Have cruises been treated unfairly during the pandemic?

[mightycruisequeen]

Good question! 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=6757

 

[OmarOak]

The article is profoundly self-serving for the travel industry and the comparisons are ludicrous.

 

Cruise ships are congregate living situations where large numbers of people are living in relatively small, confined environments for extended periods.

 

An honest comparison would be with Continuing Care facilities, College Dorms, and truly  similar situations. 

[AFNavigator]

6 minutes ago, OmarOak said:

The article is profoundly self-serving for the travel industry and the comparisons are ludicrous.

 

Cruise ships are congregate living situations where large numbers of people are living in relatively small, confined environments for extended periods.

 

An honest comparison would be with Continuing Care facilities, College Dorms, and truly  similar situations. 

Yes, an honest comparison might be the faciities you listed. 

 

That's not what the CDC has categorized cruise ships though.  The CDC place them in the category, "...certain congregate settings that have high risk of secondary transmission (such as correctional and detention facilities, homeless shelters, or cruise ships)...".

Is that a realistic comparison?  Cruise ships require 95+% of crew and passengers to be fully vaccinated, some are moving to boosted too, and all passengers must have a negative COVID test prior to embarkation.  That strikes me as night and day compared to correctional facilities and homeless shelters.  Those facilities certainly don't turn you away if you aren't vaccinated and you don't have a negative COVID test prior to entry!

 

Even comparing with Continuing Care facilities and College Dorms might be somewhat of a stretch.  Cruise ships have continuous ventilation changing out air multiple times per hour with fresh outside air.  Those other facilities may have radiant heat that results in near-zero air turnover or air systems that just recycle and lightly filter closed-loop air.

[St. Louis Sal]

7 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

This probably will be removed but I thought the irony too rich, upper photos from the super bowl - an indoor arena with over 100,000 people crammed together for over 4 hours.

 

The pictures from the Super Bowl were interesting. I read the health protocols that were listed for those attending and that included being vaccinated or having a negative Covid test (several options listed) and wearing a mask. If any of those kids in the 2nd picture had parents making risky decisions, then I bet the teachers, staff and kids themselves are grateful for the health and safety requirements.

 

St Louis Sal

[Mary229]

@St Louis Sal.  If I could have found a meme with people on a cruise ship masked up, I would have posted that but this is what was available, the irony being the same.  

[AKJonesy]

Yes unfairly.  I can't tell you how many times I've had to travel by airplane since 2020 and if I was one of those people that was worried about being safe, I'd take my chances on a cruise ship vs airplane.  I don't recall on my last two cruises sitting anywhere close to someone as I have on an airplane and the airline industry carries far more people than cruise ships.  Of course these exceptions are made and largely ignored because airline travel is obviously more critical than going on a cruise ship for a vacation.  I think we've seen an abundance of ridiculous policies for two years.  The super bowl comparison is a valid one.  People seem to be more worried about cruise ships than these large sporting events.  My husband and I went out for dinner, and I had told our regular server that we were going on a cruise to Alaska (that was Sep 2021) and he said, "Diamond Princess?"  Goes to show that is still stuck in the minds of people.  

 

[Sir PMP]

1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

This probably will be removed but I thought the irony too rich, upper photos from the super bowl - an indoor arena with over 100,000 people crammed together for over 4 hours.

 

Right on!

[smbt1]

Cruise ships were treated uniquely.  However, they are a unique business.  Just a few reasons why they are unique that impacts their treatment under Covid.  Treated unfairly nope.

 

1. They are international by nature and as such regulated differently than totally domestic businesses.  In the case of totally domestic business the decisions are made by the states or local government.

2. Data indicated that spread from Covid during the early days of the outbreak was much higher on cruise ships than in other settings.  As one paper put it, the spread observed onboard was higher than observed in any other setting, including among family members living in the same household

3. Cruise ships combine many of the areas where spread is documented to occur, all in one area (inside dining, bars, theaters as well as travel.

4. Unlike hotels and bars on land, the workers on a cruise ship stay on board in very close quarters which are very prone to spread if illness is not kept off board and preventative actions taken.

5. On cruise ship the normal activities as such that there is large amounts of movement and interaction between the guests on board as well as the crew.  On a land hotel one might come in close contact with a few people coming and going.  On a cruise ship one comes in contact with many people as they move about the ship and use the various venues. During a week cruise one will probably encounter (pass or be within a few feet) of most of the other passengers at one time or another.

6. Cruise ships, because they are international, are impacted by the decisions of every country and port that they visit.  Many of which had even tougher regulations than the US, including not allowing cruising to operate at all even today.

7. Cruises are by nature extended, multiday activities, where the longer they are, the more time for illness to spread, With Omicron multiple generations of spread can occur in even a 7 day cruise.

8. Cruise ships are dependent upon their own health facilities more than land based activities.  On a cruise one can be multiple days from port in case of medical emergency.  If one occurs passengers can be subject to being removed from the ship and sent to local medical facilities based upon the decision of the ships doctor and captain, pretty much recourse.

9. Cruise ships also make use of local medical facilities, which they do not support by taxes, by offloading patients that require medical care.  Local hotels support those facilities by paying taxes in whatever location they are in.

10.  Between the number of passengers and crew on board of a ship, a modern cruise ship has just about the highest population density per square foot of space of any venue, including hotels, nursing homes, etc.

 

Edited February 14, 2022 by smbt1