Carnival To Require Face Masks & Ship Excursions Only

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, caribill said:

 

People may legitimately have different opinions, but the facts do not change.

Former Senator Moynihan said that a long time ago. (I might not have the quotation exact word for word.) Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Everyone is not entitled to their own set of facts.

[memoak]

40 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Former Senator Moynihan said that a long time ago. (I might not have the quotation exact word for word.) Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Everyone is not entitled to their own set of facts.

And I “alternate” facts do not exist 

[IDKaren]

Off topic a bit....gonna be ALOT of funny looking face tans from people laying by the pool with their mask on😀

[stevenr597]

On 2/6/2021 at 4:20 PM, dog said:

Happy for you!!!

Here in Ontario, Canada we are waiting for vaccines to arrive. Very few shots in my area to date. Most likely I won’t get mine until the late summer. 

I am really surpised, on another posting about Canada not permitting cruising to Alaska, many of the responder gave the impression, that as compared to the United States, Canada had the infection under good control.  

[trbarton]

8 hours ago, trvlwrld said:

Here’s a thought...2 ships for each itinerary- one ship with masks and then one without masks.  There are alot of non-vocal, non-confrontational, non-maskers who have valid opinions also.

I hope that you’re not serious about a cruise with no masks. First of all no cruise line or captain would  allow a cruise with no masks. Do you think that without a mask that you can’t get the virus?  I hope not. 
 

Tom😎

[Von & John]

15 hours ago, trvlwrld said:

Here’s a thought...2 ships for each itinerary- one ship with masks and then one without masks.  There are alot of non-vocal, non-confrontational, non-maskers who have valid opinions also.

 

Do you think there are really that many people who will cruise w/out a mask, if a mask is required/recommended?

The way I am interpreting what people are saying is - they will stay home as long as a mask is required/recommended...
Not that @ this time they would be willing to sail w/out a mask - nor would they as long as the mask is required/recommended...

That's my interpretation any way...

They believe the need for the mask is real - they just aren't willing to pay for a vacation if they need to wear a mask.

I also believe, depending on how long the pandemic & mask mandates last we'll see people changing their minds in both directions...

[caribill]

8 hours ago, trbarton said:

I hope that you’re not serious about a cruise with no masks. First of all no cruise line or captain would  allow a cruise with no masks. Do you think that without a mask that you can’t get the virus?  I hope not. 
 

 

Main reason to wear a mask is to protect others, not ones-self. It is to prevent spreading the virus into the air by those who may be infected but are not aware of it because they do not present any symptoms.

 

Yes, it does help to protect someone a little, but not as much as it is meant to protect others.

[nbsjcruiser]

On 2/5/2021 at 9:26 AM, Syracusefan44 said:

I think we can all anticipate that Princess will have the same requirements as Carnival.
 

Carnival noted that masks should have two or more layers and be worn over the nose and mouth. Gaiters and bandanas are not allowed, and face shields are permitted when used with a mask These requirements apply during all aspects of the cruise, including embarkation, shore excursions and disembarkation. A limited supply of masks will be available in staterooms after boarding.

Guests will not be permitted off the ship on their own. 

Carnival said that during the initial return to sailing, guests will only be allowed to participate in excursions or activities executed and escorted by vetted tour operators who maintain Carnival’s level of COVID-19 controls. Shoreside visits may be also limited to port areas that have no public access. Self-exploration or non-Carnival sponsored excursions will not be permitted. 

 

https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/24326-carnival-cruise-line-covid-19-policy-to-require-masks-organized-excursions-only.html

If I cant do an excursion on my own, I wont cruise.  Not complaining about the policy they are putting in place because I understand why they are doing it but if I wont cruise again until I can get off the ship at my leisure and go where I want.

[voljeep]

1 minute ago, nbsjcruiser said:

If I cant do an excursion on my own, I wont cruise.  Not complaining about the policy they are putting in place because I understand why they are doing it but if I wont cruise again until I can get off the ship at my leisure and go where I want.

agreed - I know it's just a Caribbean cruise , but we enjoy just walking down to Pancho's Backyard in Cozumel and Jack's Shack in Grand Turk, grabbing a beverage or 3 🍻 and just hanging out

[caribill]

26 minutes ago, nbsjcruiser said:

If I cant do an excursion on my own, I wont cruise.  Not complaining about the policy they are putting in place because I understand why they are doing it but if I wont cruise again until I can get off the ship at my leisure and go where I want.

