healthy sail panel recommendations are released

[Ashland]

2 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

No one knows for sure, but I can't imagine it will be just drive-by.  Many sites are out in the open and as long as the group stays together and follows mask wearing and distancing protocol, I would expect that will be allowed.  They also can make contracts with certain restaurants/bars regarding safety protocols and visit those I would think.  Time will tell.

Perhaps they'll be smaller groups in smaller van type transportation instead of a huge bus.

[Baron Barracuda]

2 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

No one knows for sure, but I can't imagine it will be just drive-by.  Many sites are out in the open and as long as the group stays together and follows mask wearing and distancing protocol, I would expect that will be allowed.  They also can make contracts with certain restaurants/bars regarding safety protocols and visit those I would think.  Time will tell.

 Restaurants & bars?  Small venues with questionable cleanliness and tables close together.  Masks down to eat/ drink and interacting with servers?  Doesn't seem to meet safe cruising protocols.  

[phoenix_dream]

5 hours ago, Baron Barracuda said:

 Restaurants & bars?  Small venues with questionable cleanliness and tables close together.  Masks down to eat/ drink and interacting with servers?  Doesn't seem to meet safe cruising protocols.  

I would expect that they would carefully only make arrangements with venues who would be following the appropriate rules.  Who knows - I guess time will tell.

[OceanCruise]

We cancelled our cruise due to manadatory masks and restrictions for getting off the ship and feel that having only ship sponsored excursions seems like a false sense of security. I would think the very same buses and vans will be used for other cruise lines' excursions and the drivers and tour guides will have had contact with other people in the community. Even if it is a ship sponsored excursion there will still be many contact surfaces on beach lounge chairs, bathroom facilities, restaurant chairs, etc. where germs could be lingering. Also, is the cruise line eliminating their revenue source from all the port shops? Will the crew still be allowed to get off and shop at Walmart, etc. in port to purchase their necessities? 

[davekathy]

3 hours ago, OceanCruise said:

We cancelled our cruise due to manadatory masks and restrictions for getting off the ship and feel that having only ship sponsored excursions seems like a false sense of security. I would think the very same buses and vans will be used for other cruise lines' excursions and the drivers and tour guides will have had contact with other people in the community. Even if it is a ship sponsored excursion there will still be many contact surfaces on beach lounge chairs, bathroom facilities, restaurant chairs, etc. where germs could be lingering. Also, is the cruise line eliminating their revenue source from all the port shops? Will the crew still be allowed to get off and shop at Walmart, etc. in port to purchase their necessities? 

What current mandatory masks and restrictions for getting off the ship and ship only sponsored shore/port excursions? Celebrity isn't even cruising at this time so nothing has been officially published by Celebrity. 

[OceanCruise]

While I am not sure if it is "official" policy yet, Celebrity's parent company RCI hired a panel of experts that put forth those guidelines that were submitted to the CDC. 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/health-and-safety

[Arizona Wildcat]

2 hours ago, davekathy said:

What current mandatory masks and restrictions for getting off the ship and ship only sponsored shore/port excursions? Celebrity isn't even cruising at this time so nothing has been officially published by Celebrity. 

Those are part of the Royal Caribbean/NCL advisory panel and the CLIA guidelines were similar but possibly more general.  Nothing yet from CDC but does it seem likely that the final guidelines from the CDC would be less restrictive? A step by step process certainly as a shareholder seems smart.  A bunch of COVID cases on an early cruise would be terrible both to those who are ill and the return to cruising.

The next couple months will bring more knowledge and information.  

[Arizona Wildcat]

5 hours ago, OceanCruise said:

We cancelled our cruise due to manadatory masks and restrictions for getting off the ship and feel that having only ship sponsored excursions seems like a false sense of security. I would think the very same buses and vans will be used for other cruise lines' excursions and the drivers and tour guides will have had contact with other people in the community. Even if it is a ship sponsored excursion there will still be many contact surfaces on beach lounge chairs, bathroom facilities, restaurant chairs, etc. where germs could be lingering. Also, is the cruise line eliminating their revenue source from all the port shops? Will the crew still be allowed to get off and shop at Walmart, etc. in port to purchase their necessities? 

Can answer your second question.  On TUI the crew is allowed to sort of pool orders and a few people are sent to purchase items at their home port.  Very controlled.  No shopping at port stores by passengers.  They are in much of a bubble.

[Ozzmund]

We have cancelled our December cruise and will most likely do the same with our March cruise.

