USA Today: MSC Cruises says family denied reboarding after they broke COVID-19 'social bubble'

[-Lew-]

MSC appears to be taking the right approach IMHO...

 

USA Today: MSC Cruises says family denied reboarding after they broke COVID-19 'social bubble'

[Cienfuegos]

Creating a "bubble" while ashore does create some issues, however.  For me, much of the fun is wandering through stalls in the bazaar, sampling street food, etc.  Simply sitting on a bus, or being herded, doesn't have the same attraction. For me.

 

What MSC did was absolutely right. They set a rule, and they enforced it.

 

 

[Captain_Morgan]

8 hours ago, Cienfuegos said:

Creating a "bubble" while ashore does create some issues, however.  For me, much of the fun is wandering through stalls in the bazaar, sampling street food, etc.  Simply sitting on a bus, or being herded, doesn't have the same attraction. For me.

 

What MSC did was absolutely right. They set a rule, and they enforced it.

 

 

 

Isn't this (bolded) what the majority of included tours with Viking are?  Sat on a bus, driving around a particular city being told its a 'panoramic' tour....

And i agree what MSC did was absolutely the correct thing...follow the rules or find your way home, especially when visiting a country with a known history of COVID outbreaks.

[Peregrina651]

13 hours ago, Cienfuegos said:

Simply sitting on a bus, or being herded, doesn't have the same attraction.

 

This is definitely food for thought. I think we are all going to have to decide about this before we embark on our next cruises. This may very well be one of the restrictions we face and we will each have to decide for ourselves if we are willing to travel under these terms.

 

 

[OnTheJourney]

For me, I'll take doing excursions that basically consist of sitting on a bus with a narrated tour as opposed to not getting off the ship (and not doing any kind of excursions.)  Seeing sites through a bus window = better than not seeing them at all IMHO.  

[-Lew-]

Our next cruise Med cruise is on Viking in September 2021.  I'm hoping by then we're not relegated to port tours in a bubble in each port of call.  We love cruise life, but the real reason we're cruising in the Med especially is the ports.  We need to visit the various sites of interest, explore on our own, and enjoy sidewalk cafes.

[Cienfuegos]

For me, the opportunity to combine a guided / curated visit to a new place with a walk on my own is a big part of the excitement travel presents. Viking seems to understand that, and offer some excursions which supply that dimension.

 

If going off on my own will get me thrown off a cruise, that would be a reason not to take the cruise.  I spent a few hours walking in Cienfuegos, Cuba, on my own.  No guides, just me.  Bought various things in the street market, took many pictures, and was likely as much an item of interest to the locals as I was to them.

[fudgbug]

If being in a "bubble" and following rules is what it takes to cruise again, that to me is better than staying at home looking at the same four walls.

[Baron Barracuda]

Have read several cases lately where US colleges put a lot of effort into bringing kids back on campus safely only to have them wander off to off-campus parties and become infected.  Cruise lines too are working hard to create a safe bubble for passengers.  Makes sense they draw a hard line and make an example of transgressors.   Gets everyone's attention and reassures customers they are serious about safety.

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, fudgbug said:

If being in a "bubble" and following rules is what it takes to cruise again, that to me is better than staying at home looking at the same four walls.

 

I'm with you!  As much as I prefer to wonder off on my own, whatever it takes to make me safe is okay by me. Honestly, the thing I am worried about most is the airplanes and the other inconsiderate idiots flying with me. I already have a track record of picking up infections in flights.

[lackcreativity]

2 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

I'm with you!  As much as I prefer to wonder off on my own, whatever it takes to make me safe is okay by me. Honestly, the thing I am worried about most is the airplanes and the other inconsiderate idiots flying with me. I already have a track record of picking up infections in flights.

It's funny. Early on in this whole scenario, I remember thinking "I'm not sure I would want to cruise if I had to wear a mask". My view has certainly changed! There are memories of cruising at its best, and there is a view of a future with or without cruising. I know which one I want. 

 

Not that I am ancient, but time is passing by, and I have much I still want to see. If it has to be from a bus window, so be it.

[SantaFe1]

2 hours ago, lackcreativity said:

It's funny. Early on in this whole scenario, I remember thinking "I'm not sure I would want to cruise if I had to wear a mask". My view has certainly changed! There are memories of cruising at its best, and there is a view of a future with or without cruising. I know which one I want. 

 

Not that I am ancient, but time is passing by, and I have much I still want to see. If it has to be from a bus window, so be it.

I agree.  Well said!

[OnTheJourney]

17 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

Honestly, the thing I am worried about most is the airplanes and the other inconsiderate idiots flying with me. 

 

Totally agree! Spoken as plainly and accurately as could be. 

[Cienfuegos]

Unfortunately, accepting the science and understanding the risks of the disease has become a challenge for some folks.  While I wouldn't go so far as to call them inconsiderate idiots ('though they may be), they are a threat to my health.

 

(The primary elections in Florida happened this week.  Many TV viewers were appalled to see several victory parties for candidates in which everyone in these large gatherings was unmasked, hugging each other, etc.  It set a particularly poor example, not that there is a shortage of poor examples here.

 

The hazards of bringing live TV camera reporting into victory parties was pretty apparent.)

[OnTheJourney]

1 hour ago, Cienfuegos said:

Unfortunately, accepting the science and understanding the risks of the disease has become a challenge for some folks. 

 

Apparently so, and yet I have a hard time wrapping my head around this. Do some of these people not believe the reports of the number of people who have died FROM coronavirus, or simply disbelieve it? Then again, there are still some around who believe the earth is flat and that we never landed on the moon. So....is it a "challenge" or simply a "denial"??  

Edited August 21, 2020 by OnTheJourney

[Jazmyn49]

I wonder if ships are considering having only passengers and crew on board who have been vaccinated once a vaccine has been approved.  What do you think?   Kudos to those of you who consistently wear masks.  You won't die from wearing one but others might if you do not.

[OnTheJourney]

There are several threads on CC that deal with this. It's certainly an interesting and vital topic. My thought would be that you won't be allowed on board without proof of either vaccination and/or some other form of health screening or testing, etc. Noone knows at this point. I figure one side of the scale tips all the way towards safety - which would require the maximum amount of precaution, deep cleaning and sanitizing, the best possible procedures while onboard to ensure the least likely chance of infection, etc. and the other side of the scale tips towards an emphasis on getting the ships back out there - resuming a revenue stream - getting as many people onboard as possible with the bare minimum required in the way of safety guidelines while still attending (although maybe not as much as should be) to keeping things clean and sanitized. Somewhere in the middle is where the industry is likely to wind up. Might start as close to the former as possible, and then gradually - as time goes on - start to move more towards the latter. Here's the thing, though - the cruise industry canNOT afford massive outbreaks of CV since it's possible that it could cause it to all shut down again. 

Edited August 22, 2020 by OnTheJourney