SS Future Re-Open Plan: Timing, Testing Needs??!!

[clo]

10 hours ago, cruiseej said:

when we will be able to travel,

Whereas I know that being "able to travel" and being willing to travel are, for us, two entirely different times. We're going to sit back and see what winds up happening. We just booked a cruise for Sept. '22 and that's subject to cancelling if we don't like the data.

[Randyk47]

30 minutes ago, Lois R said:

I think Dr's, Nurses, etc (health care workers) should all be in the first group given the 

vaccine......whatever their ages might be......

I think that’s pretty much a given and not age or medical issues driven.   I think selling the notion that the service industry, which would include cruise ship crew and staff, should have high priority might be problematic.   Certainly the cruise lines have the  resources to buy their way into earlier availability.  That could raise a public relationship nightmare not to mention potentially angering public health officials fighting to get vaccine for their population.   

Edited November 23, 2020 by Randyk47

[Randyk47]

https://nypost.com/2020/11/23/qantas-to-require-covid-19-vaccine-for-international-flights/  Realizing this is just one airline and not a country I suspect this is the first of many such announcements.   I think the only reason we haven’t seen more of these announcements is simply because there isn’t a vaccine or vaccines available yet.  Once available it will be interesting to see what countries will do with vaccination requirements.    
 

PS - Sorry Terry I didn’t catch you’d already posted this piece of news.   

Edited November 23, 2020 by Randyk47

[CruiserFromMaine]

I’m perplexed by the CDC announcement that cruising is a cat 4 risk to be avoided? What cruises would we take anyway? Also, they are requiring cruises to do mock cruises before “normal” ones, so that is contradictory. Maybe I missed something?

[Randyk47]

5 minutes ago, CruiserFromMaine said:

I’m perplexed by the CDC announcement that cruising is a cat 4 risk to be avoided? What cruises would we take anyway? Also, they are requiring cruises to do mock cruises before “normal” ones, so that is contradictory. Maybe I missed something?

Other than there are no US based cruises I’m not 100% sure we couldn’t cruise from some other country......if they have any cruises but I haven’t been checking.  Also didn’t they make that recommendation before the SeaDream failure and subsequent cancellation of the rest of their Barbados cruises?    I’m assuming the “mock” cruises, when and if they happen, will be few and far between and at least initially mostly cruise line personnel and whoever gets the monitoring job and then later maybe other “volunteers”.   Not really full up cruising in large numbers.   

[Stumblefoot]

5 hours ago, cruiseej said:

Another factor to think about is the ability of cruise lines to get their crews 100% vaccinated. Consider that most of the crew members aren't in the older age demographic, and so won't be at the head of the line for vaccines.

A governmental carve out is not necessary, because the corporations are acquiring they own vaccinations direct from various manufacturers.

 

4 hours ago, Lois R said:

I think Dr's, Nurses, etc (health care workers) should all be in the first group given the 

vaccine......whatever their ages might be......

Randy is right.  Age has no bearing on front line medical personnel getting vaccinated first.

[Randyk47]

5 minutes ago, Stumblefoot said:

A governmental carve out is not necessary, because the corporations are acquiring they own vaccinations direct from various manufacturers.

Hmmm.....hope they handle that well.  I could see some folks waiting their turn not understanding that they can’t get the vaccine while cruise workers from the same country are skipping the line.    

[TLCOhio]

46 minutes ago, CruiserFromMaine said:

I’m perplexed by the CDC announcement that cruising is a cat 4 risk to be avoided? What cruises would we take anyway? Also, they are requiring cruises to do mock cruises before “normal” ones, so that is contradictory. Maybe I missed something?

 

These "mock cruises" will be like a "TRAINING EXERCISES".  Plus, it will allow the cruise lines an "opportunity" to prove to the CDC, other nations and consumers that these companies can be trusted and that they will not repeat the terrible mis-management that happened by certain officials on cruise ships back in March, April, May, etc.   