We will be content to sit back and see what cruising in 2021 looks like. While are very conscientious in our wearing of masks as well as social distancing, it is the unknown that most concerns us.

We will watch with interest as others take the first months of cruises. I look forward to reading their reports of these first cruises.

We will most certainly cruise again, but only after seeing what this new cruise experience is.

While Minnesota winters are best experienced in warmer climes, we will look to other domestic locales to get our warm weather fix this year.

[davekathy]

2 hours ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Those are part of the Royal Caribbean/NCL advisory panel and the CLIA guidelines were similar but possibly more general.  Nothing yet from CDC but does it seem likely that the final guidelines from the CDC would be less restrictive? A step by step process certainly as a shareholder seems smart.  A bunch of COVID cases on an early cruise would be terrible both to those who are ill and the return to cruising.

The next couple months will bring more knowledge and information.  

 

4 hours ago, OceanCruise said:

While I am not sure if it is "official" policy yet, Celebrity's parent company RCI hired a panel of experts that put forth those guidelines that were submitted to the CDC. 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/health-and-safety

 We'll wait until the final decision is officially made and published in our cruise contract from RC and Celebrity for our 2021 cruises or all cruises going forward. Do I believe there will be changes for future cruise, yes but until it's officially published and not just submitted/suggested I personal don't consider it official, finial or mandated. My Magic 8 Ball says, "cannot predict now". 🎱

Edited September 30, 2020 by davekathy

[dcyonce]

13 hours ago, davekathy said:

Spoke to Celebrity Zenith Desk yesterday.

 

They said : "Although the CDC has not responded to the recommendations from the Royal Caribbean/NCL advisory panel and Celebrity has not released a formal set of plans to resume cruising, they plan to use the released Royal Caribbean/NCL panel recommendations when cruising resumes."

 

We canceled our January cruises. The "restrictions for getting off the ship on cruise line sponsored excursions only" kills cruising for us. Canceling was easy. Celebrity refunded our deposits back to my AMEX.

 

Hopefully the cruise industry can figure out a better plan and we can start cruising again. Until then ... no more cruising for us.

[davekathy]

12 minutes ago, dcyonce said:

Spoke to Celebrity Zenith Desk yesterday.

 

They said : "Although the CDC has not responded to the recommendations from the Royal Caribbean/NCL advisory panel and Celebrity has not released a formal set of plans to resume cruising, they plan to use the released Royal Caribbean/NCL panel recommendations when cruising resumes."

 

We canceled our January cruises. The "restrictions for getting off the ship on cruise line sponsored excursions only" kills cruising for us. Canceling was easy. Celebrity refunded our deposits back to my AMEX.

 

Hopefully the cruise industry can figure out a better plan and we can start cruising again. Until then ... no more cruising for us.

Speaking for us only,  we'll wait until the official guidelines are published so we know exactly what to expect going forward when and if cruising resumes. Ship only sponsored excursions doesn't appeal to us and staying on board for the entire cruise is not appealing to us either. Currently based on what we've read or heard we don't have any plans to cancel any of our 2021 cruises.    

[Fouremco]

24 minutes ago, dcyonce said:

Spoke to Celebrity Zenith Desk yesterday.

 

They said : "Although the CDC has not responded to the recommendations from the Royal Caribbean/NCL advisory panel and Celebrity has not released a formal set of plans to resume cruising, they plan to use the released Royal Caribbean/NCL panel recommendations when cruising resumes."

Use them in what way? To develop their detailed protocols, or are they just going to implement the recommendations as currently written? 

[dcyonce]

Just now, Fouremco said:

Spoke to Celebrity Zenith Desk yesterday.

 

They said : "Although the CDC has not responded to the recommendations from the Royal Caribbean/NCL advisory panel and Celebrity has not released a formal set of plans to resume cruising, they plan to use the released Royal Caribbean/NCL panel recommendations when cruising resumes."

 

Use them in what way? To develop their detailed protocols, or are they just going to implement the recommendations as currently written? 

 

Celebrity made it clear that they would be implement protocols based on the guidelines as written unless the CDC forces additional restrictions. They also acknowledged that the current set of guidelines are still vague and detailed protocols must be developed.

 

-- Don

[gerelmx]

One of my concerns is the negative PCR test to be able to board the cruise ship. If we go to Europe and we will have pre cruise days or weeks, we need to know the laboratories that issue the results and the Certificate and the time it takes to give the result. I think that if Celebrity is going to require this Certificate that one is not infected, they should provide us with a list of the Labs available and / or recommended at the different embarkation ports.

