CDC Open to USA Cruise Return this Summer

[DCGuy64]

9 minutes ago, harkinmr said:

guess "spin" is in the eye of the beholder

Agreed, it is.

[philv]

Come on folks this is great news! Everybody will be vaccinated soon and we will be sailing again in no time. 😎🚢

[njhorseman]

1 hour ago, Shattered__minds said:

my 2c 

after the most recent request by the lines to resume was denied, a letter MAY have been sent threatening international legal action against the US for "discrimination" against the lines, which prompted this change by the CDC. I could definitely see something very messy happen if cruising is not permitted to resume as a whole from the US soon.

What recent request was denied? NCL's request was just made two days ago and it hasn't been denied.

Legal action in what court by whom and on what basis under what law?

[DCGuy64]

Mark my words: when it's mid-summer and there STILL aren't any cruises happening in the US, with the CDC firmly dug in, and all of the major cruise lines doing sailings outside the US with vaccinated passengers at capacity, the CDC cheerleaders on here will be like a crowd gathered on the shoreline shaking their fists at the cruise ships saying "no fair, you can't do this, it's not safe!" while the rest of us sip our drinks and laugh at them. 🤣

[oteixeira]

OK, so I read it through, and I am sure we all want to be hopeful but all I saw was the CDC saying "We want them to sail this summer too, all they have to do is meet the guidelines we put out and then test cruise and then wait for the golden ticket to let the ship cruise".  I have heard from NCL, and other lines seem to agree, that basically "We are not going to do phase 2a" (Read what DelRio wrote in the letter about getting onshore contracts put together).  

Folks, we have ourselves a rock and a hard place.  For the very first time the CDC said jump and the cruise lines said Suck IT!.  So, will we cruise this summer?  I say yes.....as soon as the national pandemic is dropped on June 21st (which makes the CDC conditional sail null and void).

Anyway, that's my 2 cents on all of this.  I do love what this week has done for my cruise line stocks.  LOL

[teacherman]

I am somewhat confused (again).   Would people normally pay extra money to fly to St Marten or Nassau, or Greece, or where ever to take a cruise that may not offer all of the amenities they are used to and also requires some extra "jumping through hoops" in the MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER?  If not, then why do it this summer?  Cruising will probably return in the fall, and there are so many other beautiful and fun places to visit that do not require all of this extra stress. To each their own, but I just don't get it.  But if you are going, I hope it all works out well and you have a great time.

[PelicanBill]

24 minutes ago, teacherman said:

I am somewhat confused (again).   Would people normally pay extra money to fly to St Marten or Nassau, or Greece, or where ever to take a cruise that may not offer all of the amenities they are used to and also requires some extra "jumping through hoops" in the MIDDLE OF THE SUMMER?  If not, then why do it this summer?  Cruising will probably return in the fall, and there are so many other beautiful and fun places to visit that do not require all of this extra stress. To each their own, but I just don't get it.  But if you are going, I hope it all works out well and you have a great time.

Precisely. All these threats to "take our ships and go elsewhere" are empty. The US passenger revenue is their bread and butter and they aren't going to like the cost to operate in these small alternate ports and their passengers aren't going to flock to double the price to fly and extra days of hotel.

[Beardface]

Is the CDC willing to relax some of its ridiculous requirements that have already been proven to not be necessary given what MSC and others are already doing overseas?  Did they eliminate the prohibitive mandatory 12 hour wait between using gangways between a completed disembarkation and the start of embarking that is comical when compared to a complete lack of gangway restrictions in airline travel?

 

No?  Just a 'do as I say or no soup for you' over a rules they are continually moving the goalposts on?

 

While this looks good on the surface this is just the CDC once again kicking the can down the road with statements broad and generic enough to keep enforcing that November 1st return to sail date they set last year.  Because anything else would actually require them to work with the cruise lines and, as we all know, thats the last thing they want to do right now.

[teacherman]

I am tired of wearing a mask at work and I think it is ridiculous.  Until this week when 2 of our 20 people tested positive and went into quarantine.  Both super careful senior citizens who have no idea where they were exposed.

[harkinmr]

3 hours ago, PelicanBill said:

Precisely. All these threats to "take our ships and go elsewhere" are empty. The US passenger revenue is their bread and butter and they aren't going to like the cost to operate in these small alternate ports and their passengers aren't going to flock to double the price to fly and extra days of hotel.

This.

[harkinmr]

3 hours ago, Beardface said:

Is the CDC willing to relax some of its ridiculous requirements that have already been proven to not be necessary given what MSC and others are already doing overseas?  Did they eliminate the prohibitive mandatory 12 hour wait between using gangways between a completed disembarkation and the start of embarking that is comical when compared to a complete lack of gangway restrictions in airline travel?

 

No?  Just a 'do as I say or no soup for you' over a rules they are continually moving the goalposts on?

 

While this looks good on the surface this is just the CDC once again kicking the can down the road with statements broad and generic enough to keep enforcing that November 1st return to sail date they set last year.  Because anything else would actually require them to work with the cruise lines and, as we all know, thats the last thing they want to do right now.

