Miami-Dade Mayor Sends Letter To CDC In Hopes Of Restarting Cruise Industry

[soremekun]

1 minute ago, ArthurUSCG said:

I don't see the CDC updating the guidance until there is results from the RCL Israel 16+ vaccinated cruise. But if CDC approves 100% vaccinated cruise I could see  the cruise lines with the Bahamas to allow docking at private islands as long as they can maintaine a bubble (0 interaction with locals).

There are locals who work at CocoCay.  Maybe they will have to be vaccinated too.

[Crazy planning mom]

2 minutes ago, ArthurUSCG said:

I don't see the CDC updating the guidance until there is results from the RCL Israel 16+ vaccinated cruise. But if CDC approves 100% vaccinated cruise I could see  the cruise lines with the Bahamas to allow docking at private islands as long as they can maintaine a bubble (0 interaction with locals).

The CDC supposedly asked Royal about their Quantum sailings.

[crewsweeper]

Seems as if the assumption here is that there are no ports open for ships sailing from a US homeport.

Is that true?   I was under the impression several Caribbean islands were opening for tourist travel.

Does someone have a list handy?

[livingonthebeach]

I'm pleased that our new Mayor is taking action in hopes of restarting the cruise industry. It is a large and much needed part of the Miami-Dade economy. July 4 might be a bit optimistic but it's a start of what I hope will be a negotiating process that ends with a positive outcome.  Thanks @denamo for posting the letter. 

Edited March 19, 2021 by livingonthebeach

[ArthurUSCG]

1 minute ago, soremekun said:

There are locals who work at CocoCay.  Maybe they will have to be vaccinated too.

DCL's Castaway Cay has locals too. The cruise lines should treat them as crew and vaccinate them as well. But, I could see a 14 day quarantine period before returning to home/ leaving the private island. Thinking thru it, if the private island are the only location where the ships could dock, those islands are going to have ships there every day, and the cruise lines are going to need all hands on deck since there won't be an occasional rest day between ships.

[Ourusualbeach]

58 minutes ago, Sunshine3601 said:

What if they did a technical stop at a foreign port where passengers remain onboard?

Technical stops, without disembarking passengers or allowing them to disembark for a very short period of time (hours) were ruled a violation of the PVSA back when the cruise lines tried to skirt the PVSA with quickie stops in Ensenada.

Edited March 19, 2021 by Ourusualbeach

[smokeybandit]

2 minutes ago, crewsweeper said:

Seems as if the assumption here is that there are no ports open for ships sailing from a US homeport.

Is that true?   I was under the impression several Caribbean islands were opening for tourist travel.

Does someone have a list handy?

Cozumel is ready to go. CocoCay would be open. I'm sure there are others.

[ArthurUSCG]

1 minute ago, crewsweeper said:

Seems as if the assumption here is that there are no ports open for ships sailing from a US homeport.

Is that true?   I was under the impression several Caribbean islands were opening for tourist travel.

Does someone have a list handy?

I don't think any of the island nations are open for the large ships, only small cruise and personal craft. Most have not addressed publicly what would be needed to reopen the islands. Grand Cayman's Premier Alden McLaughlin, I think, has the strongest public statement so far.

“Cruise is not on our radar at all at this stage. We would have to be satisfied that the world was in a very different place in terms of safety-related to COVID-19 before we would even consider having the cruise ships come here. Honestly, I don’t see cruise tourism resuming on any sort of significant level before next year.”

[HxFx]

1 hour ago, soremekun said:

 

There are guidelines from different departments of the government that seem contradictory to me.

 

If the cruise ship travels far enough from the borders of the US, the crew can operate duty free shops and the casino.  But, no matter how far they go, if they don't dock at a foreign port, the ship is considered to not have left the US.  So, if they never left the US, how can they operate duty free shops and the casino?

I think the difference is the crews are all American citizens, legal residents, or have the proper visas. 

[crewsweeper]

13 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Cozumel is ready to go. CocoCay would be open. I'm sure there are others.

So Royal does a 7 day  C cruise to Coz, Labbadee(?inside port only), Coccay? Kinda boring but hey, better than a zoom call.😄

[livingonthebeach]

At a press conference yesterday Florida's governor announced that the eligibility age for the CV19 vaccine is dropping to 55+ by the end of this month.  At this pace by July all should be eligible, thus a short, fully vaccinated cruise to Coco Cay should be feasible, if the CDC permits. 

[smokeybandit]

12 minutes ago, crewsweeper said:

So Royal does a 7 day  C cruise to Coz, Labbadee(?inside port only), Coccay? Kinda boring but hey, better than a zoom call.😄

A cruise to tired ports of call is still a cruise.

