Vaccine Required! For July in Galveston

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, Lee Cruiser said:

I've seen reports that the actual cost to perform the test with results is $100-$200.  The cost is not likely to be cheaper at the port.

Bang em with tests at embarkation and disembarkation, at 200 a pop.  400 for the privilege of cruising unvaccinated sounds like a good starting point.

[TNcruising02]

 

VACCINE EXEMPTION COMMUNICATION

The CDC’s guidelines for operating a highly-vaccinated cruise provide the ability to accommodate a small number of unvaccinated guests (children under 12 who cannot be vaccinated and exemptions as required by federal law) on restricted voyages, based on the total number of vaccinated guests on board. If you would like to be considered because a member of your traveling party is unvaccinated and meets this criteria, please complete the information below to receive a follow-up communication with the requirements to be considered and the specific protocols you will be required to observe.


https://www.carnival.com/vaccine-exemption-update?utm_source=bg&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=060821&fbclid=IwAR2CFNg6nOkqGveacR4li7dyYtiqJg4q4hTQ0kWEzlTgBmnVoccKaw9MrZc

[SNJCruisers]

5 minutes ago, jfunk138 said:

If they deny boarding to someone because they refused to "volunteer" vaccine information and are past whatever this 95% number happens to be, that seems to be de facto denial of service that the Florida and Texas laws appear to forbid.  

Keep saluting that unvaccinated flag.

[TNcruising02]

It will be whatever it will be.  They made a final decision in Galveston with vaccinated cruises for July.  They have a small percentage of exceptions, which will most likely be those with children who fill out the form quickly.

[jfunk138]

1 minute ago, TNcruising02 said:

It will be whatever it will be.  They made a final decision in Galveston with vaccinated cruises for July.  They have a small percentage of exceptions, which will most likely be those with children who fill out the form quickly.

I don't think they resolved how this complies with the legislation the Governor signed preventing them from asking for proof.   Their "final decision" could put them at odds with the Texas law, so it seems far from "final"

[BlerkOne]

6 minutes ago, jfunk138 said:

If they deny boarding to someone because they refused to "volunteer" vaccine information and are past whatever this 95% number happens to be, that seems to be de facto denial of service that the Florida and Texas laws appear to forbid.  

If the laws applied to cruise ships, perhaps. But I think Carnival has already stated they do not believe the Texas law applies to them. They may take a different approach with Florida 

[Radiioman46]

38 minutes ago, jfunk138 said:

If they deny boarding to someone because they refused to "volunteer" vaccine information and are past whatever this 95% number happens to be, that seems to be de facto denial of service that the Florida and Texas laws appear to forbid.  

If they deny boarding all they have to say is that the ship is fully booked. No more slots left for the 5%. 

[jfunk138]

1 minute ago, Radiioman46 said:

If they deny boarding all they have to say is that the ship is fully booked. No more slots left for the 5%. 

"Just saying" something is so, doesn't necessarily make it compliant with the law.  They could also "just say" they verified all the vax cards and the CDC would be satisfied right?

[Radiioman46]

6 minutes ago, jfunk138 said:

"Just saying" something is so, doesn't necessarily make it compliant with the law.  They could also "just say" they verified all the vax cards and the CDC would be satisfied right?

Yeah, I guess so. I was just giving a theory or speculation. I certainly am not qualified, and definitely can't read their minds. Lol! But, I'm sure they have it worked out. 

[Cafedumonde]

We are switching to royal.  Carnival needs to get it together.  The bait and switch they have pulled with the no vaccine requirement/oops vaccine requirement is not cool.

[jfunk138]

1 minute ago, Radiioman46 said:

Yeah, I guess so. I was just giving a theory or speculation. I certainly am not qualified, and definitely can't read their minds. Lol! But, I'm sure they have it worked out. 

Given how many false starts and conflicting information leading up to this point, my money is on them NOT actually having worked it out. 

Gov. Abbott responded directly to a tweet questioning Carnival's vaccine requirement in Texas with his intention to sign legislation banning it.  If there is a loophole in the law he did not intend, it seems clear he can pass "patch" legislation using the same supermajorities of the Texas legislature to get the patch effective just as quickly.

[bethtex]

2 minutes ago, jfunk138 said:

Given how many false starts and conflicting information leading up to this point, my money is on them NOT actually having worked it out. 

Gov. Abbott responded directly to a tweet questioning Carnival's vaccine requirement in Texas with his intention to sign legislation banning it.  If there is a loophole in the law he did not intend, it seems clear he can pass "patch" legislation using the same supermajorities of the Texas legislature to get the patch effective just as quickly.

