Murph269

Thank you for the reply! Selfishly, I’m happy that it still seems to be at reduced capacity. For the long term health of the cruise industry, hopefully this is short-lived. It can go back to full capacity the sailing after mine, haha.

I apologize if this has been brought up recently, but I have a cruise coming up in a couple of weeks and was wondering what the capacity has been like on recent sailings. I’ve seen posts about capacity being at around 40-50% back in December/January, but wasn’t sure if that was still accurate for April heading into May. Thanks in advance for any info.

24 minutes ago, Junonia said:

I’m sorry. What do you find conspiratorial about Cuomo policies being responsible for a great many nursing home deaths? It is a well-known fact that even ABC is reporting now. Did you also believe that Covid came from bat soup and anything to the contrary was blasphemy? 🙄.  As long as it wasn’t your parent or grandparent, it’s a big joke to you it seems. People wake up when the truth affects them personally.

What does Cuomo and nursing home liability have to do with the cruise industry? It has no impact. Let’s try to keep this thread at least somewhat on track.

2 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

The law is very clear.  One cannot make vaccination a condition for service.  

There are those who are adamantly against vaccination and they will be on watch looking for those 'clever ways'.  

These people who are “adamantly against vaccination” I’m assuming (hoping) can at least acknowledge that Covid is real, correct? If so, they’re aware that it’s highly contagious and an outbreak on a cruise ship, which would mostly infect unvaccinated passengers, is a horrible situation for the cruise industry. With that being said, why are these people so hellbent on cruising? I get it, cruising is a lot of fun. However, choosing not to be vaccinated, and then choosing to board a ship knowing that you could be contributing to a potential outbreak that could derail the trip for everyone, is incredibly selfish in my opinion. Cruising is a privilege, not a right. 

On 5/29/2021 at 4:56 PM, marktwothousand said:

 

So, I hope you Enjoy the rest of your summer after the explosion of Memorial Day cases in two weeks. the hospitals will be jammed with people on oxygen again, unfortunately. And there will be no cruises…thanks.  

How did this prediction turn out for you? 

16 hours ago, Old & Retired said:

If you had the shot, why are you so worried about other people's personal medical information?

To add to the good points that others have already shared, another good reason to have the vaccine is consideration for the areas you are visiting on your cruise. We tend to look at things through the lens of how things are operating in our home countries. However, just because you might be able to readily get the vaccine in your country if you want one, that is likely not true for a lot of the port destinations. The last thing some of these places need is for Covid to go tearing through their communities. If cruise lines can help mitigate that by requiring vaccinated passengers, I say more power to them.

20 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Because the shot does not prevent you from catching the virus. It only prevents you from getting seriously ill when you catch the virus from being careless.

This is incorrect. The vaccines are highly effective at not only preventing symptoms, but at preventing infection/transmission as well.

Taken from the article linked below:

“According to the study, which was conducted on nearly 4,000 healthcare workers, first responders, and other essential workers at the frontlines in eight locations across the country, the mRNA vaccines are 90 percent effective at preventing infection. That means in addition to stopping the development of Covid-19 symptoms, they can stop the disease from spreading from one person to another, too.”

https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamhaseltine/2021/03/30/moderna-and-pfizer-vaccines-prevent-infection-as-well-as-disease-key-questions-remain/

2 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

I fail to see how pitting Canada vs the US on this thread is going to a) get cruising restarted any sooner and b) foster goodwill between the two countries. Can we just stop with the finger pointing and oneupsmanship? Please. 

Agreed, and noted. I got a little carried away previously. 

3 minutes ago, WarfRatWA said:

"What was Canada’s roll in all of this?"

 

Who cares...its a pandemic.

Just poking a little fun at the OP (a Canadian) who started the thread criticizing Americans.

14 minutes ago, WarfRatWA said:

There is no mic drop...not even close.

 

19,230,680 people in Canada have received their 1st vaccination.  That is 50.60% of the population of the country.

 

https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/vaccination-coverage/

I’m not sure what your point is considering over 50% of the United States has received their first vaccination. 

18 minutes ago, WarfRatWA said:

The Pfizer vaccine is only possible with the partnership of BioNTech...a very German Company.  I am an American that lives 4.5miles from the BioNTech headquarters.   Audacity indeed.

Regardless, you could say the same (Bio N Tech developed vaccine is only possible with the partnership of Pfizer, a very American company). Small world, I’m an American who lives about 10 miles from where the Pfizer vaccine is made. The other two vaccines, Moderna and J&J, are American made/developed, and were brought to market with the help of U.S. taxpayer dollars. What was Canada’s role in all of this?

I’m trying to wrap my mind around having the audacity to criticize a country about vaccination, when the country you’re criticizing is the country that is home to all three vaccine companies (J&J, Moderna, Pfizer). Some of those vaccines were rushed out using U.S. taxpayer dollars through Operation Warp Speed. Then, to take it a step further, criticize people as it relates to cruising from U.S. ports, all while sitting in a country that has had nothing to do with either. If Canada is so great, they’re welcome to develop their own vaccine and entice cruise lines to headquarter there. Until then, a little self awareness would go a long way. 

