CDC to approve 7 days or longer cruises

[jrapps]

1 minute ago, latserrof said:

"very narrow appeal"?  I don't know where you cruise, but on my 70& cruises, the vast majority of passengers did not bring children under 12.

I'm not saying there isn't interest. I'm saying that if you look at the industry as a whole, and then remove everyone who sails with kids, you have a much smaller subset of available customers.

 

I have personally never been on a cruise that wasn't mostly families. I'm sure others here have different experiences. But math is math. Take out everyone with kids, and you have a smaller pool of people. Add to that covid protocols, and I don't believe there are enough people willing to cruise without kids to sustain the entire cruise industry for a long period of time. A few ships, sure! That is why I said narrow appeal.

[Vera/Lee]

2 hours ago, George C said:

We are also on 8 day allure at end of November 😁😁

We're booked on that sailing.

[Ocean Boy]

9 minutes ago, jrapps said:

I'm not saying there isn't interest. I'm saying that if you look at the industry as a whole, and then remove everyone who sails with kids, you have a much smaller subset of available customers.

 

I have personally never been on a cruise that wasn't mostly families. I'm sure others here have different experiences. But math is math. Take out everyone with kids, and you have a smaller pool of people. Add to that covid protocols, and I don't believe there are enough people willing to cruise without kids to sustain the entire cruise industry for a long period of time. A few ships, sure! That is why I said narrow appeal.

People are not taking into account that ships will not initially be sailing at 100% capacity. I don't think there will be any issue filling ships without the kids.

[Ashland]

3 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

If you're under 12, you shouldn't need a mask since kids are less likely to get covid and less likely to spread it even if they do get it. 

 

Otherwise you're going to have kids in a mask nearly the entire day which is ridiculous.

 

34 minutes ago, MommaBear55 said:

I'm curious what your background in infectious disease and epidemiology is. 

Perhaps the stays at the "Holiday Inn Express" might be a qualifier 

[njkruzer]

We're scheduled on the 10 nt Anthem TA.  I'm more hopeful.   I assume they'll just take out the Canadian port.

 

Btw as to children being onboard,  on one TA we had a total of 3 kids.  Depends on when and itinerary. 

[livingonthebeach]

11 minutes ago, njkruzer said:

We're scheduled on the 10 nt Anthem TA.  I'm more hopeful.   I assume they'll just take out the Canadian port.

 

Btw as to children being onboard,  on one TA we had a total of 3 kids.  Depends on when and itinerary. 

 

Very true -- on the TAs I've taken, there have been very few children. 

[broberts]

39 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

People are not taking into account that ships will not initially be sailing at 100% capacity. I don't think there will be any issue filling ships without the kids.

 

Why would capacity be limited on a fully vaccinated cruise?

[xpcdoojk]

57 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

January 2022

You booked the wrong cruise

[not-enough-cruising]

5 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

Eight days on Allure next winter is looking better all the time.

You and me both, I think we are a week or 2 apart, Feb 5, 22 for me. 

Edited May 21, 2021 by not-enough-cruising

[not-enough-cruising]

3 hours ago, orville99 said:

Just received this from RCL this morning:

 

This is only for Adventure embarking from Nassau. 

[Jeremiah1212]

1 hour ago, jrapps said:

I'm not saying there isn't interest. I'm saying that if you look at the industry as a whole, and then remove everyone who sails with kids, you have a much smaller subset of available customers.

 

I have personally never been on a cruise that wasn't mostly families. I'm sure others here have different experiences. But math is math. Take out everyone with kids, and you have a smaller pool of people. Add to that covid protocols, and I don't believe there are enough people willing to cruise without kids to sustain the entire cruise industry for a long period of time. A few ships, sure! That is why I said narrow appeal.

 

In North America market as a whole the average age is almost 47. Only 9% of passengers are 12 or below. People 50 and over still make up nearly half of all cruise passengers. It will make a small difference, but even RCL is saying as a whole, their <12 passenger count is not significant. The more kid friendly ships obviously skew younger, but there are plenty of people out there that will cruise without kids or specifically kids under 12. On top of that, at this point we're talking about the bulk of these US cruises happening during Hurricane Season and after school starts. 

[Ocean Boy]

51 minutes ago, broberts said:

 

Why would capacity be limited on a fully vaccinated cruise?

How do I know? Isn't the plan, as known right now, to have reduced capacity? And how do you have a fully vaccinated cruise with kids on board?

[Ocean Boy]

I've made many mistakes over the years.😐

[broberts]

3 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

How do I know? Isn't the plan, as known right now, to have reduced capacity? And how do you have a fully vaccinated cruise with kids on board?

 

I had hoped you had some insight since mitigation was mentioned in the post I quoted. I guess I'll just have to wait for the new CDC guidances.

[jrapps]

33 minutes ago, Jeremiah1212 said:

 

In North America market as a whole the average age is almost 47. Only 9% of passengers are 12 or below. People 50 and over still make up nearly half of all cruise passengers. It will make a small difference, but even RCL is saying as a whole, their <12 passenger count is not significant. The more kid friendly ships obviously skew younger, but there are plenty of people out there that will cruise without kids or specifically kids under 12. On top of that, at this point we're talking about the bulk of these US cruises happening during Hurricane Season and after school starts. 

