NCL crew=no more masks

[UKstages]

i never once had any problem understanding anybody who was wearing a mask. can you imagine a nurse or a doctor being unable to understand each other when they were giving crucial instructions during an operation?

 

if you're having trouble understanding somebody on an NCL ship who wears a mask, they might be mumbling or they might have a thick accent or you might be suffering hearing loss. all those conditions will persist once the mask come off.

 

as for people being the subject of ridicule or snarky comments for choosing to wear a mask, this was already the case earlier this year and late last year, during times when masks were optional. now that even fewer people are wearing masks, my experience has been that the maskless feel more emboldened that their decision is the right one and they can mock others. i've seen it many times on board NCL ships, particularly when alcohol is involved. it does not make me very proud of my fellow humans. after all, if one shouts "freedom," that applies to the freedom to wear a mask as well as the freedom not to.

[CptAleSpill]

23 minutes ago, UKstages said:

if you're having trouble understanding somebody on an NCL ship who wears a mask, they might be mumbling or they might have a thick accent or you might be suffering hearing loss. all those conditions will persist once the mask come off.

I have moderate hearing loss.  It is much easier for me to understand people who don't have masks on.

[fisherguy]

7 hours ago, cruisequeen4ever said:

I’m happy for the crew. At first reading the news, it made me a bit nervous for passengers, but then I remembered that most restaurants have unmasked workers, so it’s not really any different.

Umm not quite.  Most restaurant workers on land don’t have to deal with thousands of customers in a day and then share a small room with 3 others at night.  Vaxxed or not you can still get sick.  Covid has not gone away and may get worse in the fall.  I see staffing issues ahead.  Where I live, our local ferry service has had to deal with numerous cancellations due to lack of staff from illness since they got rid of masking reqiuirements around springtime.  I’m on the Breakaway right now and most staff are still wearing their masks.

[BermudaBound2014]

46 minutes ago, UKstages said:

if one shouts "freedom," that applies to the freedom to wear a mask as well as the freedom not to.

 

This^  

 

Freedom is very precious and worthy of protection. 

[v3cruiser]

On 8/25/2022 at 5:49 PM, YVRteacher said:

As of 12:00am August 25 the crew on the NCL Encore no longer needs to wear masks.

Can anyone currently on board a different ship confirm if this is true for the ship on which you’re sailing?

 

This is great news. tired of seeing workers having to wear masks while others and party attendees dont. sends a pretty bad messaged in my opinion. Ill happily tell any cruise worker you don't have to wear one for me.

[BklynBorn47]

21 hours ago, SimplyAlbert said:

 

Same as us.  DH has a heart condition so we continue to wear ours at home and will wear them when traveling.

Same here. No medical conditions other than being in the most vulnerable group (over 75) and my well controlled asthma (avoid cigarette smoke).  Once I got past the "I don't wanna" stage, wearing a mask wasn't a problem.

Of course, I have no illusions.  As the signs posted in the Caribbean said "My mask protects you and your mask protects me"  
With the lack of testing we will all just attribute the coughing, congestion, fevers etc. around us to "allergies" or a "cold" or "the flu" and go on with our trips.  Being on a cruise will be just like on land at home.  

 

[spanishguy1970]

15 hours ago, UKstages said:

i never once had any problem understanding anybody who was wearing a mask. can you imagine a nurse or a doctor being unable to understand each other when they were giving crucial instructions during an operation?

 

if you're having trouble understanding somebody on an NCL ship who wears a mask, they might be mumbling or they might have a thick accent or you might be suffering hearing loss. all those conditions will persist once the mask come off.

 

as for people being the subject of ridicule or snarky comments for choosing to wear a mask, this was already the case earlier this year and late last year, during times when masks were optional. now that even fewer people are wearing masks, my experience has been that the maskless feel more emboldened that their decision is the right one and they can mock others. i've seen it many times on board NCL ships, particularly when alcohol is involved. it does not make me very proud of my fellow humans. after all, if one shouts "freedom," that applies to the freedom to wear a mask as well as the freedom not to.

is been my experience lately that when people yell " freedom" it usually means freedom for them. IMHO.

[genealogyfan]

We are also definitely wearing masks anytime we leave our stateroom, except when eating or drinking.  I guess at restaurants, we will have the mask on if the wait staff gets close to us. Wearing a mask isn't a big issue or big deal.

 

I'm not concerned if people look at us (and honestly I have never had that issue). I'm also not concerned if the steward makes up our room without a mask, unless we are in it and close proximity, then we will just leave or go out on the balcony. I've been in restaurants where the wait staff doesn't wear a mask (we just keep it on until the wait staff leaves our table). Covid on surfaces isn't really a concern as they thought originally, now Monkey Pox might be a concern.   

[kylenyc]

18 hours ago, spanishguy1970 said:

I read in another thread a few weeks ago where people on ships are getting snarky remarks and Ughs from fellow passengers just because they decide to wear their masks. I hope that mentality goes away, don't want to wear your mask? is your choice, let others do what is right for them. IMO

Fortunately I haven't encountered this out of New York City even after 95% of passengers didn't wear masks on board. I can guess this experience differs depending on the embarkation city.

Should I encounter it, I'll kindly ask them for their name and phone number so I can call them for their sage advice if my mom is hospitalized with infection for the third time. She has a bit of dementia and often panic dials people repeatedly.

[spanishguy1970]

6 minutes ago, kylenyc said:

Fortunately I haven't encountered this out of New York City even after 95% of passengers didn't wear masks on board. I can guess this experience differs depending on the embarkation city.

