Didn't take long

[Tippyton]

I'm going to put a positive spin on this....this is great news!

 

There will be tons of hysteria in the media and elsewhere, and the Chicken Little's of the world will come out of the woodwork. It will be rough for a week or so from a PR perspective.  But the dust will settle and cooler heads will prevail, and the verdict will be read...  1.)  Simple isolation works.   2.) Testing protocols will be refined. 3.) No mass breakouts will happen 4.) No community transmission occurred. 5) Sensibility and calmness will rule the day in the end.

 

Had this happened with 20 ships running the hysteria would be 20X.  The smart people in the room will figure this out as long as they have a seat at the table.  (Don't underestimate this caveat though)

 

[LouChamp]

This is why as i have said only to be lambasted that although i love cruising, not right now 

[henchgt]

When are people going to wake up to the fact that the PCR test is completely bogus? Even the inventor (Kary Mullis) is on record saying it was never meant to diagnose anything.

[xpcdoojk]

So, much like everything surrounding Covid19.  Even something as simple as how many false positives are found.  So, I did a search yesterday when this came up.

 

So, I went to a site called healthline.com which seemed to compare all the different rapid tests, since I assume that it is this product that the cruiselines are using.  I have no knowledge of the validity of the site, but they seemed to treat the topic in a fairly scientific manner.  YMMV.  Title of the article is Are Rapid Covid-19 test results reliable.  Here are some bits from the article.

 

Accuracy for people with COVID-19 symptoms

For people with symptoms of COVID-19, the tests correctly gave a positive result an average of 72 percent of the time. The 95 percent confidence intervals were 63.7 to 79 percent, meaning that the researchers were 95 percent confident that the average fell between these two values.

Accuracy for people without COVID-19 symptoms

The researchers found that people without COVID-19 symptoms correctly tested positive in 58.1 percent of rapid tests. The 95 percent confidence intervals were 40.2 to 74.1 percent.

Accuracy during the first week of symptoms versus the second

Rapid tests more accurately provided a positive COVID-19 result when administered during the first week of symptoms. The researchers found that rapid tests correctly identified COVID-19 in an average of 78.3 percent of cases during the first week. 

In the second week, the average dropped to 51 percent.

Chances of a rapid test giving a false positive

Rapid tests rarely give a false positive result. A false positive is when you test positive for COVID-19 when you don’t actually have it.

In the March 2021 review of studies mentioned earlier, the researcher found that rapid tests correctly gave a negative COVID-19 result in 99.6 percent of people.

 

So, we are left with much different information than what you posted.  

 

I am guessing the cruiselines believed information like I am posting.  Because they are not going to be able to tolerate a lot of false positives.....   JMHO

 

JC

 

JC

 

 

[Biker19]

20 minutes ago, Tippyton said:

I'm going to put a positive spin on this....this is great news!

I thought you were going to say this will keep people from booking and the rest of us may have lower prices.

[Goodtime Cruizin]

11 minutes ago, LouChamp said:

This is why as i have said only to be lambasted that although i love cruising, not right now 

 

Yeppers! Not me anyway. 

[CaptainNappin]

All of the tests are unreliable. They test positive for the common cold, flu, and other sicknesses. Even the inventer of the PCR test said it was unreliable! 

 

I will not get the vaccine when there several other known treatments. I am not an antivaxxer but I have common sense!

 

I will go back to cruising when everyone stops acting like clowns and gets back to normal!

[Joseph2017China]

This news gets me excited because nothing happened.  Anyone can test positive, with a very minor viral load.....even if vaccinated.  This says the vaccines worked, and that we still have nothing to worry about.   But CNN will blow this up......I'm going on two cruises in 2021.  

[Catnip]

44 minutes ago, Espn said:

This is one reason I don’t see why unvaccinated people want to jump on a cruise ship right away, unless you think the whole thing is a hoax. If there are cases, you might not get very sick, but if grandma is with you and unvaccinated it could kill her. This is also why the cruise lines don’t want unvaccinated people on their ships.

