Florida wins against CDC?

[RumRunner2021]

1 minute ago, Nymich said:

Cruise lines are sailing safely right now out of Florida. 

Are those the cruises we've seen pictures of?  (i.e. masks everywhere, 20% occupancy in shows and bars, people having to stay in their assigned light circles on the dance floor, etc.)

[Nymich]

7 minutes ago, RumRunner2021 said:

Are those the cruises we've seen pictures of?  (i.e. masks everywhere, 20% occupancy in shows and bars, people having to stay in their assigned light circles on the dance floor, etc.)

Sounds like you might want to wait.

Edited July 25, 2021 by Nymich

[RumRunner2021]

1 hour ago, Nymich said:

Sounds like you might want to wait.

Not at all.  Sounds like I (and millions more) might want to sail NCL!!

Edited July 25, 2021 by RumRunner2021

[MorganClark]

4 hours ago, RumRunner2021 said:

Wait a tick...  Are you calling me a cool 🐈 or a dirty 🐀?  I've been called both......just today!  😎

 

But, at the end of the day, @BermudaBound2014 has promised to buy me a beer.  So I've got that going for me..... 🤣

 

Actually, I'm calling you a combination of both; a cool rat. Speaking of cool 😎,  I think @BermudaBound2014is also because she is from the Great Lakes state of Michigan (like yours truly).

 

What do you think, are my rodent senses detecting potential RP material here (with @BermudaBound2014?)

Edited July 25, 2021 by MorganClark

[MorganClark]

5 hours ago, RumRunner2021 said:

Are those the cruises we've seen pictures of?  (i.e. masks everywhere, 20% occupancy in shows and bars, people having to stay in their assigned light circles on the dance floor, etc.)

 

I'm not advocating one particular cruise line over the other in these very challenging times (dealing with covid and covid protocols) but I can tell you from personal experience that I just got off Adventure of the Seas out of Nassau, Bahamas and onboard the ship, masks were not required to be worn by passengers anywhere. (All crew were required to wear masks though). Now, there were some covid protocols in place that were noticeable, i.e. no sitting at the bar itself inside bars & lounges, a crew person would serve you at the buffet restaurant "Windjammer" and at the Coke and soft-serve yogurt machines, some seats in theaters were covered up (reserved) for social distancing, to name a few. But, for me personally, these measures were not over burdensome at all and I fully understood that RCI was erring on the side of caution (probably due to a few + covid cases they had on other ships in their fleet). Another example of RCI's erring on the side of caution is when they "changed course" <- (ship pun fully intended) and decided to require a - covid pcr test 5 days or less prior to sailing date (although RCI "fumbled the ball" on this because their newly implemented written policy clearly stated that the - pcr test was required 5 days or less before arriving in Nassau, Bahamas. (See the AOS LIVE review thread). Btw, I gave RCI a "3" in their check-in process on the post-cruise survey for this sole reason. I also described this issue in detail in the narrative block(s) on the survey.

 

Bottom line for ne; I would gladly sail with RCI again with the protocols they had in place onboard Adventure of the Seas. Cruising with only 35-40% pax capacity was nice, and I mean really nice. Like I posted on the AOS LIVE thread; it was the "Goldilocks effect", not too many passengers, not too few passengers, it was "just right". 

 

Cruise now to take advantage of these reduced capacity sailings because once the cruise lines get back up to 100% pax capacity, you'll never see these "Goldilocks" (reduced pax capacity) cruises again. The crowded pool deck and the chair hogs will be back!

Edited July 25, 2021 by MorganClark

[At Sea At Peace]

14 hours ago, HuliHuli said:

You left out clothing optional cruises @At Sea At Peace.  Oh yea, a mask mandate kills that option, right? 😉🤣

 

@HuliHuli The mask mandate does kill the 'clothing optional' cruises you're looking for, but you know wearing your mask like that not only does nothing against the virus and will be really irritating on your upper thighs.  😲

[rad798]

11 hours ago, RumRunner2021 said:

I'm fairly certain that neither @wally4ever nor anybody else in these threads has ever said any such thing.  Do you have a link?  I want 100% vaxed so that I don't have to wear a stupid mask, skip the buffet and sit fifteen feet apart at the bar and in the shows.  Dying is of no concern (well, other than the fact that that fate awaits all of us 💀).

