Some of the staff are returning to the ships

[disneykins]

Could these crew be brought to St. Maarten, do 14 days in a hotel, then board the ship around Nov. 20. Then sail out of St. Maarten on "practice cruises" for 2 weeks to iron out all the bugs in the new protocols. If CDC gives the go ahead for Dec. 1 cruises, they would be ready to go.

Could Carnival get 1 ship ready to sail and have it sail out of St. Maarten to whatever islands would take them and avoid US territory completely? Could US citizens fly to St. Maarten to catch the ship? Takes the CDC out of the picture. 

I think the cruise lines need to get started any way they can, it will be a slow process to get  back to any kind of normal.

[chengkp75]

Currently, St. Maarten requires a negative test within 5 days of arrival, and if you live or travel through a high or moderate risk country (the only countries St. Maarten considers low risk are Caribbean islands), you must have submitted an email register of daily temperature and symptoms for 14 days.

 

What people don't understand is that all the protocols that have been submitted to the CDC are not the detailed action plans that are required, in writing, before the CDC will give the go ahead.  So, whether the ship "practices" with their proposed protocols, they are not approved yet, so it may all come to naught.

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, disneykins said:

Could these crew be brought to St. Maarten, do 14 days in a hotel, then board the ship around Nov. 20. Then sail out of St. Maarten on "practice cruises" for 2 weeks to iron out all the bugs in the new protocols. If CDC gives the go ahead for Dec. 1 cruises, they would be ready to go.

Could Carnival get 1 ship ready to sail and have it sail out of St. Maarten to whatever islands would take them and avoid US territory completely? Could US citizens fly to St. Maarten to catch the ship? Takes the CDC out of the picture. 

I think the cruise lines need to get started any way they can, it will be a slow process to get  back to any kind of normal.

Taking the CDC "out of the picture" is the same kind of denial as people who will not wear masks.

 

And at some point, do those who think they can game the system and keep the CDC "out of the picture" expect to return to the United States?

[beerman2]

3 hours ago, disneykins said:

Could these crew be brought to St. Maarten, do 14 days in a hotel, then board the ship around Nov. 20. Then sail out of St. Maarten on "practice cruises" for 2 weeks to iron out all the bugs in the new protocols. If CDC gives the go ahead for Dec. 1 cruises, they would be ready to go.

Could Carnival get 1 ship ready to sail and have it sail out of St. Maarten to whatever islands would take them and avoid US territory completely? Could US citizens fly to St. Maarten to catch the ship? Takes the CDC out of the picture. 

I think the cruise lines need to get started any way they can, it will be a slow process to get  back to any kind of normal.

Being St. Maarten is a port not sure if they could handle embarkations. Then you have the issue of the pax that flew in returning to US. 

 

The CDC is now in the picture.

 

If the cruise lines had remotely think that was viable they would have tried it already. 

[Roger88]

Well, these news are great. I am glad that people are coming back to work. I dont mind how the work will be organized these days but as long as people are out there doing something and getting money for it - it means everything is started coming to normal 

[evandbob]

8 hours ago, Roger88 said:

Well, these news are great. I am glad that people are coming back to work. I dont mind how the work will be organized these days but as long as people are out there doing something and getting money for it - it means everything is started coming to normal 

 

While most of us suffer from COVID fatigue, a return to normal is a fantasy.  We can wish it were so, but realistically, it is getting worse again.  Can't deny the numbers, more than one new case per second, and over 5,600 dead last week.  COVID is rapidly expanding its grip on us instead of going away.

[evandbob]

Caribbean Islands have done a way better job of prevention and mitigation from the virus than we have here in the US.  Most of their travel bans have been to protect their own locals from us.

 

Odds are that the Caribbean Islands allow Canadians to visit way before they allow US citizens. We wouldn't be able to "game the system".

[lobster1313]

3 hours ago, evandbob said:

Odds are that the Caribbean Islands allow Canadians to visit way before they allow US citizens. We wouldn't be able to "game the system".

Not true. Pretty much open now for Americans and more will be open on November 1st 

[matymil]

On 10/30/2020 at 3:28 PM, regoodwinjr said:

Not true. Pretty much open now for Americans and more will be open on November 1st 

This didn't age well 

 

[matymil]

On 10/30/2020 at 11:34 AM, evandbob said:

 

While most of us suffer from COVID fatigue, a return to normal is a fantasy.  We can wish it were so, but realistically, it is getting worse again.  Can't deny the numbers, more than one new case per second, and over 5,600 dead last week.  COVID is rapidly expanding its grip on us instead of going away.

Very true but there is a big difference now than opposed to back in March. Safety measures weren't in place back then and everything was brand new, nobody knew how to fight this thing. On top of the there was basically no testing. I don't think we will ever get back to normal but I do think cruises will resume within the next couple of months on a limited basis. 

[PhillyFan33579]

14 hours ago, matymil said:

Very true but there is a big difference now than opposed to back in March. Safety measures weren't in place back then and everything was brand new, nobody knew how to fight this thing. On top of the there was basically no testing. I don't think we will ever get back to normal but I do think cruises will resume within the next couple of months on a limited basis. 

I wish I shared your enthusiasm concerning cruises resuming from the US within a couple of months.