 

From MSN News and the Independent newspaper in the UK this afternoon, they had this headline: “CDC says no one should travel on cruise ships in further blow to industry” with these story highlights: “The Centers for Disease Control raised its warning level just weeks after it lifted its months-long ban on cruise ships operating from US ports. The CDC says the warning also includes river cruises and applies worldwide. And they also warned travellers with 'increased risk for severe illness' to avoid cruises. Anyone who does board a cruise ship should get tested three to five days after the trip and isolate at home for seven days regardless of the result, says the CDC. And they advise travellers who do not get tested to isolate for 14 days. Most major cruise lines had already cancelled trips through 2020 but there had been hope they could begin again in earnest next year.   Despite the 'no-sail' order being lifted at the end of October cruise operators now have to go through a string of detailed steps before they can begin voyages again.  These include crew testing and 'simulated voyages' to test 'real world onboard conditions of cruising.' ”

 

As I outlined earlier, my personal view is that the CDC will be a "TOUGH COP" watching and warning a cruise industry that their professionals do not trust many in their industry to be honest and truthful.   The election is over and CDC believes it has more "freedom" now to be aggressive against the cruise lines.   Sorry to be so blunt, but certain companies, especially Carnival, really angered the CDC professionals earlier this year.   AND, even if some cruises could start and return to ports such as Barbados, many other countries and their officials follow closely the rules and requirements mandated by the CDC.  Am I right or wrong with my viewpoint/prediction?

 

Full story at:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/cdc-says-no-one-should-travel-on-cruise-ships-in-further-blow-to-industry/ar-BB1biga5

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Dubrovnik!  Nice visual samples, tips, details, etc., for this super scenic location. Over 47,596 views.    

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1439227

[Randyk47]

8 minutes ago, TLCOhio said:

 

These "mock cruises" will be like a "TRAINING EXERCISES".  Plus, it will allow the cruise lines an "opportunity" to prove to the CDC, other nations and consumers that these companies can be trusted and that they will not repeat the terrible mis-management that happened by certain officials on cruise ships back in March, April, May, etc.   

 

From MSN News and the Independent newspaper in the UK this afternoon, they had this headline: “CDC says no one should travel on cruise ships in further blow to industry” with these story highlights: “The Centers for Disease Control raised its warning level just weeks after it lifted its months-long ban on cruise ships operating from US ports. The CDC says the warning also includes river cruises and applies worldwide. And they also warned travellers with 'increased risk for severe illness' to avoid cruises. Anyone who does board a cruise ship should get tested three to five days after the trip and isolate at home for seven days regardless of the result, says the CDC. And they advise travellers who do not get tested to isolate for 14 days. Most major cruise lines had already cancelled trips through 2020 but there had been hope they could begin again in earnest next year.   Despite the 'no-sail' order being lifted at the end of October cruise operators now have to go through a string of detailed steps before they can begin voyages again.  These include crew testing and 'simulated voyages' to test 'real world onboard conditions of cruising.' ”

 

As I outlined earlier, my personal view is that the CDC will be a "TOUGH COP" watching and warning a cruise industry that their professionals do not trust many in their industry to be honest and truthful.   The election is over and CDC believes it has more "freedom" now to be aggressive against the cruise lines.   Sorry to be so blunt, but certain companies, especially Carnival, really angered the CDC professionals earlier this year.   AND, even if some cruises could start and return to ports such as Barbados, many other countries and their officials follow closely the rules and requirements mandated by the CDC.  Am I right or wrong with my viewpoint/prediction?

 

Full story at:

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/cdc-says-no-one-should-travel-on-cruise-ships-in-further-blow-to-industry/ar-BB1biga5

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Dubrovnik!  Nice visual samples, tips, details, etc., for this super scenic location. Over 47,596 views.    

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1439227

Again I think you are right.   I also think the incoming administration is going to, if they stick to their campaign promises, listen more to the scientist.   I took that as a direct, maybe indirect, reference to the outgoing administration refusing to go with several organizations and individuals’ recommendations including the CDC’s longer lockdown.   Even with a vaccine or vaccines coming available in the next 30 or so days it is going to take months to get it out, administered, and become effective.   

