Christine Duffy on GMA Today - Vaccine Question

[BlerkOne]

3 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

There seems to be some in between here. The CDC talks of the ship returning to port if a THRESHOLD  of cases occurs. So, one or two cases or a very few could be dealt with by quarantine. A lot of cases would obviously be a problem. At least that's how I interpret the threshold requirement.

I would agree, unless one of the cases was serious. Then I would say a threshold of 1 serious case ends the cruise. The ship doctor is going to err on the side of caution. If the doctor even thinks someone might need hospitalization, they will be evacuated, and likely not by air.

[IntrepidFromDC]

20 minutes ago, stellarose said:

just saw this on the news:  63% of population has at least one shot. 

 

lowest Covid cases since last year!!!!!!

 

lets cruise. 

What's THIS?  A post that's not argumentative, negative or trying to one-up?  Yayyy!  LET'S CRUISE!  Let's treat each other like we would like to be treated if we just met each other on the ship at sail-away.

[stellarose]

1 minute ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

What's THIS?  A post that's not argumentative, negative or trying to one-up?  Yayyy!  LET'S CRUISE!  Let's treat each other like we would like to be treated if we just met each other on the ship at sail-away.

hey, this teacher loves to spread sunshine.   lets cruise!!!!!! 

[fatcat04]

25 minutes ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

What's THIS?  A post that's not argumentative, negative or trying to one-up?  Yayyy!  LET'S CRUISE!  Let's treat each other like we would like to be treated if we just met each other on the ship at sail-away.

Cheers!! 🍻

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, stellarose said:

just saw this on the news:  63% of population has at least one shot. 

 

lowest Covid cases since last year!!!!!!

 

lets cruise. 

Great news.  The elephant in the room though are the cruisers that are in the 37%.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

27 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

Great news.  The elephant in the room though are the cruisers that are in the 37%.

 

Indeed!
 

Though it is sad that there remains a political divide with regard to vaccinations (just Google: partisan vaccination rates). That said, I know people who buck that trend - despite which "side of the aisle" they favor.

 

Nonetheless... we getting there!!

 

Tom

[BoozinCroozin]

14 hours ago, kdr69 said:

This is the fly in the ointment for me.  My question is WHY would a ship need to immediately return to port?  This is not the BEGINNING of Covid where it could spread through everyone this is the END where most people are vaccinated and the crew is vaccinated.  Simply quarantine them to their rooms just like they would with an outbreak of NORO.  This is the part that CDC needs to amend that is causing so much grief not whether someone is vaccinated or not or wearing a mask or not.  If your vaccinated you have no cause for concern (dont give me the excuse of "Breakthrough" cases they are such a small percentage they dont even qualify for the word tiny).  The vaccinated will carry on with their vacation and the others will be confined to their rooms until a port is reached the next day and they can be offloaded. Simple.  Those that "choose" to accept that risk have no reason to be upset.  

How would they even be able to quarantine a single group to their room? Tape the door off, put security outside the room, and monitor them 24/7? 

 

I don't see that happening. 

[txgranny]

1 hour ago, BoozinCroozin said:

How would they even be able to quarantine a single group to their room? Tape the door off, put security outside the room, and monitor them 24/7? 

 

I don't see that happening. 

Security, I've seen it on other trips. Although it was for alcohol related fighting.

[lobster1313]

1 hour ago, BoozinCroozin said:

How would they even be able to quarantine a single group to their room? Tape the door off, put security outside the room, and monitor them 24/7? 

 

I don't see that happening. 

This is part of the CSO so if a cruiseline can't make it happen then that ship won't be sailing after that cruise.

[BoozinCroozin]

5 minutes ago, regoodwinjr said:

This is part of the CSO so if a cruiseline can't make it happen then that ship won't be sailing after that cruise.

I understand that, but it is impractical and will be extremely difficult to do. Think about it. If they don't put someone there as security the whole time, the people in it are not going to stay there. On top of that, the air is circulating and/or they have a balcony they go out on. Then you have the passengers that have to go by the room with some form of security watching it the whole time. 

 

I just see it as impractical and easier to have vaccinated only cruises. It is just my opinion.

 

[ontheweb]

13 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

I would agree, unless one of the cases was serious. Then I would say a threshold of 1 serious case ends the cruise. The ship doctor is going to err on the side of caution. If the doctor even thinks someone might need hospitalization, they will be evacuated, and likely not by air.

Remember, there will be testing for at least the unvaccinated before boarding. To go from a negative test to a life or death situation in 7 days or less seems extremely unlikely to me.

[BrotherCraig]

On 6/4/2021 at 6:14 PM, 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.

  Not me.  Rather cruise with my kids than without.  We cruised without them once before and never again.  Way more fun with them and great memories.    That is us though and our "reasonable" thought on this.

[lobster1313]

9 minutes ago, BrotherCraig said:

  Not me.  Rather cruise with my kids than without.  We cruised without them once before and never again.  Way more fun with them and great memories.    That is us though and our "reasonable" thought on this.

We have only gone alone but we have 2 scheduled this year with our youngest.  She's had one canceled already so to make sure I booked one this fall in case our July cruise turns into vaccinated only.

[DCGuy64]

15 hours ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

What's THIS?  A post that's not argumentative, negative or trying to one-up?  Yayyy!  LET'S CRUISE!  Let's treat each other like we would like to be treated if we just met each other on the ship at sail-away.

