Carnival Test Cruiser Selection

[asalligo]

Has anyone heard anything or been reached out to about Carnival starting the recruitment process for test cruises? 

[pc_load_letter]

I only know of RCLL taking applications for their "test" cruises. And that was months ago.

 

Carnival has been pretty mum on test cruises. Funny, they've been pretty mum on ALL their cruises.

 

I wouldn't hold my breath.

[Jasonsterling]

No, but just in case they're reading this PICK ME! PICK ME! PICK ME! lol 

[crewsweeper]

I've not heard of any cruise lines doing test cruises nor of CDC requiring them, but things are changing rapidly (at least rapidly for gov bureaucracies).

[bigrednole]

There won't be test cruises. The cruise lines are not going to cruise if everyone has to be in their own private bubble the whole time. Basically the CDC has stated the only time you can't have a mask on is the 0.5 seconds when you are bringing food or drink to your mouth and immediately replaced. 

[Saint Greg]

8 minutes ago, bigrednole said:

There won't be test cruises. The cruise lines are not going to cruise if everyone has to be in their own private bubble the whole time. Basically the CDC has stated the only time you can't have a mask on is the 0.5 seconds when you are bringing food or drink to your mouth and immediately replaced. 

 

Is that what it says? Take a bite of food and put your mask back on? Take a sip of beer and put your mask back on? That's never happening anywhere.

[bigrednole]

That is what the CDC has indicated. Masks 100% of the time even in the dining room when not "actively" eating or drinking. When they clarified, they indicated actively and meaning when it is being put into the mouth, not food or drink at the table. Mask off, insert food, mask on. This is 100% of the cruise except in your own cabin.

 

Now you understand the stranglehold the CDC is putting on cruise lines that are not only arbitrary, but irrational and discriminatory.

[TNcruising02]

11 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Is that what it says? Take a bite of food and put your mask back on? Take a sip of beer and put your mask back on? That's never happening anywhere.

 

"“While the Order permits temporarily removing a mask for brief periods of time while eating or drinking, removal of the mask for extended meal service or beverage consumption would constitute a violation of this Order,” and “Ensure bathers wear masks while congregating outside of recreational water facilities and while seated on the pool deck area. Masks do not need to be worn in the water…”

[pc_load_letter]

20 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Is that what it says? Take a bite of food and put your mask back on? Take a sip of beer and put your mask back on? That's never happening anywhere.

 

I think it's up to interpretation but it's pretty tyrannical 

 

Edited May 7, 2021 by pc_load_letter

[ZoeyVictoria]

6 minutes ago, bigrednole said:

That is what the CDC has indicated. Masks 100% of the time even in the dining room when not "actively" eating or drinking. When they clarified, they indicated actively and meaning when it is being put into the mouth, not food or drink at the table. Mask off, insert food, mask on. This is 100% of the cruise except in your own cabin.

 

Now you understand the stranglehold the CDC is putting on cruise lines that are not only arbitrary, but irrational and discriminatory.

I didn’t see where they clarified it.  My interpretation was that sitting somewhere for an extended period of time with token food or drink in front of you as an excuse to be unmasked wouldn’t be tolerated.  In other words, carrying one cookie on a plate around with you will not be the answer to ditching the mask.

[Saint Greg]

2 minutes ago, pc_load_letter said:

 

I think it's up to interpretation but it's pretty tyrannical https://ibb.co/SK7W5PF

 

Yeah that sounds like someone's interpretation.

[asalligo]

9 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

 

"“While the Order permits temporarily removing a mask for brief periods of time while eating or drinking, removal of the mask for extended meal service or beverage consumption would constitute a violation of this Order,” and “Ensure bathers wear masks while congregating outside of recreational water facilities and while seated on the pool deck area. Masks do not need to be worn in the water…”

 

Sounds like I would be taking food back to my balcony then unless they want to ban that too. 

[TNcruising02]

22 minutes ago, asalligo said:

 

Sounds like I would be taking food back to my balcony then unless they want to ban that too. 

That's exactly what I was thinking!  All my meals would be on my balcony.  There is no way I will sit at a table constantly removing my mask to eat and drink.  It sounds like the CDC just doesn't want cruising to ever happen.  Maybe that is the one industry that hasn't paid up.

[TNcruising02]

29 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

I didn’t see where they clarified it.  My interpretation was that sitting somewhere for an extended period of time with token food or drink in front of you as an excuse to be unmasked wouldn’t be tolerated.  In other words, carrying one cookie on a plate around with you will not be the answer to ditching the mask.

It said extended meal service, so that means sit down meals.

[asalligo]

5 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

It sounds like the CDC just doesn't want cruising to ever happen.  Maybe that is the one industry that hasn't paid up.

I have come to believe this. Let's just keep giving them a little bit of hope every once in a while to keep them here but not cruising and do as much damage to the industry as possible. 

[bdever]

IF there are test cruises they will NOT be like traditional cruises. I myself would not volunteer based on the requirements laid out by the CDC and it sounds like we can make the following assumptions:

1. Getting insurance coverage for test sailings will be a NO go.

2. you will be assigned a cabin

3. Alcohol beverages would be limited to beverage testing 

4. food options will be limited to food service and venue testing 

5. your daily activities will be determined for you based on test drills

6. you may be picked to be in the 5% of passengers that are fake covid positive to test quarantine/isolation areas both on/off ship for the duration of your cruise (good times!)

