Jan 5, 2022 CDC announcement

[mightycruisequeen]

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/6679/

[OlsSalt]

Excerpt:

 

"After the expiration of the Temporary Extension & Modification of the CSO on January 15, 2022, CDC intends to transition to a voluntary program, in coordination with cruise ship operators and other stakeholders, to assist the cruise ship industry to detect, mitigate, and control the spread of COVID-19 onboard cruise ships," a CDC spokesperson told Cruise Critic via email."

[rkacruiser]

And, the process begins in our society to learn how to live with this darn virus.  

[OlsSalt]

This might explain the WSJ op ed piece today claiming "I cruised,  got covid and I will cruise again, since you can get sick anywhere".   

 

Which is proving to be true, regardless of strict regulatory mitigations. Now it becomes a brand decision; no longer a government decision.  

 

Animal spirits of the market place will decide - what do cruise passengers want - very strict adherence to guidelines or less strict ..since staying home exposes one to new infection variants as well.  Strange times.

 

And I for one am very sorry what has befallen this beloved industry - and wish for the very best of overall outcomes.  It cannot continue with this current economic model and the massive loans to keep things floating for two revenue-deficient years are fast coming due. 

 

Fair winds and following seas, cruise industry.  Three long toots to your future sailings. 

[rkacruiser]

5 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

Fair winds and following seas, cruise industry.  Three long toots to your future sailings. 

 

An excellent post, OlsSalt!  

[nocl]

5 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

And, the process begins in our society to learn how to live with this darn virus.  

Do not expect much to change in the short term.  After all the VSP has been voluntary for years, yet all cruise lines are members.

 

Expect the vaccination requirements and testing requirements to pretty much remain as is for this year.  After all many of the port had tighter requirements than the CDC.  

 

While same may not cruise due to protocols, many do not cruise because of concerns even with protocols.  As indicated with Christmas season the bookings were climbing and were starting to get to the 80% range on some lines, but then Omicron hit.

[OlsSalt]

Those that are vaccinated and boosted choose masks and socially distant for their own sense of personal protection, will continue feel safe.  No matter what other passengers choose to do, within their own understandings of this current situation. And ports will respond accordingly.

 

It is a very unsettled time regardless - what was supposed to protect has not; and the unprotected are not yet confirmed by data to be any more dangerous than anyone else.

 

Wash your hands, keep you fingers away from your own nose, mouth and eyes, stay in bed if you have symptoms, cover your coughs and sneezes, watch what you touch,  and express all the common courtesies we have long accepted as desirable behavior when sharing closed spaces on a cruise ship. 

[Boatdrill]

What a strange announcement from the CDC after they advised Americans not to sail on cruise ships just a week ago. 

[lstrong]

And who knows what tomorrow, next week or next month will bring….

[KirkNC]

The ports will force the vaccinations even if the cruise lines don’t.  Look at Hawaii, they are in the process of implementing the requirement of a booster in addition to the base shots. 

[nocl]

2 hours ago, Boatdrill said:

What a strange announcement from the CDC after they advised Americans not to sail on cruise ships just a week ago. 

Its actually just a restatement of their notification made a few months ago.  Really nothing new. 

[cruise kitty]

My opinion:  this will simply eliminate some red tape on behalf of the cruise lines...vaccinations & probably boosters will be required for the next few foreseeable years... if not perhaps always.

 

Works for me  🙂

 

[OlsSalt]

1 hour ago, cruise kitty said:

My opinion:  this will simply eliminate some red tape on behalf of the cruise lines...vaccinations & probably boosters will be required for the next few foreseeable years... if not perhaps always.

 

Works for me  🙂

 

 

Doesn't work for me. 

[julia]

Then please stay home.... it's really that simple.

[OlsSalt]

24 minutes ago, julia said:

Then please stay home.... it's really that simple.

 

The way things are right now, of course I will be staying home.   However, this may soon change. 

 

The irony is those who demand zero tolerance may be the ones forced to stay home in the future.  Parameters are changing. Therapeutics are part of the future too. As well as accumulated data giving guidance to far more realistic assessments of risks and tradeoffs.  I don't see the cruise industry stuck on March 2020, forever. 

[nocl]

The cruise lines can deal with some cases on board with vaccinated passengers because those cases are pretty much mild.

 

If they drop vaccination then they run a higher risk of having to deal with more serious cases, as well as the potential bad press of have medical evacuations and potential deaths.  The news cycle will get used to have some positives on board if they are mild, start mixing in serious cases at it will be like chumming for sharks.

 

I expect that the basic protocols will remain pretty much remain the same throughout 2022 and probably into 2023 depending upon the overall case numbers.  That means vaccination and probably testing will remain. Masking may come and go depending upon cases, there may allowance for young children on some lines but pretty much the protocols that exist.

 

In the end the virus will drive the actions more so than the regulatory authorities.

[nocl]

6 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

 

The way things are right now, of course I will be staying home.   However, this may soon change. 

 

The irony is those who demand zero tolerance may be the ones forced to stay home in the future.  Parameters are changing. Therapeutics are part of the future too. As well as accumulated data giving guidance to far more realistic assessments of risks and tradeoffs.  I don't see the cruise industry stuck on March 2020, forever. 

Actually the cruise lines are not stuck in Mar 2020 when cases on board meant some deaths.

 

Now with vaccination it means mild illness with a short quarantine. Sometime things will change but not in this year.

