Cruising Without Masks?

[ace2542]

1 hour ago, Smiles1984 said:

The comment was shortly followed by someone explaining that they would happily hide symptoms of a contagious illness rather than lose a single day of vacation

And I would lie about being ill. If I had the cruise on the Pearl to do over again. I would have bought imodium plus with me on the ship and just taken as opposed to going to the medical centre to get it. There was a bad Noro outbreak on that ship.

Edited March 2, 2021 by ace2542

[coffeebean]

6 hours ago, Ashland said:

Interesting that that many people can even be in a waiting room.

Someone needs to clue him in why masks are effective for source control. 

[ace2542]

15 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

In 30 yrs of cruising I have never seen anyone vomit, adult or child.  I know it happens but fortunately I have not been witness to it

I have. I have seen a person be sick in them bags on the Gem. But the person had "motion sickness" and the ship was not rocking that badly to be fair. But I don't get "motion sickness" at least not from a cruise ship anyway. Though I don't like coaches.

[coffeebean]

15 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

All the talk about sneezing had me intrigued. Do people take off their mask to sneeze into their sleeve or do they keep their mask on and have the sneeze backfire into their face and just go about their business?🤔 

Sneeze into the mask. That is what source control is all about. 

[Smiles1984]

1 hour ago, TheMastodon said:

 

Agree to disagree.  

 

You would wear a mask to avoid a cold ?  That blows my mind.  

 

Absolutely. A cold usually means I spend a week feeling rotten, something I'd happily avoid if all it requires is occasionally wear a piece of fabric over my nose and mouth for a short period of time. To be honest, I'd do that just to reduce other people feeling that way. People talk about cold/flu/covid and how we can never be rid of them but if everyone really did social distancing for a few weeks worldwide they could be eliminated pretty quickly, it would just rely on everyone sticking to it and being honest about symptoms.

 

The bit that blows my mind is that anyone would be more concerned with a minor inconvenience than helping those around them.

 

8 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

And I would lie about being ill. If I had the cruise on the Pearl to do over again. I would have bought imodium plus with me on the ship and just taken as opposed to going to the medical centre to get it. There was a bad Noro outbreak on that ship.

 

Case in point. You'll happily risk making others sick and potentially ruin their vacation rather than compromise your own. This attitude is why we're still dealing with covid, and why noro outbreaks are an issue. 

[Mariketa]

I didn’t read through all of the replies, so this may have been said, but my belief is that cruising without masks will happen when the crust lines see their bottom line slipping or not rebounding fast enough. There are a lot (a whole lot) of people who won’t take the vaccine (the less voluntary it feels, the more that number will rise) and don’t want to spend a chunk of money on a masked vacation.  So cruising will start, the cruise lines will have their rules in place, and they’ll evaluate. As soon as it’s not financially viable for them to cruise, they’ll stop requiring masks and stop requiring vaccines (assuming this is in place when cruising starts). If countries make rules that state you cannot re-enter from a cruise without masks, the cruise lines will reallocate those ships to places where they can make more money.  It’s not about health, it’s about money, and they’ll do whatever they need to do to make that money, as businesses are wont to do. The question will only be whether or not they can fill ships with enough people who want to wear masks. As more countries open to maskless society, they’ll shift things around if that’s where the fares are. All that said, I would not expect maskless cruising until 2022 at least. A bright note is that long term I don’t think masks or vaccine requirements will be an issue, they’ll fade away.

[ace2542]

1 minute ago, Smiles1984 said:

You'll happily risk making others sick and potentially ruin their vacation rather than compromise your own

I personally doubt I had noro. I just had the poos. No one else in close proximity to me had it. My father didn't nor my friends in the club. And my father touched what I touched.

 

To be fair NCL compromised it when they done a full irish immigration check in their spinnaker lounge on the top deck using those queuing ropes. And doing that in the middle of the outbreak with many sea days to Ireland. Utter chaos. Hundreds of people all running their hands on the guiding ropes. No wonder it took off the way it did. They could have done a deck a day or deck in the morning and deck in the afternoon. They done 3 decks at once.

[ace2542]

4 minutes ago, Mariketa said:

If countries make rules that state you cannot re-enter from a cruise without masks, the cruise lines will reallocate those ships to places where they can make more money.

What if the CDC says that unless masks are worn on ALL SHIPS - and they try to make that mean all ships worldwide - companies cannot cruise in the United States or take American passengers? Though that might be beyond their power.

[Mariketa]

Maybe something that could become a thing would be “mask only” cruises. Like cruises for adults only. That way if you really want to wear a mask and not be around others who aren’t, you can do it. I know the rebuttal will be that it won’t matter if you’re just going to run into maskless people when you get back, but that’s going to happen regardless and should just be taken out of the equation. 

