Sailing as an unvaccinated passenger

[SRF]

People don't pay attention.  VACCINES ARE NOT 100% EFFECTIVE

 

The efficacy rate of the Moderna is the highest of all the COVID vaccines.  And it is about 94%.

 

So 6% of the people fully vaccinated with Moderna are not immune and still subject to getting COVID.  So on a ship with 5000 passengers and crew, that are fully vaccinated with Moderna, 300 of them will not have immunity.   And the J&J is only about 60-65% efficacy.

It is the same with ALL vaccines.  There is some level of people that will not develop antibodies.

 

If you want to know for sure, a few weeks or months after getting your second shot or booster, get an antibody test to see if you have antibodies.  If not, you are one of the ones that does not develop immunity.  In that case, you may want to try one of the other vaccines. 

[Keksie]

10 hours ago, BND said:

It may have been approved/recommended but everyone I've talked to is planning to wait.  That includes friends in their late 50's and 60s and my parents who are 84.  DH and I plan to wait til fall since it appears the vax will prob become annual so we'll do the flu and covid at the same time.  We've had the booster and are good to go for now.  

 

You can add me to the wait till fall list.  I have had three full shots and don't see a reason to keep running out every few months to get another.  I can see an annual shot and hope they come up with a flu/covid combo shot like some of the companies had talked about.  

[John&LaLa]

21 minutes ago, SRF said:

 

Not in hotels. 😄

 

 

I get those offers a lot, sometimes triple

[kpgibbs]

19 hours ago, Biker19 said:

It might be kinda expensive and maybe not to your tastes but:

 

American Queen Voyages: Lowest Prices and Best Service! (cruiselines.com)

 

They are the only line who opted out of the CDC's new sailing program.

I went on the American Queen last October.  You have to be vaxxed.  

[time4u2go]

7 hours ago, smplybcause said:

That's literally what anecdotal evidence is.

I was thinking the same thing. 

[graphicguy]

21 hours ago, 7680 said:

By the way, we will go with the 5 of us, if we decide on the cruise route 😊

Good decision.  I agree with everyone else.  Don’t make the unvaccinated person’s decision part of your decision.  Do the vacation YOU all want.  Don’t let one person hold the rest of you back.

 

I think we’ve all heard all the excuses.  None of them hold water.  None of those excuses have anything to do with our decisions.  The excuses are their problem, not the problem of those of us who are cruising.

 

Vaccinations, Boosters, etc….nothing in life is 100%….NOTHING (except death and taxes).  What you can do is reduce the odds (dramatically) of having a serious illness (or death) by doing what your Medical Drs recommend.  

Edited April 1, 2022 by graphicguy

[BND]

7 hours ago, smplybcause said:

 

That's literally what anecdotal evidence is. Unless you literally know thousands of people, you don't have a large enough sample size to be anything but anecdotal. To say nothing of the bias that may be in the sample size of you happened to know that many (a key factor in a sample size is random where the people you know often think similarly to you).

 

Anecdotal literally means personal accounts... which is exactly what "well my friends are doing X" is. 

I was not presenting it as fact.  I was just stating why my friends and family have said.  Using anecdotal evidence to state a fact is very different from what I said.  I wasn't saying that NO ONE should do it because my friends and family aren't.  I just stated what they plan to do.  GEEZ.

[Charles4515]

14 hours ago, BND said:

It may have been approved/recommended but everyone I've talked to is planning to wait.  That includes friends in their late 50's and 60s and my parents who are 84.  DH and I plan to wait til fall since it appears the vax will prob become annual so we'll do the flu and covid at the same time.  We've had the booster and are good to go for now.  

 

I am one of those planning to wait for a 4th dose because cases and deaths are dropping. I will reconsider if there is another surge. Also f I take a 4th shot I would rather it be Vaccine 2.0 than another dose of the Vaccine 1.0. As for the vaccination requirement I would guess it won't be lifted soon. There could be annual shots and those could very well be required.  And the cruise lines won't have a problem selling cruises to only vaccinated passengers. 

[Tree_skier]

17 hours ago, MommaBear55 said:

The insurance companies in the US don't allow us to admit without specific documentation. One of those risk factors is being unvaccinated, so yes, we admit those patients more quickly. 

So an insurance company rule make the likelihood of unvaccinated being admitted more likely.  Kind of makes statistics meaningless doesn't it.

[Charles4515]

4 hours ago, Keksie said:

You can add me to the wait till fall list.  I have had three full shots and don't see a reason to keep running out every few months to get another.  I can see an annual shot and hope they come up with a flu/covid combo shot like some of the companies had talked about.  

 

I think running out every few months will be unworkable. I get a flu shot every year and I would get a covid vaccine every year. A combined jab would be the best option. It would take a new deadly varient for me to reconsider. Which is what happened with the third dose. Delta was going strong so I went and took it. 