[docruth]

53 minutes ago, TLCOhio said:

 

These "mock cruises" will be like a "TRAINING EXERCISES" ... “CDC says no one should travel on cruise ships in further blow to industry” ... CDC will be a "TOUGH COP" ... Am I right or wrong with my viewpoint/prediction?

 

Terry,

 

Paraphrasing a couple of excellent points I quoted above from your earlier post ... and to answer your question succinctly, YES, the CDC will be a very tough cop, they have to be to stop this, and it’s not going to end anytime soon.

 

Sadly, my rationale behind that statement is really pretty simple, a quarter million people dead in the US, and no inkling that we’re any closer to the end than the beginning. Exponential rise in the number of new cases. A world situation that’s nearly as bad, means things may be a little better, or a little worse, in other parts of the world, but we’re really are just all on the same ship.

 

Spaceship Earth, and she’s really sick, and this pandemic is just one little part of that sickness.

 

Not trying to be an alarmist tree-hugger, anyone who’s seen the plastic island in the middle of the ocean, watched the rainforests disappear, seen the permafrost melt releasing heretofore unknown pathogens millennia in age, or been witness to the environmental disaster of the week knows what I’m talking about. Yes the vaccine and therapeutics will come, hopefully sooner, rather than later. Until then ... we’ll just have to wait and see.

 

Doc Ruth

 

 

Edited November 24, 2020 by docruth

[docruth]

@TLCOhio

 

I just though I’d put this out there as a postscript to my previous grim post.

 

From today’s NY Times article on the “Virus ... Gains Steam All Around”, a nurse’s very telling quote:

 

“Our people are tired,” said Maggie Hansen, the chief nursing executive at Memorial Healthcare System in South Florida. “They’re tired and they don’t see an end in sight.”

 

So, on a more uplifting note ... weather is beautiful here today, the sun is shining, & the ocean is gorgeous. Oh, for sailing together in simpler times.

 

https://www.ftlauderdalebeachcam.com

 

 

Cheers,

 

Doc Ruth

Edited November 25, 2020 by docruth

[CruiserFromMaine]

Interesting developments in the airline world, that has implications for cruising as well. Obviously some issues with privacy, acceptance, etc. but might address the counterfeit test results concern.

https://www.flyertalk.com/articles/lufthansa-jetblue-and-united-sign-on-for-alternate-covid-19-digital-pass.html

 

“As the world works to overcome the pandemic, all countries face the challenge of how to reopen borders for travel and commerce while protecting their populations’ health,” ACI World director general Luis Felipe de Oliveira said in a press release. “Key to this will be a globally-harmonized approach underpinned by cooperation and consistency between all players in the aviation industry.”
 

For aviation, COVID-19 PCR tests are considered the “gold standard” prior to departure. As it stands today, United Airlines and JetBlue both offer PCR tests for flyers prior to departure.

[TLCOhio]

On 11/23/2020 at 8:05 PM, docruth said:

Terry,   Paraphrasing a couple of excellent points I quoted above from your earlier post ... and to answer your question succinctly, YES, the CDC will be a very tough cop, they have to be to stop this, and it’s not going to end anytime soon.   Doc Ruth

 

Appreciate ALL of these great comments and follow-ups, including the very good summary by Doc Ruth.  Happy to see that Doc Ruth posted a more positive note with "I just though I’d put this out there as a postscript to my previous grim post.  From today’s NY Times article on the 'Virus ... Gains Steam All Around' ".  YES, the progress with vaccines is helpful in seeing a future.  It's just a matter of "WHEN" and "HOW"!!??  Many important details are needed to be seen and happening during the coming weeks and months.  

 

Wonderful additional posts and sharing from CruiserFromMaine and Randy.  Keep it coming!!

