What Criteria Will You Use to Conclude It Is Safe To Cruise Again

[Got2Cruise]

18 hours ago, CruisetheCs said:

 

Could have been me you were chuckling at!  Got home from the grocery store and realized I still had my mask on a couple days ago. Think the moral of the story is that after a time masks can become second nature for short periods of time.  Most of us wouldn't give second thought to seeing someone in a car wearing a rain jacket or hat, though it isn't raining in the car.  Takes a bit of time for our perceptions to adjust to the new normal.

Very true. Also  maybe the person driving with the mask is going to pick up a friend with a compromised immune system or making deliveries. 

[1982CruzStart]

19 hours ago, snorkle lover said:

We are booked for September 2021 as well. Ours is on the Splendor London to Barcelona.

How about you?

We are doing Vancouver to Tokyo. On our last cruise when i saw it i jumped at the chance to have only 1 long distance flight.  Other than cruising to Alaska, every cruise we take involves multiple long flights. Love the thought of driving to the port but not having to drive back from Vancouver after a long flight from Tokyo. Haven't figured out the logistics yet. Hoping i can talk a good friend into driving us down to Vancouver. She is always up for a road trip so it might just work out. We would then pay the upcharge to Regent to add our home airport to the flight back from our gateway airport of Vancouver.   We will be on Explorer and very much looking forward to a return to her. 

 

Not only does this have the benefit of only 1 long flight, it gets us to Alaska which my DH hasn't cruised to yet. I have done a few cruises to Alaska but this would be his first. 

 

London to Barcelona sounds lovely as well as getting on the 'new' Splendor.  By the time you sail she will be virtually new considering the way cruising is being delayed. 

[snorkle lover]

Reply

21 minutes ago, 1982CruzStart said:

We are doing Vancouver to Tokyo. On our last cruise when i saw it i jumped at the chance to have only 1 long distance flight.  Other than cruising to Alaska, every cruise we take involves multiple long flights. Love the thought of driving to the port but not having to drive back from Vancouver after a long flight from Tokyo. Haven't figured out the logistics yet. Hoping i can talk a good friend into driving us down to Vancouver. She is always up for a road trip so it might just work out. We would then pay the upcharge to Regent to add our home airport to the flight back from our gateway airport of Vancouver.   We will be on Explorer and very much looking forward to a return to her. 

 

Not only does this have the benefit of only 1 long flight, it gets us to Alaska which my DH hasn't cruised to yet. I have done a few cruises to Alaska but this would be his first. 

 

London to Barcelona sounds lovely as well as getting on the 'new' Splendor.  By the time you sail she will be virtually new considering the way cruising is being delayed. 

 

Edited August 9, 2020 by snorkle lover

[travlr21]

17 minutes ago, 1982CruzStart said:

We would then pay the upcharge to Regent to add our home airport to the flight back from our gateway airport of Vancouver. 

I think we are almost neighbors. Last year we could not add our home airport as Regent did not allow it. We were on the Voyager TA, Miami to Barcelona. We were able to deviate our flight home, flew from Paris to Vancouver - 3 weeks after the TA ended, but we could not add the final 1 hour leg home from YVR. Would love this to change as we prefer the flights on one ticket in case there are delays and what-not. Coming home from Paris we were delayed and missed our connection, but Air Canada did put us on a later flight, without penalty.

 

We are hoping for an effective vaccine or other good news before we plan to cruise. Getting sick while away is one thing, but also concerned about interrupted voyages due to cases on board.

[snorkle lover]

1982 CruzStart,
 

I apologize because I do not know how to quote a response and reply so I really messed up.
 

Your trip Vancouver to Tokyo sounds wonderful and I agree about only having one

flight, we also prefer a direct flight. We are hoping that we will be

able to have a direct flight to London  and a direct flight back home from Barcelona.
Time will tell.
 