[Mariketa]

2 minutes ago, ace2542 said:

What if the CDC says that unless masks are worn on ALL SHIPS - and they try to make that mean all ships worldwide - companies cannot cruise in the United States or take American passengers? Though that might be beyond their power.

I think that will mean cruising within the United States (or leaving from or coming to) will become a thing of the past. If enough people won’t cruise without masks, but the CDC says you have to wear them in a cruise ship, that business model can’t operate. The idea that people will spend that money and wear masks just doesn’t work. You can’t tell people where to spend their money or how to spend their vacations. They’ll find things to do that better suit their needs.

[Mariketa]

The big question will be how many people will wear masks on a cruise. Once that’s answered, we’ll know more.

[Mariketa]

I need to screenshot this for posterity, but I think a big search in the search engines in the years to come will be variations of “where to find vacations that do not require a mask”.

[TheMastodon]

40 minutes ago, Smiles1984 said:

 

Absolutely. A cold usually means I spend a week feeling rotten, something I'd happily avoid if all it requires is occasionally wear a piece of fabric over my nose and mouth for a short period of time. To be honest, I'd do that just to reduce other people feeling that way. People talk about cold/flu/covid and how we can never be rid of them but if everyone really did social distancing for a few weeks worldwide they could be eliminated pretty quickly, it would just rely on everyone sticking to it and being honest about symptoms.

 

The bit that blows my mind is that anyone would be more concerned with a minor inconvenience than helping those around them.

 

 

Case in point. You'll happily risk making others sick and potentially ruin their vacation rather than compromise your own. This attitude is why we're still dealing with covid, and why noro outbreaks are an issue. 

Whatever man.  Good luck to your immune system.  I think you are a lockdown fanatic with zero skin in the game.  

[broberts]

24 minutes ago, Mariketa said:

I need to screenshot this for posterity, but I think a big search in the search engines in the years to come will be variations of “where to find vacations that do not require a mask”.

 

Likely only exceeded by "vacations where masks are required".

[TheMastodon]

57 minutes ago, Mariketa said:

The big question will be how many people will wear masks on a cruise. Once that’s answered, we’ll know more.

Could go either way - rarely do I see someone out at retail, restaurants (lol) , etc with out one on.  But I’m sure it varies by location, demographics, etc.  Wouldn’t recommend going on a cruise until one has had time to properly reflect on what they are signing up for - on both sides.  Will I follow mask rules? Followed by how comfortable will I be on a cruise where others potentially aren’t going to follow mask rules?  Not everyone follows rules unfortunately.

 

I am personally dealing with some anxiety about our upcoming vacation end of June!  We are flying commercially to Florida with a 5 year old (great at wearing masks from being in school) but the 20 month old twins do not wear masks because they aren’t in school.  They will be 2 at the time of the flight so technically they will be required to wear masks on Delta.   Practice hasn’t gone well thus far... 

 

Do I think it is PATENTLY ABSURD that 2 year olds have to wear masks? YES .  Do I want to make others around us uncomfortable? NO

Have I seen kids with no masks on airplanes the past few months ? YES.  Is it a big deal? NO.  Again, regardless of preconceived notions from brain dead sheep on here I am a good person and want to make others feel comfortable.  I think the cutoff for reliable mask wearing from those two will be around late May - if they aren’t wearing them reliably then we will not being flying commercial.  
 

Have fun using those airport bathrooms, and plane bathrooms though - I’m sure they are really clean.  My two year old twins mask wearing on an airplane is the least of anyone’s worries...

[mek]

57 minutes ago, TheMastodon said:

Whatever man.  Good luck to your immune system.  I think you are a lockdown fanatic with zero skin in the game.  

I have to agree that I see a trend growing that will encourage people to use extreme measures to avoid all communicable illnesses and IMO, ( I'm not a doctor, so it's just my opinion), that that will only make us more susceptible to them going forward. Kind of like the overuse of antibiotics and antibacterials making us more susceptible to bacterial infections.

 

[Milwaukee Eight]

1 hour ago, Mariketa said:

I didn’t read through all of the replies, so this may have been said, but my belief is that cruising without masks will happen when the crust lines see their bottom line slipping or not rebounding fast enough. There are a lot (a whole lot) of people who won’t take the vaccine (the less voluntary it feels, the more that number will rise) and don’t want to spend a chunk of money on a masked vacation.  So cruising will start, the cruise lines will have their rules in place, and they’ll evaluate. As soon as it’s not financially viable for them to cruise, they’ll stop requiring masks and stop requiring vaccines (assuming this is in place when cruising starts). If countries make rules that state you cannot re-enter from a cruise without masks, the cruise lines will reallocate those ships to places where they can make more money.  It’s not about health, it’s about money, and they’ll do whatever they need to do to make that money, as businesses are wont to do. The question will only be whether or not they can fill ships with enough people who want to wear masks. As more countries open to maskless society, they’ll shift things around if that’s where the fares are. All that said, I would not expect maskless cruising until 2022 at least. A bright note is that long term I don’t think masks or vaccine requirements will be an issue, they’ll fade away.