 

 From Bloomberg News and the Seattle Times this past week, they had this headline: “Cruise lines like Seattle’s Windstar have new ships worth billions ready to sail with nowhere to go” with these highlights: “Normally when a new cruise ship wraps construction at a shipyard, it’s cause for a party, with free-flowing Champagne and executives in sharp suits. But this is 2020, with border restrictions and a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic freezing all kinds of travel.  At least 10 ships — ranging in cost from $75 million to near $1 billion — have wrapped construction amid the pandemic, representing an industry investment of more than $3.84 billion. Another three ships debuted at the beginning of the year. Most are stuck in holding pattern until the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its counterparts around the world green light a return to cruising.  Many of these debuts should have been media juggernauts for the ships’ parent companies, none more so than Seattle-based Windstar Cruises’ first 'stretched' ship, which debuted this month after being cut in half and stitched back together with an extra 84 feet in its midsection. 'Who would have thought a year ago that you would bring out a ship and not immediately put it into operations?' says Christopher Prelog, president of Windstar Cruises. Originally set to sail on June 29 before a delivery delay, Star Breeze will be held in place until the end of March, costing Windstar about a million dollars a week.”

 

From the Wall Street Journal this morning, they had this headline: “China Is Ready to Restart Cruises, but Big Companies Are Left Out” with this sub-headline: "Royal Caribbean and Carnival spent the past decade carving out China’s cruise market, but can’t yet participate in its revival."   Here are some of their story highlights: “Battered international cruise operators are keenly awaiting the reopening of the Chinese market. They’re going to have to wait a little longer.  China is set to resume cruises in December, as its economy revives and the pandemic remains largely under control. The catch is the international cruise lines that spent the past decade building the market from scratch aren’t invited to the party. With standard cruise routes from China to destinations such as Japan and Vietnam shut down by global travel restrictions, the country is tiptoeing back in with cruises to nowhere that start and finish in the sunny southern Chinese resort island of Hainan with no stops in between.  The government awarded the first permit to ply that route to Astro Ocean International Cruise Co. Ltd., a joint venture between two state-owned juggernauts. International operators such as Carnival Corp and Royal Caribbean Group, which would need an exemption from Chinese laws that ban foreign vessels from doing business between the country’s ports, haven’t been given approval to sail.  Zinan Liu, chairman of Royal Caribbean Asia, said he expects mainland Chinese ports to be among the last in Asia to reopen to foreign-flagged cruise ships, which have already been allowed to sail in Singapore and Taiwan.”

 

Full stories at:

https://www.seattletimes.com/business/cruise-lines-like-seattles-windstar-have-new-ships-worth-billions-ready-to-sail-with-nowhere-to-go/

https://www.wsj.com/articles/china-is-ready-to-restart-cruises-but-big-companies-are-left-out-11606559435?mod=hp_lead_pos9

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Athens & Greece: Many visuals, details from two visits in a city with great history, culture and architecture.  Now at 36,790 views.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1101008

[Gourmet Gal]

On 11/22/2020 at 9:27 AM, worldtraveller99 said:

I think the point is that if everyone who could end up in hospital is vaccinated then people like your wife (and my husband) Chrism may not need to be vaccinated at all. The virus could end up just being like having a cold for them, and hopefully cruising and all travel could resume?

 

So please don't offer to pay $25,000 for her to be vaccinated! Luckily there are hopefully not many 40 year old hedge fund managers to push the price up - well not in the UK anyway.

 

Wait, what?  You do know that anyone, any age can become seriously sick with COVID-19, have long-term health consequences and can die?  The more people vaccinated the better.  

[clo]

35 minutes ago, Gourmet Gal said:

Wait, what?  You do know that anyone, any age can become seriously sick with COVID-19, have long-term health consequences and can die?  The more people vaccinated the better.  

It's those long term things that add another layer to the problem. Like organ transplants, deadly heart problems. And I just saw on the news a woman who already has had a double lung transplant.

