CDC Requests Input on Resumption of cruises and the public can participate

[sandebeach]

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/07/21/2020-15812/request-for-information-related-to-cruise-ship-planning-and-infrastructure-resumption-of-passenger Very interesting, and the public can participate and make comments. Lots of questions, and looks like you can comment on any or all of them. 

[danv3]

Comments due September 21, 2020.  That means there's no chance cruises restart on October 1 (not that there really was anyway).  

[sandebeach]

11 minutes ago, danv3 said:

Comments due September 21, 2020.  That means there's no chance cruises restart on October 1 (not that there really was anyway).  

Yeah I was just thinking the same thing. 

[molly361]

5 minutes ago, sandebeach said:

Yeah I was just thinking the same thing. 

Me three  Was going to say that getting comments back on Sept 21 was cutting it pretty close to when they start sailing again on October 1   Sometimes I crack myself up🙄

[plosfas]

These feel like questions I am in no way qualified to answer 🙂

[Milwaukee Eight]

Me 4

[Milwaukee Eight]

I believe these are some items the Cruise industry has failed to address. 
 

6. What should be the medical capacity to manage an outbreak or a severe case of COVID-19 on board the ship?

a. What arrangements should cruise ship operators have with private companies to transport and obtain medical care shoreside for passengers and crew with severe COVID-19?

7. What pre-arrangements should be made to ensure that all U.S. seaport communities will accept a returning ship after a COVID-19 outbreak is identified?

8. What plans should cruise ship operators have for operationalizing shoreside quarantine facilities in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak on board a ship, without exposing the public and without relying on Federal, State, or local resources?

9. Due to obstacles with commercial travel thus far, what pre-arrangements should cruise ship operators make with the airline industry to accept crew and passengers from ships not affected by COVID-19?

10. How should cruise ship operators address specific country travel restrictions that emerge as COVID-19 activity increases in geographical areas, such as

a. border closures preventing passengers and crew from repatriating?

b. seaport closures preventing porting of ships?

c. embarking passengers originating from countries with heightened COVID-19 activity?

11. What measures should cruise ship operators be required to take to reduce the burden on U.S. government resources if foreign seaports deny cruise ships the ability to come into port during a voyage?

 

[orville99]

54 minutes ago, plosfas said:

These feel like questions I am in no way qualified to answer 🙂

Quite true. The intended "public" audience for these questions is the cruise lines, CLIA, Coast Guard, port authorities, state and local government, medical agencies, etc. While any one of us may freely participate and supply responses, the reality is that unless the response comes from one of those recognized entities or an established public advocacy group with "skin in the game", those responses will be logged and then promptly ignored.

[CSHS1979]

1 hour ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

I believe these are some items the Cruise industry has failed to address. 
 

6. What should be the medical capacity to manage an outbreak or a severe case of COVID-19 on board the ship?

5% of the crew and passengers

a. What arrangements should cruise ship operators have with private companies to transport and obtain medical care shoreside for passengers and crew with severe COVID-19?  Set up a field hospital at that hotel in Freeport

7. What pre-arrangements should be made to ensure that all U.S. seaport communities will accept a returning ship after a COVID-19 outbreak is identified? Cash is king

8. What plans should cruise ship operators have for operationalizing shoreside quarantine facilities in the event of a COVID-19 outbreak on board a ship, without exposing the public and without relying on Federal, State, or local resources? Lots of new vacant hotels in Pt Canaveral

9. Due to obstacles with commercial travel thus far, what pre-arrangements should cruise ship operators make with the airline industry to accept crew and passengers from ships not affected by COVID-19? Maybe limit passengers to drive in only

10. How should cruise ship operators address specific country travel restrictions that emerge as COVID-19 activity increases in geographical areas, such as

a. border closures preventing passengers and crew from repatriating?

b. seaport closures preventing porting of ships?

c. embarking passengers originating from countries with heightened COVID-19 activity?

Limit visits to the Bahamas, limit passengers to North American residents

11. What measures should cruise ship operators be required to take to reduce the burden on U.S. government resources if foreign seaports deny cruise ships the ability to come into port during a voyage? Why does this matter, looks same as 10b

 

 

Thoughts in Red

Edited July 24, 2020 by CSHS1979

[sandebeach]

10 minutes ago, Dwight1 said:

I heard somewhere that CDC believes no possibility of cruising until at least April 1.


Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Yes I have also heard that rumor. 

[zekekelso]

These are the same sort of questions the CDC has back in March. It’s four months later, and as far as I know the major cruise lines have no answers. Until they have an answer, I don’t think we are cruising until Covid is essentially gone. 

[zekekelso]

57 minutes ago, CSHS1979 said:

 

Thoughts in Red

Appreciate your thoughts. But if I may nitpick, there’s no way in hell the Bahamas is letting anybody set up a field hospital in Freeport. Or Nassau. I wonder if they’d allow it in Coco Cay. No way any American city allows it either. Are there empty islands off the coast of the US the cruises could buy?

[cruisequeen4ever]

I appreciate that we can give input! Thank you for sharing!

[CSHS1979]

2 hours ago, zekekelso said:

Appreciate your thoughts. But if I may nitpick, there’s no way in hell the Bahamas is letting anybody set up a field hospital in Freeport. Or Nassau. I wonder if they’d allow it in Coco Cay. No way any American city allows it either. Are there empty islands off the coast of the US the cruises could buy?

