Royal Temporarily Tightens Mask Policy..Celebrity Next?

[traveline]

4 hours ago, Steve_MI said:

I sure hope not. We are booked on the Apex for New Years. I will cancel for sure if they pull this crap. There is no earthly way I would ever spend $7,000+ to wear a mask on vacation. 

I am so sorry that will cause you to cancel your cruise. The Cruise company is trying to keep its passengers  as safe as possible . Covid and its various names are still spreading world wide. If a lot of people start catching it on cruise ships, CDC will stop cruising. Masks on ships are better than no cruises at all.

[nocl]

For those of you canceling due to any masks requirements.

 

All I can say is:

 

Leaves more room for those of us that are cruising to spread out.

[alwaysonaship]

We went to Hawaii in November for a week. Masks at the hotel except for eating. It wasn’t a big deal, we had a great time. Looking for our Apex cruise end of February.  People just deal with it. The options are not that great.

[nocl]

3 hours ago, Cruise Gopher said:

A lot of UK posters saying they weren’t bothered wearing a mask on recent cruises. Can I ask you where these cruises went?
 

I’ve been on two short cruises in August and November in the Caribbean and I can tell you it suuuuuuuucks big time wearing a mask in 90 degree Caribbean temps with extremely high humidity.  

Last time I  cruised in the Caribbean the ship was air conditioned inside where masks are required,  it was hot outside where they were not required.

[Livesteamer]

Not scheduled until late February but my wife and I WILL NOT cruise with a mask requirement.  This is nothing more than as serious overreaction by the Administration and the CDC to cause a full-blown panic during the Christmas season.

[esther e]

4 minutes ago, Livesteamer said:

Not scheduled until late February but my wife and I WILL NOT cruise with a mask requirement.  This is nothing more than as serious overreaction by the Administration and the CDC to cause a full-blown panic during the Christmas season.

Agree.  If you test negative 48 hours prior and are fully vaccinated and boostered, a mask is only overkill.  Unless you plan to being within inches of someone's face, that is.  Every holiday it seems to rear its ugly head and cause panic.  

[RichYak]

6 minutes ago, esther e said:

If you test negative 48 hours prior and are fully vaccinated and boostered, a mask is only overkill...

Some will also take this a step further and make the argument that if testing and masking is required, there's no need to be vaccinated. That's why going backward like this is a slippery slope. It gives the vaccine-hesitant group one more reason to be hesitant.

[Va man]

I am on the APEX now and very few people wear masks or follow social distancing.  My partner and I wear masks all the time. We use the stairs if the elevators are crowded. 
 

My fully vaccinated father caught COVID and died last month.  People need to understand how dangerous Delta is and stop taking risks. I hope Celebrity makes masks mandatory tomorrow. 

[Steve_MI]

4 minutes ago, Va man said:

I am on the APEX now and very few people wear masks or follow social distancing.  My partner and I wear masks all the time. We use the stairs if the elevators are crowded. 
 

My fully vaccinated father caught COVID and died last month.  People need to understand how dangerous Delta is and stop taking risks. I hope Celebrity makes masks mandatory tomorrow. 

If you feel this way then why would you choose to sail on a ship that doesn’t require masks? Most other cruise lines do, so if you are worried about it then it makes sense to choose a cruise line that would make you more comfortable instead of complaining about the one that appeals to a more risk-tolerant crowd. 

[blueskadoo]

I thought part of the Conditional Sail order was that the cruise lines had to have an agreement with the ports that they had to allow the ships to be able to disembark at the home ports? To avoid what happened with the Princess ship when this all first started. 

[nocl]

Cruise lines are not going to tighten their protocols just on a whim.

 

The reason for adding masking protocols is because they do not think that the existing protocols are enough.

 

Clearly there is an expectation of break through infections even with boosters.  At best boosters return efficacy to in the 70% range.  That leaves a lot of potential for break through infections

 

Testing while another good tool can miss a number of  asymptomatic infections.  Take for example the Abbot Binax NOW proctored tests that have been discussed on CC.