[worldtraveller99]

Yes but.....  These small number of people are terrifying I appreciate, but I understand that 90% of those who have died were over 70 AND with diabetes etc. We do the best for our ourselves if we lose weight now.  I know I am not a great example of this, but I am going walking most days, and trying not to eat chocolate. 

 

PS Everyone can get unlucky - but you don't put your life on hold in case you get hit by a bus do you?

 

PPS I do want everyone to be vaccinated, I just trust that enough would be for the virus to die out naturally.

[worldtraveller99]

Glad to hear that chrism23, I agree with you re the White House etc.  I think one day there will need to be a COVID vaccination certificate - as there is currently for yellow fever - before most countries will let you in. And if it is every year, so be it.

[Randyk47]

Got a call from the Concierge Desk, basically just another name for Personal Cruise Consultant(s),  at Silversea yesterday.   The PCC, who I can’t mention by name, called to say he had emailed me their latest 2021 and 2022 schedule.   We had talked before a few months ago and he had kept good notes as he knew without prompting that Mrs K is in post-graduate school and we couldn’t cruise again until at least August 2021.   Our conversation turned to the pandemic and the road ahead.  I want to stress he was not speaking officially for Silversea and much of what we talked about was his own thinking.  We specifically focused on the availability of a vaccine or vaccines.   While he said it obviously had been talked about there is no official position of Silversea at this time.  Personally he fully expects vaccination may be required but that most probably would be driven by countries.   

[TLCOhio]

4 hours ago, worldtraveller99 said:

Glad to hear that chrism23, I agree with you re the White House etc.  I think one day there will need to be a COVID vaccination certificate - as there is currently for yellow fever - before most countries will let you in. And if it is every year, so be it.

 

Agree that some type of "vaccine certification" might be required and/or done for those traveling and cruising in the future.  Above, you mentioned about what happens with yellow fever.  Good point and mention.  

 

As we prepared for our 2015 Amazon River cruise on the Silver Cloud, we faced that specific health requirement.  But as we worked to meet that requirement, we discovered that my wife had an immune issue and taking such a "live vaccine" was not best and/or safe for her.  Our solution?  We had a letter from a MD specifically speaking to her limitations and why she did not take that live vaccine.  That worked for us.  Clearly, there will be a variety of reasons, good and bad, why people might not want to be involved with such a vaccine.  Clearly, there will need to be some "fine-tuning" of the rules to allow for those with legitimate reasons (versus those excuses based on gossip, guesses and speculation).  As I understand, these potential Covid vaccines are not of the "live" type that might present a danger to people such as my wife.  

 

This thread is now over 60,000 views.  Appreciate all of the excellent comments, postings, questions and follow-ups.  Keep it coming!!

 

From the New York Times this morning, they had this headline: “U.K. Becomes First Country to Approve Pfizer Vaccine” with these highlights: “Britain gave emergency authorization on Wednesday to Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine, leaping ahead of the United States to become the first Western country to allow mass inoculations against a disease that has killed more than 1.4 million people worldwide.  The decision kicked off a vaccination campaign with little precedent in modern medicine, encompassing not only ultracold dry ice and trays of glass vials but also a crusade against anti-vaccine misinformation.  Britain beating the United States to authorization — on a vaccine codeveloped by the American pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, no less — may intensify pressure on U.S. regulators, who are already under fire from the White House for not moving faster to get doses to people. And it has stirred up a global debate about how to weigh the desperate need for a vaccine with the imperative of assuring people that it is safe.  While the go-ahead bodes well for Britain, which broke from the European Union’s regulatory orbit to approve the shot early, it will have no effect on the distribution of the hundreds of millions of doses that other wealthy countries have procured in prepaid contracts.”

 

All of this in the UK and US about vaccines are encouraging and positive news.  BUT, many, many questions still remain as to how the millions and billions of doses will be prepared, distributed, checked, verified, etc., etc.  AND, most important, how effective, FOR HOW LONG, will be this new medical option.  

