Mask policy not strictly enforced?

[cangelmd]

3 hours ago, CC Help Jenn said:

Reading this and the replies made me realize that not everyone interprets the mask policy the same way, and also what actively eating / drinking means.  

 

Example sitting at the martini bar and none of us are masked. I remove mine when I get my drink but I don’t put it back on in between sips. That’s how I’ve been doing it at home and didn’t even think that I may or should be masking between sips.  Same at dinner.  I’m generally actively eating and/or drinking in my mind but maybe between courses when I’m just drinking wine I should cover?  I don’t know but I would be willing to bet the infrequent masking seen at the lounges / restaurants could be due to differences in that interpretation.  

 

That said I did notice the pretty much full on absence of masks in the theater and solarium.  However I myself walked through the solarium  maskless “forgetting” that it’s actually indoors.  I had it with me of course just forgot I was inside.  

 

The mask policy was just put in place days before we sailed so could be staff is also adjusting to what the acceptable interpretation of the rules are. 

Hi, hope you are having a wonderful cruise - I hope we get to go in a couple of weeks. You have beautifully made a couple of important points about masking and distancing. IRL, I’m a physician, but what I’m going to say is not personal medical advice, it’s just my experience.

Omicron has the R value of measles. That means that infectious particles can linger in enclosed spaces for up to about 2 hours, just floating around in the air. The smaller the space and the less the air exchange, the more likely it is that those particles could get to you. Another analogy I was taught is that if someone with measles goes into a party with 100 non-immune persons, stays for 30 minutes and walks around the room, 95 of those people will be infected with measles - says nothing about how sick they will or will not get.

The Martini Bar and the casino just give me the heebie jeebies, the theater, MDR and specialty restaurants a little less. The Solarium and Sunset Bar, depends how close to you the next person is. I wouldn’t sit in the Solarium for hours reading without my mask on. I would wander round until I found a lounger where I could sit with the outside breeze blowing into my face - there I would feel comfortable sitting unmasked for 15-20 minutes just to give myself a break.

We are scheduled for Silhouette on Jan 24, followed by Reflection, in order to make both of those cruises, we have to take extraordinary measures between now and when the second cruise sails.

The bar is very high, but the remedy isn’t rocket science, it is, as your post illustrates, just really hard to do consistently, day after day, and for many people wouldn’t be a vacation.

[cangelmd]

Oh and, I likely won’t be masking as extensively on my second cruise s on the first, I’m triple vax Ed and in reasonably good health.

[cangelmd]

46 minutes ago, occasional cruiser guy said:

I work in an environment where there is much debate on the benefits of making wearing and the benefits of doing so.  This new variant is extremely contagious and mask wearing is minimally effective.  Wearing a cloth mask is simply just being compliant and has little effectiveness.   If you are going to any Mayo Clinic building, who know a thing or two about this topic, you are required to wear a surgical mask or better. 

 

With a that being said, please don't ask the staff for compliance to the policy.  They are not the "mask police" and shouldn't be put in that situation.   Mask wearing can and is a personal matter that we all have our own beliefs on.  Statistics can be made to sway either side of the debate.  If you are on the side of 100% compliance,  then make the decision to be more socially distant.  If you are more of a "let 'er rip" type, then please be cognizant and respect others.

 

 I think we can all agree that we just want a nice vacation with minimal inconviences.

Amen, you have 2 feet and can always just walk away or say thank you I’ll take the next elevator. I wish they would do some enforcement (not the lowly waitstaff, but more management and security) especially in the high risk areas like bars and casino, if nothing else, just to protect their own crew.

 

I’ve got mixed feelings about officers glad handing people and enforcing masks - probably better that they stay away and stay healthy!

 

[cangelmd]

2 hours ago, asnaleah said:

Why do you think the ship won’t be allowed to sail?!

Because they don’t have the crew to sail her or the ports to go to - ask people who had NCL cruises booked.

We don’t know what the magic number is, but I’m sure it exists. I’m being selfish, I’m supposed to be sailing soon.

[Wanderlost]

The Current captain on our Millennium cruise is Captain Kasimatis.

 

[asnaleah]

1 hour ago, occasional cruiser guy said:

I work in an environment where there is much debate on the benefits of making wearing and the benefits of doing so.  This new variant is extremely contagious and mask wearing is minimally effective.  Wearing a cloth mask is simply just being compliant and has little effectiveness.   If you are going to any Mayo Clinic building, who know a thing or two about this topic, you are required to wear a surgical mask or better. 