We also loved the Explorer and are excited to sail on the new Splendor. Yes, Splendor 

definitely has low knots on her. Fingers and toes crossed for a better travel year in

2021.

 

 

 

 

 

[1982CruzStart]

24 minutes ago, travlr21 said:

I think we are almost neighbors. Last year we could not add our home airport as Regent did not allow it. We were on the Voyager TA, Miami to Barcelona. We were able to deviate our flight home, flew from Paris to Vancouver - 3 weeks after the TA ended, but we could not add the final 1 hour leg home from YVR. Would love this to change as we prefer the flights on one ticket in case there are delays and what-not. Coming home from Paris we were delayed and missed our connection, but Air Canada did put us on a later flight, without penalty.

 

We are hoping for an effective vaccine or other good news before we plan to cruise. Getting sick while away is one thing, but also concerned about interrupted voyages due to cases on board.

We live in Kelowna and Regent did allow us to add YVR TO YLW return to the cruise we were supposed to take Sept 2020.  I hope we will be able to once again add YVR-YLW because it is so much easier to not have separate tickets and the hassle with the baggage.  The extra baggage fees and the concern on delayed flights is a drag when you have to ticket separately. 

[1982CruzStart]

19 minutes ago, snorkle lover said:

1982 CruzStart,
 

I apologize because I do not know how to quote a response and reply so I really messed up.
 

Your trip Vancouver to Tokyo sounds wonderful and I agree about only having one

flight, we also prefer a direct flight. We are hoping that we will be

able to have a direct flight to London  and a direct flight back home from Barcelona.
Time will tell.
 

We also loved the Explorer and are excited to sail on the new Splendor. Yes, Splendor 

definitely has low knots on her. Fingers and toes crossed for a better travel year in

2021.

 

No worries. It took me a bit of time to figure out the quote thing when i first started using it. 

Ditto on the crossed fingers and toes. 

[travlr21]

7 minutes ago, 1982CruzStart said:

We live in Kelowna and Regent did allow us to add YVR TO YLW return to the cruise we were supposed to take Sept 2020.

We are on the westside.  (We moved here from Toronto. That is the ONE thing we miss about TO - direct flights to almost anywhere!) Anyway, that is heartening news. We were able to do it back in 2017, but not last year for some reason.

[Mahogany]

On 8/7/2020 at 5:57 PM, Kwaj girl said:

In responding to my comment......you DO believe we have to be inundated 24/7 with numbers/statistics?

I said YES, if that's what it takes for EVERYONE (not just the vulnerable) in this country to take coronavirus seriously.

[Kwaj girl]

54 minutes ago, Mahogany said:

I said YES, if that's what it takes for EVERYONE (not just the vulnerable) in this country to take coronavirus seriously.

 

🙄 end of rant

[Mahogany]

19 hours ago, Kwaj girl said:

 

🙄 end of rant

Agreed

[D C]

On 8/4/2020 at 1:23 PM, jeb_bud said:

I’m a bit of a risk taker and feel good about my immune system so I’ll probably cruise when a cruise I have booked doesn’t get canceled. I’m fine with wearing a mask when walking around the ship. I would hope to be able to take the mask off once I get to my seat in the bar or restaurant. 
 

I think eradication is very unlikely so what I’m really looking forward to is when a COVID-19 outbreak onboard is treated similar to a norovirus outbreak. 

 

Agreed.   The "zero-tolerance" approach is much more difficult to uphold than an "identify and contain" approach. 

[tennis]

We just flew from the East Coast to the Rockies - wore masks the whole way.  We are in Yellowstone and having a marvelous time.  We are ready to cruise as soon as the cruises go.  I have just rechecked my statistics on deaths in SC and it is still the same.  There is no statistical differences in deaths this year than in the previous 5 years.  Not my opinion - just facts. So don’t trash me because you don’t like facts that don’t agree with your feelings.