 

If you think all NCL cruises will be without mask just because it says so on their website under the 100% fully vaccinated line, you better re-think that logic or read the small print. Better yet, ask the people on the NCL Jade boarding today.

 

We were on a 95% Celebrity Millennium cruise in June that was without mask. After the first day, even the crew took their mask off. Great cruise with no worries about social distancing, buffets, theater or anything else.

 

Now we are "hooked" on a NCL Getaway Med cruise in September that is almost guaranteed to be mask required. While this is out of NCL's hands, one would think they would be a little more forthcoming on their website. Especially, since Europe's recommendations have not changed since April I think. 

 

Am I exited about the mask requirement? Oh, heck no!

Will we still enjoy the cruise? I sure hope so, since this is our first NCL cruise that we may actually board. If not, then I will will probably be missing some dear body parts since the lovely wife has been leery of NCL from the get go.

[oteixeira]

21 minutes ago, rad798 said:

If you think all NCL cruises will be without mask just because it says so on their website under the 100% fully vaccinated line, you better re-think that logic or read the small print. Better yet, ask the people on the NCL Jade boarding today.

 

We were on a 95% Celebrity Millennium cruise in June that was without mask. After the first day, even the crew took their mask off. Great cruise with no worries about social distancing, buffets, theater or anything else.

 

Now we are "hooked" on a NCL Getaway Med cruise in September that is almost guaranteed to be mask required. While this is out of NCL's hands, one would think they would be a little more forthcoming on their website. Especially, since Europe's recommendations have not changed since April I think. 

 

Am I exited about the mask requirement? Oh, heck no!

Will we still enjoy the cruise? I sure hope so, since this is our first NCL cruise that we may actually board. If not, then I will will probably be missing some dear body parts since the lovely wife has been leery of NCL from the get go.

Again, the masks aren't about NCL but about the regulations around that part of Europe at this time.  They plan to sail in the USA with zero masking on passengers, just like Celebrity is doing.  You are not comparing apples to apples.  

https://cruise.blog/2021/06/celebrity-apex-debuts-sailing-beautiful-greek-islands

Here you have an article showing the Apex (from the line you are commending above) is also masked in all public areas out of Greece.  

[coffeebean]

15 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

Actually, you said it backwards in terms of what was “challenging” what. But we understand each other, it’s all good. 😉

🙂Back at ya!

[coffeebean]

11 hours ago, RumRunner2021 said:

Are those the cruises we've seen pictures of?  (i.e. masks everywhere, 20% occupancy in shows and bars, people having to stay in their assigned light circles on the dance floor, etc.)

Those are the Royal cruises that allow unlimited un-vaccinated passengers. Celebrity is sailing with 95% vaccinated passengers so they are not mandating those protocols you mentioned. Celebrity offers more of an enjoyable cruise experience that we all remember from the pre-pandemic times.

 

Hopefully, NCL can offer the same type of cruise experience, even out of Florida. That remains to be seen, however, without the CDC CSO which gave the cruise lines the ability to REQUEST vaccine status so they could adhere to the CSO. Without the CSO, how is that even possible without being fined by the state of Florida? That goes for all the cruise lines home ported in Florida who wish to validate vaccine status of their passengers.

 

 

[coffeebean]

11 hours ago, Nymich said:

Sounds like you might want to wait.

No need to wait. Cruise on lines that adhere to the 95% or greater vaccinated passengers do not mandate those pesky protocols......at this point in time.

[rad798]

23 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

Again, the masks aren't about NCL but about the regulations around that part of Europe at this time.  They plan to sail in the USA with zero masking on passengers, just like Celebrity is doing.  You are not comparing apples to apples.  

https://cruise.blog/2021/06/celebrity-apex-debuts-sailing-beautiful-greek-islands

Here you have an article showing the Apex (from the line you are commending above) is also masked in all public areas out of Greece.  

While I agree, part of what I said was not comparing apples to apples, my main point is NCL should not be saying on their main page: "All guests and crew are required to be 100% vaccinated, so on Norwegian you can cruise mask free"!

This is just not true and should not be on their front page!

 

Leading up to the Celebrity cruise in June was far from perfect. Trust me, I was cussing Celebrity under my breath many times. I knew a lot of the changes they could not help but others they could of been more clear. The cruise was worth all the hassles though.