 

Compared with real-time RT-PCR testing, the BinaxNOW antigen test had a sensitivity of 64.2% for specimens from symptomatic persons and 35.8% for specimens from asymptomatic persons

 

That means that it will catch only about 1/3 of the cases in asymptomatic individuals compared to a PCR test. If the population has relatively few cases not much of an issue since almost all would be negative anyway.  If a population with a high infection rate a number of cases could make it onboard.

 

Add to that some of the other characteristics on Omicron where unlike previous variants you might get 1 incubation period in a 7 day cruise with Omicron the data indicates a much shorter incubation period.

 

Add it all together and additional measures would seem to be needed since the last thing the cruise lines would want is a large number of cases on any one ship.  A few they can get past, any kind of large outbreak not so much.

 

While masking has its limits there is now a fairly wide range of studies that indicate that masking does reduce spread.  The amount has varied from study to study, but most seem to be agreeing that masking can reduce spread  by 25 to 50%.

 

So if a vaccine has an efficacy of 70% then if you have a virus with an RO of 4 in an unvaccinated population then in a fully vaccinated population RO  would be reduced to about 1.2  add in masks even at the low side of the studies of 25% and you would further lower it to an R0 of less than 1 to about .9.

 

Unfortunately Omicron seems to be spreading with an R0 greater than the approximate 4 demonstrate by delta. That as well as many cruisers not being boosted (currently not a requirement) and you get to needing additional measures.

 

While there may not be many serious cases among vaccinated cruisers, any kind of increasing numbers on board ships could create severe problems for the cruise lines.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 18, 2021 by nocl

[sayvan]

1 hour ago, Fredric22 said:

This is a silly comparison.  It is not March 2020. 

The fact we are even having this debate is silly… but then again… everyone is a cruise critic… 

[nocl]

8 minutes ago, Dwight1 said:

I’m going late February too, but now canceling. The masking is a deal breaker also but once instituted it’s not going to be temporary, that’s just BS. Omicron will not peak until January/February so it will continue. I agree it’s an overreaction. Just require everyone to get a booster shot. But who listens these days?

They have been able to go without masks for most of the time since relaunch.  They did have them is place at the start.  With vaccinations and the incidence level they were able to maintain control without them. I expect that the requirements will drop again when conditions indicate that they can.

 

The bad news about Omicron is the rate of spread, in some ways the good news about Omicron is the rate of spread.  It will hit fast, and depending upon the severity, may make for a rough time when it does, but it should pass pretty quickly. Peak in January, probably drop off rapidly by mid March.

 

 

[nocl]

8 minutes ago, Dwight1 said:

Too bad that pretty much kills the Caribbean winter season. I’m surprised they went with masking before a booster requirement. I can’t see paying $6k and walk around inside most of the time in a mask that is not required anywhere in my state except inside medical buildings. I just personally just hate it when I wear inside for doctor appointments. After 15 minutes I’m done. But I’m more worried the islands we would visit reaction by my cruise time. To me it’s a cost/benefit equation. It’s fails for me personally.

For me I have vacationed in Hawaii, masks required, vacationed at an all inclusive in Mexico - Masks required.  As well as other trips, mostly in areas masks required.  Heading to Tahiti is January, if they do not close to non-residents - also masks required.

 

If your going to do any level of international travel pretty much masks required.  

 

Were you driving to the port, because if flying masks required on the plane and in the air port? A lot longer than 15 minutes.  Even in the boarding process masks have been required.  Going indoors at many of the Caribbean islands masks required.

[LGW59]

7 hours ago, Steve_MI said:

I sure hope not. We are booked on the Apex for New Years. I will cancel for sure if they pull this crap. There is no earthly way I would ever spend $7,000+ to wear a mask on vacation. 

