open up. We've had four cruises cancelled already, so I'm numbed and resigned to my fate 😃