Christine Duffy on GMA Today - Vaccine Question

[Joe817]

13 minutes ago, aquasea said:

Since Royal now is not requiring vaccines, CCL might not either. Everything is up in the air right now.

It has been for the last 17-18 months.  But at no  time since the beginning of the pandemic have we ever been so close to sailing. Looks like all the issues we have, are coming to a head. 

[SNJCruisers]

13 minutes ago, aquasea said:

Since Royal now is not requiring vaccines, CCL might not either. Everything is up in the air right now.

The more ships that Carnival gets test approval for, the more ships that vaccines will not be required.   It's good for the cruise lines since they will be able to generate more revenue with expanded clientele.  Bad for vaccinated cruisers since masks will be needed because of the increased volume of unvaccinated cruisers.  Color coded bands would be nice, but it seems like the unvaccinated minority will be making the rules.

[BlerkOne]

26 minutes ago, aquasea said:

Since Royal now is not requiring vaccines, CCL might not either. Everything is up in the air right now.

There is always a chance, but the pendulum has swung the other way for Carnival.

[Eli_6]

20 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

Yeah. No. LOL. Most reasonable people want to cruise with their families and not be away from their kids for a week.

Umm. That's not what I said.  🙄

Edited June 5, 2021 by Eli_6

[Suncoastsailors]

9 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

There is always a chance, but the pendulum has swung the other way for Carnival.

I wonder if they are also having difficulty getting crew who are willing to be vaccinated. 

[BlerkOne]

1 minute ago, Suncoastsailors said:

I wonder if they are also having difficulty getting crew who are willing to be vaccinated. 

The better question is difficulty getting crew who are vaccinated, since vaccines can be hard to come by in other countries. and 6 weeks or more delay even if the countries had vaccines. I doubt there is a shortage of workers willing to get vaccinated. They have been without work or stimulus for over a year.

 

 

[SNJCruisers]

20 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

I would rather cruise without my kids than not cruise at all.  I think most reasonable people would feel the same way.

 

20 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

Yeah. No. LOL. Most reasonable people want to cruise with their families and not be away from their kids for a week.

 

5 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

Umm. That's what I said.  🙄

I think cruisingguy007 is correct with his inference.

[Eli_6]

My husband (jokingly) suggested that they should have one boat for the vaccinated and another for the unvaccinated. They can call the unvaccinated the cooties cruise and make it 14 days since they will probably be floating around for awhile when they have an outbreak.  

 

But seriously...I have a 7 and 8 year old. Yes, all things being equal, I would rather cruise with my kids. But if it means being able to safely get and keep cruises going, I would rather cruise without them than not cruise at all.  And the cruise industry desperately needs to get going again.  The employees need cruises to start.  The port towns and businesses that benefit from cruises need them to get going.  This is about so much more than just one person's wants or vacation.  By this time next year, those of us with kids will be able to cruise with them.  If it means sacrificing one vacation with my kids, I can deal. 

Edited June 5, 2021 by Eli_6

[Eli_6]

6 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

 

 

I think cruisingguy007 is correct with his inference.

My point is: Sure, we would all like that. But cruising safely with kids is not an option right now. It is no cruise, cruise with a bunch of unvaccinated people and run the risk of an outbreak which may in turn lead to another shut down and no cruising, or cruise without kids for a couple of months.  Frankly, I don't really want to take my kids on an unvaccinated cruise if they are allowing anyone and everyone on board because my kids aren't vaccinated and can't get vaccinated.  I won't risk their health for one vacation when we have a lifetime of vacations ahead of us.  But yet I realize that getting the cruise industry up and going benefits way more than just me and my family. There are many people who depend on it for their livelihood.  So if it means sacrificing one family vacation to do that, I can live.  

[firefly333]

5 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

My husband (jokingly) suggested that they should have one boat for the vaccinated and another for the unvaccinated. They can call the unvaccinated the cooties cruise and make it 14 days since they will probably be floating around for awhile when they have an outbreak.  

