Masks not required

[Mackdogmolly]

14 hours ago, Baynanno1 said:

@Grandma Cruising

@Mackdogmolly

I hope you and your respective husbands all recover completely very soon!

Thanks so much. If we had to get it, glad to get it before our next cruise!

[welwyngirl]

On 4/7/2022 at 11:02 AM, excitedofharpenden said:

I'm not as fearful of covid as I was, certainly as long as the vaccines remain effective.  We are going to have to learn to live with it. Trouble is the likes of Azamara and other travel companies still fear it and the reputational damage so the cost and inconvenience to you if you do catch it is real and can spoil your trip. That's why I'll do my best to limit the risk as much as I can and wear a mask. They've been doing it in Japan and other parts of Asia for years and is part of the culture.

 

Phil 

We're just back from a 35 night HAL cruise round Hawaii and French Polynesia.  We were tested prior to embarkation and masks were recommended in some areas and required in others.  We wore them always unless eating or drinking,  George tested positive towards the end of the cruise and had to isolate in a separate cabin for 10 days.  

[OregonGal56]

On 4/7/2022 at 10:24 AM, Mackdogmolly said:

This latest strain particularly! I thought I had a cold and just took a home test to rule it out and wham! Then Andrew tested positive too. Symptoms not to severe fortunately. We had just had the 2nd booster too! 

Just had my 2nd booster last night, leaving for Italy in 3 weeks and Quest on May 8th.

How long between your booster and positive test if it's ok to ask?

[excitedofharpenden]

1 hour ago, welwyngirl said:

We're just back from a 35 night HAL cruise round Hawaii and French Polynesia.  We were tested prior to embarkation and masks were recommended in some areas and required in others.  We wore them always unless eating or drinking,  George tested positive towards the end of the cruise and had to isolate in a separate cabin for 10 days.  

Sorry to hear that Lesley, but I hope you had a good time in spite. Love to you both. 

 

Phil 

[laurieb]

6 hours ago, welwyngirl said:

We're just back from a 35 night HAL cruise round Hawaii and French Polynesia.  We were tested prior to embarkation and masks were recommended in some areas and required in others.  We wore them always unless eating or drinking,  George tested positive towards the end of the cruise and had to isolate in a separate cabin for 10 days.  

We have neighbors who just returned home from that cruise. No issues for them.  I hope you ar3 back to normal life quickly 

[travelberlin]

23 hours ago, welwyngirl said:

We're just back from a 35 night HAL cruise round Hawaii and French Polynesia.  We were tested prior to embarkation and masks were recommended in some areas and required in others.  We wore them always unless eating or drinking,  George tested positive towards the end of the cruise and had to isolate in a separate cabin for 10 days.  

I am very sorry to hear about this. Recover well🤗

Ivi

[neilbrunton]

We just got off Pursuit today and full mask policy still in place indoors

[mdpa]

I am hoping all restrictions are lifted by June. Will be nice to fly, cruise, and vacation without the mask. It seems like everything is starting to open up.

[travelberlin]

1 hour ago, mdpa said:

I am hoping all restrictions are lifted by June. Will be nice to fly, cruise, and vacation without the mask. It seems like everything is starting to open up.

Have a look at what is going on in Shanghai. I guess China, where the virus originated, knows that there is not the right time to relax about it, otherwise it would not take the implications of confining a metropolis like Shanghai.

Ivi

Edited April 9, 2022 by travelberlin

[Mackdogmolly]

On 4/8/2022 at 1:41 PM, OregonGal56 said:

Just had my 2nd booster last night, leaving for Italy in 3 weeks and Quest on May 8th.

How long between your booster and positive test if it's ok to ask?

Just 5 days, so not enough time to take effect.

[marinaro44]

On 4/8/2022 at 6:07 AM, mdpa said:

I’m OK with anyone wearing a mask who chooses to, or anyone who decides to not travel. However, I am not OK for anyone making others feel guilty for not distancing or wearing masks, especially on vacation. 

 

IMHO this extends to trying to guilt companies into taking rights away from others…

Cruise lines need to do whatever it takes to keep their passengers safe.  Paying passengers have that "right."  If masks are required by a cruise line, those refusing to mask should simply stay home.

[mdpa]

13 hours ago, travelberlin said:

Have a look at what is going on in Shanghai. I guess China, where the virus originated, knows that there is not the right time to relax about it, otherwise it would not take the implications of confining a metropolis like Shanghai.

Ivi

Unfortunately, China now regrets their lockdown policies and has no reasonable way to backdown without saving face. Great article in the WSJ this weekend. I have also decided to not go on vacation to Shanghai until they make it fun again.