The Texas legislature is no longer in session, so he can't pass new legislation to fix any loopholes anytime soon.  Per article I read, there is an exemption for companies complying with federal law which I think is what Carnival is relying on to say they can require proof of vaccination.  And unlike FL, Texas doesn't have a fine.  You just can't get government contracts and may risk losing certain state licenses/permits.  Not sure cruise lines have any licenses/permits which would be at risk.

Glad that Carnival and Celebrity and some others are sticking with requiring vaccination.  I have cruises booked in November and January and wouldn't go if vaccinations weren't required.  I am vaccinated so wouldn't get very sick, but could infect someone else who would.  I am not ok with that.

[BlerkOne]

16 minutes ago, bethtex said:

The Texas legislature is no longer in session, so he can't pass new legislation to fix any loopholes anytime soon.  Per article I read, there is an exemption for companies complying with federal law which I think is what Carnival is relying on to say they can require proof of vaccination.  And unlike FL, Texas doesn't have a fine.  You just can't get government contracts and may risk losing certain state licenses/permits.  Not sure cruise lines have any licenses/permits which would be at risk.

Glad that Carnival and Celebrity and some others are sticking with requiring vaccination.  I have cruises booked in November and January and wouldn't go if vaccinations weren't required.  I am vaccinated so wouldn't get very sick, but could infect someone else who would.  I am not ok with that.

Excellent! and yes...

 

“We are evaluating the legislation recently signed into law in Texas regarding vaccine information,” Vance Gulliksen, a Carnival spokesperson, said in an email. “The law provides exceptions for when a business is implementing COVID protocols in accordance with federal law, which is consistent with our plans to comply with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s guidelines.”

[firekapy]

13 hours ago, TNcruising02 said:

A cruise with tested passengers can sail at reduced capacity and use the same protocols as hotels, amusement parks, airlines, bars, and restaurants, all of which don't even require a covid test or proof of vaccination.

No, but they do require masks and social distancing. Who wants to spend thousands of dollars to have to do that. 

[IntrepidFromDC]

8 minutes ago, firekapy said:

No, but they do require masks and social distancing. Who wants to spend thousands of dollars to have to do that. 

Apparently NOBODY, according to John Heald's morning coffee on Facebook a couple days ago.  During which, he explained the switch from vax'd and unvax'd to VAX'd ONLY was about delivering the cruise experience people want, deserve and need... sans-masks.   👏👏👏 CARNIVAL!

Edited June 9, 2021 by IntrepidFromDC

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Apparently NOBODY, according to John Heald's morning coffee on Facebook a couple days ago.  During which, he explained the switch from vax'd and unvax'd to VAX'd ONLY was about delivering the cruise experience people want, deserve and need... sans-masks.   👏👏👏 CARNIVAL!

Agree, I'm glad I'm on carnival if only for that reason, no required masks.

 

But I'm curious how they get down to 95%. ..on the already booked cruises. My group is far from that. We took a poll. We have over 400 now on my roll call so I'd think representative.  We got adults not vaxxed and kids. Going to be interning how carnival gets to 95%. Maybe that explains the solo sales, most solos I'd guess are adults, not families with unvaxxed kids. Up the percentage of adults with solo rates. 

[Moviela]

On the Vista that would be just a few less than 200 who could be sans vaccine. My question is why no one speaks of the poor people that has had Covid19 and have natural immunity. They do not need to be vaccinated, so would they have to be counted as if vaccinated, or take one of the 200 places? It seems to me those that pass an antibody test should be given a CDC card to join the vaccinated line.

[Honolulu Blue]

5 hours ago, Cafedumonde said:

We are switching to royal.  Carnival needs to get it together.  The bait and switch they have pulled with the no vaccine requirement/oops vaccine requirement is not cool.

 

Royal's had to do some switching too with the Celebrity Millennium sailings current and future and with their minimum vaccine age.  It's part of our era, and I expect lots more changes across the board.

5 hours ago, bethtex said:

The Texas legislature is no longer in session, so he can't pass new legislation to fix any loopholes anytime soon. 

 

The cool states have executive orders that can modify law (or at least its enforcement) in all sorts of wild and wacky ways. 

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I'm curious how they get down to 95%. ..on the already booked cruises. My group is far from that. We took a poll. We have over 400 now on my roll call so I'd think representative.  We got adults not vaxxed and kids. Going to be interning how carnival gets to 95%. Maybe that explains the solo sales, most solos I'd guess are adults, not families with unvaxxed kids. Up the percentage of adults with solo rates. 