 

But seriously...I have a 7 and 8 year old. Yes, all things being equal, I would rather cruise with my kids. But if it means being able to safely get and keep cruises going, I would rather cruise without them than not cruise at all.  And the cruise industry desperately needs to get going again.  The employees need cruises to start.  The port towns and businesses that benefit from cruises need them to get going.  This is about so much more than just one person's wants or vacation.  By this time next year, those of us with kids will be able to cruise with them.  If it means sacrificing one vacation with my kids, I can deal. 

Do you have a suggestion how carnival can pick which of the booked kids get to cruise to meet the 95%? 

 

That's been the fly in the ointment. Imagine the pr if carnival cancels half the kids. And then their parents cancel with them. Duffy said they are still in talks with the cdc to allow kids. ..cruising is supposed to start next month. Time for talking is running out, time to resume however works. 

 

Carnival so far talks both sides but never really confirms either. We need answers soon.

[ninjacat123]

15 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

The better question is difficulty getting crew who are vaccinated, since vaccines can be hard to come by in other countries. and 6 weeks or more delay even if the countries had vaccines. I doubt there is a shortage of workers willing to get vaccinated. They have been without work or stimulus for over a year.

 

 

A friend on FB who was a member of our Carnival waitstaff was flown to Miami from his home in the Philippines and vaccinated in Miami just a few days ago.  ☺️

Edited June 5, 2021 by ninjacat123

[lobster1313]

Just now, firefly333 said:

Do you have a suggestion how carnival can pick which of the booked kids get to cruise to meet the 95%? 

The CDC will change the 95% to 90%.

[TNcruising02]

5 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

A friend on FB who was a member of our Carnival waitstaff was flown to Miami from his home in the Philippines and vaccinated in Miami just a few days ago.  ☺️

I would imagine that the crew is very thankful to be able to arrive in the US and receive the vaccine.

[TNcruising02]

4 minutes ago, regoodwinjr said:

The CDC will change the 95% to 90%.

Or maybe the CDC will change the requirements to exclude those children 12 and under.  That will solve the problem.

[firefly333]

3 minutes ago, regoodwinjr said:

The CDC will change the 95% to 90%.

You have more faith than me in cdc bending in the next month. Remember cruises are supposed to start in july. Again, imo carnival needs to come out with protocols NOW. My roll call wants to know can we book private excursions, we need to know vaccine or not, got some on both sides. Rip off the band aid and tell us.

 

[ninjacat123]

7 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

I would imagine that the crew is very thankful to be able to arrive in the US and receive the vaccine.

He was very thankful and excited to get back to work!👍

[Eli_6]

2 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Do you have a suggestion how carnival can pick which of the booked kids get to cruise to meet the 95%? 

 

That's been the fly in the ointment. Imagine the pr if carnival cancels half the kids. And then their parents cancel with them. Duffy said they are still in talks with the cdc to allow kids. ..cruising is supposed to start next month. Time for talking is running out, time to resume however works. 

 

Carnival so far talks both sides but never really confirms either. We need answers soon.

My concern is not with unvaccinated kids under 12 kids.  It is unvaccinated adults.  There was a study of over 10k kids in school published in a medical journal and there was not a single instance of child to adult transmission and only a few instances of child to child. My concern is with allowing unvaccinated adults on the cruises.  I completely agree with adults having the right to choose not to get vaccinated, but in doing so there are consequences to their choice. They should not get to put other people at risk by their choice or keep an industry shut down. 

 

My kids have been "in person" in there private school for most of the year and there has not been a single instance of transmission in the school.  The kids are used to wearing masks all day, every day and can continue to wear masks.  They even wear them on the playground. I think Carnival is reasonable in trying to negotiate for *only* allowing under 12 to board unvaccinated.  

 

If the CDC won't bend, then they can offer people promotions to reschedule. We had our Vista cruise canceled in July 2019. They gave us a full refund and a 100 percent future cruise credit in the amount of the cruise. So we got our money returned and a 6k fcc because we had two rooms. So, basically, we got a free cruise for 5 people.  I bet many families would voluntarily move their sailing to next year for a full refund and a 100 percent fcc in the amount of the original booking. 

