An Issue with Celebrity’s Plan?

[JamieLogical]

2 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

I just read earlier that Royal Caribbean is requiring a COVID Vaccine for their test cruises, too.  Not surprising given they are a part of the same group as Celebrity.  Celebrity just isn't doing the test cruises and going with, what appears to be no children initially.

 

It's my understanding that the CDC is requiring passengers on test sailings to be vaccinated, so all of the cruise lines would need to mandate vaccines for those test sailings if they go that route. However, the test sailings are with all volunteers, so I don't think they run afoul of the FL law. I am pretty sure the FL law only applies to customers and employees. Once a cruise line has completed their test sailings, they can get CDC approval to sail with unvaccinated passengers.

[graphicguy]

9 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

It's my understanding that the CDC is requiring passengers on test sailings to be vaccinated, so all of the cruise lines would need to mandate vaccines for those test sailings if they go that route. However, the test sailings are with all volunteers, so I don't think they run afoul of the FL law. I am pretty sure the FL law only applies to customers and employees. Once a cruise line has completed their test sailings, they can get CDC approval to sail with unvaccinated passengers.

But, how are the cruise lines going to check on whether the test cruise passengers have COVID Vaccines?

 

I think they're just going to roll with the 95%-100% of passengers having the COVID vaccine for the test cruises.  Once those are done, we'll be right at July 4th, and should be either really close or right at the 70% herd immunity.

 

June and July (maybe August) are the cruises which will be mostly looked at.  The cruise lines aren't going to give up 2-3 months of cruising as they've got the CDC behind them, now.  Desantis is spitting into the wind at this juncture.

[Jeremiah1212]

Test cruises do not have to be fully vaccinated. If not vaccinated the test cruiser just has to say they are not in a high risk group. But the cruise lines can opt to require vaccine on these cruises. Since these are volunteer passengers they can do whatever they want as far as requirements. 

[Covepointcruiser]

At this point, who is not at high risk if not vaccinated?!    The new COVID variants, Nepal and South American are very contagious.   The Variant from South America has caused severe illness and death in children and young people.   I would not want to travel with a non vaccinated passenger.   If they want to risk severe illness and/or death, they should stay home.  Sick passengers will disrupt and potentially ruin a cruise.   Don’t inconvenience others with your personal decision so take a land holiday in a private condo or house.

[keels81]

4 hours ago, cruisingator2 said:

Just watched this interview and she did clearly state that vaccines would be required in order to board. Sounds to me like the cruise lines know something more than they’re letting on with regards to guests having to show proof of vaccination. 

It definitely seems like the heads of the major lines out of Florida all got together, got on the same page on how they want to operate and are going to toe the line all in (relatively) the same way, to make sure the playing field stays level AND they don't run the risk of one bad sailing spoiling the long-awaited return for the whole bunch.

 

Obviously, Disney is going to be the wild card here but they're notoriously close-to-the-vest on things like this and I'm not sure they're really viewed as in the same club as the rest of the cruise industry since Disney is its own monolith.

[naturelovergirl]

I think that the cruise lines must be realistic regardless of the political grandstanding that has been going on in Florida (and yes, I love Florida so much I choose to live here!)

 

The cruise lines want to have, first and foremost, a safe and successful restart. 

And

They want to have a good guest experience on board so that people will want to sail again and again.

There are many things to work out with logistics after this massive pause in sailing... but in the end, this is business... and business wants this to be successful... so that business can thrive and continue.

(I felt that the GMA interview with the Carnival president made that very clear.)

 

Personally as consumers, we want vaccinated cruises and cruise lines who are dedicated to the safety of the guests. That is a massive priority for us as a couple who loves to travel.

I want the cruise lines to be successful right now and in the long term.

So

Let's stop the grandstanding and get these cruise lines sailing successfully.