 

Gotta start looking somewhere. Didn't think Coco Cay had the necessary infrastructure 

 

Is Epstein's island vacant?

Edited July 24, 2020 by CSHS1979

[Grambler]

I would feel more comfortable if once there is a vaccine, cruisers would have to show proof they have been vaccinated prior to boarding. The  only way to eradicate the virus completely is if  a great majority of the population gets vaccinated. The higher that percentage is, the lower the efficacy of the vaccine can be and at this time we can only guess how effective a virus will be.

 

[Ashland]

Me 5.

[knight2096]

12 hours ago, sandebeach said:

Yes I have also heard that rumor. 

Did you here that here or somewhere else? I'm  just curious, this is the first time I have heard this.

[knight2096]

4 hours ago, Grambler said:

I would feel more comfortable if once there is a vaccine, cruisers would have to show proof they have been vaccinated prior to boarding. The  only way to eradicate the virus completely is if  a great majority of the population gets vaccinated. The higher that percentage is, the lower the efficacy of the vaccine can be and at this time we can only guess how effective a virus will be.

 

Hopefully better treatments will come out. Vaccines will not totally eradicate it and it may come with long term and dangerous side effects. I'm NOT against vaccines, maybe its just me but something produced that fast and taking it so soon just worries me.

[cltnccruisers]

The CDC has 300+ million landlubbers to worry about.  The cruise industry is not at the top of their list.  From the Federal Registry to CLIA statements to news agency reports my gut tells me the CDC and the lines are not working in good faith.

 

Our December, 2020 family cruise on Princess just got cancelled.  That leaves a February, 2021 RC on Allure and an August, 2021 X on Equinox.  I'm expecting the February cruise to be cancelled.  Holding out hope for August only if vaccines have been established and masks are not required.  Try as I might I just can't conceive of a masked cruise having any appeal.

[sandebeach]

4 hours ago, knight2096 said:

Did you here that here or somewhere else? I'm  just curious, this is the first time I have heard this.

It was a rumor. It was from a poster on a RC Casino Fans FB page. Initially I did not believe it, but who knows, might be some truth to it. 

[d9704011]

5 minutes ago, cltnccruisers said:

The CDC has 300+ million landlubbers to worry about.  The cruise industry is not at the top of their list.  From the Federal Registry to CLIA statements to news agency reports my gut tells me the CDC and the lines are not working in good faith.

 

Our December, 2020 family cruise on Princess just got cancelled.  That leaves a February, 2021 RC on Allure and an August, 2021 X on Equinox.  I'm expecting the February cruise to be cancelled.  Holding out hope for August only if vaccines have been established and masks are not required.  Try as I might I just can't conceive of a masked cruise having any appeal.

I don’t think it’s about ‘good faith’.  As you say, the CDC has 300+ million landlubbers to worry about and that’s pretty much what they’re doing... trying to minimize the spread of coronavirus on cruise ships and importation to the US where they have jurisdiction to do so.  The cruise industry cannot possibly comply with the CDC conditions to resume sailing and have adopted an attitude of let’s hope the situation improves enough that we can get back to business with a relatively minimal amount of change in our operations and product.

[cltnccruisers]

3 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

I don’t think it’s about ‘good faith’.  As you say, the CDC has 300+ million landlubbers to worry about and that’s pretty much what they’re doing... trying to minimize the spread of coronavirus on cruise ships and importation to the US where they have jurisdiction to do so.  The cruise industry cannot possibly comply with the CDC conditions to resume sailing and have adopted an attitude of let’s hope the situation improves enough that we can get back to business with a relatively minimal amount of change in our operations and product.

"good faith" is what came to mind while the coffee was still dripping.  🙂  Agree completely with your.  The first time I saw the CDC conditions it was pretty obvious that nothing short of vaccines would bring the industry back.  Wife and I are in the 60s+ high risk group so we'll wait for the shot.

[Slidell_Cruiser]

This is just a CDC PR smoke screen that they are doing something,

The cruise lines have been sending in proposals to restart since May, with no reply, no dialogue.

The EU has already released guidance.

This is classic government process creation verse problem solving.

No matter your position on cruising, from ready to go now to scrap all these ships, this is total rubbish.....and will do nothing to restart the industry in the US....it’s only presenting the appearance of action verse working with an industry to solve this situation.

As a cruiser,  I don’t see cruising again until Oct 2021 at the earliest ..... most probably in the spring of 2022 and by then most of the industry will be in bankruptcy.

One old mans opine...

[mek]

21 hours ago, plosfas said:

These feel like questions I am in no way qualified to answer 🙂

Exactly - why should lay peoples opinions count?  

[cltnccruisers]

I'm curious to know if any of you have contacts in the industry who might shed some light on what the lines are actually doing to try to comply with the CDC conditions.   We've all seen the CEO statements intended to make us feel good but those are high level.

 

One contact I have is high up in a company that sells, installs, maintains and provides training for ship vacuum and sanitation systems.  He tells me that the lines he works with are doing deep cleaning and in depth maintenance but that some older ships probably need system upgrades or full replacements.  He's not seeing any appetite to do that now for obvious reasons.