[pappy1022]

The percentage of people that die from COVID-19 are down but the number of people contracting the disease is way up. For SC, there were 669 news cases yesterday while the numbers in March, April and early May were around 200 New cases per day. Deaths are down for 2 main reasons: we now know better procedures to manage the disease and save lives and also More younger people are getting the virus and their immune systems can fight the this disease better. I’m not saying that you need to get in a cocoon until this is over but taking prudent steps, masks, social distancing, proper hygiene, and staying away from crowds especially indoors are still prudent things to do. Multiple cruise ships that tried to sail recently had COVID-19 “outbreaks” and had to cancel the cruise and quarantine people. It’s too early to get a bunch of people together in enclosed areas (ships, buses, etc).

[D C]

39 minutes ago, pappy1022 said:

The percentage of people that die from COVID-19 are down but the number of people contracting the disease is way up. For SC, there were 669 news cases yesterday while the numbers in March, April and early May were around 200 New cases per day. Deaths are down for 2 main reasons: we now know better procedures to manage the disease and save lives and also More younger people are getting the virus and their immune systems can fight the this disease better. I’m not saying that you need to get in a cocoon until this is over but taking prudent steps, masks, social distancing, proper hygiene, and staying away from crowds especially indoors are still prudent things to do. Multiple cruise ships that tried to sail recently had COVID-19 “outbreaks” and had to cancel the cruise and quarantine people. It’s too early to get a bunch of people together in enclosed areas (ships, buses, etc).

 

Frankly, I don't trust the "number of cases" metric.  Far too many of those tests are false positives, but that's another topic.  

 

Prudence is the key.   South Carolina has had ~100k cases and ~5 million people.  That's about 2% of the population that has tested positive.     "Disastrous" Florida is a bit over 2%.   And those aren't current cases.  The current percentage that's infected is far lower than that.  I didn't realise until recently that "epidemic" is based largely on deaths attributable to the disease (along with a dose of opinion thrown in).  From a death rate perspective alone, COVID is very near or below the typical threshold used for calling something an epidemic.  That's a good thing, and a better perspective than the daily tally of cases the media loves. 

 

The odds of randomly finding a person with COVID, and being in close contact for a sufficient period of time to receive an inoculating viral dose is really really small.   So many of our daily interactions with other people are extremely brief.  We could drop all of the precautions except "avoid indoor groups" and probably be in the same boat we are now.     

On a ship, I spend a lot of time outdoors, and not a lot of time in extended close indoor contact with people outside my bubble.  I have minimal concern about cruising, but realise that everyone's cruise style is different.  

[pappy1022]

Most “experts” agree that the real infection rate is around 10X of those that have tested positive, so who knows what are the real number Of cases. A cruise ship to me is real concern although I know that there are differences of opinion and everyone needs to make their own decision. The problem is that everyone’s decision has the potential of impacting innocent victims so the risk extends beyond one person’s willingness to take calculated chances. We see that with the younger generation acting as if they are not vulnerable only to get the virus and pass it along to someone who doesn’t respond well to the virus. We had that happen with a close friend who was impacted by their college grand daughter. I guess when you see things on the news it doesn’t hit home because it sometimes doesn’t seem real. But when you see it for real, close to home, then it becomes personal and your attitude changes. I can tell you that this grand daughter is living a nightmare and is so worried that her Reckless actions may have jeopardized the life of her grand mother.

[WesW]

Thanks for sharing this personal and very insightful Covid experience pappy1022.

[jjs217]

My husband and I will cruise again just as soon as one of my future bookings isn't cancelled.  I'm pretty sure that I'm not getting off this planet alive, so if I have to "go" I wouldn't mind if my last days on this earth are aboard a luxury cruise ship.  Before anybody gets their panties in a wad, until cruising does re-open, I am super careful around others, never go out out to eat, always mask up and stay at least 6 feet apart.  I would assume that when cruising does re-open, others on a cruise ship do not have a compromised immunity system or they wouldn't be on a cruise ship for goodness sake.

