Finally: CDC Drops Cruise Travel Health Notice

[mightycruisequeen]

Finally: CDC Drops Cruise Travel Health Notice

(from Cruise Industry News)

 

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has dropped its cruise health travel notice on Wednesday after two years of essentially telling Americans not to take a cruise.

Dropping the notice is key for the industry as the CDC is no longer warning the industry's largest source market (United States) not to cruise.

The CDC has previously been lowering its cruise ship travel warning, going from Level 4 (the highest), to Level 3, and a few weeks ago, Level 2.

Virgin Voyages was quick to comment, welcoming the news. 

Tom McAlpin, CEO of Virgin Voyages said, “We’re absolutely thrilled to see that the CDC recognizes that it’s time to remove the Travel Health Notice website. While we feel this was a long time coming, we recognize this move as a demonstration of all of the hard work this industry has done to ensure that we’re offering the safest way to travel. It’s refreshing to see them meet us where we’re at, and clearly where our consumers are at considering the major uptick in demand we’ve seen.”

For Holland America Line, a key Carnival Corporation brand, it was also a key step forward.

"The CDC’s removal of its health notice related to cruise travel is an important step forward in recognizing the work we have done to protect our guests," said Gus Antorcha, president. "At Holland America Line, we continue to operate vaccinated cruises and have created a safe and healthy environment for our guests, our teams, and the communities we serve, helping to ensure cruising is among the safest forms of socializing and travel."

Edited March 30, 2022 by mightycruisequeen

[mightycruisequeen]

And...(also from Cruise Industry News)

 

Antorcha: CDC Lifting Cruise Warning 'Important Step'

The President of Carnival Corporation's Holland America Line brand, Gus Antorcha, has welcomed the CDC's lifting of its cruise warning.

Antorcha said in a prepared statement that it was an important step going forward, as the company will have its full fleet back in operation this summer.

“The CDC’s removal of its health notice related to cruise travel is an important step forward in recognizing the work we have done to protect our guests," Antorcha said. "At Holland America Line, we continue to operate vaccinated cruises and have created a safe and healthy environment for our guests, our teams, and the communities we serve, helping to ensure cruising is among the safest forms of socializing and travel."

Key summer deployment items for the Seattle-based cruise line include six ships in the Alaska market, and the new Rotterdam sailing in Europe.

“With the remainder of our ships set to return to service in the coming weeks, Holland America Line is looking forward to safely welcoming more guests back to cruising this spring and summer as we explore Alaska, Canada, New England, and Europe," Antorcha said. "We recently extended our Worry-Free Promise to allow flexible cancelation for cruise bookings made by May 31 and embarking by September 30 of this year.”

 

[OlsSalt]

Good first step, but only the first one. Thanks for the report. Progress. They tried everything possible now in a closed system. Now we can move on from there. 

[Mary229]

Time to write my elected officials again😉.  Let’s end this chapter.

[SargassoPirate]

15 hours ago, Mary229 said:

Time to write my elected officials again😉.  Let’s end this chapter.

 

Covid is over, folks, as demonstrated by our elected officials in Congress last week when they gathered in the congressional auditorium cheek-to-jowl with nary a mask in sight and listened to a speech by the president of Ukraine.

 

 

[HappyInVan]

Hope that everyone has followed the CDC recommendations to get vax and boosted.

[Mary229]

Australia just announced they are dropping testing requirements for entry

 

https://www.travelawaits.com/2744524/australia-ending-pre-arrival-testing-in-april-2022/

[HappyInVan]

"Although travelers to Australia are still required to be vaccinated, the country is lifting its requirement of a pre-departure COVID-19 test..."

 

https://www.travelandleisure.com/travel-news/australia-to-eliminate-pre-departure-covid-test

 

I travelled to Germany in September 2021 under similar rules. Had to get a PCR test to get back to Canada.

 

BTW, Germany has a rule that your last dose has  to be less than 270 days in order to be considered fully vax. I'm travelling to Germany for a cruise this August and my booster will just qualify.

 

Anyway, good to know that cruising will resume in Oz. Fingers crossed.

Edited March 31, 2022 by HappyInVan

[Mary229]

Quoting the article above 

 

That’s about to change. After April 17, Australia will lift its pre-arrival test requirements for international travelers. Australia will lift its restriction against cruise ships entering its territorial waters on that date as well, according to Greg Hunt, Australia’s minister for Health and Aged Care.

