Face masks are back on North and Southbound Alaska

[MissP22]

16 minutes ago, Willwils said:

Then that's your prerogative to not go on a Princess  Whittier to Vancouver cruise. I for one prefer to be safe wearing a mask with others wearing a mask, that are also vaccinated & negative tested. 

Wearing a mask is no guarantee for getting Covid. I've just recently read on CC of quite a few people who masks during the whole cruise & still got it. 

Also not everyone has to have had their shots. 

All the other Princess ships bedsides the Alaskan ships have a mask optional protocol right now. 

[beg3yrs]

7 minutes ago, memoak said:

The question for me is are the bars going to be open. On our last cruise we masked walking around ship, in lifts and in public restrooms.  However we removed them while seated at a bar, at a table in a lounge and at slot machines and ordering drinks. What we need is someone who’s on one of these sailings to come back and tell us exactly how things are working in real time not speculation 

Just got off the Royal Princess yesterday.

 

Bars are open. Seats at the bar are not. Seats in the lounges are open and most people there do not sip and cover but leave masks off. Nobody says anything.

 

As you observed anywhere indoors, masking is required. No masks required on open decks but again, even on the open decks, bar stools are closed.

 

I participated in table games at the casino and everyone wore masks there and did sip and cover. People at slot machines also remained masked.

 

I noted that on the Royal their written documentation recommended KN-95 (or is it just N-95, I don't really care) masks and said they would be supplied. They were not supplied, just the standard multi-layer cloth masks.

[beg3yrs]

12 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

Wearing a mask is no guarantee for getting Covid. I've just recently read on CC of quite a few people who masks during the whole cruise & still got it. 

..

Well said. Was just on a ten-day Cruisetour. 38 people on the same bus or train car with masks optional. Most people didn't wear masks but some did. Toward the end of the land segment we were tested to meet the boarding requirements for the Royal Princess. Guess who tested positive? The only couple who religiously wore masks. Very sad to see them go as they were quite nice.

 

Edit: Kind of caused us a scare too as we ate lunch with them during a stopover in Palmer. This was the same day we were all tested to board the ship. We tested negative and seven days later still tested negative as we needed yet another test to fly back to the USA.

Edited June 12, 2022 by beg3yrs

[Steelers36]

Just now, beg3yrs said:

Guess who tested positive? The only couple who religiously wore masks.

All kinds of examples this way and other ways.  Masks may as well be optional.

[MissP22]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

All kinds of examples this way and other ways.  Masks may as well be optional.

Except for some of the Alaskan cruises, they are as far as I know. 

[beg3yrs]

4 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

All kinds of examples this way and other ways.  Masks may as well be optional.

Kind of agree. One could make a facetious argument based on evidence that it's the masks causing Covid ... yeah yeah I know, correlation does not mean causation. Seriously in this case I suspect there's very little correlation anyway.

[MissP22]

7 minutes ago, beg3yrs said:

Kind of agree. One could make a facetious argument based on evidence that it's the masks causing Covid ... yeah yeah I know, correlation does not mean causation. Seriously in this case I suspect there's very little correlation anyway.

I guess you could say that masking provides at least a sense of comfort & calming for those that wear them.

[Willwils]

Well I do suspect the biggest scariest culprit for those like us on land tour.  First is the bus in Denali Park & the long train ride from Denali  to Whittier where masks are optional. Unfortunately the U.S courts ruled that the CDC has no jurisdiction on regulating masks on busses  & trains. 

 

[Guest ldtr]

43 minutes ago, beg3yrs said:

Kind of agree. One could make a facetious argument based on evidence that it's the masks causing Covid ... yeah yeah I know, correlation does not mean causation. Seriously in this case I suspect there's very little correlation anyway.

While there is no data on individual circumstances, unlike last year, today there have been plenty of studies completed looking at populations with and without masking.  In general masking is good for reducing spread for about 50% vs an unmasked population.  Does not guarantee that any one individual would remain infection free, but the data on the efficacy related to spread is pretty good. A 50% reduction in spread can result in a lot fewer cases.

[prmssk]

26 minutes ago, ldtr said:

While there is no data on individual circumstances, unlike last year, today there have been plenty of studies completed looking at populations with and without masking.  In general masking is good for reducing spread for about 50% vs an unmasked population.  Does not guarantee that any one individual would remain infection free, but the data on the efficacy related to spread is pretty good. A 50% reduction in spread can result in a lot fewer cases.

Do any of those studies include circumstances where otherwise masked individuals removed their masks for long dinners in a crowded main dining room or to drink in a crowded bar?  I agree there is enough evidence to show that wearing a mask 100% of the time while in crowds can make a significant difference.  I just don't know how much is thrown out the window when your time in a mask is then interrupted by fairly lengthy times not in a mask.

[caribill]

1 hour ago, MissP22 said:

I guess you could say that masking provides at least a sense of comfort & calming for those that wear them.

 

What it really provides is less spreading of the virus from people wearing masks but are not aware that they have the virus.

