Royal Caribbean requires Proof of Vaccination for all passengers -- Quietly tells DeSantis off

[El OchoCinco]

I'm asking GWB his opinion on cruises. But if you feel the need to jump in, you can (and have). How do you feel about cruises? Would you go on one now that they're all vaxxed and masked?

I cruise often and cruise ships are often places where viruses pop up because people are naturally filthy especially when around food and drink and especially with indoor and outdoor activities. The one line I often choose is quite good at cleaning and making passengers wipe their hands before entering eating areas and this was well before COVID but still people are nasty.

In October I went to DisneyWorld and Universal with masking and marginal social distancing and I attend local NBA games regularly with the masking AND vax requirements and eating in the club there and so far so good....

I would not go on a cruise right NOW because before COVID people were pretty sloppy with hygiene and cleanliness before COVID and seems to have gotten worse. Schedule only permits it in summers anyway so I would go on one in JUNE/JULY though as although usually more crowds, this thing is slowly weakening but only on one carrier specifically. Problem is going on a cruise now with filthy people in Feb and catching COVID means I am stuck in my cabin even if not feeling sick and that would suck.

I think arenas do a better job than most cruise ships since many passengers are outside on ships and take their masks off but are jammed around a pool or bar......defeats the purpose. In the arena masks are on except for when eating and most of the time people just watch the game.

 

[Tsing Tao]

I cruise often and cruise ships are often places where viruses pop up because people are naturally filthy especially when around food and drink and especially with indoor and outdoor activities. The one line I often choose is quite good at cleaning and making passengers wipe their hands before entering eating areas and this was well before COVID but still people are nasty.

In October I went to DisneyWorld and Universal with masking and marginal social distancing and I attend local NBA games regularly with the masking AND vax requirements and eating in the club there and so far so good....

I would not go on a cruise right NOW because before COVID people were pretty sloppy with hygiene and cleanliness before COVID and seems to have gotten worse. Schedule only permits it in summers anyway so I would go on one in JUNE/JULY though as although usually more crowds, this thing is slowly weakening but only on one carrier specifically. Problem is going on a cruise now with filthy people in Feb and catching COVID means I am stuck in my cabin even if not feeling sick and that would suck.

I think arenas do a better job than most cruise ships since many passengers are outside on ships and take their masks off but are jammed around a pool or bar......defeats the purpose. In the arena masks are on except for when eating and most of the time people just watch the game.

I agree with a lot of what you said. Though I think it is different with the vaccine requirements, and its this difference that I find silly. I'll explain.

Do cruises require proof of measles vaccinations? Or any other vax information other than COVID? If they don't, then that's one point of stupid. They certainly don't ask if you had your flu vaccination.

When was the last time there was a measles outbreak on a cruise line? Just as an example.

The way I see it, we have a very leaky vaccine that is probably good for the elderly and immune compromised to get to protect them from severe impacts of the virus. The rest? Same as the flu. Restricting access to the cruise ship and going through all the shut down, turn around and mayhem that comes from COVID is pointless, a massive waste of money, and a drain on the industry.

Again, as I see it.

 

[gwb-trading]

 

[gwb-trading]

The CDC discontinued its reporting of Covid cases on cruise ships today -- effectively ending its era of Covid protocols for the cruise industry. It will be interesting later this week if the CDC allows cruise lines to back away in the U.S. market from requiring Covid testing prior to boarding the cruise ships. It should be noted that outside the U.S. market many major cruise lines have stopped requiring pre-cruise Covid tests -- however for U.S. cruises the CDC effectively demanded these still be left in place. This is likely to change based on the CDC announcement in my opinion. It should be noted that major cruise lines have kept vaccination requirements in place across all of their markets -- this is not likely to change.

CDC stops reporting coronavirus cases on cruise ships
The agency ended a pandemic-era program that allowed the public to monitor the spread of the virus at sea
https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/07/18/cdc-stops-sharing-cruise-covid-data/

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stopped reporting coronavirus levels for cruise ships in U.S. waters, ending a pandemic-era program that allowed the public to monitor the spread of the virus at sea.

A notice posted on the CDC website for cruise travel said the program ended Monday. A sortable color-coded chart and spreadsheet that detailed the level of spread on ships is no longer viewable on the webpage, the agency confirmed.

“CDC has determined that the cruise industry has access to the necessary tools (e.g., cruise-specific recommendations and guidance, vaccinations, testing instruments, treatment modalities, and non-pharmaceutical interventions) to prevent and mitigate COVID-19 on board,” CDC spokeswoman Kristen Nordlund said in an email.

A statement posted in an FAQ section of the CDC’s cruise travel page says the agency ended the program because it “depended upon each cruise line having the same COVID-19 screening testing standards, which may now vary among cruise lines.” The site says cruise lines will continue to report coronavirus cases to the agency.

Without publicly available coronavirus data, the CDC’s page for cruise travel says customers “have the option of contacting their cruise line directly regarding outbreaks occurring on board their ship.”

In January, the public health agency turned the mandatory rules that cruise lines had to follow during much of the pandemic into recommendations for a program in which they could opt in. Those rules included testing and vaccination requirements for passengers and crew.

Nordlund said cruise lines “will determine their own specific COVID-19-related requirements for cruise travel, as well as safety measures and protocols for passengers traveling on board based on CDC recommendations for reducing the risk of COVID-19.”

Royal Caribbean requires all travelers 12 years old or older to be vaccinated and present a negative test result no more than two days before boarding. On Carnival cruises, guests 2 years old and over must present a negative test taken no more than 72 hours; guests must also be vaccinated or obtain a vaccine exemption from the company.

Earlier this month, Norwegian Cruise Line dropped its testing requirement. All guests 12 years old and over are still required to be vaccinated.

Anne Madison, a spokesperson for Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA), said the association expects to receive new guidance from the CDC later this week.

“We look forward to reviewing the details, which we understand will be posted on the CDC website in the coming days,” Madison said in an email. “This is an important step forward in the CDC aligning the guidelines for cruise with those it has established for other travel, hospitality and entertainment sectors.”

As part of its program, the CDC displayed a list of the vaccination status and color status — indicating whether there are reported coronavirus cases on board — of participating cruise ships. As of Wednesday, 93 of the 94 ships reporting coronavirus data to the CDC were under observation because they met the threshold for investigation (cases in 0.3 percent of total crew and passengers).

In late March, the CDC dropped its coronavirus warning for cruises. It had included notices for cruise ships since March 2020, when cruise lines stopped sailing from U.S. waters for more than a year.