It’s not going to be an issue for a while as it’s my belief the cruise lines will sail at reduced capacity, probably 50% or below. I’m sure they can find enough people willing to follow their rules. 
 

I’d hope, eventually we get to no masks required but I believe requiring the vaccine will be here for a much longer period of time. I’m thinking out beyond a couple of years for vaccine requirements. 
 

If they require vaccines, I guess you will just need to find an alternative vacation. 
 

M8

[TheMastodon]

35 minutes ago, mek said:

I have to agree that I see a trend growing that will encourage people to use extreme measures to avoid all communicable illnesses and IMO, ( I'm not a doctor, so it's just my opinion), that that will only make us more susceptible to them going forward. Kind of like the overuse of antibiotics and antibacterials making us more susceptible to bacterial infections.

 

 

I don't wash my hands anymore today than I have in the past.  Nor will I ever wear a mask again to avoid flu or a flipping cold.  

 

 

 

[tonit964]

2 hours ago, Mariketa said:

I didn’t read through all of the replies, so this may have been said, but my belief is that cruising without masks will happen when the crust lines see their bottom line slipping or not rebounding fast enough. There are a lot (a whole lot) of people who won’t take the vaccine (the less voluntary it feels, the more that number will rise) and don’t want to spend a chunk of money on a masked vacation.  So cruising will start, the cruise lines will have their rules in place, and they’ll evaluate. As soon as it’s not financially viable for them to cruise, they’ll stop requiring masks and stop requiring vaccines (assuming this is in place when cruising starts). If countries make rules that state you cannot re-enter from a cruise without masks, the cruise lines will reallocate those ships to places where they can make more money.  It’s not about health, it’s about money, and they’ll do whatever they need to do to make that money, as businesses are wont to do. The question will only be whether or not they can fill ships with enough people who want to wear masks. As more countries open to maskless society, they’ll shift things around if that’s where the fares are. All that said, I would not expect maskless cruising until 2022 at least. A bright note is that long term I don’t think masks or vaccine requirements will be an issue, they’ll fade away.

Except that it's not up to the cruise lines. They need to follow guidelines in order to keep sailing. Otherwise, they would have started cruises already.

[ace2542]

2 hours ago, Mariketa said:

I think that will mean cruising within the United States (or leaving from or coming to) will become a thing of the past. If enough people won’t cruise without masks, but the CDC says you have to wear them in a cruise ship, that business model can’t operate. The idea that people will spend that money and wear masks just doesn’t work. You can’t tell people where to spend their money or how to spend their vacations. They’ll find things to do that better suit their needs.

Maybe that the business can't operate and ceases is the idea. And what about avoid lawsuits for catching Covid on a cruise ship or scam lawsuit for catching Covid? Surely masks will be the only way to prevent this or greatly reduce this risk?

[Mariketa]

25 minutes ago, tonit964 said:

Except that it's not up to the cruise lines. They need to follow guidelines in order to keep sailing. Otherwise, they would have started cruises already.

I agree, 100%, hence the idea that the lines will move if other countries do not require masks. They will follow the money, wherever that is.

[Mariketa]

1 hour ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

It’s not going to be an issue for a while as it’s my belief the cruise lines will sail at reduced capacity, probably 50% or below. I’m sure they can find enough people willing to follow their rules. 
 

I’d hope, eventually we get to no masks required but I believe requiring the vaccine will be here for a much longer period of time. I’m thinking out beyond a couple of years for vaccine requirements. 
 

If they require vaccines, I guess you will just need to find an alternative vacation. 
 

M8

 

Also 100% agreed on this not being an issue in the short term as they will very likely start with reduced capacity. And for sure, if we know one thing for sure it's that needs will be met, and that will likely mean new areas of mask free vacation options.

[Mariketa]

33 minutes ago, TheMastodon said:

 

I don't wash my hands anymore today than I have in the past.  Nor will I ever wear a mask again to avoid flu or a flipping cold.  

 

 

 

Same.

[mek]

46 minutes ago, TheMastodon said:

 

I don't wash my hands anymore today than I have in the past.  Nor will I ever wear a mask again to avoid flu or a flipping cold.  

 

 

 

Agree.

[ace2542]

52 minutes ago, TheMastodon said:

 

I don't wash my hands anymore today than I have in the past.  Nor will I ever wear a mask again to avoid flu or a flipping cold.  

 

 

 

Not even in the week running up to going on your next cruise? You don't want to fail the temperature test and maybe be told you can't board?