Heads Up… better stay tuned to S Africa news re: variant

[1kaper]

13 hours ago, cruiseamm said:

What happened to the other African variant, Beta?  Didn't hear much about that after Delta took hold.

 

That one is a good example of what happens when we don't know enough about the variant.  It initially looked like it was going to be bad, but ended up not being an issue.  

I'm not going to get too worried about this variant until we know more, which we won't for a few weeks. 

[Briguy071]

We were scheduled to cruise March 28 but with new variant and too many unknowns we decided to cancel. 
I’ll be glad when things get back to “normal” again. 

[Been There, Planning That]

2 hours ago, Briguy071 said:

We were scheduled to cruise March 28 but with new variant and too many unknowns we decided to cancel. 
I’ll be glad when things get back to “normal” again. 

We're heading towards the same decision but will wait closer to final payment early January.

 

Ruth

[Josie201]

Final payment was due for us December 4 for a 25 day Hawaii/Mexican Riviera cruise.  Sadly, we cancelled this morning.  We cruised a few weeks ago from FLL to the Caribbean and it was fine.  Hawaii has been very slow to reopen and at this point remains closed to cruise ships through the end of December.  This new variant won’t speed up any reopening plans ….   Very disappointing.  
 

Also, AC flights that were available last week to San Diego with a stop in YYZ have now disappeared essentially requiring two stops to get there.  

[shirley valentine]

1 hour ago, Josie201 said:

Final payment was due for us December 4 for a 25 day Hawaii/Mexican Riviera cruise.  Sadly, we cancelled this morning.  We cruised a few weeks ago from FLL to the Caribbean and it was fine.  Hawaii has been very slow to reopen and at this point remains closed to cruise ships through the end of December.  This new variant won’t speed up any reopening plans ….   Very disappointing.  
 

Also, AC flights that were available last week to San Diego with a stop in YYZ have now disappeared essentially requiring two stops to get there.  

We did this itinerary Nov 2019 on the Oosterdam from San Diego . Absolutely my favorite all time itinerary. I can’t believe now how fortunate we were considering the world shut down 3 months later .  
Thanks for the heads up on AC flights .

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Starting to wonder about our  Apex TA to Amsterdam end of April 

I think FPD is end of January 

[tert333]

I realize that the new variant may change things, but we just got back from a 5 day Celebrity cruise out of Miami, and I must say it went very well.  There were only 707 guests, with a capacity for about 2100 people.   Onboard, I felt very comfortable as I knew everyone were vaccinated, and tested(with the exception of some children). In some ways, we will look back at it and will consider it one of our favorites, as we did not have to battle for seats around the pool, or worry about any other congestion areas.   Celebrity did a great job of creating and entertaining experience.   My biggest concern was eating out in Miami, as there were no rules on being vaccinated at the restaurants.  For the most part we looked for outside open areas, or restaurants who observed a high level of social distancing.

 

Unless you have to, I would wait for a couple of weeks until more information is available.  There are various ranges of information, which is based on observation and nothing empirical.  

 

We are back on another cruise Jan 3.  As we have already made final payment, will wait until we get much closer to the sailing date.

 

 

[Fouremco]

52 minutes ago, tert333 said:

Unless you have to, I would wait for a couple of weeks until more information is available.  There are various ranges of information, which is based on observation and nothing empirical.  

My thoughts too. We have a FPD at the end of December for a March sailing and won't make any decision until after Christmas. Lots of speculation about Omicron so far, but nothing concrete.

[DirtyDawg]

We have an AI booked over New Years so we will have to look into two things. Seeing if we can get a booster shot (we are both under 70 and I'm nearing six months and Mrs. Dawg is nearing 9 months post fully vaccinated) and the status of this new variant. We can cancel the AI up to three days before our flight for a full refund so we will wait to make a final decision, but the next window for a vacation will not be until late April next year and we both really need a beach right now! 🏖️

[Magicat]

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/moderna-ceo-says-vaccines-likely-less-effective-against-omicron-1.5686864

 

From the news this morning, vaccines may not be effective against Omicron.  So hope we are not headed back to where were started off 2 years ago.

[gnome12]

10 minutes ago, Magicat said:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/moderna-ceo-says-vaccines-likely-less-effective-against-omicron-1.5686864

 

From the news this morning, vaccines may not be effective against Omicron.  So hope we are not headed back to where were started off 2 years ago.

Less effective does not mean not effective.

[broberts]

41 minutes ago, Magicat said:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/moderna-ceo-says-vaccines-likely-less-effective-against-omicron-1.5686864

 

From the news this morning, vaccines may not be effective against Omicron.  So hope we are not headed back to where were started off 2 years ago.

 

Until the data is gathered why not speculate that the variant while more infectious is less severe? I'm tired of the media playing Chicken Little.

 

Continue to mask and distance appropriately. We know these steps reduce spread of any airborne disease. Even omicron and any other variant. And get vaccinated and when appropriate boosted.

 

 

Edited November 30, 2021 by broberts
Autocorrect

[Magicat]

9 minutes ago, broberts said:

 

Until the data is gathered why not speculate that the variant while more infectious is less severe? I'm tired of the media playing Chicken Little.

 

Continue to mask and distance appropriately. We know these steps reduce spread of any airborne disease. Even omicron and any other variant. And get vaccinated and when appropriate boosted.

 

 

Well said.  But with everyone pointing out the sky is falling, this will affect everything.  

[shirley valentine]

37 minutes ago, Magicat said:

Well said.  But with everyone pointing out the sky is falling, this will affect everything.  

It’s certainly affecting my decision to book . Every family member I have who are non cruisers are telling me we’re nuts to think about cruise in Feb . Now I’m arguing with my spouse too . Just not worth this anxiety. 

[Liverpoolfan181]

We are sailing Jan 8th and will wait till as far out as possible before cancelling until we hear real, solid data. No need for a rash decision to cancel just yet, but that's just us.

 

As for cruising, we are hearing such rave reviews from friends and colleagues (Canadian) who have recently cruised and loved it. Most have preferred the cruise to AI as cruises are enforcing Public Health policies. 

[LouCoop]

We are sailing in March. Fingers are crossed that Hawaii will reopen to cruise ships. 

Also trying to be optimistic about the Omicron variant. Have heard that it spreads real fast but is not severe.  We are getting our 3rd dose on December 13 so hope that helps.

 

So anxious to be sailing again. After all the anxiety of cancelled cruises, mixed vaccines and etc...

we need a break.

[1kaper]

We are sailing in March as well.  We are also meeting a group of people at an all-inclusive before we sail.  I'm trying to stay optimistic but people in our AI trip are starting to drop out.