 

We mainly cruise to see the destinations. I understand the current need for "bubble" tours and they would be OK for us in ports we have never been to before.

 

But especially with Princess selling the Pacific Princess, the number of new destinations with Princess is now very limited for us. When going to a port we have been several times before, Princess usually will not have an excursion that we would be interested in as we will have seen what the excursions offered go to.

[Aulanis]

Whilst it might still be an indication of things to come

it may only be a short term plan  to see what works to get

the CDC onside while they do "test" cruises.

In any case  whether it was pressure from Carnival Cruisers

or a genuine "statement issued in error"   it has now been

taken down on the Carnival site.   Someone did post a link

already but if you go back to the first post and click the

bit in red at the top of the article on Cruise Industry news

it shows what Carnival now have on their site. 

[Thrak]

18 hours ago, stevenr597 said:

I am really surpised, on another posting about Canada not permitting cruising to Alaska, many of the responder gave the impression, that as compared to the United States, Canada had the infection under good control.  

 

My wife and I have received our first dose of Moderna vaccine. Friends in Canada - who are older than us - say it looks like it could be another two months before they can get their first dose. We were surprised.

[nbsjcruiser]

18 hours ago, stevenr597 said:

I am really surpised, on another posting about Canada not permitting cruising to Alaska, many of the responder gave the impression, that as compared to the United States, Canada had the infection under good control.  

Well as far as having the virus itself under control, Canada (compared to the US) does have it much more under control as evidenced by the lower infection and death rates. With respect to vaccines, we have vaccinated 2.4% of the population. In the US 43M doses have been given or about 11%, much higher than Canada. Canada's problem is that we fell asleep (i.e. the politicians) and allowed too much vaccination production to be farmed out to foreign countries. We see now the results of that. Still, the Federal Govt has assured Canadians that by September everyone who wants a vaccine will get one. We'll see if it works out that way but we're being told to expect a major ramp up of vaccine distribution beginning on February 15 as the Pfizer and Moderna plants come back on line after their re-tooling. Again, we'll see. 

Lots of questions need to be asked with regard to how we (Canadian politicians) allowed vaccination production to leave the country. 

[Ride-The-Waves]

On 2/7/2021 at 3:31 AM, caribill said:

 

Pre-pandemic that is the case as it will be again when things get back to "normal."

 

But the ship sponsored tours that have been offered on the very limited cruises so far have reduced the sizes of the tour groups so that there are a reduced number of people on the large bus allowing for the proper social distancing. It won't be groups of 4/6/8, but it would be less than 1/2 the bus capacity. Headsets will allow the people in a toure group to be socially distance and still hear the tour guide when walking around.

 

On the typical tour that has occurred so far, there is a rep from the ship on each tour to stay at the rear when the group is walking around to be sure everyone stays in the group and does not wander.

For our stop at Casablanca next year the tours to Marrakech are listed as 20 pax.

[caribill]

15 minutes ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

For our stop at Casablanca next year the tours to Marrakech are listed as 20 pax.

 

Is that in the description of the tour or is the the number of places available for the tour?

 

If in the tour description, I would believe it.

 

If in the number of places available, 20 is what Princess always lists no matter how many more spots are available. It only drops below 20 when there are actually less than 20 spots left.

[donaldsc]

On 2/6/2021 at 3:41 AM, ontheweb said:

Passports are not required for US citizens for these countries. It might differ for citizens of other countries.

 

You totally missed my point.  You may not need a passport if you arrive and leave the country by ship and I assume that it must be the same ship.  However, if you arrive by ship and try to leave by airplane because you have been kicked off the ship. you will have major problems.  You can also probably assume that the cruise company will give you zero help in making your arrangements to get home.

 

DON

 

[dog]

1 hour ago, caribill said:

 

Is that in the description of the tour or is the the number of places available for the tour?

 

If in the tour description, I would believe it.