13 minutes ago, oteixeira said:

So please explain to me how this cruise ship is sailing if he didn't back down please??  It is going fully vaccinated, from Florida, in June.  Sounds to me like he either backed down or the RCCL lawyers realize there is no way he can block them in court.

I really hope they’re allowed to sail, but this article makes it sound like it’s not a done deal and that pushback is likely from the governor. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article251706998.html

1 minute ago, oteixeira said:

Celebrity just got permission to go full vaccinated out of....  wait for it....  Florida in June.   So explain that one away for those of you thinking the Governor wont back down.

Link?

4 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

To my knowledge, all bookings were cancelled through 2021 for any NCL sailings originating in North America, and just recently opened back up.  Granted, I haven't looked at all of them over the last several months.  But, I know the ones I had scheduled for 2021 were all canceled.  I just booked the Joy a few weeks ago, and I believe August was the first month they offered start up sailings.

 

IF they did offer sailings during this whole period of shutdown, I'm thinking they were not close to the 50% capacity.

 

The 50% capacity sailing still hasn't been officially mentioned by NCL.  I know my TA says that's what they said NCL's plan was, but that was a few weeks ago.

 

My guess is no one who is booked on anything currently will be "kicked off" the sailing.

 

But, that's a question you might want to ask your PCC or TA.  They might have more insight than my TA or I.

Interesting. Last year I booked a sailing on the Encore out of Miami for the last week of November 2021. That was never cancelled, but that’s also after the 10/31 expiration of the CDC order, so maybe that has something to do with it. 

32 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

They will not book at 100% capacity.  They'll book only to 50% capacity (if that's indeed the number they're allowing to sail).  Therefore, no one will be removed from the sailing.  Once 50% capacity is achieved, bookings will close.

I’m referring to sailings that were already booked beyond 50% prior to the capacity limit decision. For example, what if a cruise leaving in September has already been booked beyond 50% capacity since bookings have been available for that cruise for over a year now?
 

On the reduced capacity sailings, I wonder how they will determine who is permitted to sail. For example, if the ship was 100% booked, how do they determine who is removed from the sailing? I feel like it should be based on the order in which people booked (the people who booked sooner are safe vs those who booked later). However, I can’t see them cancelling sailings booked in more expensive cabins, regardless of when they were booked. This will be really interesting.

From the information available so far, it looks like that’s just for Alaska cruises leaving from Seattle. 

17 minutes ago, cscurlock said:

I don't think they will have a choice.  At the end of the day none of them want to have to do the simulated voyages as its too expensive and the CDC guidelines states if there is an infection that spreads they will have to turn the ship around and return to port.  Which means they will also have to have port agreements to allow a scenario where a ship with a severe outbreak will be allowed to disembark and people put into quarantine. I remember there was almost a large protest of people trying to prevent people from disembarking into their city last year on one of the ships.  That could get ugly and you might need security etc. which again is expensive and on the cruise lines.  Then you have to take the ship offline to get it disinfected. So much expense that can be alleviated from just making the norm vaccinated only for now.  I think once we get to July and the CDC will revise the guidance for vaccinated ships to be mask less indoors and outdoors and you will see people ready to go on a normal vacation again.  100% vaccinations is the only way anything else just costs a ton of money. 

These are good points. What you mentioned, coupled with the ports of call likely wanting vaccinated passengers visiting their countries, leads me to believe that the other lines will follow the vaccination requirement route, meaning DeSantis will feel increased pressure.

6 minutes ago, WICKEDIRISH said:

 

 

 

 

 

    Nope, no shame there

I’m sorry that the truth appears to offend you. 

12 minutes ago, WICKEDIRISH said:

aaaannnndd here it is....virtue signaling and shaming people for not getting the jab.

I’m not shaming anyone. If you choose to not get the vaccine, that’s entirely up to you and I respect that decision completely. If you choose to not get the vaccine, yet insist on partaking in something like a cruise (against NCL and the CDC’s guidelines) which is a leisure activity and not essential to daily life, than that’s where my respect for your decision ends. If that’s “shaming” than so be it. 

It’s pretty counter-intuitive for people to insist on being able to cruise without a vaccine, when it’s the vaccines that have caused infection to slow down to the point where cruising could be considered again. They’re basically saying “thank you people who decided to get vaxed and do your part to make this a possibility, but I’m just going to go ahead and not do my part while also reaping the benefits”. It’s a simple decision, if you want to cruise, get vaccinated. If your opposition to the vaccine outweighs your desire to cruise, than don’t cruise. Cruising is a privilege, not a right.  

20 minutes ago, floridapoppy said:

Also remember you need boosters because you only have immunity for about 6 months.  I would imagine the cruise industry will require you to be within that 6 month period to be considered "safe".  🤔

That’s not entirely true. So far, the data suggests you have strong protection for AT LEAST six months, which is a big distinction from up to six months. The vaccines haven’t been in use long enough yet to get much data beyond the six month mark, but it wouldn’t be shocking to find out that they offer strong efficacy well beyond six months. 

My April 12th cruise was cancelled, applied for refund April 13th. Full refund posted to my card this morning.

For those that recently received refunds, were those for cruises NCL cancelled, and you requested the refund by filling out the online request form?