Did any of the cruise lines ask them to compromise on any of the requirements?  No.  NCL sends a letter asking them to waive the CSO in its entirety and CLIA then sends a letter basically saying there is no interest in even talking about the requirements.  Things are just not "doable", as they put it.  Not much of an effort at compromise to me.

Edited April 7, 2021 by harkinmr

[oteixeira]

28 minutes ago, harkinmr said:

Did any of the cruise lines ask them to compromise on any of the requirements?  No.  NCL sends a letter asking them to waive the CSO in its entirety and CLIA then sends a letter basically saying there is no interest in even talking about the requirements.  Things are just not "doable", as they put it.  Not much of an effort at compromise to me.

NCL's letter rightly states that if everyone is vaccinated onboard, and vaccines work as the CDC says the do (and I believe), then most of these new requirements are not needed.  It is pretty clear that the CDC is just pushing the peg further down the board, they don't expect the cruise lines to do all these extra things.  NCL just politely told them they wont, and Carnival kind of said the same in their statement.  Virgin cancelling 3 whole months this morning says the same.

As for people saying why would we fly to other places and cruise, a LOT of us fly already to get to cruise ports.  There is no added cost (or about 100 dollars per person) in my case for us to go to Jamaica, or the Bahamas, or Bermuda over going to Florida or Texas.   Anyone thinking different is a local to a port, and that is just not the only folks that love cruising.

[harkinmr]

2 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

NCL's letter rightly states that if everyone is vaccinated onboard, and vaccines work as the CDC says the do (and I believe), then most of these new requirements are not needed.  It is pretty clear that the CDC is just pushing the peg further down the board, they don't expect the cruise lines to do all these extra things.  NCL just politely told them they wont, and Carnival kind of said the same in their statement.  Virgin cancelling 3 whole months this morning says the same.

As for people saying why would we fly to other places and cruise, a LOT of us fly already to get to cruise ports.  There is no added cost (or about 100 dollars per person) in my case for us to go to Jamaica, or the Bahamas, or Bermuda over going to Florida or Texas.   Anyone thinking different is a local to a port, and that is just not the only folks that love cruising.

Although the CDC has stated that vaccines have made it easier for folks to travel, they are still advising against non-essential travel.  In addition, I don't think they have gone as far as to say that 1000+ vaccinated people can hop on a cruise ship and sail for days with one another safely.  If NCL believes this, then they can show it to be the case with their sailings outside the US.  And I disagree that somehow the CDC does not expect the cruise lines to meet the phased requirements.  If the lines are interested in compromising on the requirements, then exercise efforts to do that.  Just saying "they aren't doable" and walking away doesn't cut it.

[oteixeira]

4 minutes ago, harkinmr said:

Although the CDC has stated that vaccines have made it easier for folks to travel, they are still advising against non-essential travel.  In addition, I don't think they have gone as far as to say that 1000+ vaccinated people can hop on a cruise ship and sail for days with one another safely.  If NCL believes this, then they can show it to be the case with their sailings outside the US.  And I disagree that somehow the CDC does not expect the cruise lines to meet the phased requirements.  If the lines are interested in compromising on the requirements, then exercise efforts to do that.  Just saying "they aren't doable" and walking away doesn't cut it.

Or it does cut it, they sail from other places that we are perfectly legally allowed to go to per CDC guidelines and then they return when the CDC drops the health emergency.  I think this is much more inline with what will happen.

[harkinmr]

3 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

Or it does cut it, they sail from other places that we are perfectly legally allowed to go to per CDC guidelines and then they return when the CDC drops the health emergency.  I think this is much more inline with what will happen.

You are right that they will likely sail outside the US until the public health emergency is lifted and the CSO expires.  But just saying to the CDC that the CSO should be dropped is not the way to compromise.  Hopefully things will go well for the planned cruises and they can show that vaccinated sailings work. 

[PelicanBill]

45 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

...

As for people saying why would we fly to other places and cruise, a LOT of us fly already to get to cruise ports.  There is no added cost (or about 100 dollars per person) in my case for us to go to Jamaica, or the Bahamas, or Bermuda over going to Florida or Texas.   Anyone thinking different is a local to a port, and that is just not the only folks that love cruising.

 

A lot of us live in secondary markets. That means large increases in airfare to get to locations outside the US, and poor availability of connecting flights. MANY people still try to fly same day. That just isn't possible to Nassau, Montego Bay or Bermuda from locations other than big cities.

 

My air cost to Miami is typically $250-$300 roundtrip.  I just priced that to confirm and also priced Nassau and Bermuda: $500-550.  That's double. Cruises prices already highest in years, plus that, plus covid tests that are hard to get in the US, extra time in the other country to get tested (and fees, like $75pp Bermuda) and results before returning, with extra hotel nights for required quarantine time awaiting test results... looks like adding well more than $1000 to the price of a cruise to me. No thanks.

[oteixeira]

@PelicanBill I guess it totally depends on where you live.  Just priced out the first cruise date in Jamacia from RDU (Raleigh NC), which is also a secondary market, so 1 stop over.

