Cruising During Covid

[bucfan2]

On 12/20/2021 at 7:52 PM, TomCruise48 said:

Have another RCCL cruise in February and a Carnival B2B in March.  I'm more concerned about the Carnival cruises since RCCL now requires masks indoors, while Carnival only recommends masks.

We are all fortunate to have options.  We're looking at cancelling our remaining RC cruises and switching back to Carnival for this reason.  (We sailed X a few months ago (no masks) - if they were in our budget, they would be our first choice).

Edited December 22, 2021 by bucfan2

[sparks1093]

14 hours ago, Gamecock_Cruiser said:

Have you left home since March of 2020? If so, cruise. You are exposed EVERYWHERE that you go.

So true. One of my sons is vaccinated and takes every precaution he can to prevent COVID and he just tested positive. We're not too concerned given his age and state of health but it does go to show that no matter what you do you can still get it.

[firefly333]

3 hours ago, bucfan2 said:

We are all fortunate to have options.  We're looking at cancelling our remaining RC cruises and switching back to Carnival for this reason.  (We sailed X a few months ago (no masks) - if they were in our budget, they would be our first choice).

I've been on carnival and the masks indoors are required, not recommended. If you cancel rcl and go with carnival at least know what is required and dont get caught up in word salad.

 

Island times blogger guy is onboard right now and has confirmed masks are required. 

 

Only difference is carnival doesnt have vaccine only areas, you will be sitting next to unvaccinated kids perhaps on carnival. 

 

I've done carnival 3 times and we were told to wear masks in the theater. True the mask police didnt come up to people on carnival but on rcl policing equally lax. 

[happywife0921]

Honestly, I felt safer on my Thanksgiving cruise than I did on land. We have another booked for March so obviously hoping to go, but will continue to monitor and assess travel risks.

[DrSea]

Honestly, I would talk to your PCP. We don't know what chronic conditions you have. It should be shared decision making. We don't know if you are immunosuppressed.

 

Being in a cruise ship is not the same as being in Walmart. You are not inches away next to strangers without a mask on for hours at a time in Walmart. Those are false equivalencies.

 

With that said, I have 4 cruises booked in a 6 month period. Trying to book a 5th, lol. But I am in my early 30s and I have cared for COVID pts in the ICU. My risk of COVID is different than most here on this forum.

[asalligo]

If he is worried, it will be hard to convince him. News now is that there were only 50 cases because they stopped testing and it is also pretty clear now that the vaccine is not stopping infection. Good news is that your risk of dying from the virus is much lower now. 

[LuckyStar]

On 12/20/2021 at 7:42 AM, mominwestlake said:

We have a cruise scheduled on the Mardi Gras in February.  My husband just texted that I should cancel because of the 48 positive cases on the Royal Caribbean ship.

We are vaccinated and have had the booster.  Is it still safe to cruise?  How can I convince him?  This would be our 3rd cancellation during covid.

As said before, only you can make this decision for your family.  I cruised in Sept and felt very safe.  We are planning to cruise again in January and I still feel confident.  

[bucfan2]

4 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I've been on carnival and the masks indoors are required, not recommended. If you cancel rcl and go with carnival at least know what is required and dont get caught up in word salad.

 

Island times blogger guy is onboard right now and has confirmed masks are required. 

 

Only difference is carnival doesnt have vaccine only areas, you will be sitting next to unvaccinated kids perhaps on carnival. 

 

I've done carnival 3 times and we were told to wear masks in the theater. True the mask police didnt come up to people on carnival but on rcl policing equally lax. 

Thanks firefly...you saved me a bunch of time verifying specific protocols.  I was going off the posters who showed 'rec' vs required.  Have learned to 'trust but verify' on cc...but you saved me some time just the same.

Edited December 22, 2021 by bucfan2

[stellarose]

Derek with Island time is great.  masks mask.  

[firefly333]

7 minutes ago, stellarose said:

Derek with Island time is great.  masks mask.  

Yea if you like or love carnival or just booked he does get private stuff to post. 

 

I saw he is in Havana area on vista again. He is sharing hellos with a drink server everyone likes. I watch him more than others and he says for sure masks are required. 

 

We had mask police on breeze at every elevator. I thought a bit too much myself but I'm not big on masks. 

[stellarose]

my daily routine is a mask at school.. so this will be like everyday. 

[sparks1093]

9 minutes ago, stellarose said:

my daily routine is a mask at school.. so this will be like everyday. 

Except at school you can't walk around with a drink of the day.

[stellarose]

Just now, sparks1093 said:

Except at school you can't walk around with a drink of the day.

very true. I will be outside for that. 

