Are gaiters allowed in the cruise terminal instead of facemasks?

[vermonter16]

My DH prefers to wear a neck gaiter instead of a mask.  Are those acceptable in the cruise terminal before you board the ship?

[sasset]

Don't know about Celebrity policy, but neck gaiters are about half as effective as a KN95 mask.

[Smmessineo]

When we went on the Edge in August out of Port Everglades, my husband had to take off is gaiter and wear a regular mask. I think they  had some disposable ones available but we had our own extras inmy purse. 

[wrk2cruise]

For the 5-10 minutes you should be in the terminal.......

[Alakegirl]

Wear one and have a back up. Always have a Plan B

[Catlover54]

30 minutes ago, sasset said:

Don't know about Celebrity policy, but neck gaiters are about half as effective as a KN95 mask.

 

Considering most people do not wear KN95 masks to board a ship, for various reasons, , the relevant comparison on relative effectiveness should be a gaiter versus a cloth mask or paper disposable mask, which is what most people are wearing when they show up at ports to board ships.  Then you would also have to control for degree of social distancing, degree of nostril coverage,  and indoor/outdoor, in the tested situations.  

I have not seen such a study, much less with Omicron. 

 

But whatever the rule is, for whatever the reason, that is what boarding pax must follow.

 

[WonderMan3]

Neck gaiters were long ago shown to be ineffective against Covid and most especially now with Omicron where they are telling people that even cloth masks will not be effective. A number of businesses I have encountered that require masks do not allow gaiters. I would assume the cruise terminal would be one of those.

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/11/study-bandanas-and-neck-gaiters-not-effective-as-surgical-face-masks.html

 

https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/12/why-you-should-upgrade-your-face-mask-to-an-n95.html

Edited December 31, 2021 by WonderMan3

[Alakegirl]

Never assume…. You know what they say…..

[1025cruise]

It has always been my understanding that gaiters are not considered acceptable anywhere a mask is required.

[Jim_Iain]

While not listed on Celebrity  that I could find -  RCL has the following guidelines and do not permit Gaiters

 

 

 

 

 

[vermonter16]

Thanks.  We always have masks so we just won't bring the gaiter.  No biggie either way.

[Lastdance]

There are enough gators in Florida, so stay away from them!

[Alakegirl]

So far Celebrity is silent on the matter

[bookitdanno]

1 hour ago, WonderMan3 said:

Neck gaiters were long ago shown to be ineffective against Covid and most especially now with Omicron where they are telling people that even cloth masks will not be effective. A number of businesses I have encountered that require masks do not allow gaiters. I would assume the cruise terminal would be one of those.

 

While I respect what the CDC is trying to get at, when they paint all "cloth" masks with the same broad brush it is a mistake. We purchased ENRO masks that have ASTM level 2 ratings. These are a far cry from the 2 for $5 cloth masks at Walmart. You may want to check out the specs here: 

 

https://enro.com/pages/test-results

 

Thanks for all your good input of the boards, BTW. I enjoy reading your comments.

 

[candydane]

Are the Enro masks good for easy breathing?

[Arizona Wildcat]

3 hours ago, Alakegirl said:

So far Celebrity is silent on the matter

Celebrity refered me to the RC statement posted by Jim.  Said it was a corporate policy.

[the penguins]

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

While not listed on Celebrity  that I could find -  RCL has the following guidelines and do not permit Gaiters

 

 

 

 

 

On board Silhouette accepted plastic face shields.

[CruiseRQA]

7 hours ago, sasset said:

Don't know about Celebrity policy, but neck gaiters are about half as effective as a KN95 mask.

An FYI: 

 

A KN95 mask is not the same as an N95 mask.    And a N95 only works to filter 95% of particles  0.3 microns in size or bigger if properly fitted.  

[bEwAbG]

5 hours ago, 1025cruise said:

It has always been my understanding that gaiters are not considered acceptable anywhere a mask is required.

 

That was true early on, but the CDC order that required the wearing of masks on transportation at the beginning of 2021 allows them (with caveats):  "If gaiters are worn, they should have two layers of fabric or be folded to make two layers." 

 

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/masks/mask-travel-guidance.html

 

If you look at airline websites, some say this now (Delta) and others (American) still say "no gaiters" probably because they don't want to police the 1-layer versus 2-layer distinction.  

 

With the rise of this variant, the advice recently has been to switch away from cloth masks altogether as the stock of better masks is now sufficient to cover everyone.

 

 

[bethtex]

My family group of 8 sailing on Jan 6 are all going to wear KN95 or N95.  We have some triple fabric masks (or that have inserts).

We really want to do this cruise and keep ourselves (and others) as safe as possible.

 

One sister is buying some different color KN95s for us  - so we will be fashionable as well as safe.

 

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, CruiseRQA said:

An FYI: 

 

A KN95 mask is not the same as an N95 mask.    And a N95 only works to filter 95% of particles  0.3 microns in size or bigger if properly fitted.  

How much does a KN95 filter?

[happy cruzer]

36 minutes ago, bEwAbG said:

 

That was true early on, but the CDC order that required the wearing of masks on transportation at the beginning of 2021 allows them (with caveats):  "If gaiters are worn, they should have two layers of fabric or be folded to make two layers." 

 

https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/masks/mask-travel-guidance.html

 

If you look at airline websites, some say this now (Delta) and others (American) still say "no gaiters" probably because they don't want to police the 1-layer versus 2-layer distinction.  

 

With the rise of this variant, the advice recently has been to switch away from cloth masks altogether as the stock of better masks is now sufficient to cover everyone.

 

 

Yes, last year as an essential worker, wore a two layer gaiter all work day long for 2 months.  For me the gaiter is the best for continuous wear, the other masks are ok for shorter times; mainly because once that gaiter is on it does not get off until the end of the day, not lost or dropped or dangling from an ear like most masks.  Buy each business makes their own rules...

[Jim_Iain]

10 minutes ago, RichYak said:

How much does a KN95 filter?

Pretty much the same.   My understanding is the KN masks is a China Standard and N95 is a U.S. Standard.   Each country has a specific standard for their masks.

 

According to mask manufacturer 3M, “it is reasonable to consider” China’s KN95s “equivalent” to US N95s. Mask standards for Europe (FFP2), Australia (P2), Korea (KMOEL), and Japan (DS) are also very similar.

 

See chart for similarities and differences

 

Edited January 1, 2022 by Jim_Iain

[bookitdanno]

3 hours ago, candydane said:

Are the Enro masks good for easy breathing?

My wife and I both use them and find them to be good for breathing, although no mask is great for me since I have COPD.

We bought the CURV model, which has a very lightweight built in frame that keeps it away from your mouth, and that facilitates breathing.

Also, they come in different sizes. You measure nose to chin to get the correct size for a good fit.

My wife uses a small, I use a large. We like them a lot.

[RichYak]

13 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Pretty much the same.

That was my understanding. I'm wondering why the earlier poster chose to indicated that they were "different" from N95 masks, when in the end the filtration is the same. Are they not the same for the purposes of protection from Covid?