 

August 7th:  round trip returning the 14 is $412

Same time going to Miami is $237, so a difference of 180 PP.  

Factor in that NCL is doing a second person flies free perk, and you are probably at about 180 total extra.  I am not sure what you pay for a cruise (depends on cabin, etc, etc) but I am at about $2400 for two people even on my cheapest 7 day, so adding 200 dollars is not enough to make me not go.

As for testing, I am sure that NCL will include it, as RCL is doing on their cruises (from what I have heard).  And if you test positive, well, I suppose that is a chance we all take on any trip, land or sea in todays day and age.  If you are vaccinated, it should be much less potent of a case, thank God.  

Edited April 7, 2021 by oteixeira

[logan25]

1 hour ago, harkinmr said:

Did any of the cruise lines ask them to compromise on any of the requirements?  No.  NCL sends a letter asking them to waive the CSO in its entirety and CLIA then sends a letter basically saying there is no interest in even talking about the requirements.  Things are just not "doable", as they put it.  Not much of an effort at compromise to me.

So you think the CDC is negotiating?  I do not agree.

[harkinmr]

3 minutes ago, logan25 said:

So you think the CDC is negotiating?  I do not agree.

I never said that.  I was responding to a poster that claimed that the cruise lines wanted to compromise and the CDC did not.  That is incorrect.  

[logan25]

1 hour ago, harkinmr said:

Did any of the cruise lines ask them to compromise on any of the requirements?  No. 

So you think CDC will compromise?  I do not agree.

 

If the requirements are not open for discussion, compromise or negotiation, I am not surprised by the response from cruise lines.

Edited April 7, 2021 by logan25

[harkinmr]

Just now, logan25 said:

So you think CDC will compromise?  I do not agree.

 

If the requirements are not open for discussion, compromise or negotiation, I am not surprised by the response by cruise lines.

Again, did you READ the original poster's comment that I responded to?  Never mind, you obviously did not.  HE said that the cruise lines offered to compromise.  They DID NOT.  They simply demanded that the CDC drop the sailing restrictions in their entirety.  If the cruise lines had any interest in compromising, which they do not, they would have come back with an alternate proposal.  Not just a "we can't and won't do it" approach.  That's cruise line code for "we don't want to spend the time or the money".

[logan25]

We actually don’t know the answer on that.  The public is only privy to publicly released statements, interviews, etc.  

[At Sea At Peace]

6 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Mark my words: when it's mid-summer and there STILL aren't any cruises happening in the US, with the CDC firmly dug in, and all of the major cruise lines doing sailings outside the US with vaccinated passengers at capacity, the CDC cheerleaders on here will be like a crowd gathered on the shoreline shaking their fists at the cruise ships saying "no fair, you can't do this, it's not safe!" while the rest of us sip our drinks and laugh at them. 🤣

 

The direct and specific treatment of the cruise industry is simply an extension of the double standards that have been clearly evidenced over the past year with failures lauded as successes and successes chastised as failures.  It is what it is.  It will not change as the globalists simply do not believe that cruising for the typical demographic historical masses is equitable to those not.  Therefore without equity, a luxury and never an allowed choice and certainly not an essential.  The threat of the safety and health as a hammer is simply a tool of current desired flavor.  In the narrative, there are only Princess ships as examples and even movies.  Grandiosa, et al simply don't exist in such a disinformed theater.  

[BermudaBound2014]

10 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Agreed, this is good news. To those who say this is "nothing new," I beg to differ. Read the article!

It's clear the CDC is on the ropes now, with the last big holdout, Carnival, threatening to follow the lead of Royal, NCL, MSC, P&O, and Princess, who have all announced (or are already doing) cruises in the Caribbean, Europe, the UK, Singapore and Israel (the list keeps growing). It tells you something that the CDC didn't say "we haven't changed anything," instead they're forced to announce that cruising can resume this summer. What happened to "impending doom"? Guess that didn't go over too well. Spin it however you want to, with cruise lines taking their ships elsewhere, the CDC obviously had no choice but to try and play ball, finally. Good, better late than never!

 

 

Where is it clear the CDC is "on the ropes now"? 

 

What is different about the CDC saying cruising can resume this summer? Haven't they been saying the that all along? Cruising can resume as soon as the cruise lines meet our requirements. 

 

"Impending doom"... we're in agreement there lol

 

What makes you believe the CDC has no choice but to play ball? 

 

Is there anything in this article that suggests the CDC is willing to compromise on the terms they have set forth to resume?

 

In fact, I think the CDC has double-downed. It seems to me you are being a bit overly optimistic again. Perhaps I'm too negative.  The only way we will know who is correct is if cruising resumes this summer. We can revisit this thread in July 🙂

 

[BermudaBound2014]

On a side note, virgin cruises just cancelled thru September 17. Throughout covid, virgin had been the first to announce closures with the rest of the cruise lines following in line later. If this pattern repeats itself there will be no cruises out of the USA this summer.

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24731-virgin-voyages-cancels-summer-season-in-u-s.html

 

Edited April 8, 2021 by BermudaBound2014