Edited January 6, 2022 by nocl

[whogo]

More CDC news: According to the fact based media, "Every U.S. cruise with passengers [92 ships] has coronavirus cases on board". https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/01/05/every-cruise-ship-covid-cdc/

 

Here is the relevant CDC page: https://www.cdc.gov/quarantine/cruise/cruise-ship-color-status.html

 

 

[OlsSalt]

11 hours ago, nocl said:

Actually the cruise lines are not stuck in Mar 2020 when cases on board meant some deaths.

 

Now with vaccination it means mild illness with a short quarantine. Sometime things will change but not in this year.

 

As said elsewhere when the data is sorted out, we know as much now about "covid" today,  as we did about  as we did when it first struck the Diamond Princess: case numbers, consequences, spread,  and uniquely vulnerable groups.  It is good we have these ongoing closed-case scenarios for review now, which will lead to more secure best practices in the future.

 

 Including learning whether Omicron is a  mild infection on its own, or because the current injections provide therapeutic comfort measures - verdict still out on that one. Repeated anecdote does not establish valid testimony.  Lots of noise on this one - no science yet. 

[OlsSalt]

11 hours ago, nocl said:

The cruise lines can deal with some cases on board with vaccinated passengers because those cases are pretty much mild.

 

If they drop vaccination then they run a higher risk of having to deal with more serious cases, as well as the potential bad press of have medical evacuations and potential deaths.  The news cycle will get used to have some positives on board if they are mild, start mixing in serious cases at it will be like chumming for sharks.

 

I expect that the basic protocols will remain pretty much remain the same throughout 2022 and probably into 2023 depending upon the overall case numbers.  That means vaccination and probably testing will remain. Masking may come and go depending upon cases, there may allowance for young children on some lines but pretty much the protocols that exist.

 

In the end the virus will drive the actions more so than the regulatory authorities.

 

Who among the long-term cruisers has not been on at least one ship prior to "covid"  that was  not diverted for a medical emergency, witnessed a helicopter evacuation or had people die while on board?  

 

This realty struck my own first long cruise experience in 1977, when three elderly people died within the first two weeks of the round the world cruise.

 

Who among this same long term group of cruisers has not been on a cruise plague by "cruise crud", which pre-covid was an often discussed topic on these very boards and where i picked up this term for its common occurrence.  Who also has not experienced this themselves requiring a few days confined to bed?

 

I contend the media will drive the story, far more than the virus. I also contend the demand and expectation for zero tolerance will be the first criteria to fall since we are already seeing this right now. How does the industry, the regulators and its customer base deal with the presently failed goal zero tolerance? 

[nocl]

29 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

 

Who among the long-term cruisers has not been on at least one ship prior to "covid"  that was  not diverted for a medical emergency, witnessed a helicopter evacuation or had people die while on board?  

 

This realty struck my own first long cruise experience in 1977, when three elderly people died within the first two weeks of the round the world cruise.

 

Who among this same long term group of cruisers has not been on a cruise plague by "cruise crud", which pre-covid was an often discussed topic on these very boards and where i picked up this term for its common occurrence.  Who also has not experienced this themselves requiring a few days confined to bed?

 

I contend the media will drive the story, far more than the virus. I also contend the demand and expectation for zero tolerance will be the first criteria to fall since we are already seeing this right now. How does the industry, the regulators and its customer base deal with the presently failed goal zero tolerance? 

The difference is that the ships can control the risk by requiring vaccination, unlike the other unpredictable medical events.

 

As far as far as your comparison to cruise crud, pretty close for those that are vaccinated, not for those that are not.

 

Keep waiting for the requirement to drop. I expect that I will have down a couple of hundred more cruise days before then.

 

[nocl]

44 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

 

As said elsewhere when the data is sorted out, we know as much now about "covid" today,  as we did about  as we did when it first struck the Diamond Princess: case numbers, consequences, spread,  and uniquely vulnerable groups.  It is good we have these ongoing closed-case scenarios for review now, which will lead to more secure best practices in the future.

 

 Including learning whether Omicron is a  mild infection on its own, or because the current injections provide therapeutic comfort measures - verdict still out on that one. Repeated anecdote does not establish valid testimony.  Lots of noise on this one - no science yet. 

Actually we know a lot more now, both in how it is spread, the impacts on the body, the differences between variants, methods of treatment, etc. to say we do not is rather comical

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

19 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

Those that are vaccinated and boosted choose masks and socially distant for their own sense of personal protection, will continue feel safe.  No matter what other passengers choose to do, within their own understandings of this current situation. And ports will respond accordingly.

 

It is a very unsettled time regardless - what was supposed to protect has not; and the unprotected are not yet confirmed by data to be any more dangerous than anyone else.

 

Wash your hands, keep you fingers away from your own nose, mouth and eyes, stay in bed if you have symptoms, cover your coughs and sneezes, watch what you touch,  and express all the common courtesies we have long accepted as desirable behavior when sharing closed spaces on a cruise ship. 

 

Wash your hands, keep you fingers away from your own nose, mouth and eyes, stay in bed if you have symptoms, cover your coughs and sneezes, watch what you touch,  and express all the common courtesies we have long accepted as desirable behavior when sharing closed spaces on a cruise ship 

Amen..

 

 

[OlsSalt]

4 hours ago, nocl said:

Actually we know a lot more now, both in how it is spread, the impacts on the body, the differences between variants, methods of treatment, etc. to say we do not is rather comical

 

This is someone's unverified take on what we now know about covid prevention, that was not yet known in March 2020  (Spanish with English sub-titles): 

 

[SumoCitrus]

Excellent news! I will resume cruising as soon as they get rid of the vaccine requirements.