[Eli_6]

17 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

A friend on FB who was a member of our Carnival waitstaff was flown to Miami from his home in the Philippines and vaccinated in Miami just a few days ago.  ☺️

Yes! https://www-click2houston-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/www.click2houston.com/news/local/2021/05/04/hundreds-of-cruise-ship-crew-members-get-vaccinated-in-galveston-ahead-of-anticipated-cruising-ban-lift/?amp_js_v=a6&amp_gsa=1&outputType=amp&usqp=mq331AQHKAFQArABIA%3D%3D#aoh=16229233175216&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&amp_tf=From %1%24s&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.click2houston.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2F2021%2F05%2F04%2Fhundreds-of-cruise-ship-crew-members-get-vaccinated-in-galveston-ahead-of-anticipated-cruising-ban-lift%2F

 

[firefly333]

6 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

I bet many families would voluntarily move their sailing to next year for a full refund and a 100 percent fcc in the amount of the original booking. 

Hahahaha I bet they would  me too. My rate isnt all that great. 

 

I dont see it happening, though I get many on cc want carnival to boot the kids. 

 

It's just my opinion the time for waiting and hoping the cdc changes its rules to allow kids should be past. It's time for carnival to tell us their decision and quit waffling. Sooner not later they need to tell us what the protocols will be, if for no other reason so we can move on and argue about masks like rcl boards are. Start planning that cruises will happen. Decide. People are tired of not knowing. No more waiting and hoping the cdc changes its mind. Make a decision.

[TNcruising02]

17 minutes ago, Eli_6 said:

 

If the CDC won't bend, then they can offer people promotions to reschedule. We had our Vista cruise canceled in July 2019. They gave us a full refund and a 100 percent future cruise credit in the amount of the cruise. So we got our money returned and a 6k fcc because we had two rooms. So, basically, we got a free cruise for 5 people.  I bet many families would voluntarily move their sailing to next year for a full refund and a 100 percent fcc in the amount of the original booking. 

I think an incentive like that would be a definite win for everyone.

[TNcruising02]

6 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Hahahaha I bet they would  me too. My rate isnt all that great. 

 

I dont see it happening, though I get many on cc want carnival to boot the kids. 

 

It's just my opinion the time for waiting and hoping the cdc changes its rules to allow kids should be past. It's time for carnival to tell us their decision and quit waffling. Sooner not later they need to tell us what the protocols will be, if for no other reason so we can move on and argue about masks like rcl boards are. Start planning that cruises will happen. Decide. People are tired of not knowing. No more waiting and hoping the cdc changes its mind. Make a decision.

How funny!  Yes, I guess since RCL made the decision to allow everyone to cruise, the arguments have moved directly to mask enforcement and rules.  Fun times.

[aquasea]

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

There is always a chance, but the pendulum has swung the other way for Carnival.

It is doubtful they will go opposite of Royal. They compete with families for business.

[aquasea]

1 hour ago, SNJCruisers said:

The more ships that Carnival gets test approval for, the more ships that vaccines will not be required.   It's good for the cruise lines since they will be able to generate more revenue with expanded clientele.  Bad for vaccinated cruisers since masks will be needed because of the increased volume of unvaccinated cruisers.  Color coded bands would be nice, but it seems like the unvaccinated minority will be making the rules.

They will work it out. We might be pleasantly surprised.

[TNcruising02]

4 minutes ago, aquasea said:

It is doubtful they will go opposite of Royal. They compete with families for business.

Yeah, that's a tough one for Carnival.  First Carnival says no vaccination requirements and then they say vaccination requirements for now.  Then Royal says they will open cruising to everyone.  I wonder if Royal thinks they can control the mask requirements better than Carnival.  

Since Royal is now open cruising to all, they must have ports that are fine with negative covid tests.  Maybe now Carnival will flip and open cruising to all with testing like Royal.  Who knows.  This seems to change frequently.  At least people cruising on Royal know for sure they can cruise with their kids.

Edited June 5, 2021 by TNcruising02

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

3 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

It was miller light. They probably laughed and said "let him keep his water". 😜

 

It was my gateway beer of choice - lol

 

Here's a "live" Saturday shot:

 

 

 

Tom