[nocl]

4 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

 

It's my understanding that the CDC is requiring passengers on test sailings to be vaccinated, so all of the cruise lines would need to mandate vaccines for those test sailings if they go that route. However, the test sailings are with all volunteers, so I don't think they run afoul of the FL law. I am pretty sure the FL law only applies to customers and employees. Once a cruise line has completed their test sailings, they can get CDC approval to sail with unvaccinated passengers.

no CDC is not requiring. They have given the cruise line the option to draft their plans which may or may not require vaccination. It is up to the cruise line.

 

The CDC does allow some restrictions to be relaxed if vaccination is required, but the decision is a cruise line decision.

[Cruising89143]

5 hours ago, graphicguy said:

None of them are mentioning Desantis, either.  She said they have a process in the works to have the CDC COVID Vaccines uploaded.  I mentioned before, being in the tech world for decades (and just recently retired from it), AI is amazing these days.  A passenger, from wherever they live, in the comfort of their own home, will be able to upload their CDC Covid Vaccine card, have it scanned by an AI source for proof of genuineness and authenticity, and stroll right on board upon embarkation day without having to show anything more than their ID/Passport to embark.

 

I just read earlier that Royal Caribbean is requiring a COVID Vaccine for their test cruises, too.  Not surprising given they are a part of the same group as Celebrity.  Celebrity just isn't doing the test cruises and going with, what appears to be no children initially.

 

All the major (and all the minor) cruise companies seem to be requiring the CDC COVID Vaccination Card for these initial cruises.  It sounds like they're just ignoring Desantis, as he can't stop them.

Not sure about Royal Caribbean. Seems that they have decided to change course a bit. 
 

The company said that guests are strongly recommended to set sail fully vaccinated, if they are eligible.

Those who are unvaccinated or unable to verify vaccination will be required to undergo testing and follow other protocols, which will be announced at a later date. 

Full article:

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/25160-royal-caribbean-will-start-u-s-cruising-with-six-ships-this-summer.html

[Cruising89143]

2 hours ago, Covepointcruiser said:

At this point, who is not at high risk if not vaccinated?!    The new COVID variants, Nepal and South American are very contagious.   The Variant from South America has caused severe illness and death in children and young people.   I would not want to travel with a non vaccinated passenger.   If they want to risk severe illness and/or death, they should stay home.  Sick passengers will disrupt and potentially ruin a cruise.   Don’t inconvenience others with your personal decision so take a land holiday in a private condo or house.

We will not board a ship if they go below the 95% threshold and even that’s pushing it with us. We were seriously planning to book the 8/07 Edge cruise but as far as I know guests will be allowed to go on their own in ports and right now Covid numbers in Cozumel, Costa Maya and Roatan are not good. I can see someone bringing Covid back onboard and here we go. Until we see how things will be handled when Covid is found onboard (and it will happen) we will wait to cruise. I’m not judging anyone that decides to cruise ASAP but we feel better waiting for a while. 😊

[bajathree]

HHHmmmmm....interesting...another confirming Royal no vaccine

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article251909713.html

[Cruising89143]

9 minutes ago, bajathree said:

HHHmmmmm....interesting...another confirming Royal no vaccine

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article251909713.html

IMHO this is a huge mistake on their part which will come back to bite them square in the rear. Ships as large as the Oasis class is just asking for issues. I wish them all the luck. I haven’t cruised on RCI since 2013 and have no intention of stepping on board any of their ships any time soon. 

[wrk2cruise]

Wasn't it Richard Fain about 2 weeks ago saying that anyone eligible for a vaccine would be required to have one.  They were going the test cruise route as they couldn't reach the 95% vaccinated threshold given the number of minors under 16 (soon to be 12) in their sailing demographic but still maintained 16 and up would require vaccination.

[bajathree]

Just now, wrk2cruise said:

Wasn't it Richard Fain about 2 weeks ago saying that anyone eligible for a vaccine would be required to have one.  They were going the test cruise route as they couldn't reach the 95% vaccinated threshold given the number of minors under 16 (soon to be 12) in their sailing demographic but still maintained 16 and up would require vaccination.

I don't believe any of them anymore.

[wrk2cruise]

Begs the question of what is the product you are buying?