 

You may be right about why solo deals are being offered (one of which I'm taking advantage of, thanks Carnival).  I think you have to be 21 to book, and the vast majority of us will be vaccinated and able to prove it.

2 hours ago, Moviela said:

On the Vista that would be just a few less than 200 who could be sans vaccine. My question is why no one speaks of the poor people that has had Covid19 and have natural immunity. They do not need to be vaccinated, so would they have to be counted as if vaccinated, or take one of the 200 places? It seems to me those that pass an antibody test should be given a CDC card to join the vaccinated line.

 

I'll talk a bit about natural immunity if you don't mind.  Yes, those who have already had COVID-19 have already taken a bullet for us and yes, they do have natural immunity.  The problem is we're slow to figure out exactly how long it lasts and how good it is.  The CDC actually makes a provision for this in their order about returning from outside the country requiring either a negative test or a positive test within 90 days AND a medical note saying you're healthy enough to travel.  I would be less comfortable providing that sort of proof than my vaccine card, but maybe I'm just weird that way.  Oh, and the other problem is we don't universally trust the antibody tests.  We need to resolve these issues, and I have faith we will - eventually.  But eventually could be a year or two away.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

8 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

I don’t know what the cruise line would charge if they do charge. I paid $35 in Cozumel.

 

Of course, there are people who travel to Mexico and Canada (or via mail still, I don't know) for cheaper prescription drugs and such. I'd just have to imagine that most drugs/tests in the US, if not free or under a health plan, have the potential to be overpriced. 

Tom

[jfunk138]

1 hour ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I'll talk a bit about natural immunity if you don't mind.  Yes, those who have already had COVID-19 have already taken a bullet for us and yes, they do have natural immunity.  The problem is we're slow to figure out exactly how long it lasts and how good it is.  

Turns out we do have data about natural infection immunity now:

 

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2021.06.01.21258176v2

 

"Not one of the 1359 previously infected subjects who remained unvaccinated had a SARS-CoV-2 infection over the duration of the study. In a Cox proportional hazards regression model, after adjusting for the phase of the epidemic, vaccination was associated with a significantly lower risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection among those not previously infected (HR 0.031, 95% CI 0.015 to 0.061) but not among those previously infected (HR 0.313, 95% CI 0 to Infinity)."

[TNcruising02]

4 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Agree, I'm glad I'm on carnival if only for that reason, no required masks.

 

But I'm curious how they get down to 95%. ..on the already booked cruises. My group is far from that. We took a poll. We have over 400 now on my roll call so I'd think representative.  We got adults not vaxxed and kids. Going to be interning how carnival gets to 95%. Maybe that explains the solo sales, most solos I'd guess are adults, not families with unvaxxed kids. Up the percentage of adults with solo rates. 

Your cruise will probably get an email offering a full refund like ours did for August.

[TNcruising02]

4 hours ago, Moviela said:

On the Vista that would be just a few less than 200 who could be sans vaccine. My question is why no one speaks of the poor people that has had Covid19 and have natural immunity. They do not need to be vaccinated, so would they have to be counted as if vaccinated, or take one of the 200 places? It seems to me those that pass an antibody test should be given a CDC card to join the vaccinated line.

 

I agree.  Vaccinations aren't the only way to have immunity, but it seems that it is being pushed as the only way.  Why aren't they following the science and giving those who had covid an opportunity to provide a test showing they have immunity?

[Saint Greg]

1 hour ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Of course, there are people who travel to Mexico and Canada (or via mail still, I don't know) for cheaper prescription drugs and such. I'd just have to imagine that most drugs/tests in the US, if not free or under a health plan, have the potential to be overpriced. 

Tom

Sure. That’s why I made sure to preface it with it was in Mexico. But I also paid a higher price ($5-10) to have someone come to the hotel vs. getting it done downtown. And Cozumel has very American prices for most items. 
 

Last weekend here they had free COVID tests at a shopping mall I was at so who knows.

[jfunk138]

4 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

 

I agree.  Vaccinations aren't the only way to have immunity, but it seems that it is being pushed as the only way.  Why aren't they following the science and giving those who had covid an opportunity to provide a test showing they have immunity?

No lobbyist gets paid when nature provides the immunity.

[Lee Cruiser]

19 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

 

I agree.  Vaccinations aren't the only way to have immunity, but it seems that it is being pushed as the only way.  Why aren't they following the science and giving those who had covid an opportunity to provide a test showing they have immunity?

Yes indeed.  That was my point yesterday in another post.  The new virus rates are going down dramatically in states with low vaccine rates just like the states with high vaccine rates, so it's not just about the vaccine.