NCL cancels M&Gs and other events

[julie3fan]

I just got the following email from NCL.  I was organizing M&Gs for the Jan 9 & Jan 16 Bliss sailings.  I'm a bit disappointed but not at all surprised.

 

 

Please be advice that Cruise Critic Meet and Greet will be cancelled until further notice.

 

the health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we visit are our first priority. Given the current health environment, and as a precaution, for the foreseeable future we will forgo large social group gatherings. This means we will no longer host events such as the Captain’s VIP parties or Latitudes functions, but our entertainment venues remain open. Please be sure to keep physical distance whenever possible. We are very sorry for the inconvenience but we appreciate your understanding.

[aubreyc1988]

Makes sense and is for the best. We need to keep the crew safe and healthy 🙂 

[phillygwm]

40 minutes ago, julie3fan said:

I just got the following email from NCL.  I was organizing M&Gs for the Jan 9 & Jan 16 Bliss sailings.  I'm a bit disappointed but not at all surprised.

 

 

Please be advice that Cruise Critic Meet and Greet will be cancelled until further notice.

 

So M&Gs are cancelled, which is prudent as far as it goes.  But if you wanted to arrange a pub crawl, or just wanted to meet somewhere, there's nothing NCL can really do about that and it would seem to be just as risky (aside from potentially exposing senior officers.)

 

[aubreyc1988]

12 minutes ago, phillygwm said:

So M&Gs are cancelled, which is prudent as far as it goes.  But if you wanted to arrange a pub crawl, or just wanted to meet somewhere, there's nothing NCL can really do about that and it would seem to be just as risky (aside from potentially exposing senior officers.)

 

My guess is, they have cancelled these events because of the staff needing to be present as the top reason. You only have so many dept heads and assistants to dept heads, so if too many staff are testing positive and then quarantining, etc, it would be a headache in terms of staffing the ship. 

[julie3fan]

I just received another email from NCL.  It looks like our M&G is still on, but I presume the other gatherings will still be cancelled.

 

Good morning Julie,

 

I send you an email earlier in regards to the 2 Cruise Critic Meetings this month, the gatherings with refreshments are still on. The ship will still hold the venue/meetings for your group but the officers will not be able to attend. Just make note of this.

 

Kind regards

[bluehorizonlover123]

This is strange as they just emailed me for a number  count. 

[julie3fan]

17 minutes ago, bluehorizonlover123 said:

This is strange as they just emailed me for a number  count. 

 

This might be ship specific, but who knows any more!

[mking8288]

Maybe, NCL can do a virtual M&G onboard ... 

 

Yeah, this make sense as least for the immediate future to avoid many ducks gathered at the same indoor venue, without getting the senior officers to put on full PPE.  

[Rick&Jeannie]

Interesting...Princess has made no such announcement (yet).

[GeezerCouple]

5 hours ago, julie3fan said:

I just received another email from NCL.  It looks like our M&G is still on, but I presume the other gatherings will still be cancelled.

 

Good morning Julie,

 

I send you an email earlier in regards to the 2 Cruise Critic Meetings this month, the gatherings with refreshments are still on. The ship will still hold the venue/meetings for your group but the officers will not be able to attend. Just make note of this.

 

Kind regards

 

I'm not surprised that NCL doesn't want their officers mingling with others just now, given the transmissibility of Omicron.

 

I think it's the Queen Mary 2 that had it's Bridge crew (some/many/?) get sick such that a new Bridge crew had to be flown in, and the ship changed destinations and is heading "home" now, to the UK instead of to New York.

 

Passengers originally heading to NYC will be flown there, but apparently there are a LOT of them, with limited flights from Barbados...

The QM2 is a large ship, obviously.

 

https://www.reuters.com/business/carnival-unit-says-ship-will-not-sail-new-york-amid-omicron-worries-2021-12-29/

 

GC

[Turtles06]

5 minutes ago, GeezerCouple said:

Passengers originally heading to NYC will be flown there, but apparently there are a LOT of them, with limited flights from Barbados...

The QM2 is a large ship, obviously.

Guests going back to NY/NJ were flown out yesterday. I think Cunard may have chartered planes. Other folks were returning to the UK; some flew back, others remained on board to sail back. 

[Old & Retired]

12 hours ago, mking8288 said:

Maybe, NCL can do a virtual M&G onboard ... 

 

I think it's time for passengers to do a virtual cruise onboard NCL ships.  So many restrictions and cancelations we are just about there.

[HuliHuli]

22 hours ago, julie3fan said:

I just got the following email from NCL.  I was organizing M&Gs for the Jan 9 & Jan 16 Bliss sailings.  I'm a bit disappointed but not at all surprised.

 

 

Please be advice that Cruise Critic Meet and Greet will be cancelled until further notice.

 

the health and safety of our guests, crew and the communities we visit are our first priority. Given the current health environment, and as a precaution, for the foreseeable future we will forgo large social group gatherings. This means we will no longer host events such as the Captain’s VIP parties or Latitudes functions, but our entertainment venues remain open. Please be sure to keep physical distance whenever possible. We are very sorry for the inconvenience but we appreciate your understanding.

What do you bet they don't cancel "large social group gatherings" like Bingo and Deal or No Deal?

[ontheweb]

8 hours ago, Old & Retired said:

I think it's time for passengers to do a virtual cruise onboard NCL ships.  So many restrictions and cancelations we are just about there.

And no worries about mask rules on a virtual cruise.

[SeaShark]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

And no worries about mask rules on a virtual cruise.

 

You would think so, but I understand that you still have to wear a virtual mask. 🙄

 

Its the only way to keep the virtual Karens happy.

[craig01020]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

And no worries about mask rules on a virtual cruise.

...or pants!

[GeezerCouple]

20 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

I'm not surprised that NCL doesn't want their officers mingling with others just now, given the transmissibility of Omicron.

 

I think it's the Queen Mary 2 that had it's Bridge crew (some/many/?) get sick such that a new Bridge crew had to be flown in, and the ship changed destinations and is heading "home" now, to the UK instead of to New York.

 

Passengers originally heading to NYC will be flown there, but apparently there are a LOT of them, with limited flights from Barbados...

The QM2 is a large ship, obviously.

 

https://www.reuters.com/business/carnival-unit-says-ship-will-not-sail-new-york-amid-omicron-worries-2021-12-29/

 

GC

 

Sure enough... the Pearl is ending the current cruise early, and returning to Miami:

 

 

There are too many cases of Covid.

 

I have no doubt this will continue.  Vaccinations do appear to have a significant effect in mitigating symptoms if infected, and - importantly! - lowering the risk of dying.

 

However, it is still possible to become infected, and that will be much more of a problem for those who remain unvaccinated, as they won't have similar protections from morbidity and mortality from Covid infection.

 

And we worry (a lot!) about the what if's:  What if a new variant emerges that is more resistant to the vaccine and also more deadly?

😱

 

That's actually more than worrisome.

 

We finally made a reservation for the entire family for a cruise in August, 2023.

We aren't sure what the situation will be by then...

 

GC

 

[CruiseMH]

1 hour ago, GeezerCouple said:

 

 

What if a new variant emerges....and also more deadly

 

 

that would be against the nature of every virus.

 

 

[Old & Retired]

Down goes the Getaway!