Edited April 1, 2022 by Charles4515

[Tree_skier]

14 hours ago, cured said:

I don't think anecdotal evidence can be used to determine the popularity of the 4th booster on day 2 of eligibility.  Opposite of you, everyone I know is rushing to get the booster. My facebook is blowing up with "I got my booster."  One friend, who has a massive friend list due to her line of work, posted that she got her booster.  There are at least 100 replies under it of "me too." I got mine last month per dr recommendation and my husband got his today.  There was a line at Walgreens for the booster.

 

I think we will have to wait and see what the numbers are in a few weeks of how many have decided to get the booster or to wait 🙂

Only 44% of the 65.5% who were fully vaccinated received the first booster. That calculates to 28% of eligible people receiving the first booster.  Not withstanding your anecdotal report of friends, I think that we can extrapolate that a 4th shot will be very poorly received. 

[Tree_skier]

14 hours ago, OfcSupport said:

We just got off the Harmony on Sunday. Monday my husband started feeling sick. Tuesday he tested positive for covid. He was fully vaccinated and boosted. We drove to the port and never left the ship at any port. There were others on our sailing who tested positive after leaving. I would not sail unvaccinated.

This makes no sense.  You tell us that you are fully vaccinated, that you were only around vaccinated people and yet you still got Covid. However you wouldn't sail unvaccinated.  What evidence do you have that sailing vaccinated did you any good at all. 

[Tree_skier]

6 hours ago, barbeyg said:

Change the "don't fully" to "only partly" and we are in agreement.  😁  I have gotten one booster, and that was, quite frankly, to sail at the beginning of Omicron. 

 

Stick a fork in me, I'm done, unless the cruise lines require them.  Not recommend, require.  Because I will take extra measures to sail the seas I love, if required.  That cruise was the last time I masked up, as required. And I'm glad I chose to, because that minor inconvenience was worth the trip. 

I'm in a similar camp to you.  I'm boosted but done.  The difference will be no 4th shot or any shot beyond this for me. I have gotten Covid twice, once early on in the early days of Covid and then again during Omicron surge after being boosted. My first dose of Covid was no worse than my second post vaccine version of it. I will trust my immune system going forward. If any more than what I have done is required to cruise I will no longer cruise.  That'll be disappointing but as you as said "stick a fork in me, I'm done".  I've enjoyed every cruise I have been on post reopening and hope to enjoy many more to come but this is the end of the line for me.  

[CruisingHogFan]

10 hours ago, knight2096 said:

Well you keep believing that, oh and it is NOT a theory, it is coming you do not see the writing on the wall. Those ships are coming back alright, you might want to ask yourself why. Don't worry you will see soon. Oh and as far  as the boosters go, less and less people are willing to take the booster and that is a fact you have not calculated. Also a lot of that demand you speak of, you know future booked cruises, are by the unvaccinated, fact! Cheer up this is a good thing.

Ok….. 😂

 

Doesn’t sound like you have been on a sailing over the last year. 

 

 

[OfcSupport]

12 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

This makes no sense.  You tell us that you are fully vaccinated, that you were only around vaccinated people and yet you still got Covid. However you wouldn't sail unvaccinated.  What evidence do you have that sailing vaccinated did you any good at all. 

Those who are fully vaccinated are much less likely to develop severe disease or require hospitalization. You can educate yourself at the CDC website. Turning off notifications. You will find all of the information you need there.

[pcur]

15 hours ago, BND said:

It may have been approved/recommended but everyone I've talked to is planning to wait.  That includes friends in their late 50's and 60s and my parents who are 84.  DH and I plan to wait til fall since it appears the vax will prob become annual so we'll do the flu and covid at the same time.  We've had the booster and are good to go for now.  

 

I got the second booster 2 days ago, and my reaction was much milder this time.  I am cruising A LOT between Feb-May this year, and want all the protection I can get.  

 

I don't really understand the waiting part, unless these people have had severe reactions to their previous shots.  The virus is still circulating.

[pcur]

9 hours ago, Lane Hog said:

As far as boosters go.... if the first three shots don't fully protect you, why does anyone believe the fourth will?... or the inevitable fifth?

One word:  VARIANTS

[crzndeb]

49 minutes ago, pcur said:

 

I don't really understand the waiting part, unless these people have had severe reactions to their previous shots.

I don’t want a booster, just like some don’t want a vaccine. I got my 2 Moderna shots, and then had a mild case of Covid after. Who knows if I’ve had it again. I don’t run to test if I have a headache of stuffy nose.

I had a very large man tell me that I really should get a booster on a cruise in Dec. It would have been rude of me to tell him he should really try to live a healthier lifestyle.

We really just need to accept other people’s choices. And if I do decide to get a booster, I will have my antibodies checked first to see if it’s really necessary.

Edited April 1, 2022 by crzndeb