 

If in the number of places available, 20 is what Princess always lists no matter how many more spots are available. It only drops below 20 when there are actually less than 20 spots left.

Same thing for some of my Canary Island cruise excursions. 20 or 45. But once booked number remained the same, so really can’t tell how many will be in each van or bus 

 

[ontheweb]

10 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

You totally missed my point.  You may not need a passport if you arrive and leave the country by ship and I assume that it must be the same ship.  However, if you arrive by ship and try to leave by airplane because you have been kicked off the ship. you will have major problems.  You can also probably assume that the cruise company will give you zero help in making your arrangements to get home.

 

DON

 

No, I understand your point, but do you really think that the passenger without a passport will never get back to the USA? It will be a hassle, and the cruise line might or might not be helpful, but the country they are in are not going to just allow them to stay forever. And it might me at a high financial cost, but they will get home.

 

A past memory---on our 20th anniversary (back in the 20th century) we went to an AI in Jamaica. There was a departure tax in Jamaica. The woman ahead of us in the line to pay it said that she had spent all her money in Jamaica, and please make her stay. They stamped her departure, and let her leave the country.

[wowzz]

28 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

No, I understand your point, but do you really think that the passenger without a passport will never get back to the USA? It will be a hassle, and the cruise line might or might not be helpful, but the country they are in are not going to just allow them to stay forever. And it might me at a high financial cost, but they will get home.

 

A past memory---on our 20th anniversary (back in the 20th century) we went to an AI in Jamaica. There was a departure tax in Jamaica. The woman ahead of us in the line to pay it said that she had spent all her money in Jamaica, and please make her stay. They stamped her departure, and let her leave the country.

It's not leaving a country that is the problem. It's getting back into your own, and most airlines will not accept you as a passenger unless they are 100% confident that you will be allowed entry. 

[PrincessLuver]

13 hours ago, caribill said:

 

Is that in the description of the tour or is the the number of places available for the tour?

 

If in the tour description, I would believe it.

 

If in the number of places available, 20 is what Princess always lists no matter how many more spots are available. It only drops below 20 when there are actually less than 20 spots left.

 

We have experienced this with Princess too before and one of the reasons we book private tours as much as possible.

 

 We were on several cruises where the Princess Excursions Info indicated there was only 20 places available for the tour.  We thought, for example, that that would be the number on the sailboat excursion.  To our surprise there were over 250 passengers on the excursion and the Excursion Desk said that they book in groups of twenty and that it was not false advertising as many of us not so happy customers told them.

 

It happened more then once to us...

Edited February 10, 2021 by PrincessLuver

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

It's not leaving a country that is the problem. It's getting back into your own, and most airlines will not accept you as a passenger unless they are 100% confident that you will be allowed entry. 

You will get home; it will be a hassle and possibly costly. You would probably have to get the American embassy involved, but you will get home.

 

Didn't all the people left in Freemantle by HAL when Covid first hit get home? (Though their luggage had much more of a journey timewise to get home.)

 

Now I am not advocating not having a passport. We do have. Just saying you will eventually get home.

[caribill]

1 hour ago, ontheweb said:

You will get home; it will be a hassle and possibly costly. You would probably have to get the American embassy involved, but you will get home.

 

Didn't all the people left in Freemantle by HAL when Covid first hit get home? (Though their luggage had much more of a journey timewise to get home.)

 

 

 

Yes, but they no doubt had passports to be on that cruise.

[ontheweb]

44 minutes ago, caribill said:

 

Yes, but they no doubt had passports to be on that cruise.

I'm sure they did, but this was not a normal disembarkation. I wonder how many might not have ended up with their passports when they were rushed off the ship.

[Scotmay]

Yes we have got it under control in Canada. Some provinces are worse than others. Out here in Vancouver in Western Canada we are doing not bad and want to keep it that way. This is why we are not allowing any ships in our waters in order to protect Canadians. We also need to think about the threat of these new variants and what will be the outcome of these. Regarding only being able to take ship’s tours, I am ok with this, but would probably take less, as we all know they are quite expensive. My husband and I are happy to go by these new rules. Anything that keeps us safe is alright by us. 

[Squire5000]

If this is how cruising will be going forward , count us out!