Cry me a river

[Steve_MI]

1 minute ago, LGW59 said:

Cry me a river

What an enlightened and thought provoking response. Shouldn’t you be posting on the Carnival forum?

[LGW59]

9 minutes ago, Steve_MI said:

What an enlightened and thought provoking response. Shouldn’t you be posting on the Carnival forum?

Celebrity all the way

[Fly and Sail]

7 hours ago, emmas gran said:

So a guy is not wearing a mask onboard, you later find he has COVID and you have been sat talking with him. Had you both been wearing masks you would be protected but without chances are you are also infected. Does that change your opinion.

 

Huh? You'd be protected by wearing a mask? Highly unlikely, especially with Delta/Omicron. A flimsy mask won't stop that.

[Fly and Sail]

8 hours ago, Steve_MI said:

I sure hope not. We are booked on the Apex for New Years. I will cancel for sure if they pull this crap. There is no earthly way I would ever spend $7,000+ to wear a mask on vacation. 

 

I wonder if a mask policy would be sufficient grounds to cancel without penalty. After all it was advertised as a mask-less experience. I can't imagine running around with a mask on a Caribbean sailing to be great fun.

[emmas gran]

26 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

Huh? You'd be protected by wearing a mask? Highly unlikely, especially with Delta/Omicron. A flimsy mask won't stop that.

A mask reduces the risk --who said my masks were flimsy?? I have worn a mask all through our summer in shops/ supermarkets . In England if someone comes to repair our TV or telephone line they wear a mask it's something we do. When we were in Japan in March/April 2019 many people wore masks and it wasn't mandatory then. My comment is if you are from Tokyo!.

Edited December 18, 2021 by emmas gran
spelling

[LGW59]

5 minutes ago, emmas gran said:

A mask reduces the risk --who said my masks were flimsy?? I have worn a mask all through our summer in shops/ supermarkets . In England if someone comes to repair our TV or telephone line they wear a mask it's something we do. When we were in Japan in March/April 2019 many people wore masks and it wasn't mandatory then.

Good on you for being smart, cautious and still living your life!

[Fly and Sail]

18 minutes ago, emmas gran said:

A mask reduces the risk --who said my masks were flimsy?? I have worn a mask all through our summer in shops/ supermarkets . In England if someone comes to repair our TV or telephone line they wear a mask it's something we do. When we were in Japan in March/April 2019 many people wore masks and it wasn't mandatory then. My comment is if you are from Tokyo!.

 

You're the one who used the word "protected" and no, a mask doesn't protect you from Covid. Especially not the new aggressive variants.

[Miaminice]

All I can say to it is FINALLY! 
Over the past 2 years we have been on cruises where masks were required, hotel stays where masks were required and masks are mandatory where we live. I have been wearing a mask at work when not in my own office since April 2020 just like everyone else at work

and guess what?! We are still alive! 😁 Hmmm, maybe the masks even helped in that regard 🤔😉 Who knows…
 

The cruises were great, our hotel vacations fabulous and the masks did not diminish the fun and experience but helped everyone feel safe. They helped to keep hotels open and cruise ships operating - even at times when no ship sailed in the US. The small “inconvenience” helped to keep as much normality as possible while reducing the risk and eventually the death toll.
 

So OMG… stop whining and stop caring for yourselves only. Masks also help to keep your shipmates and crew safe while not hurting you at all. 

 

 

[hawkesbaynz]

Cruised on Silhoette in the UK and masks were not an issue for us. Last week I even had to wear masks on ski lifts in France at -12c. 
 

The rate of infection have doubled in the last few days in the UK. Omicron now the dominant strain in Scotland.  
 

Being boostered and wearing a mask maybe the only way we can carry on holidaying. 

[isdoo]

Hopefully this will be brought in straight away 

Actually I might write to Celebrity and ask them to adopt this policy to keep us safe from some of those posting here 😂

Celebrity is the only cruise line in the group (AFAIK) not to mandate masks, so I can see that changing rapidly.