CDC ends all restrictions as of July 18th (TODAY!!)

[coffeebean]

23 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

On Harmony this week, very few masked crew members 

Great. That is a step in the right direction for the crew. I always thought it was ludicrous for the life guards, standing alone poolside, wearing a mask. How silly is that?

[kdnurs]

6 hours ago, Elismoots said:

One thing we didn't do (which we always do at home) was wear a mask in public spaces. There were a handful of people doing this besides the staff who all did. Live and learn. Good luck with your cruise.

 

We are fully vaccinated & boosted. We do still wear masks out and about the public spaces but not at home. Thanks for the good luck wishes!

[coffeebean]

22 hours ago, 2flacruisers said:

It is nobody's business whether someone is vaccinated or not...I am, but my husband is not...and I respect his decision, just as he didn't harass me when I got mine.

It was Royal Caribbean ships that had "vaccinated only" venues. The wrist bands were in place to identify those who were "legal" to go into a "vaccinated only" venue. No wristband, no entry. That worked very well to keep the unvaxxed people out of those areas.

[coffeebean]

22 hours ago, mianmike said:

 

I don't fear the unvaccinated affecting my health, it's when the unvaccinated 80+ year olds get covid and require immediate advanced medical care necessitating a medivac which will disrupt the cruise and ports.  This is entirely predictable and easily mitigated by a current vaccine mandate.  

Totally agree. It is in the cruise line's best interest to minimize the amount of passengers who can get seriously ill from Covid. Vaccinated individuals pose much less of a risk of becoming severely ill and requiring advanced medical care.

[MrMarc]

1 minute ago, coffeebean said:

Totally agree. It is in the cruise line's best interest to minimize the amount of passengers who can get seriously ill from Covid. Vaccinated individuals pose much less of a risk of becoming severely ill and requiring advanced medical care.

That' why I think the changes will be incremental and slow in coming.  We don't want to see a repeat of the end of last year.  For example Princess has left the testing requirements in place, but raised the unvaccinated percentage to 10% and not requiring any explanation, just handing the exemptions out as the requests are received.  I think they will also have more freedom since they do not have to worry if it hits 11% because of no-shows.  To me that is a rational way to test the waters so to speak rather than dropping all requirements and waiting to see what happens..  

[jp2746]

7 hours ago, Mapleleafforever said:

I would add easy on the sugar. 

 

That’s huge!  My kids know that this makes such a big difference that they will not touch any sugar a week before we go on any trip!  I don’t even have to tell them.  

[skywonder]

Time to end all these restrictions, well over due!

[flhokie]

On 7/18/2022 at 7:08 PM, not-enough-cruising said:

On Harmony this week, very few masked crew members 

Sad to hear this with the new strain spreading like wildfire (and rapidly increasing hospitalizations). Makes us more concerned for our upcoming cruise on Harmony. 

[Lane Hog]

Huh.  Imagine if testing actually goes away, that's going to eliminate 20% of the weekly posts here on CC... 

Thanks, CDC!  

[biggieboy]

1 hour ago, jp2746 said:

That’s huge!  My kids know that this makes such a big difference that they will not touch any sugar a week before we go on any trip!  I don’t even have to tell them.  

 

1 hour ago, jp2746 said:

That’s huge!  My kids know that this makes such a big difference that they will not touch any sugar a week before we go on any trip!  I don’t even have to tell them.  

Such a problem with such tasty sugary cocktails onboard. At least my wallet will be happier lol

[zimmerman]

Sorry, couldn’t find an appropriate place to ask.

 

my daughter (10) is unvaccinated. She had covid in May. Current requirement is for a pre-cruise PCR for her. Seems to be some risk that PCR could still return a positive result (up to 19 weeks).  Are there any steps I can take to mitigate this (any other testing/process to validate that it is an old infection)?

 

we cruise early august in Vancouver (Alaskan cruise).

[jp2746]

1 hour ago, biggieboy said:

 

Such a problem with such tasty sugary cocktails onboard. At least my wallet will be happier lol

Once on boat the sugar flows.  They usually have three desserts after dinner and finish it with an ice cream cone before bed.  Lol.  I guess it makes it easier to skip it for a couple of weeks before knowing they can go wild on the ship.  

[the penguins]

18 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

It *was* brand new. Not anymore. And the health care system was never overrun. 

Depends on your definition. True, at least in the UK , that no hospital came to a standstill or stopped admitting patients for more than a few hours. However this was only achieved by delaying thousands of "elected/non emergency" operations (hips and knee replacements, heart transplants, cataract removal, etc, etc.) which has had a dramatic impact on people's everyday life.

[the penguins]

16 hours ago, Another_Critic said:

Now that is a false sense of security.

 

Pass the 2 day prior test ... it's party time.

No, what the current regime of vaccines and tests does is virtually guarantees that noone on the ship passenger or crew will get seriously ill from Covid.

[ace2542]

2 hours ago, the penguins said:

No, what the current regime of vaccines and tests does is virtually guarantees that noone on the ship passenger or crew will get seriously ill from Covid.

They could back that up with daily or several times daily testing with the Covid breath tester which has been developed. That would be very effective at controlling the spread as fast as they could?

[crazyank]

2 hours ago, the penguins said:

No, what the current regime of vaccines and tests does is virtually guarantees that noone on the ship passenger or crew will get seriously ill from Covid.

Vaccines help prevent serious illness,  testing two days before a cruise does nothing whatsoever except cost money and cause stress.

[A&L_Ont]

31 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

They could back that up with daily or several times daily testing with the Covid breath tester which has been developed. That would be very effective at controlling the spread as fast as they could?

Did you invest in this, because you certainly promote it.

Edited July 20, 2022 by A&L_Ont

[not-enough-cruising]

32 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

Did you invest in this, because you certainly promote it.

He took the windfall from his mask investments and “re committed”

[not-enough-cruising]

3 hours ago, the penguins said:

Depends on your definition. True, at least in the UK , that no hospital came to a standstill or stopped admitting patients for more than a few hours. However this was only achieved by delaying thousands of "elected/non emergency" operations (hips and knee replacements, heart transplants, cataract removal, etc, etc.) which has had a dramatic impact on people's everyday life.

Heart transplants (or any other solid organ transplant) were NEVER delayed 

[A&L_Ont]

1 minute ago, not-enough-cruising said:

He took the windfall from his mask investments and “re committed”

I was thinking the same thing. 

[Mum2Mercury]

12 hours ago, Lane Hog said:

Huh.  Imagine if testing actually goes away, that's going to eliminate 20% of the weekly posts here on CC... 

Thanks, CDC!  

Nah, they'll just be replaced with 20% more "I cruised and caught Covid!  Why, oh, why didn't someone protect me?" threads.

Edited July 20, 2022 by Mum2Mercury

[nferr]

16 minutes ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Nah, they'll just be replaced with 20% more "I cruised and caught Covid!  Why, oh, why didn't someone protect me?" threads.

 Reminds me of a thread a few months back. Some posters were panicked about Labadee reopening because of the threat of "pirates".  They literally wouldn't take a cruise that stopped there.

[zimmerman]

Probably stopped a lot of people dying. Swings and roundabouts.

[Ourusualbeach]

An update from Vikki Freeds coffeetalk.

 

The CDC is releasing a new set of recommendations for the cruise lines.  Royal is waiting for those to be released (this week) prior to announcing their new protocols

[Jimbo]

Just received  the free test kits in the  mail today if testing continues.

 

They were ordered before the CDC's new announcement.

 

 

 

Edited July 20, 2022 by Jimbo