[Babr]

Half the answers refer to safety in relation to other activities. Is safety even the issue? Is anyone who is vaccinated worried about a breakthrough case that isn’t likely to be serious?

 

It seems the concern should be about the impact of a positive test in terms of inconvenience and financial consequences.

[allie3490]

On 12/20/2021 at 11:03 AM, my kids mama said:

We are deciding the same thing right now.  Our next cruise is supposed to leave on New Years 
Eve. We are vaccinated and boosted, as well.  I am not too worried about getting real sick, even if I do get Omicron.  My only concern is that my son's wedding is a week after we return.  I just don't want to test positive and be in quarantine for his special day. 

There is no way I would even chance that. My kid's wedding is way more important than some cruise I can literally take any time. 

[Giantfan13]

We just got off the Legend where we spent a week trying to avoid many, many passengers who thought their chins were the required place for a mask, if they had any on at all. Even during the cruise, something must have happened along the way and everyone was issued a letter stating that masks MUST be worn in ALL indoor venues and in all outdoor venues where there is a crowd. I think the people who were maskless before just took this letter and threw it in the trash as nothing changed. 

We did our best to try and avoid many of these situations, like always eat at a table for 2, we sat high in the balcony for shows and we really did try to avoid a lot of contact with others. But places like Punchliner are a mess, especially the late shows. We went to 2 and I would say about 1/4 of the people were maskless and if they had them on, it was on their chins. I even mentioned this to the person in charge of Punchliner and he basically shrugged his shoulders. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink it. Carnival refuses to enforce any sort of mask mandate.

 

Cheers

Len

[BlerkOne]

5 minutes ago, Giantfan13 said:

Carnival refuses to enforce any sort of mask mandate.

 

Cheers

Len

Enough pictures on social media and news coverage could change that.

[stellarose]

can only control what I can control. my mask on my face and those of my family 

[Earthworm Jim]

13 hours ago, gruvtrtl93 said:

Thank you for posting this! We have a cruise booked Jan 9 that we are on the fence about. This is great advice and it has immediately helped my anxiety. I no longer feel rushed to make a decision. 

 

Here's the Carnival Covid 19 refund policy direct from their website if you haven't seen it:

 

https://www.carnival.com/Legal/covid-19-legal-notices/covid-19-guest-protocols?icid=advisory_cruisehealth_072821

 

The third tab at the top is the Covid 19 Refund and Cancellation Policy.

[happywife0921]

6 hours ago, DrSea said:

Honestly, I would talk to your PCP. We don't know what chronic conditions you have. It should be shared decision making. We don't know if you are immunosuppressed.

 

Being in a cruise ship is not the same as being in Walmart. You are not inches away next to strangers without a mask on for hours at a time in Walmart. Those are false equivalencies.

 

With that said, I have 4 cruises booked in a 6 month period. Trying to book a 5th, lol. But I am in my early 30s and I have cared for COVID pts in the ICU. My risk of COVID is different than most here on this forum.

Same. I work in an ICU in NYC and also know my risk factor is different the most.

[cyclist_guy1]

19 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

Except at school you can't walk around with a drink of the day.

you went to the wrong school. 😁

[Schoifmom]

18 hours ago, Giantfan13 said:

We just got off the Legend where we spent a week trying to avoid many, many passengers who thought their chins were the required place for a mask, if they had any on at all. Even during the cruise, something must have happened along the way and everyone was issued a letter stating that masks MUST be worn in ALL indoor venues and in all outdoor venues where there is a crowd.

What happened is that Carnival enacted new protocols while you were on board.  Masks are now required in all indoor venues until 1/31.

[sparks1093]

1 hour ago, Schoifmom said:

What happened is that Carnival enacted new protocols while you were on board.  Masks are now required in all indoor venues until 1/31.

They need to update their website then because on there it is only requested that passengers wear masks indoors. All guests, ages two and above, are requested to wear masks at all times when indoors,

[guxu]

Saw those news too but we are not cancelling. I have more concerns that Carnival will cancel the sail. Or the ports will deny the entry like what happened with Freedom.

[BlerkOne]

57 minutes ago, sparks1093 said:

They need to update their website then because on there it is only requested that passengers wear masks indoors. All guests, ages two and above, are requested to wear masks at all times when indoors,

Protocols can change faster than a website can keep up.

 

The Ticket Contract does state:

4) mandatory use by each Guest (except for children under the age of 2 years) of face masks in most locations outside of the Guest’s stateroom while on board, during embarkation, disembarkation and shore excursions; 

 

and a Good To Know found in staterooms (at least on Valor)