[Fouremco]

1 minute ago, dcyonce said:

 

Celebrity made it clear that they would be implement protocols based on the guidelines as written unless the CDC forces additional restrictions. They also acknowledged that the current set of guidelines are still vague and detailed protocols must be developed.

 

-- Don

Thanks Don. That's what I was hoping.

[C-Dragons]

15 minutes ago, gerelmx said:

One of my concerns is the negative PCR test to be able to board the cruise ship. If we go to Europe and we will have pre cruise days or weeks, we need to know the laboratories that issue the results and the Certificate and the time it takes to give the result. I think that if Celebrity is going to require this Certificate that one is not infected, they should provide us with a list of the Labs available and / or recommended at the different embarkation ports.

That's not X's responsibility since they have nothing to do with your pre-cruise travel.

The information you are looking for is already out there. Google is your friend. 😉

[Fouremco]

1 minute ago, gerelmx said:

One of my concerns is the negative PCR test to be able to board the cruise ship. If we go to Europe and we will have pre cruise days or weeks, we need to know the laboratories that issue the results and the Certificate and the time it takes to give the result. I think that if Celebrity is going to require this Certificate that one is not infected, they should provide us with a list of the Labs available and / or recommended at the different embarkation ports.

I'm quite sure that Celebrity has its hands full trying to run a cruise line. There are many things related to travel that we all want or need, but I don't expect Celebrity or other cruise lines to provide them. Just as it is left to you to find where to go for a passport, a visa, or a (non-Covid) vaccination for some countries. 

[WonderMan3]

Between all the people who will cancel if there is no vaccine available yet, and all those who will cancel if required to wear a mask onboard and all those who will cancel if required to take a ship-sponsored excursion (like me), I have to wonder how many passengers will be left if they decide to start cruises again in the next couple of months? Will they consolidate cruises down to only a couple ships? Will they do massive discounts to at least fill the ships to their reduced capacity number?

[phoenix_dream]

26 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

Between all the people who will cancel if there is no vaccine available yet, and all those who will cancel if required to wear a mask onboard and all those who will cancel if required to take a ship-sponsored excursion (like me), I have to wonder how many passengers will be left if they decide to start cruises again in the next couple of months? Will they consolidate cruises down to only a couple ships? Will they do massive discounts to at least fill the ships to their reduced capacity number?

Interesting question.  I think a lot will depend on what happens the first month of cruising.  I suspect that many of the "no way will I sail if....." people may change their minds as time goes on if sailing is going smoothly., especially if these restrictions are going to be in place for a long time (a year or more is my guess).  I know one thing - I am glad I am not a cruise line CEO these days!

[C-Dragons]

42 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

Between all the people who will cancel if there is no vaccine available yet, and all those who will cancel if required to wear a mask onboard and all those who will cancel if required to take a ship-sponsored excursion (like me), I have to wonder how many passengers will be left if they decide to start cruises again in the next couple of months? Will they consolidate cruises down to only a couple ships? Will they do massive discounts to at least fill the ships to their reduced capacity number?

They’ve already got their plan worked out. Waiting for their next announcement.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

59 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

Between all the people who will cancel if there is no vaccine available yet, and all those who will cancel if required to wear a mask onboard and all those who will cancel if required to take a ship-sponsored excursion (like me), I have to wonder how many passengers will be left if they decide to start cruises again in the next couple of months? Will they consolidate cruises down to only a couple ships? Will they do massive discounts to at least fill the ships to their reduced capacity number?

We have a B2B on the Emerald Princess booked for early January and if Princess feels it's safe for us to cruise by then, we'll be on it and following all the rules Princess comes up with. But, not sure if we would sail before then. We'll just have to wait and see what happens, especially with the Pfizer vaccine, these next 2 months.

Edited October 1, 2020 by Ken the cruiser

[WonderMan3]

4 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Interesting question.  I think a lot will depend on what happens the first month of cruising.  I suspect that many of the "no way will I sail if....." people may change their minds as time goes on if sailing is going smoothly., especially if these restrictions are going to be in place for a long time (a year or more is my guess).  I know one thing - I am glad I am not a cruise line CEO these days!