7. Consider yourself an employee of the CDC without pay and you will have to take time off work to work - sort of like Jury Duty.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/ti-simulated-voyages-cso.html?fbclid=IwAR0MONLsjPh1Km-X2rZoi-s20vHGkheRrM-SqRlGvs3p37zRYtekPLFppJ4

[asalligo]

2 minutes ago, bdever said:

IF there are test cruises they will NOT be like traditional cruises. I myself would not volunteer based on the requirements laid out by the CDC and it sounds like we can make the following assumptions:

1. Getting insurance coverage for test sailings will be a NO go.

2. you will be assigned a cabin

3. Alcohol beverages would be limited to beverage testing 

4. food options will be limited to food service and venue testing 

5. your daily activities will be determined for you based on test drills

6. you may be picked to be in the 5% of passengers that are fake covid positive to test quarantine/isolation areas both on/off ship for the duration of your cruise (good times!)

7. Consider yourself an employee of the CDC without pay and you will have to take time off work to work - sort of like Jury Duty.

 

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/ti-simulated-voyages-cso.html?fbclid=IwAR0MONLsjPh1Km-X2rZoi-s20vHGkheRrM-SqRlGvs3p37zRYtekPLFppJ4

I still would do it, but I could just sit on my balcony on the ocean for a week. Now price will be an issue for me. I expect a deal with these restrictions. 

[ZoeyVictoria]

21 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

It said extended meal service, so that means sit down meals.

I thought it meant the process of deliberately extending a meal for the purpose of not wearing a mask.

[bdever]

Just now, asalligo said:

I still would do it, but I could just sit on my balcony on the ocean for a week. Now price will be an issue for me. I expect a deal with these restrictions. 

Wow 😳 you actually think Carnival is going to allow you to sit on you balcony for the duration of a test cruise when you are expected to participate in drills all day long so that they can report back their findings to the CDC? AND you think Carnival will let you tell them to assign you to a balcony cabin? And you think Carnival will allow you to quarantine in your cabin if you’re picked as a fake positive COVID-19 passenger when they are supposed to be testing separate isolation/quarantine areas with the simulated positive passengers? BTW, you need to do your research because Carnival is not allowed to charge for these test sailings. 

 

[TNcruising02]

5 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

I thought it meant the process of deliberately extending a meal for the purpose of not wearing a mask.

Sounds to me it's anything lasting over an hour.   The people at NCL, who agreed to 100% vaccinated cruises, were very upset about it. I think if they meant extending a meal service, that's what they would have said.

I found a definition:

Extended Meal Service. Customers eat at different times, often called "à la carte" (Carte meaning "menu" in French). -Individual items are cooked to order rather than cooked ahead, but pre-preparation is extensive, down to the final cooking stage.

Edited May 7, 2021 by TNcruising02

[bigrednole]

Lets just hope on May 12th the judge hearing the case uses common sense, proven science, and fact in his ruling. If he uses the media or CDC, it will be a decision based on propaganda. The CDC has no facts nor basis for their CSO. They can't defend it based on scientific research nor against their own data.

 

Because the judge can only rule on the CSO, we will still have DeSantis to deal with. Although I agree with what his reasons behind it are, it still has an issue with getting cruises going from FL. It would be funny if FL, TX, and AK are successful in shutting down the CSO but cruise ships can't operate from FL. The cruise lines would move ships to TX, NOLA, Baltimore, and NY. That would be an epic failure for DeSantis. I could see them making an amendment that cruise lines can ask for vaccine information but not require it. 

[SNJCruisers]

10 hours ago, pc_load_letter said:

 

I wouldn't hold my breath.

Do you think that Carnival is going to go the 95% route on their entire fleet and leave all that money on the table?

By putting some of their fleet through the test cruise process they will be able to welcome families and the unvaccinated over the 5% with open arms and be able to make more money that way.  And, if by some chance either NCL or RCI decide to go 100% of their fleet with the 95% route, then Carnival can gain more Blue cards.

[ontheweb]

14 hours ago, asalligo said:

I still would do it, but I could just sit on my balcony on the ocean for a week. Now price will be an issue for me. I expect a deal with these restrictions. 

The CDC has said they cannot charge for the test cruises. I hope free is a good enough deal for you, though someone did compare it to jury duty, something you get paid for (though not very much).

[TNcruising02]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

The CDC has said they cannot charge for the test cruises. I hope free is a good enough deal for you, though someone did compare it to jury duty, something you get paid for (though not very much).

I love cruising more than any other type of vacation, but someone would have to pay me to use a vacation week and follow all of those test cruise rules.  Heck, I don't even want to cruise with the CDC's fully vaccinated cruise rules of wearing a mask at a sit down dinner or on the sun deck.  

My husband wants me to reschedule our August cruise, even if it's not cancelled.  It's disappointing because we are fully vaccinated and thought, at the most, they would require vaccines and we could cruise with reasonable rules that are applied to land based pools and restaurants.  Our cruise is on the Mardi Gras, lido deck, $600 OBC, and free beverages.  Ugh.  And now I have to seriously consider letting that go.

Edited May 8, 2021 by TNcruising02

[SNJCruisers]

4 hours ago, txgranny said:

CCL CEO made that statement as to not piss off its customers and by hoping the CDC made that requirement so the blame of that decision was not on Carnival, it was a smart business move. The bad publicity with just a few cruisers w covid can tank the restart. I am more concerned about ppl not following the rules and there being fights and such. I'm booked 9n vista Aug 28 and hope it sails at 95% vaccinated but with lessened mask guidelines 

I think that Carnival is going to do the 5% route on their initial cruises and the possibly do the test cruises on other ships to appeal to families and the unvaccinated. Either way, there will be major push back with the masks and minor pushback with elevators.  After all, it's Carnival.