[bajathree]

I'm wondering if Celebrity is sailing the Edge June 26 prior to the new law taking effect July 1 just to get that first sailing done fully vaccinated to only turn around after that sailing an not require vaccines on future Celebrity sailings like Royal just announced. Kind of like a revenue test sailing.

[cscurlock]

1 hour ago, cruisingator2 said:

Those who are unvaccinated or unable to verify vaccination will be required to undergo testing and follow other protocols, which will be announced at a later date. 

 

That statement right there is strange.  Unable to verify vaccination?  So they are just going to ask and if someone says no then what?  What's the point of asking then? Might as well just not ask.

[bajathree]

4 minutes ago, cscurlock said:

That statement right there is strange.  Unable to verify vaccination?  So they are just going to ask and if someone says no then what?  What's the point of asking then? Might as well just not ask.

BINGO....think thats kind of the direction they r going. Like those stupid health questioners you had to fill out at check-in

 

Edited June 5, 2021 by bajathree

[cscurlock]

Just now, bajathree said:

BINGO....think thats kind of the direction they r going.

 

As someone said if its one of those larger ships ooof.

[D C]

32 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

IMHO this is a huge mistake on their part which will come back to bite them square in the rear. Ships as large as the Oasis class is just asking for issues. I wish them all the luck. I haven’t cruised on RCI since 2013 and have no intention of stepping on board any of their ships any time soon. 

Agreed. I'm guessing they'll be seeing a lot of cancelations from vaccinated people who don't want to take a chance on a ruined cruise. 

[Cruising89143]

16 minutes ago, cscurlock said:

As someone said if its one of those larger ships ooof.

I wonder if Richard Fain has realized that they have one shot to get this right? All it’s going to take is one ship being pulled back to the home port early with a large case of Covid on board and it will be lights out. The media is just waiting for this to happen and the CDC will shut down the industry again. This time I have serious doubts if the cruise industry can survive another shutdown. 

[takemewithyou]

2 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

I wonder if Richard Fain has realized that they have one shot to get this right? All it’s going to take is one ship being pulled back to the home port early with a large case of Covid on board and it will be lights out. The media is just waiting for this to happen and the CDC will shut down the industry again. This time I have serious doubts if the cruise industry can survive another shutdown. 

Hmmmmm…it might be a good thing RCI sold Azamara!  Azamara (at this point) is requiring vaccinations.  But who knows?  This is crazy!

[keels81]

1 hour ago, cruisingator2 said:

Not sure about Royal Caribbean. Seems that they have decided to change course a bit. 
 

The company said that guests are strongly recommended to set sail fully vaccinated, if they are eligible.

Those who are unvaccinated or unable to verify vaccination will be required to undergo testing and follow other protocols, which will be announced at a later date. 

Full article:

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/25160-royal-caribbean-will-start-u-s-cruising-with-six-ships-this-summer.html

 

Either 1) they need someone to help them word things better or 2) they're leaving it this open for interpretation until they make a definitive decision and determine how many staterooms they're willing to gain/lose.

 

"Those who are unvaccinated" to me speaks to the kiddos under 16/12 that are unable to be vaccinated, as well as those that Fain previously mentioned (religious, medical, etc.). "Or unable to verify vaccination" means that they can't show proof of vaccination, or if it shows that it's fake, etc., you'll have to undergo testing and wear a mask/Tracelet, etc.

 

I don't know, but I hope that Celebrity sticks with the 95/98 plan or else I have no problem pulling my cruises. I don't want to cruise with people who willfully don't care about others.

[bajathree]

So on the same day Carnival reverses and announces it REQUIRES vaccines......Royal reverses and announces it doesn't.

[Cruising89143]

3 minutes ago, bajathree said:

So on the same day Carnival reverses and announces it REQUIRES vaccines......Royal reverses and announces it doesn't.

It’s crazy to me. I expected it the other way around. 

[wrk2cruise]

I think I'll wait for a statement directly from the line.  The media has been getting a lot of this stuff wrong lately.  Plus it's Royal and this is a Celebrity board.