The next time my wife and I cruise, after we have drinks in our hands and have chatted with the crew after coming aboard, we're going to go to sail-away and lift our glasses in a toast to all those who remain onshore. We intend to go on living life.

[kdr69]

4 hours ago, BoozinCroozin said:

How would they even be able to quarantine a single group to their room? Tape the door off, put security outside the room, and monitor them 24/7? 

 

I don't see that happening. 

How do they quarantine those with Norovirus? The numbers of those that may or may not get infected is unclear and the emphasis being placed on this is excesseive in my opinion.  Obviously it would not be the same numbers as it was in the beginning as NO ONE was vaccinated then so the virus was free to run its course especially in a closed system created by not disembarking passengers.  Given the percentage of those that are vaccinated now i would assume that on any cruise at this point the majority of passengers would be vaccinated and since all of the crew would be as well the only pathway for the virus to spread would be limited to those who are unvaccinated.  This would not be the total number of unvaccinated passengers either as not everyone would not be in contact with the positive case so the case load the way i interpret it would be small and and manageable for the one to two days in between ports where they could be offloaded to medical or quarantine facilites.  They do not need to stay on board for the full cruise so the care required should not be excessive.  

[TNcruising02]

3 minutes ago, kdr69 said:

How do they quarantine those with Norovirus? The numbers of those that may or may not get infected is unclear and the emphasis being placed on this is excesseive in my opinion.  Obviously it would not be the same numbers as it was in the beginning as NO ONE was vaccinated then so the virus was free to run its course especially in a closed system created by not disembarking passengers.  Given the percentage of those that are vaccinated now i would assume that on any cruise at this point the majority of passengers would be vaccinated and since all of the crew would be as well the only pathway for the virus to spread would be limited to those who are unvaccinated.  This would not be the total number of unvaccinated passengers either as not everyone would not be in contact with the positive case so the case load the way i interpret it would be small and and manageable for the one to two days in between ports where they could be offloaded to medical or quarantine facilites.  They do not need to stay on board for the full cruise so the care required should not be excessive.  

I would add that the older high risk passengers would most likely be vaccinated at a higher percentage, which decreases the odds of a positive case requiring a trip to the ship's doctor.  I read that they have a specific place on the ships to quarantine the positive cases and other protocols in place for a case that might require treatment.

[amcankid]

14 hours ago, kdr69 said:

How do they quarantine those with Norovirus? The numbers of those that may or may not get infected is unclear and the emphasis being placed on this is excesseive in my opinion.  Obviously it would not be the same numbers as it was in the beginning as NO ONE was vaccinated then so the virus was free to run its course especially in a closed system created by not disembarking passengers.  Given the percentage of those that are vaccinated now i would assume that on any cruise at this point the majority of passengers would be vaccinated and since all of the crew would be as well the only pathway for the virus to spread would be limited to those who are unvaccinated.  This would not be the total number of unvaccinated passengers either as not everyone would not be in contact with the positive case so the case load the way i interpret it would be small and and manageable for the one to two days in between ports where they could be offloaded to medical or quarantine facilites.  They do not need to stay on board for the full cruise so the care required should not be excessive.  

You have actually laid out a very good argument for letting the cruises go regardless of vaccinated or not.

And all your talking points make a good deal of sense.

My only hesitation would be the what if question. What if more than 10 people, no matter, listening to your logic, the unlikely hood that it could happen, if 10 or more showed Covid symptoms and 1, 2  or more were hospitalized or died, would the cruise industry be allowed to continue or would that end up being the proverbial final nail in the coffin.

Personally I don’t get why anyone wouldn’t want to get vaccinated ( and that includes my oldest daughter and her husband). 
But especially true for going on a cruise what many refer to as a Petri dish. Why would you want to roll the dice. 
But if I could get assurances that if a few unvaccinated get Covid, they will simply be removed from the ship and our cruise will go on, then heck, open it to all. I’m personally not worried that I will be the one removed or hospitalized.

[amcankid]

16 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

The next time my wife and I cruise, after we have drinks in our hands and have chatted with the crew after coming aboard, we're going to go to sail-away and lift our glasses in a toast to all those who remain onshore. We intend to go on living life.

Wish you were on my Oct.16th Mardi Gras cruise cause I’d happily stand next to you with my glass lifted as well!

 

[Lee Cruiser]

19 hours ago, TNcruising02 said:

I would add that the older high risk passengers would most likely be vaccinated at a higher percentage, which decreases the odds of a positive case requiring a trip to the ship's doctor.

Exactly!  The vast majority of people who are high risk have already been vaccinated.  We also know that the overwhelming majority of cases have been people with very mild to no symptoms. That's why I believe that there were probably a lot of cases that were never reported that would make this percentage even higher. I've personally know over 100 people who have tested positive at one time or another over the last 15 months, including my daughter's family. Some of these would not have even tested had they not known of exposure because their symptoms were no more than their average sinus infection or cold.  A lot has changed since last spring when very little was know about the virus.  It's time to move on from always casting the doomsday scenarios for cruising.  The cases have dropped drastically for a reason.  They have also dropped in those areas with low vaccine rates (30%) the same as they have in areas with much higher vaccine rates.