 

With a that being said, please don't ask the staff for compliance to the policy.  They are not the "mask police" and shouldn't be put in that situation.   Mask wearing can and is a personal matter that we all have our own beliefs on.  Statistics can be made to sway either side of the debate.  If you are on the side of 100% compliance,  then make the decision to be more socially distant.  If you are more of a "let 'er rip" type, then please be cognizant and respect others.

 

 I think we can all agree that we just want a nice vacation with minimal inconviences.

Your beliefs aren’t the issue. 

[asnaleah]

29 minutes ago, cangelmd said:

Because they don’t have the crew to sail her or the ports to go to - ask people who had NCL cruises booked.

We don’t know what the magic number is, but I’m sure it exists. I’m being selfish, I’m supposed to be sailing soon.

We are supposed to sail with you on Jan 24. 

[cangelmd]

2 hours ago, asnaleah said:

We are supposed to sail with you on Jan 24. 

Fingers (and toes) crossed! My daughter just tested positive, haven’t seen her since Dec 26. 

[Ken the cruiser]

2 hours ago, cangelmd said:

Oh and, I likely won’t be masking as extensively on my second cruise s on the first, I’m triple vax Ed and in reasonably good health.

LOL!! That’s what my DW says every time after passing our antigen test the day before transition day to the next leg. Then, once we start the second leg, we continue to follow the same preventative practices that have keep us safe on all of our cruises since August. I think they’re just engrained into our basic needs of survival algorithm. 😎

[Ken the cruiser]

11 minutes ago, cangelmd said:

Fingers (and toes) crossed! My daughter just tested positive, haven’t seen her since Dec 26. 

That sticks! Hopefully she has a very mild case and will recover soon.

[TourDeCruise]

Has Celebrity been providing masks in the cabins on recent cruises? If provided in the cabin, how many and are they cloth or N95/KN95 masks? We were on the Apex b2b in November and no masks were provided in the cabin but they were handing out flimsy compliance masks when getting off in ports if the guests needed them.

[gold1953]

10 hours ago, cangelmd said:

Oh and, I likely won’t be masking as extensively on my second cruise s on the first, I’m triple vax Ed and in reasonably good health.

Sadly being triple vaxed and in good health does not prevent mild covid so you can still end up on the ships covid 'ward' . Not a risk many will take!

 

[CC Help Jenn]

7 hours ago, TourDeCruise said:

Has Celebrity been providing masks in the cabins on recent cruises? If provided in the cabin, how many and are they cloth or N95/KN95 masks? We were on the Apex b2b in November and no masks were provided in the cabin but they were handing out flimsy compliance masks when getting off in ports if the guests needed them.

There were two in my cabin but I didn’t open the package. Sadly they’re no packed in my bag so I can’t check.  I doubt they’re kN95 but the employees were all wearing those.  

[CC Help Jenn]

11 hours ago, cangelmd said:

Hi, hope you are having a wonderful cruise - I hope we get to go in a couple of weeks. You have beautifully made a couple of important points about masking and distancing. IRL, I’m a physician, but what I’m going to say is not personal medical advice, it’s just my experience.

Omicron has the R value of measles. That means that infectious particles can linger in enclosed spaces for up to about 2 hours, just floating around in the air. The smaller the space and the less the air exchange, the more likely it is that those particles could get to you. Another analogy I was taught is that if someone with measles goes into a party with 100 non-immune persons, stays for 30 minutes and walks around the room, 95 of those people will be infected with measles - says nothing about how sick they will or will not get.

The Martini Bar and the casino just give me the heebie jeebies, the theater, MDR and specialty restaurants a little less. The Solarium and Sunset Bar, depends how close to you the next person is. I wouldn’t sit in the Solarium for hours reading without my mask on. I would wander round until I found a lounger where I could sit with the outside breeze blowing into my face - there I would feel comfortable sitting unmasked for 15-20 minutes just to give myself a break.

We are scheduled for Silhouette on Jan 24, followed by Reflection, in order to make both of those cruises, we have to take extraordinary measures between now and when the second cruise sails.

