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Where are the test cruises?

molly361

By molly361,
in Royal Caribbean International

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molly361

molly361

Posted
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I originally thought that they might happen in January but have not heard one bit  or rumor about when they might start.  Now I am thinking the test cruises will happen in March/April with regular short trips starting June/July.

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vintagegarage

vintagegarage

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I volunteered by email with Carnival, Holland America, and Princess to be a tester, and through the Royal Caribbean web page seeking volunteers, and never heard anything from any of them.  Has anyone who applied through the Royal Caribbean web page been contacted?  I now doubt that "test cruises" will be happening, in spite of all the hype in the news.  I have been packed and ready for my test cruise for 2 months now.

 

Anyone booking a cruise now for any date in the future, must be nuts.. LOL

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ipeeinthepool

ipeeinthepool

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A couple of weeks ago the Celebrity Marketing VP said that they working on changes required on the shoreside facilities and they expected those changes to be complete by the end of 2020.  She suggested that test cruises could begin in January and then a 60-day waiting period with resume to service as early as March for some ships.  

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not-enough-cruising

not-enough-cruising

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19 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

A couple of weeks ago the Celebrity Marketing VP said that they working on changes required on the shoreside facilities and they expected those changes to be complete by the end of 2020.  She suggested that test cruises could begin in January and then a 60-day waiting period with resume to service as early as March for some ships.  

No way, no how will there be test cruises in January; recorded Covid positivity rates are at an all time high, CDC will not allow them to load a ship. 

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LuCruise

LuCruise

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5 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

No way, no how will there be test cruises in January; recorded Covid positivity rates are at an all time high, CDC will not allow them to load a ship. 

Have to agree with this.  Covid numbers are higher than ever. And now that vaccines are starting, my thought is they are going to wait for numbers to go down and vaccine effect to kick in.  Plus, where would ships go in the USA?  Would any port accept them?

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bouhunter

bouhunter

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7 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

No way, no how will there be test cruises in January; recorded Covid positivity rates are at an all time high, CDC will not allow them to load a ship. 

They wouldn't do it even if the CDC said OK.  To load a ship with passengers while rates are at all time highs would be suicide for the cruise lines.

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not-enough-cruising

not-enough-cruising

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1 minute ago, ipeeinthepool said:

This may be the perfect time to conduct a test cruise.   If you can sort out people that are infected with a couple of screenings under the current circumstances, you should be able to handle it if things improve.

All you would get to test is a full ship lockdown and quarantine 

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bouhunter

bouhunter

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3 minutes ago, Mapleleafforever said:

They need staff before they start test cruises. Have they started bringing staff over yet? The logistics of the testing and quarantining would be a nightmare......

Good point.  "Test Cruises" from the US are nowhere in sight.

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firefly333

firefly333

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4 minutes ago, Mapleleafforever said:

They need staff before they start test cruises. Have they started bringing staff over yet? The logistics of the testing and quarantining would be a nightmare......

That's what I've been saying is no signs or leaks that staff is being hired back. I became negative on the stock and got out. I think with all the talk, well we just gotta wait for vaccines, then we gotta wait for herd immunity its going to be longer than we hoped to cruise again.

 

Plus the cdc is a political body and leans toward locking things down, I cant see with a new leader them changing to more willing than before to allow cruising. 

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sandebeach

sandebeach

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Perhaps they could schedule a test cruise in February or March out of Florida with volunteers who have been vaccinated. Over 4,000 persons 65 and older are scheduled in Broward County to get their first vaccine shot this week, with a second shot in 3 weeks. 

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sandebeach

sandebeach

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1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I don’t believe that Royal has commented officially yet however NCL has stated that all their staff will be vaccinated. 
 

This  presents yet another delay as vaccination schedules are vastly different or even non existent currently in many countries. 

Unless the cruise lines are contracting to buy their own vaccine supply? I don’t even know if that is possible. 

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Sail n Snow

Sail n Snow

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1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I don’t believe that Royal has commented officially yet however NCL has stated that all their staff will be vaccinated. 
 

This  presents yet another delay as vaccination schedules are vastly different or even non existent currently in many countries. 

Dont forget the vaccines need to doses about a month apart. 
 

It’s going to be a while!

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smokeybandit

smokeybandit

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Posted (edited)
8 minutes ago, molly361 said:

I wonder if the cruise lines are intentionally stalling and waiting until later in the year when most will be vaccinated, hoping that the CDC will rescind all these requirements

Giving up billions in revenue on a grand assumption that most will be vaccinated and that the CDC (which has been anti-cruise industry) will even care about this is quite a risky move.

The whole point of the test cruises was to get a group of people who test negative and ensure that they're still negative at the end.  If that can't be done now, it will never be done and the cruise industry will cease to exist.

Edited by smokeybandit
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firefly333

firefly333

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1 minute ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I don’t believe that Royal has commented officially yet however NCL has stated that all their staff will be vaccinated. 
 

This  presents yet another delay as vaccination schedules are vastly different or even non existent currently in many countries. 

CBS 10 pm news said dallas has a sign up form for 1A and 1B, they haven't even gotten thru first responders. I jumped out of bed and filled it out, but you dont even get a email acknowledging you filled out the form. We are one of those counties in disarray, but I hope I can get it before april. April is when CVS and Walgreens say they will be ready for age 65 and up. Filled out Albertsons please let me know thing too. I dont expect any time soon without more organization...but I'm putting my email on notify me lists.

 

Dallas seems in disarray. I heard houston opened their phone lines and had 250,000 calls and only had 750 shots or fewer. Lol I think they shut down the phone line at 250k and said this isnt working.

 

Whose on first joke comes to mind.

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