It’s such a huge risk. Cruise lines have a horrible reputation right now outside of these cruise fan boards. If they start up and cases appear onboard it will damage their image even further, perhaps irrevocably. The one big thing though that the cruise lines have going for them now is the fact that the virus is out of control across most of the country. Since it generally takes at least 4-5 days after exposure for symptoms to manifest and it is also possible for someone to test negative early on after contracting the virus, this means that any passengers who might contract the disease during a cruise won’t find that out until they are back home. Then, since the virus is everywhere, it will be difficult to determine whether the cruise ship was the source since it might also have been the airplane or airport or taxi or at the grocery store upon returning home. This was not the case back in February or March where it was pretty easy to identify when cruise ships were the source of infection. It all just seems like a recipe for disaster. And yes, I know that they are conducting cruises in Europe apparently successfully with these new safety guidelines (so far), but Europe has been in a much, much better place in managing their virus numbers as compared to the States plus they are restricting passengers by nationality. I think sending cruises out here in the States with these new guidelines is something that should be tried but it’s just too soon to be talking about November. Of course seeing the ineptitude of the U.S. government in managing this, and the ignorance of a large segment of the U.S. population in reacting to it, the cruise lines probably fear if they try to wait for the U.S. to have manageable virus numbers before relaunching they will have to wait until fall of 2021 and that might send some of them belly up. So once again, it’s money over lives... Of course no one is being forced to go on a cruise and those who choose to are free to gamble with their health. I just feel bad for the crew who are in a much different situation economically where they may feel they must return to their job in order to feed their families. 

[mnocket]

3 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

It’s such a huge risk. Cruise lines have a horrible reputation right now outside of these cruise fan boards. If they start up and cases appear onboard it will damage their image even further, perhaps irrevocably. The one big thing though that the cruise lines have going for them now is the fact that the virus is out of control across most of the country. Since it generally takes at least 4-5 days after exposure for symptoms to manifest and it is also possible for someone to test negative early on after contracting the virus, this means that any passengers who might contract the disease during a cruise won’t find that out until they are back home. Then, since the virus is everywhere, it will be difficult to determine whether the cruise ship was the source since it might also have been the airplane or airport or taxi or at the grocery store upon returning home. This was not the case back in February or March where it was pretty easy to identify when cruise ships were the source of infection. It all just seems like a recipe for disaster. And yes, I know that they are conducting cruises in Europe apparently successfully with these new safety guidelines (so far), but Europe has been in a much, much better place in managing their virus numbers as compared to the States plus they are restricting passengers by nationality. I think sending cruises out here in the States with these new guidelines is something that should be tried but it’s just too soon to be talking about November. Of course seeing the ineptitude of the U.S. government in managing this, and the ignorance of a large segment of the U.S. population in reacting to it, the cruise lines probably fear if they try to wait for the U.S. to have manageable virus numbers before relaunching they will have to wait until fall of 2021 and that might send some of them belly up. So once again, it’s money over lives... Of course no one is being forced to go on a cruise and those who choose to are free to gamble with their health. I just feel bad for the crew who are in a much different situation economically where they may feel they must return to their job in order to feed their families. 

I agree.  As for timing.....  I'm sure each cruise line executive has one date burned in their brain - the date they must either start being cash flow positive or start down the road of bankruptcy. You can only operate on borrowed money for so long.

[BC-er]

"We are debating how comfortable we feel about cruising from the Sunshine State, given the news that the state lifted most restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, including mask wearing and social-distancing requirements."

 

For me and my husband, we would feel totally unsafe even going to Florida.  I think the new Florida State decisions regarding Covid safety are just irresponsible and dangerous.  The cruise industry has been turning themselves inside out trying to make things safer on board for all passengers and staff.  Now Florida says, 'who cares, have at it'.  Those ships have to be safe and there needs to be precauctions or they will turn into floating sick bays.  I think the cruise lines should definatley set high safey regulations and kick anyone off who refuses to comply.  Either comply or don't board.  Personally we are from Canada and have been watching with some horror as to how the US has refused to believe there is a problem or comply to logical safety precautions.  As for taking tours just with the ship, that's an excellent idea.  The countries they often cruise to are '3rd world' and anyone finding their own tour  is putting themselves and as a result the entire ship, guests and crew at risk if they come back infected.  Maybe some of you don't realize it but many, many countries don't want anyone from the US to travel to their counties.  Here is Canada we are advise NOT to travel to the US and our border is actually closed to unessesary traffic, including people just wanting to holiday here.