The bar is very high, but the remedy isn’t rocket science, it is, as your post illustrates, just really hard to do consistently, day after day, and for many people wouldn’t be a vacation.

Best of luck with your cruising!   We isolated at home from Christmas until we left for Ft Lauderdale last week.  I will say with the reduced capacity there has been a lot of space in most places to distance properly.  My vacation experience really wasn’t too different aside from masking and the differences were actually positive since there were so few people 🤗

[Pushkin]

22 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

Not this cruise…maybe others but not Sillhouette 4 January departure

Agreed - not on our January 3rd Equinox sailing either.  However, I observed very much adherence to the mask policy.  Very rarely did I notice passengers not wearing masks where it was required.  The most blatant was at the roulette table in the casino.  The two (somewhat inebriated) players where told to put their masks on.  As others have stated, in the dining room and the bars, as soon as people were seated, the masks came off.  Only 4 announced covid cases on our cruise.  Even with the masking requirement, we had a great cruise!  So glad we did not cancel.   

[TourDeCruise]

11 hours ago, cangelmd said:

The Martini Bar and the casino just give me the heebie jeebies, the theater, MDR and specialty restaurants a little less. The Solarium and Sunset Bar, depends how close to you the next person is. I wouldn’t sit in the Solarium for hours reading without my mask on. I would wander round until I found a lounger where I could sit with the outside breeze blowing into my face - there I would feel comfortable sitting unmasked for 15-20 minutes just to give myself a break.

We are scheduled for Silhouette on Jan 24, followed by Reflection, in order to make both of those cruises, we have to take extraordinary measures between now and when the second cruise sails.

The bar is very high, but the remedy isn’t rocket science, it is, as your post illustrates, just really hard to do consistently, day after day, and for many people wouldn’t be a vacation.

 

Thank you for all your wise advice. Your thoughts about the Persian Gardens (or Thermal Suite Spa) including the steam rooms and sauna? Same recommendations as Solarium - reasonably okay if you social distance and wear your mask? Or heebie jeebies?

[Pushkin]

7 hours ago, TourDeCruise said:

Has Celebrity been providing masks in the cabins on recent cruises? If provided in the cabin, how many and are they cloth or N95/KN95 masks? We were on the Apex b2b in November and no masks were provided in the cabin but they were handing out flimsy compliance masks when getting off in ports if the guests needed them.

On Jan. 3rd Equinox sailing, Celebrity provided cloth masks in the cabin.  "Surgical" masks were available at the entrance to Oceanview Cafe.

[TourDeCruise]

1 minute ago, Pushkin said:

On Jan. 3rd Equinox sailing, Celebrity provided cloth masks in the cabin.  "Surgical" masks were available at the entrance to Oceanview Cafe.

 

Thank you. We will be on the Equinox on January 21st hopefully. If the surgical masks are the same ones they were handing out when getting off in ports on the Apex in November, they are pretty flimsy and do not fit well on a small face. They did not put cloth masks in our Apex cabin in November on b2b cruises, but there was no mask mandate then except for when getting off/on in ports in the terminals and secured areas. We will bring plenty of cloth with disposable KN95 filters and disposable KN95/N95 masks. 

[asnaleah]

9 hours ago, cangelmd said:

Fingers (and toes) crossed! My daughter just tested positive, haven’t seen her since Dec 26. 

I hope she recovers well!

[jacob22]

12 hours ago, cangelmd said:

Oh and, I likely won’t be masking as extensively on my second cruise s on the first, I’m triple vax Ed and in reasonably good health.

It’s thinking like that the results in the spread of COViD on ships. People not concerned about acquiring COVID nor asymptomatically spreading it.

[TeeRick]

10 hours ago, cangelmd said:

Fingers (and toes) crossed! My daughter just tested positive, haven’t seen her since Dec 26. 

Sorry to hear that and hope that it is mild and quickly done.😀

 

My personal anecdote:  Over the past year before Omicron, and even before vaccines, I would occasionally know or hear about maybe one person in my circle of family, friends and acquaintances that was positive for COVID.  Even at the Delta peak.  Right now over the past two weeks, I count near 20 people in this circle who have tested positive, and all at least double vaccinated and some boosted.  Nobody with anything other than mild symptoms for a few days.  I have been very careful, and boosted, and proper masking, and I am pretty sure I still had it (fever, chills, night sweats) but I could not confirm in my area because of lack of tests or testing appointments.  Gone completely within 3 days.