 

Celebrity did have different sections on their website on what to expect for your cruise. A special link for the Millennium and one for the Apex. Which listed different protocols for each. (not sure what they have now). 

I do know for sure they didn't have a front page saying they would be mask free since they were 95% vaccinated. 

[Karaboudjan]

19 minutes ago, coffeebean said:

Those are the Royal cruises that allow unlimited un-vaccinated passengers. Celebrity is sailing with 95% vaccinated passengers so they are not mandating those protocols you mentioned. Celebrity offers more of an enjoyable cruise experience that we all remember from the pre-pandemic times.

 

Hopefully, NCL can offer the same type of cruise experience, even out of Florida. That remains to be seen, however, without the CDC CSO which gave the cruise lines the ability to REQUEST vaccine status so they could adhere to the CSO. Without the CSO, how is that even possible without being fined by the state of Florida? That goes for all the cruise lines home ported in Florida who wish to validate vaccine status of their passengers.

 

 

The Florida law prohibits businesses from requiring proof of vaccination.  The other lines have been getting passengers to voluntarily show their documentation.  I don't see why that would be any less 'okay' without a CSO.

[oteixeira]

14 minutes ago, rad798 said:

While I agree, part of what I said was not comparing apples to apples, my main point is NCL should not be saying on their main page: "All guests and crew are required to be 100% vaccinated, so on Norwegian you can cruise mask free"!

This is just not true and should not be on their front page!

 

Leading up to the Celebrity cruise in June was far from perfect. Trust me, I was cussing Celebrity under my breath many times. I knew a lot of the changes they could not help but others they could of been more clear. The cruise was worth all the hassles though.

 

Celebrity did have different sections on their website on what to expect for your cruise. A special link for the Millennium and one for the Apex. Which listed different protocols for each. (not sure what they have now). 

I do know for sure they didn't have a front page saying they would be mask free since they were 95% vaccinated. 

If you click on the learn more link, as they suggest you do, the next page clearly says:
 

**On Europe sailings only, currently local government regulations requires all guests to wear masks onboard. Refer to FAQs section for complete details.

 

I am sorry but you are nit picking if your entire reason for being this upset is a website that is only slightly misleading if you refuse to click down on the links to learn more. 

All of the lines are doing the best they can.  All of them have to follow local government rules.  All of them will try to give you the best experience they can (as they see it, obviously MSC thinks the best experience is everyone masked up all the time, everywhere).

 

Edited July 25, 2021 by oteixeira

[rad798]

9 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

If you click on the lean more link, as they suggest you do, the next page clearly says:
 

**On Europe sailings only, currently local government regulations requires all guests to wear masks onboard. Refer to FAQs section for complete details.

 

I am sorry but you are nit picking if your entire reason for being this upset is a website that is only slightly misleading if you refuse to click down on the links to learn more. 

All of the lines are doing the best they can.  All of them have to follow local government rules.  All of them will try to give you the best experience they can (as they see it, obviously MSC thinks the best experience is everyone masked up all the time, everywhere).

 

Yeah, I have been known to nit pick a thing or two. Like I said in my first post, you may need to read the small print. Just think NCL could do better but I am sure we will still have fun, mask or no mask.

 

Speaking of mask, what is the latest with mask on US cruises? I can't keep up with a different judge making a different ruling everyday. 

On JamieLogical's thread, I see she just posted a pic of the Celebrity crew welcoming her and all the crew had mask on.

If Delta variant keeps ramping up, I can see all kinds of changes coming to all cruise lines.

[coffeebean]

22 hours ago, Karaboudjan said:

The Florida law prohibits businesses from requiring proof of vaccination.  The other lines have been getting passengers to voluntarily show their documentation.  I don't see why that would be any less 'okay' without a CSO.

Without a working valid CSO from the CDC, there is no mandate for the cruise lines to adhere to 95% or greater vaccinated passengers on any given sailing. I have believed all along, the reason the cruise lines have had their "work around" the Florida law is because of this CDC mandate and not adhering to this mandate would be in violation of a government agency.

 

Without that mandate, how can the cruise lines turn away any passenger that does not volunteer their vaccine status? Where is the grounds that they can do that and not be in violation of the Florida law? Are they going to use another work around such as claiming a passenger lied on their online check in when said passenger can not or will not supply proof of vaccination?