Shorewalk Holmes

Thanks for the review Goodtime. Hope you both have time to rest--maybe watching Hercules and his friends 🙂.

We had a great time! I realize that some people aren't used to wearing masks, but if the captain asks, people should either be prepared to wear one, or do as @Keksie does and wait until the 'threat' of wearing a mask is over.

Well you're too late. I was on Princess recently, wearing a mask when appropriate.

I was being facetious, but thanks!

Also, since so many people drive to the port, we should get rid of seat belt requirements. I'm not cruising until they're gone. How can you live life when you're strapped in a seat... 😀

Oops, forgot to respond to the OP's question. I wouldn't sail after a recent positive test, not only because I wouldn't want to expose others, but for the reasons mentioned above.

Joking aside, the point is that the consequences of COVID on a cruise are much more dire than the consequences of COVID while shopping or eating at a restaurant at home. With grocery shopping you aren't trapped on the ocean, you don't deal with FCC's, you don't miss shore excursions, you didn't pay thousands of dollars to get there only to be sick all week, etc. So we should expect protocols for cruising to be more strict.

Yep. I had symptoms while buying groceries. They quarantined me for a week in the vegetable area.

You keep saying this, but I truly don't understand what the problem is. Not wearing a mask at dinner risks some exposure. Not wearing a mask at the theatre risks some more exposure. Wearing a good mask at the theatre reduces that chance of exposure, so overall less chance of getting COVID.

Just checking to see if someone knows a person who boarded with the US CDC vaccine card.

Interesting. Bringing the mask requirement back seems like a difficult decision that they would only make reluctantly. Maybe removing the masks resulted in substantially more infections.

Glad to hear you're vaccinated! It matters because you are less likely to get seriously ill and cause the ship to divert to provide shoreside medical care. More unvaccinated passengers means more disrupted cruises.

I wish more politicians had some actual in-depth scientific background.

Yes, I already agreed that the tests will miss some cases. I also agree that testing at boarding would miss fewer cases, although it would be even more of a pain for those who test positive. But your second point, that tests are bogus, doesn't follow at all. Tests find positive cases. Those people don't board. So there are fewer initial sources of Covid than if they all got on the ship.

It's because there are other sources of Covid. People can get exposed after the test, they can have Covid and not yet be positive, they can get Covid from shore excursions, etc. But each valid positive test eliminates a possible Covid source. So people can talk about missed cases, other diseases, cruises vs. Walmart, whatever. None of that gets around the fact that halting testing would mean more Covid sources aboard ships. More Covid sources could mean more quarantining and disruption. How much more? Wish we had those numbers.