[Pcardad]

I agree with you - we are all going to die. I would rather die with a drink on my hand after a nice day in the Med with my SO than sitting on the couch at home without being able to leave the house.

 

You only get 1 shot - I am not wasting mine.

[pappy1022]

Good luck. I am willing to trade off some freedoms and inconveniences in the short term for the hope that things will be better for the long term. For me, It’s more important to enjoy life and it’s journey for as long as I can. Cruising to me is not the most important thing. My wife, my kids and my grandkids are light years more important so I will wait until it is safe to cruise and then I will enjoy the heck out of it. I would feel terrible and selfish if I did something foolish and took a high risk adventure and was infected with COVID-19 and passed that on to my family, friends or even a stranger. I don’t deny anyone’s right to go on a cruise when it becomes available. A lot of people throw caution to the wind and then regret their decision when they wind up in the hospital and are fighting for their lives. Is cruising really that important? 

[1982CruzStart]

17 minutes ago, jjs217 said:

I would assume that when cruising does re-open, others on a cruise ship do not have a compromised immunity system or they wouldn't be on a cruise ship for goodness sake.

So are you saying that when cruising re-starts that people with compromised immune systems shouldn't be cruising even when if it is considered to be safe or just not cruising at the start until more assurance of safety? 

My DH has a compromised immune system and has been cruising for years. Will he be one of the first to re-board a cruise ship - no but we are certainly planning on being on one once again when it is relatively safe to do so. Nothing is ever 100%. 

 

If it was just about me, i am willing to risk my own life to live the way i want to live and that includes cruising. However it isn't about me risking my life it is about all the other people around me that i potentially could negatively impact with my decision. 

 

Stay safe and stay healthy everyone. 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

29 minutes ago, jjs217 said:

... I would assume that when cruising does re-open, others on a cruise ship do not have a compromised immunity system or they wouldn't be on a cruise ship for goodness sake.

 

That leaves out much of Regent's traditional customer base, doesn't it?

 

On 8/4/2020 at 1:23 PM, jeb_bud said:

...

I think eradication is very unlikely so what I’m really looking forward to is when a COVID-19 outbreak onboard is treated similar to a norovirus outbreak. 

 

The difference is in the consequences of the illness, right?  If someone tests positive but is asymptomatic, they can be quarantined I guess.  But if they get ill, that's a different matter--not many people die of norovirus, I think.

[Pcardad]

No...but living my life for QUALITY and not QUANTITY is that important to me...and I believe you are just as likely to get this at your local food store as you are on a regent ship. Do what you wish...I intend to.

 

When cruising re-opens, everyone needs to decide if they want to go. If someone chooses to go, they can hardly blame another person if they are infected...no one is making them go.

 

Want to minimize your chance of getting this and live a long life - stay home. But when cruising opens, I intend to be there and I expect that I will not be alone. When I get home, I will not interact with anyone who is staying at home in order to respect their decision.....that's only fair. But anyone on the ship made the same choice I did...same for those flying.

Edited August 19, 2020 by Pcardad

[Wendy The Wanderer]

5 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

No...but living my life for QUALITY and not QUANTITY is that important to me...and I believe you are just as likely to get this at your local food store as you are on a regent ship. Do what you wish...I intend to.

 

Not sure who you were answering, but let me just say I'd much rather get sick here at home in Canada than on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean, or in a foreign country.

[Pcardad]

1 minute ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

 

Not sure who you were answering, but let me just say I'd much rather get sick here at home in Canada than on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean, or in a foreign country.

 

And that's your choice. I respect it.

 

But when cruising re-opens, anyone who goes does so with the understanding that it is probably not as safe as being at home.

 

Evacuation insurance is available...via private medical plane.

 

I will add that as much as no person WANTS to get sick....the cruise lines want that outcome even less than we do. I expect they will be extremely careful when re-opening....far more so than most of us are in our daily lives (unless you live as a shut-in).