But it would be their own CHOICE, right?  Even Granny's choice. My 89-yr old MIL chooses not to get the jab, and it's her choice.  
And these 2 passengers were not unvaccinated, am I correct?  Or have I read the news reports wrong?  So apparently, even vaxx passengers can test positive for covid.  As  has been reported for months now.

[Catnip]

9 minutes ago, CaptainNappin said:

All of the tests are unreliable. They test positive for the common cold, flu, and other sicknesses. Even the inventer of the PCR test said it was unreliable! 

 

I will not get the vaccine when there several other known treatments. I am not an antivaxxer but I have common sense!

 

I will go back to cruising when everyone stops acting like clowns and gets back to normal!

Ditto for my family and I!   Great post! 

[CaptainNappin]

6 minutes ago, Joseph2017China said:

This news gets me excited because nothing happened.  Anyone can test positive, with a very minor viral load.....even if vaccinated.  This says the vaccines worked, and that we still have nothing to worry about.   But CNN will blow this up......I'm going on two cruises in 2021.  

Nothing has been proven about the vaccines yet. Everyone (that is healthy) that has taken it is a guinea pig. No one yet knows A) the long term effects B) the long term effectiveness. 

 

No thank you! Common sense tells me better!

[Catnip]

43 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Sory you appear to have it backwards.

 

In a recent (March 2021) published paper, comparing antigen tests from several makers, the authors found that among symptomatic patients a 17% false positive and 0.1% false negative variances.  Amongst asymptomatic patients, they found a 72% false positive rate, and a 0.2% false negative rate.

In this study, all antigen tests were confirmed with molecular testing.

Can you please provide a link to that paper?

[SOCACRUISEGUY]

6 minutes ago, Catnip said:

But it would be their own CHOICE, right?  Even Granny's choice. My 89-yr old MIL chooses not to get the jab, and it's her choice.  
And these 2 passengers were not unvaccinated, am I correct?  Or have I read the news reports wrong?  So apparently, even vaxx passengers can test positive for covid.  As  has been reported for months now.

🙄

[not-enough-cruising]

1 minute ago, Catnip said:

Can you please provide a link to that paper?

https://www.cochrane.org/CD013705/INFECTN_how-accurate-are-rapid-tests-diagnosing-covid-19

 

I can’t post a link to the original as it is behind a subscription paywall 

[Catnip]

1 minute ago, SOCACRUISEGUY said:

🙄

Just an eye roll?  No intelligent reply?   😂

[livingonthebeach]

5 minutes ago, Catnip said:

But it would be their own CHOICE, right?  Even Granny's choice. My 89-yr old MIL chooses not to get the jab, and it's her choice.  
And these 2 passengers were not unvaccinated, am I correct?  Or have I read the news reports wrong?  So apparently, even vaxx passengers can test positive for covid.  As  has been reported for months now.

 

Yes it was reported they both were vaccinated and a symptomatic.  That doesn't stop the conjectures on this thread though, with some people implying they might have had fake CDC vaccine cards 

[cured]

Has any report even stated that these were 2 vaccinated adults?  Is there a possibility it is two under 16 unvaccinated siblings?  I did a short google and read the main reports but can't find anything saying ages or vaccine status. However, I may have missed it because I didn't go very in depth in my search.

 

One thing that did come up was a blog from someone on the ship and it seems no one is at all worried. They are continuing on their cruise without masks and without worry. Besides the initial inconvenience of the additional testing and short quarantine of everyone, the cruise is continuing on as normal.

 

Cruise as normal = point for vaccinated cruises

 

Outstanding job by Celebrity in just quaranting the positives and their exposed cohort = point for vaccinated cruises 

 

Maskless = 2 points for vaccinated cruises!

 

Good job Celebrity.