 

Full story at:

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2020/12/02/world/covid-19-coronavirus

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Lisbon, NWSpain, Bordeaux/Brittany: Live/blog, June 2017 from Portugal to France along scenic Atlantic Coast on the Silver Spirit.  Now at 31,242 views.  Many interesting pictures, details for history, food, culture, etc.:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2511358

[worldtraveller99]

I will tell you all what it is like when I get it - but I am group 9 I think and husband is Group 10 - but all aiming to be injected by summer! So have booked for an end-November 2021 Xmas market Rhine river cruise (Tauck). Crossing all fingers. Still waiting to postpone my 2021 SS Alaska cruise  to 2022, just in case all vaccinators go crazy and Canada opens up this summer?

[TLCOhio]

On 12/2/2020 at 11:38 AM, worldtraveller99 said:

I will tell you all what it is like when I get it - but I am group 9 I think and husband is Group 10 - but all aiming to be injected by summer! So have booked for an end-November 2021 Xmas market Rhine river cruise (Tauck). Crossing all fingers. Still waiting to postpone my 2021 SS Alaska cruise  to 2022, just in case all vaccinators go crazy and Canada opens up this summer?

 

Very good above comment and follow-up.  Here in the USA, we have not gotten beyond the expected priorities for those in nursing homes and health care workers as being first-in-line.  Being a "seasoned-citizen", we should be in the receiving line earlier than most.  Maybe late January or February or early March??!!  

 

From the New York Times yesterday, they had this headline: “A Covid-Free Cruise Takes Planning" and then this sub-head: "Singapore allows cruises to nowhere, helping a struggling industry. That means socially distanced buffet lines, electronic monitoring and hand sanitizer at the slot machines.”

 

Here are some of thew story highlights: “In a vision of the future of the global cruise industry, passengers aboard the World Dream cruise liner wore small pink contact-tracing pods that monitored their locations and recorded the names of everybody they met with. 'We aboard the World Dream are doing our utmost to keep your cruise with us healthy,' Robert Bodin, the ship’s captain, told his 1,400 passengers as they set sail, in a departure from his usual invitation to relax and enjoy the journey.  The World Dream departs from Singapore two or three times a week on a cruise to nowhere, a rare beacon of hope for an industry under mortal threat. In February, the world watched in horror as the coronavirus infected more than 200 people aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship, trapping its 3,600 passengers and crew. Governments banned cruises, crews were sent home, and passengers canceled their bookings, idling an industry that employed more than one million people. Singapore, along with several countries in Europe as well as Japan, has extended the cruise business a lifeline. As many ships sit idle around the world, the city-state has encouraged voyages on a limited and highly controlled basis.  To find out how this was possible, I booked a three-day voyage on the World Dream. Friends and colleagues wondered why I would want to go on what some of them called 'a floating petri dish.' Their fears weren’t baseless. U.S. health officials suggest people avoid cruise ships and have said operators must set out a framework for how cruising could restart.”

 

Here is more: "I contacted infectious-disease experts to ask about the risks.  'When I first saw your email, I thought: ‘Bad idea,’ ' said Dr. Edward Ryan, director of global infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital. Still, he and others told me that Singapore’s restrictions made cruises look safe.   The World Dream offers just about everything it did before the coronavirus struck, said Genting, including a zip line, two pools, a casino, 11 restaurants and cafes, and various shows. Only the karaoke room was closed, per Singaporean government guidelines.  Singapore requires passengers take a coronavirus test before boarding. Instead of Hong Kong, Okinawa or another sunny destination, the ship would dock nowhere but Singapore. Capacity has been slashed in half, to a limit of 1,700 guests."

 

This is a long and highly-detailed report with many visuals, etc.  Interesting??!!  But for me, a short "Cruise to Nowhere" is not any type of priority for me.  Reactions, loves, hates, etc., from others?  Ready to sign up and pay your money for such a sailing?

 

Full story at:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/03/business/singapore-cruise-covid-19.html

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Barcelona/Med: June 2011, with stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Great visuals with key highlights, tips, etc. Live/blog now at 252,414 views.