 

Those not wearing masks when it is appropriate are willing to infect others if they themselves have the virus.

[PacnGoNow]

6 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

What it really provides is less spreading of the virus from people wearing masks but are not aware that they have the virus.

 

Those not wearing masks when it is appropriate are willing to infect others if they themselves have the virus.

So true.  Just like those on the Emerald right now.  Princess is trying to reduce or slow down the infection. Really sad when people can’t follow such a simple rule from the Captain.

[Nol2929]

On 6/4/2022 at 5:34 AM, Jeter02 said:

Was just told this morning and just read it from The Princess website as well that face masks are now going to be required on the ship for all North and southbound Alaskan cruises as the posotive count continues to rise.

 

Personally that doesn't bother me, as I rather be safe than sorry especially if I'm on for multiple cruises. 

Will be cancelling our cruises if masking is required.

 

[PacnGoNow]

27 minutes ago, Nol2929 said:

Will be cancelling our cruises if masking is required.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=6985
 

 

[caribill]

2 hours ago, MissP22 said:

Except for some of the Alaskan cruises, they are as far as I know. 

 

Also mandatory now on the Island Princess in Europe.

[suzyed]

2 hours ago, Nol2929 said:

Will be cancelling our cruises if masking is required.

 

I believe it's only the Alaska sailings between Whittier and Vancouver.

[caribill]

5 hours ago, suzyed said:

I believe it's only the Alaska sailings between Whittier and Vancouver.

 

And the Island Princess in Europe.

[MissP22]

15 hours ago, Nol2929 said:

Will be cancelling our cruises if masking is required.

 

If I were booked on one of those cruises, we would cancel also. There are to many other cruises around to be uncomfortable on a vacation to bother masking especially when catching the virus isn't as bad as it used to be. 

15 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Also mandatory now on the Island Princess in Europe.

I suspect it has to do with the ports they're going to visit.

If not, Princess would be making it mandatory on every ship. 

[suzyed]

12 hours ago, ldtr said:

The studies vary as far as conditions, but most track populations over time and in those populations individual habits vary, if it was with trained personnel in a rigid protocol, instead of looking at populations the numbers would be higher. They do not require masking 100% of time.  Only that masks are used in public settings.

 

I would point out that the main benefit of masking is to reduce the potential periods of infection and number of contacts.

 

I map out a few things.  If someone if walking around the ship and passing by or through areas where other people are also moving the number of different contacts is pretty high.  During a 7 day cruise one will pass or be close to almost everyone else at sometime or another.

 

If someone is sitting at a a table and most of the other people around them are also seated then the number of potential contacts is restricted to a relatively few people sitting in that area with a radious of 10-20 feet.  Based upon the cruises I have been on that has varied from a low of 10 to a high of 24. (I actually do look at the dining room layout and see how many different people are in that range. )   The servers are masked.  Since we tend to at early the tables usually start out empty and fill while we are there, so no calculations for one table emptying and the next being seated (could double the contacts).  Also in most cases we have not been seated in high traffic area.

 

So unmasking at meals does have some risk but is is masked upon the odds that one of those people in close proximity is infected.

 

At a lounge it is the same kind of consideration are most people seated or is there a lot of movement, the more the movement and the closer one is to that movement the higher the risk.  The basic consideration for risk is again the number of people passing or sitting in close proximity while unmasked and the quality of ventilation in the area.  few people low risk, more people more risk.  coupled with the unknown variable of the incidence rate on board.

 

After all the masking in pubic is not like in a hospital where the virus probability is very high and protocols have to be rigid because the odds of the virus being present is high if one unmasks.

 

On board ship the risk of any one individual being infected is, in most cases, pretty low.  If one unmasks and any point with a few people around them, the odds of one of those few being infected in also fairly low, but not zero.  Then it comes down to statistics and if they are lucky or unlucky.

 

By masking in crowded inside areas with a good quality mask you are basically reducing the number of potentially infectious contacts.  For each individual the quality of that reduction depends upon lots of variables, quality of mask, personal hygiene, proper mask habits, how often they unmask, how many people come in contact with them, etc.

I can't help thinking that if cruise lines are not checking on the passengers post cruise to get statistics on who contracted covid and who did not on masked vs unmasked sailings, the statistics are skewed or worse, meaningless. On the Sky earlier this year, we had to be masked indoors unless we were eating. Sip and Cover was the rule in many areas.  We chose table for two at dinner to limit our exposure.  The tables for two were so close together that we might as well have been at the same table with the other folks.
Back when we were all masked, quarantined and washing our hands like crazy...covid just kept evolving and spreading.  
So who know what the right answer is? I guess we all just have to do what we feel comfortable and safe with and go about our business.  

[caribill]

36 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

If I were booked on one of those cruises, we would cancel also. There are to many other cruises around to be uncomfortable on a vacation to bother masking especially when catching the virus isn't as bad as it used to be. 

I suspect it has to do with the ports they're going to visit.

If not, Princess would be making it mandatory on every ship. 

 

Per "live from" posts, it has to do with the number of Covid cases on board that ship.