[mightycruisequeen]

2 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

Hope that everyone has followed the CDC recommendations to get vax and boosted.

Give it a rest.  People are well-aware that HAL is still requiring the vaccine.

I'm hoping it won't be long before they ditch that too, and I'll bet I'm not alone by a long shot.

Edited March 31, 2022 by mightycruisequeen

[MISTER 67]

I hope there is no longer a need for tests, vaccinations  yes, tests no.

Edited March 31, 2022 by MISTER 67

[OlsSalt]

12 minutes ago, mightycruisequeen said:

Give it a rest.  People are well-aware that HAL is still requiring the vaccine.

I'm hoping it won't be long before they ditch that too, and I'll bet I'm not alone by a long shot.

 

CDC got the opportunity to run a test, at the cruise industy's expense. Now they need to compare the data from these past several months, with what they learned from the Diamond  Princess back in 2020, which was an uncontrolled transmission exposure. Then we can see what new the data analysis can tell us about future best practices. 'Science" is slow. And science is a method; never anything that is settled. 

[kazu]

5 hours ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

Covid is over, folks, as demonstrated by our elected officials in Congress last week when they gathered in the congressional auditorium cheek-to-jowl with nary a mask in sight and listened to a speech by the president of Ukraine.

 

 

 

We might be done with covid, but covid isn’t done with us.  We can declare it’s over all we want.  Stealth omicron variant has been moving quickly despite any declarations politicians or we may choose to make. 😉 😞 

[SargassoPirate]

1 hour ago, kazu said:

 

We might be done with covid, but covid isn’t done with us.  We can declare it’s over all we want.  Stealth omicron variant has been moving quickly despite any declarations politicians or we may choose to make. 😉 😞 

 

The Spanish Flu variants are still floating around out there as part of the seasonal flu family - and the annual flu kills around 30-50 thousand in the US every year.  There's just no testing for the Spanish Flu.

 

[Kay S]

21 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

The Spanish Flu variants are still floating around out there as part of the seasonal flu family - and the annual flu kills around 30-50 thousand in the US every year.  There's just no testing for the Spanish Flu.

 

Bubonic plague is still around, too, as is polio, and with all these diseases, we just have to learn to live with them.  Total isolation and lockdowns are not sustainable.  I take the prudent precautions, but I'm not giving up travel.  The CDC took its sweet time with cruise regulations, far longer than it took with air travel.

[kazu]

37 minutes ago, SargassoPirate said:

 

The Spanish Flu variants are still floating around out there as part of the seasonal flu family - and the annual flu kills around 30-50 thousand in the US every year.  There's just no testing for the Spanish Flu.

 

 

12 minutes ago, Kay S said:

Bubonic plague is still around, too, as is polio, and with all these diseases, we just have to learn to live with them.  Total isolation and lockdowns are not sustainable.  I take the prudent precautions, but I'm not giving up travel.  The CDC took its sweet time with cruise regulations, far longer than it took with air travel.

 

Thankfully we have vaccines for the flu, polio (which is why none of us need to fear an iron lung any longer) and many others including covid.  It’s much easier to live with these diseases when we have some level of protection. 😉 

 

[ontheweb]

41 minutes ago, Kay S said:

Bubonic plague is still around, too, as is polio, and with all these diseases, we just have to learn to live with them.  Total isolation and lockdowns are not sustainable.  I take the prudent precautions, but I'm not giving up travel.  The CDC took its sweet time with cruise regulations, far longer than it took with air travel.

Smallpox is gone.

[mightycruisequeen]

And to think, it's only been about 750 days since "two weeks to flatten the curve"...🙄

 

 

 

[Kay S]

6 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Smallpox is gone.

Yep.  I got all my covid shots in the arm where my smallpox vaccination scar is.  I like symmetry. 😉

[Mosaic]

Good, now lets all go to Singapore

[KroozNut]

21 hours ago, kazu said:

 

We might be done with covid, but covid isn’t done with us.  We can declare it’s over all we want.  Stealth omicron variant has been moving quickly despite any declarations politicians or we may choose to make. 😉 😞 

 

COVID will never 'be done with us'. There will always be variants, just as there are regular new variants today for every contagious respiratory virus that came before it. We just need to transition into and accept the post-pandemic world that we're in and start living our lives again; as civilizations have done for centuries.