Should I encounter it, I'll kindly ask them for their name and phone number so I can call them for their sage advice if my mom is hospitalized with infection for the third time. She has a bit of dementia and often panic dials people repeatedly.

my sentiments. My mother has Alzheimer's and i know how that can be. 

[happytotravel]

Hi All,

If people have a problem because we have a mask on just tell them "to take it to the Lord in prayer".

Everyone, no matter who you are, just enjoy your cruise.  It's been a long time coming!

happytotravel

[lexxfield]

This is certainly good news. What a welcome change to see the faces of crew members again.  I speculate that the crew is breathing a collective sigh of relief.   On our last cruise in April several crew members were hoping that their mask mandate would end soon.  This development makes it more likely that we will book with NCL this fall.  

[surfone]

So happy for the crew!  Wonderful news

[jetact]

On 8/25/2022 at 3:49 PM, YVRteacher said:

As of 12:00am August 25 the crew on the NCL Encore no longer needs to wear masks.

Can anyone currently on board a different ship confirm if this is true for the ship on which you’re sailing?

 

Yes !!! We just got off the Bliss Saturday and heard that from the crew. Some still wore the masks but the majority took them off. 

[vtgumby]

On 8/26/2022 at 2:32 PM, hydro1570 said:

Just curious if the people that choose to continue masking will ask their room steward to not make up their room for the week. I mean they clean how many rooms nonstop daily? Then go in yours using the same cleaning supplies, so I would be more concerned with that in reality if you really think about it. 

We do. I can make my own bed and reuse my towels just like I do at home. We have always given them the night off on any cruise and frequently get service every third day so I’m more than happy as a mask wearer to give my cabin stew the week off. 
We also do a wipe down of surfaces when we get into our cabin, 60 seconds of reassurance.

Edited September 5, 2022 by vtgumby

[MeHeartCruising]

I’m currently on the Dawn.  Crew unmasking appears to have been done in phases.  When we boarded on September 5th, the food and drink services staff and room steward personnel were all still masked.  Pretty much all customer-facing crew.  Entertainment staff was not, however.  
 

About day 3, the rest of the crew started going maskless.  
 

I asked a waiter about it and he said they were told they all could remove the masks if they want to.  He said there was loud applause from the crew quarters upon hearing the announcement.  Since then, I have only seen about 3 crew members in a mask.  

[YVRteacher]

Encore is back to masks as there are Covid cases on board this week.

[FLcruisergrl]

We were in a garden villa earlier this year and told the staff that masks were optional in our room. Some left them on but one took it off like a woman taking off her bra after a long day! 😂 I swear he made up excuses to come to our room.

[coffeebean]

On 8/25/2022 at 10:28 PM, JGmf said:

That's great news.  This past February 2022 all crew, of course, wore masks.  So did the poor guy who was lifeguard/safety paddling around in a kayak keeping an eye on swimmers in Harvest Cay...the guy was in the middle of the water with no one really nearby in the blazing sun.  Uggh. 

 

I bet that beach and water safety staff is extra relieved.

That was utter foolishness for the guy in the kayak in the middle of the water with no one around him. So glad the mask mandate is lifted for the crew.

[YVRteacher]

They have reduced the frequency of crew testing.

[coffeebean]

On 8/26/2022 at 7:27 PM, UKstages said:

i never once had any problem understanding anybody who was wearing a mask. can you imagine a nurse or a doctor being unable to understand each other when they were giving crucial instructions during an operation?

 

if you're having trouble understanding somebody on an NCL ship who wears a mask, they might be mumbling or they might have a thick accent or you might be suffering hearing loss. all those conditions will persist once the mask come off.

 

 

I have never had difficulty understanding anyone who is wearing a mask. Having said that, when the masks come off, most people, not even realizing they do it, read lips when speaking to people. They do it even if they have perfect hearing.

 

From Dr. Google..............

Do hearing people read lips?

 

 

Although lip reading is used most extensively by deaf and hard-of-hearing people, most people with normal hearing process some speech information from sight of the moving mouth.

Edited September 10, 2022 by coffeebean

[coffeebean]

12 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

So, you should thank God for having good hearing.  Not everybody does.

I think you misunderstood my point.......EVERYONE reads lips when processing speech. That includes people with perfect hearing. That is why it is a wonderful thing that the mask mandate has been lifted for the crew.

[aubreyc1988]

On 8/26/2022 at 4:35 PM, spanishguy1970 said:

I read in another thread a few weeks ago where people on ships are getting snarky remarks and Ughs from fellow passengers just because they decide to wear their masks. I hope that mentality goes away, don't want to wear your mask? is your choice, let others do what is right for them. IMO

My husband chose to wear a mask on a cruise last week and you wouldn't believe the number of people who felt a need to comment on it, usually in a *very* rude way. 

[living at the beach]

On 9/4/2022 at 11:02 PM, vtgumby said:

We do. I can make my own bed and reuse my towels just like I do at home. We have always given them the night off on any cruise and frequently get service every third day so I’m more than happy as a mask wearer to give my cabin stew the week off. 
We also do a wipe down of surfaces when we get into our cabin, 60 seconds of reassurance.

 

[living at the beach]

Just now, living at the beach said:

Me too, not a hypocrite, just someone wanting to cruise again with some issues but can’t expose myself because I don’t want to die earlier than I need too. Why would anyone want to ridicule me for needing to wear a mask and still hoping to travel a few times again?