[sandebeach]

16 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

At a press conference yesterday Florida's governor announced that the eligibility age for the CV19 vaccine is dropping to 55+ by the end of this month.  At this pace by July all should be eligible, thus a short, fully vaccinated cruise to Coco Cay should be feasible, if the CDC permits. 

Maybe he should suggest to the CDC that cruises restart from Florida ports with only Florida residents who have been vaccinated! 

[livingonthebeach]

6 minutes ago, sandebeach said:

Maybe he should suggest to the CDC that cruises restart from Florida ports with only Florida residents who have been vaccinated! 

 

Good idea.  I'm in if that ever happens.  Cruising needs to start somehow and that would be one way of restarting in a safe environment.  

[sandebeach]

10 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

Good idea.  I'm in if that ever happens.  Cruising needs to start somehow and that would be one way of restarting in a safe environment.  

I am ready! 

[M&A]

59 minutes ago, ArthurUSCG said:

DCL's Castaway Cay has locals too. The cruise lines should treat them as crew and vaccinate them as well. But, I could see a 14 day quarantine period before returning to home/ leaving the private island. Thinking thru it, if the private island are the only location where the ships could dock, those islands are going to have ships there every day, and the cruise lines are going to need all hands on deck since there won't be an occasional rest day between ships.

How can the cruise lines vaccinate them?   where would they get the vaccine?   

   There are people all over the world waiting to be vaccinated by their governments.

Can Royal Caribbean buy the vaccine and get delivery ahead of countries ?   

 

This is going to be one of the biggest issues for sailing again, finding enough crew members that have been vaccinated.

[livingonthebeach]

7 minutes ago, M&A said:

How can the cruise lines vaccinate them?   where would they get the vaccine?   

   There are people all over the world waiting to be vaccinated by their governments.

Can Royal Caribbean buy the vaccine and get delivery ahead of countries ?   

 

This is going to be one of the biggest issues for sailing again, finding enough crew members that have been vaccinated.

 

The cruise lines will work something out with some of the island nations they are home porting in, trust me, they'll find a way.  

[DCGuy64]

CDC just officially changed the 6' rule to 3'. Sounds like shipboard pub crawls are back on!

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/19/978608714/cdc-says-schools-can-now-space-students-3-feet-apart-rather-than-6

And yes, I'm aware it's in relation to schools, just in case there are any smartypants out there looking to 'correct' me. 😆 😉

[Auntiemomo]

51 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

CDC just officially changed the 6' rule to 3'. Sounds like shipboard pub crawls are back on!

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/19/978608714/cdc-says-schools-can-now-space-students-3-feet-apart-rather-than-6

And yes, I'm aware it's in relation to schools, just in case there are any smartypants out there looking to 'correct' me. 😆 😉

There was a Dr. on the news the other day who was asked where they came up with the 6' rule of distancing.  He basically said it was a good guess.  In other words, they just pulled it out of their arses.  It's becoming all political nowadays.  Just trying to cover all their butts.  There's no science to it whatsoever because science says schools can open, and schools are not opening.

[crewsweeper]

Just got an email from RCCL announcing June cruises to Coz, CocoCay and Grand Bahamas leaving out of Nassau. Requires vaccines for all adult guests  and a negative RT-PCR test for anyone under 18.

[Ourusualbeach]

5 hours ago, ArthurUSCG said:

I don't think any of the island nations are open for the large ships, only small cruise and personal craft.

What a difference a couple of hours makes.

[ArthurUSCG]

Just now, Ourusualbeach said:

What a difference a couple of hours makes.

Yea, I'm just reading about that now. WOW

[M&A]

On 3/19/2021 at 11:02 AM, livingonthebeach said:

 

The cruise lines will work something out with some of the island nations they are home porting in, trust me, they'll find a way.  

I wasn't just talking about the employees in the island nations, what about the cruise ships that are in the US and other ports?  The majority of the crew are from countries like Indonesia, Philippines, India etc where the people just can't get a vaccine yet.  It's not like the cruise industry can buy up vaccines and vaccinated their crew.  I can't imagine the cruise lines getting a priority for vaccines when so many poor people are waiting for a vaccine.  

 

[smokeybandit]

On 3/19/2021 at 9:44 AM, DCGuy64 said:

CDC just officially changed the 6' rule to 3'. Sounds like shipboard pub crawls are back on!

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/19/978608714/cdc-says-schools-can-now-space-students-3-feet-apart-rather-than-6

And yes, I'm aware it's in relation to schools, just in case there are any smartypants out there looking to 'correct' me. 😆 😉

They changed it, but with extreme restrictions if you want to follow that 3' rule. 

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, M&A said:

It's not like the cruise industry can buy up vaccines and vaccinated their crew

Maybe not, but they can work a deal with the home port government, like in Israel.