 

However, as others have stated, I will wait to book anything.  I have till April to use my FCCs. I will wait till then to see what the world is like and then either book or eat the FCCs.  We have friends in Sorrento and 2 weeks exploring the Amalfi coast is beginning to sound way, way better than a cruise!

 

[Catnip]

23 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

https://www.cochrane.org/CD013705/INFECTN_how-accurate-are-rapid-tests-diagnosing-covid-19

 

I can’t post a link to the original as it is behind a subscription paywall 

This does not appear to be a peer reviewed scientific article.  It is an essay posted on a non-profit organizations website.  Who are the authors, there are no references for them?  Did a legitimate institution sponsor the study?  Was this published in a medical journal?  Lots of unanswered questions about this article.

I think you are going to see a lot of different "data" if the upcoming days and months, and can be interpreted according to what you believe in.  We need to keep in mind that testing, as well as the "vaxx" itself is not 100%.   

Edited June 11, 2021 by Catnip

[Catnip]

12 minutes ago, livingonthebeach said:

 

Yes it was reported they both were vaccinated and a symptomatic.  That doesn't stop the conjectures on this thread though, with some people implying they might have had fake CDC vaccine cards 

exactly!!!!!!!!! 

[boatseller]

The best solution, stop testing.  It's entirely pointless now.  Everybody knows the risks.

 

Just found out we're getting the antigen test to board Adventure.  

 

The reaction has been worse that the ccv.  The tyrants at the NIH/CDC should be in prison for what they've done.

[Catnip]

Just now, boatseller said:

The best solution, stop testing.  It's entirely pointless now.  Everybody knows the risks.

 

Just found out we're getting the antigen test to board Adventure.  

 

The reaction has been worse that the ccv.  The tyrants at the NIH/CDC should be in prison for what they've done.

👍👍👍

[nelblu]

12 hours ago, harkinmr said:

It is a revenue cruise. They did testing required for return to the US. That’s when the positive cases were found. 

So in a sense, the cruise was basically over and did not really impact Paxs, other than the testing done to enter the US.  Do we know if Celebrity did pre-sail testing.  If not these two individuals could have had C 19 for some time.

[mauraoel]

14 minutes ago, Catnip said:

This does not appear to be a peer reviewed scientific article.  It is an essay posted on a non-profit organizations website.  Who are the authors, there are no references for them?  Did a legitimate institution sponsor the study?  Was this published in a medical journal?  Lots of unanswered questions about this article.

He mentioned the original was behind a firewall.  This was probably just a synopsis of the peer reviewed paper.

[livingonthebeach]

1 minute ago, nelblu said:

So in a sense, the cruise was basically over and did not really impact Paxs, other than the testing done to enter the US.  Do we know if Celebrity did pre-sail testing.  If not these two individuals could have had C 19 for some time.

 

There is a CC member onboard and has a thread on the procedures.

 

 

[DirtyDawg]

This is a sailing out of St. Maarten, which required a negative Covid test to get into the country in order to board the ship and another Covid test at the end of the cruise it disembark. These two passengers tested positive on their re-entry second test. On another thread they said the positive tests were confirmed while onboard. 

 

Why all the arguments regarding testing on this thread? Frankly, what you or I think about requiring Covid testing here is irrelevant. That decision is up to the health authorities and the politicians of the countries the cruisers are entering. If the U.S requires me to have a test when I fly into the States for my next cruise, so be it. (I'm Canadian) If St. Maarten requires testing before entering the country to begin a cruise of re-entering at the end of the cruise, so be it. They have to be concerned about their own population first and if Covid testing is an inconvenience to some cruise passengers, tough.  I don't vote in the U.S. or in St. Maarten, I don't pay taxes in either place too, so my opinion about what St. Maarten or the U.S. requires is irrelevant. So unless other posters on this thread are citizens of St. Maarten, your opinions about what they do are irrelevant also.