I don't disagree that only 9% are 12 and under.

 

However, 52% of cruisers are between 20-49. What percentage of THOSE cruisers have kids. I'd wager that it's a significant percentage. You aren't just losing the 9%, you are losing their parents too. That is the group you are cutting out. It also varies by cruise line and ship. This would impact a Disney ship far more than the Rhapsody or Brilliance.

 

And that's OK. I think once summer is over, cruising skews heavily towards the no kids, older audience. My comment earlier was just that by removing the kids, you are narrowing the clientele. In the short term I don't see an issue with that.

[DCGuy64]

48 minutes ago, jrapps said:

You aren't just losing the 9%, you are losing their parents too.

How so? Are you assuming parents won't cruise without their kids? I certainly know a LOT of parents who've had to contend with kids being home 24/7 for the last year and believe me, they'd LOVE a kid-free cruise, just sayin'. 😄

[harkinmr]

6 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

It seems simple to me. The CDC should immediately allow cruises to resume for ships with crew members and passengers who are 100% vaccinated. If vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask per the CDC, there is no reason not to allow 100% vaccinated ships to resume operations. 

Well, once the cruise lines commit (in writing) to the CDC, that they will sail fully vaccinated ships, then the CDC just might do that. A written commitment and plan still needs to be submitted and approved for ALL of the cruise lines as far as I can see.  

Edited May 21, 2021 by harkinmr

[harkinmr]

2 hours ago, xpcdoojk said:

You booked the wrong cruise

Because reduced capacity is still a CDC requirement and because cruise lines are going to be testing the waters (pun intended) on managing restart cruises so it makes sense to do so. 

[exm]

56 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

How so? Are you assuming parents won't cruise without their kids? I certainly know a LOT of parents who've had to contend with kids being home 24/7 for the last year and believe me, they'd LOVE a kid-free cruise, just sayin'. 😄

 

Not so sure. Are you a parent (just asking)? I know my kids (3 below 10) will HAVE to go with me even if I didn't want to. Maybe teenagers will do something else, but I think that the group of parents with kids 12 years and younger will not go on vacation without them unless they have a nanny/grandma and really don't like their kids...

[DCGuy64]

1 minute ago, exm said:

 

Not so sure. Are you a parent (just asking)? I know my kids (3 below 10) will HAVE to go with me even if I didn't want to. Maybe teenagers will do something else, but I think that the group of parents with kids 12 years and younger will not go on vacation without them unless they have a nanny/grandma and really don't like their kids...

No, not a parent, and not on purpose, either. (sore subject, sorry).

Anyway, I could see some parents wanting a cruise without the kids-that's what grandparents are for, free babysitting! 😂

[exm]

10 minutes ago, DCGuy64 said:

No, not a parent, and not on purpose, either. (sore subject, sorry).

Anyway, I could see some parents wanting a cruise without the kids-that's what grandparents are for, free babysitting! 😂

 

I'm looking forward to the day my kids are in college, or college aged and I can enjoy a cruise just with my wife...

[orville99]

17 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

This is only for Adventure embarking from Nassau. 

And yet it also appears on marketing emails for Serenade Alaska sailings. 

[smokeybandit]

I'd like to who this apparently large group of parents is that can just decide on a whim to leave their kids at home and take a cruise.

[sandebeach]

19 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

This is only for Adventure embarking from Nassau. 

Do I need a COVID-19 vaccine to cruise? What documents count as proof of vaccination? How far in advance do I need to get my vaccine?

A

 

 

For Cruises Departing from the U.S. or The Bahamas

For sailings departing on or before August 1, all Royal Caribbean guests age 16 and older must complete all doses of their COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days before their sailing. For sailings departing after August 1, the age requirement for vaccination will change from 16 to 12 years of age. 

Guests under the age of this requirement don’t need to be vaccinated and will receive a SARS-Cov-2 test before boarding. If a guest younger than the age requirement happens to be fully vaccinated, they should bring their original vaccination record card to board, will not require a test, and should follow all vaccinated guest protocols throughout their vacation.

All guests must present proof of vaccination as well as all required travel documents upon arrival at the ship. Acceptable proof of vaccination must be in the form of the original vaccination record document issued by the country’s health authority or healthcare provider that administered the vaccination (e.g., U.S. CDC's Vaccination Record Card). The vaccination record submitted must show that the guest is fully vaccinated. This means that the guest has completed the full cycle of required doses for the vaccine administered (e.g., received the second dose in a two-dose series) and that the guest has received the final dose at least 14 days before arriving in The Bahamas or at their cruise departure terminal in the U.S.

 

[jrapps]

19 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

How so? Are you assuming parents won't cruise without their kids? I certainly know a LOT of parents who've had to contend with kids being home 24/7 for the last year and believe me, they'd LOVE a kid-free cruise, just sayin'. 😄

Oh sure, I've cruised without my kids and loved it. But About 95% of my cruises are with my kids. Summer cruises especially, it is family time. If I had a cruise booked with my kids and then they couldn't go because the line requires vaccines, I'm not just going to go and leave them behind, I will cancel and move to another time when we can all go.

 

If for some reason, kids can't sail, I don't think you will have this large group of people just decide to go and leave their kids behind.