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

 

From the NY Times, here is their visual and headline for their story on one of the first sailings from Singapore under these new rules/standards.:

(Open your screen/viewer wider to see this visual larger/better!)

 

[TLCOhio]

From FOX News two days ago, they had this headline: “Royal Caribbean sailing first cruise since COVID-19 suspension 9 months ago” with these highlights: “Royal Caribbean’s first cruise in nearly nine months set sail on Tuesday, marking another step forward to normalcy for the industry that has largely been put on hold by the COVID-19 pandemic. The cruise line has scheduled three- and four-night “ocean getaway” cruises aboard the Quantum of the Seas through March. The voyages are round trips from and to  Singapore with no stops along the way. Royal Caribbean is accepting only Singapore residents as passengers for the trips.  The ship has more than 2,000 staterooms, but Royal Caribbean has said it would reduce guest capacity to no more than 50% occupancy.  Every passenger and crew member is required to test negative for COVID-19 before boarding. And the ship has upped its cleaning standards and medical facilities in response to the pandemic. In the event a guest or someone in their party does test positive for the virus within three weeks before cruising, Royal Caribbean will provide a 100% refund or future cruise credit.  Cutting those longer cruises was necessary as Royal Caribbean works to meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s requirements for cruise ships to return to service in U.S. waters. Operators will need to demonstrate to the CDC that they have health protections in place for every step of a cruise, from embarking to onboard activities to any shore excursions.”

 

Clearly these "Cruises to Nowhere" will be a part of the process for the cruises lines to prove to CDC and other government units around the world (PLUS CONSUMERS!) that their plans are solid and safe. 

 

Full story at:

https://www.foxnews.com/travel/royal-caribbean-sailing-first-cruise-covid-19-suspension-nine-months

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

Panama Canal? Early 2017, Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco adventure through Panama Canal.  Our first stops in Colombia, Central America and Mexico, plus added time in the great Golden Gate City. Now at 30,226 views.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2465580

[TLCOhio]

From the Orlando newspaper link below a few minutes ago, they had this headline: “Disney Cruise Line follows suit, cancels sailings until March” with these highlights: “Disney Cruise Line followed other lines in canceling sailings through February 2021. This week, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line and MSC Cruises all took at least another month of sailings off the books as they gear up to satisfy requirements from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention amid the coronavirus pandemic.  Now Disney has pushed sailings for all four of its ships into March with Port Canaveral sailings of Disney Dream still slated for March 1 and Disney Fantasy for March 6. Disney Magic on March 1 from PortMiami and Disney Wonder on March 12 from San Diego.  The cruise industry has been shut down since mid-March, so if they do make it back in three months, it will have been almost a full year out of business.”

 

Full story at:

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/florida-cruise-guide/os-tr-cru-disney-cruise-line-cancels-sailings-until-march-20201204-6w7paeyjonbwhijdn44z34oa5u-story.html

 

THANKS!  Enjoy!  Terry in Ohio

 

From late 2018, see “Holy Lands, Egypt, Jordan, Oman, Dubai, Greece, etc.”, with many visuals, details and ideas for the historic and scenic Middle East. Now at 19,108 views.  Connect at:

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2607054-livenautica-greece-holy-lands-egypt-dubai-terrypix’s/

[worldtraveller99]

Thank you Terry, but this is all about the cruise lines trying to make some money now - which is fair enough. But I am hoping to cruise when all passengers and crew (aged over 50 say), have been vaccinated - this year or next. Surely it will be different - and more normal - then?

[jimdee3636]

They say you have to crawl before you can walk, and these Cruises to Nowhere are the equivalent of a baby crawling. I'm glad RCCI and other lines are doing them, and if I lived in Singapore and had a few days with nothing better to do I'd volunteer for one. I'm sure it would be an interesting experience. But there's no way I'd get on a plane to fly to L.A. or Miami for something like that. Let's hope these test cruises are a big success, so that the baby can start walking and keep walking!