[keesar]

15 minutes ago, jacob22 said:

It’s thinking like that the results in the spread of COViD on ships. People not concerned about acquiring COVID nor asymptomatically spreading it.

Good point.   Some cruisers are thinking like adolescents.  Remember the "invincibility fable"?  

 

 

[Julma]

1 hour ago, TourDeCruise said:

 

Thank you. We will be on the Equinox on January 21st hopefully. If the surgical masks are the same ones they were handing out when getting off in ports on the Apex in November, they are pretty flimsy and do not fit well on a small face. They did not put cloth masks in our Apex cabin in November on b2b cruises, but there was no mask mandate then except for when getting off/on in ports in the terminals and secured areas. We will bring plenty of cloth with disposable KN95 filters and disposable KN95/N95 masks. 

 

1 hour ago, Pushkin said:

On Jan. 3rd Equinox sailing, Celebrity provided cloth masks in the cabin.  "Surgical" masks were available at the entrance to Oceanview Cafe.

Celebrity provided us with cloth masks in Aug, Oct & Nov of last year.  They are very comfortable, but not sure how effective.  We did and will be packing surgical and N95s masks.  Now that there is a mask mandate, wearing the same cloth mask day after day, just seems gross anyway.  

[Ken the cruiser]

9 hours ago, TourDeCruise said:

Has Celebrity been providing masks in the cabins on recent cruises? If provided in the cabin, how many and are they cloth or N95/KN95 masks? We were on the Apex b2b in November and no masks were provided in the cabin but they were handing out flimsy compliance masks when getting off in ports if the guests needed them.

We've always had packaged double-clothed masks with the Celebrity logo in our cabin with a bottle of sanitizer on the cruises we've been on since August.

[cangelmd]

1 hour ago, jacob22 said:

It’s thinking like that the results in the spread of COViD on ships. People not concerned about acquiring COVID nor asymptomatically spreading it.

Sorry, I’m not sure you understand what I’m prepared to do on the first cruise to remain negative- not masking quite as obsessively the second cruise, is more like returning to baseline for most people. I’m well aware of the dangers of spreading Covid and the measures needed to prevent spread.

I am not, however, very concerned about getting it myself, although quarantine on the second leg would not be my first choice, for sure!

1 hour ago, TeeRick said:

Sorry to hear that and hope that it is mild and quickly done.😀

 

My personal anecdote:  Over the past year before Omicron, and even before vaccines, I would occasionally know or hear about maybe one person in my circle of family, friends and acquaintances that was positive for COVID.  Even at the Delta peak.  Right now over the past two weeks, I count near 20 people in this circle who have tested positive, and all at least double vaccinated and some boosted.  Nobody with anything other than mild symptoms for a few days.  I have been very careful, and boosted, and proper masking, and I am pretty sure I still had it (fever, chills, night sweats) but I could not confirm in my area because of lack of tests or testing appointments.  Gone completely within 3 days.

Thanks to you and everyone for their kind words and thoughts for my daughter and family. Her biggest problem is being at home with hubby and 3 littles, 5 years old and younger - each in varying states of illness. Nana and granddad can’t bail them out this time either, even if we weren’t going on a cruise.

2 hours ago, TourDeCruise said:

 

Thank you for all your wise advice. Your thoughts about the Persian Gardens (or Thermal Suite Spa) including the steam rooms and sauna? Same recommendations as Solarium - reasonably okay if you social distance and wear your mask? Or heebie jeebies?

I tried to do a little quick research, I like saunas and hot tubs too! Interestingly, and not surprising, health authorities in Alaska and Canada have some guidelines and some research has been done in Finland. Heating spaces to 160 F seems to kill the virus. Dry saunas are better than wet areas, mostly because it is warmer in dry. High relative humidity has unclear effect, the research is kind of murky and conflicting. Good air circulation seems to be the key to safety in wet areas, virus should clear out in 20-30 minutes. So all the typical precautions, wear a mask, get in the tub or sauna when it is empty or only with your pod, might be good to be first one in the early morning. Wash hands or sanitize or both after touching all those foreign surfaces.

if I had a spa pass and knew I wanted to spend a good bit of time in the spa, I would talk with someone about cleaning practices, particularly whether areas ever got up to that 160 temp.