 

Theoretically, Shanghai would be a great destination for those who prefer that “everyone” wear a mask…certainly a better option than a cruise ship.

[mdpa]

I want to make one additional point. A happy crew, can lead to an even happier customer.

 

I am hoping by June, all staff will be mask free. The staff must be miserable being confined to a ship months at a time in a mask. Passenger interactions are more difficult, especially if they have an accent.

 

Hopefully, for the sake of the crew, staff, and passengers things will get back to normal quickly. I can’t imagine the challenge of hiring staff, where they are told they would need to wear masks for the entire length of their contract.

[uktog]

There are no miserable crew on Quest this week I can assure you! 

[ECCruise]

1 hour ago, mdpa said:

The staff must be miserable being confined to a ship months at a time in a mask. Passenger interactions are more difficult, especially if they have an accent.

 

Having actually been on ships 40+ days with mask mandates, the exact opposite is true.  Virtually every crew member we spoke with wanted the mask requirement to remain, not go away.  They said that they simply felt safer with them on. 

[travelberlin]

30 minutes ago, ECCruise said:

Having actually been on ships 40+ days with mask mandates, the exact opposite is true.  Virtually every crew member we spoke with wanted the mask requirement to remain, not go away.  They said that they simply felt safer with them on. 

This was also our experience. Crew members mentioned that for them to be COVID positive has several implications and they feel safer when wearing the masks in confined spaces. 
Ivi

[Tuscany4]

So the Pursuit still has full mask policy but the Quest does not?

Is it totally dependent on destinations? I noticed the Pursuit is in Italy which would probably support that but the Quest was in Spain which I also thought had full mask policy indoors. Very confusing.

[excitedofharpenden]

There seems to have been a clean up of this thread and now it doesn't make sense, but from my point of view and in replyjng directly to @mdpa, trying to establish an end date to mask wearing at the moment is impossible. The virus is still out there and mutations can still happen. The less chance we give it to spread from person to person the less likely those mutations are. Of course we'd all prefer not to have to wear masks at all, but I believe the bigger issue is protecting ourselves and each other by wearing them, whether we like the inconvenience or not.  I'll live with that going forward if I need to. As I said earlier, in Asia there is much more of a mask wearing culture  I used to think it was a bit weird.  Now not so much. 

 

Phil 

Edited April 11, 2022 by excitedofharpenden

[KirkNC]

23 hours ago, Tuscany4 said:

So the Pursuit still has full mask policy but the Quest does not?

Is it totally dependent on destinations? I noticed the Pursuit is in Italy which would probably support that but the Quest was in Spain which I also thought had full mask policy indoors. Very confusing.

I can confirm that the Quest did not require masks when we were on for 30 days starting March 6th.  That included the Carribean, Portugal and Spain.  When ashore you had to abide by the local rules which varied from no mask to mask to enter stores.

[marinaro44]

No cruise line wants to tell a passenger he or she tested positive and must spend five or more days in isolation to disrupt his or her vacation.  Worse would be having to contact other passengers who happened to sit next to the infected person for 45 minutes or more in the theater or dining room or wherever, and tell them to quarantine for some period to protect others on the ship.  How happy would they be?  So cruise lines will be cautious, and rightly so, and do what will keep passengers safe.

 

In the last week I've been to the offices of an ophthalmologist, podiatrist and dentist.  All required masks in order to enter.  And all providers and staff were masked.  I suppose mdpa might know more about this matter than they do, but I'd be surprised.

 

If a cruise line chooses to protect passengers and crew by requiring masks, and someone , for whatever reason, refuses to wear one while on vacation, that someone should choose a different vacation or stay home.

[Josephgray1]

1 hour ago, marinaro44 said:

No cruise line wants to tell a passenger he or she tested positive and must spend five or more days in isolation to disrupt his or her vacation.  Worse would be having to contact other passengers who happened to sit next to the infected person for 45 minutes or more in the theater or dining room or wherever, and tell them to quarantine for some period to protect others on the ship.  How happy would they be?  So cruise lines will be cautious, and rightly so, and do what will keep passengers safe.

 

In the last week I've been to the offices of an ophthalmologist, podiatrist and dentist.  All required masks in order to enter.  And all providers and staff were masked.  I suppose mdpa might know more about this matter than they do, but I'd be surprised.

 

If a cruise line chooses to protect passengers and crew by requiring masks, and someone , for whatever reason, refuses to wear one while on vacation, that someone should choose a different vacation or stay home.

Well hopefully the next step after getting rid of mandatory masks will be to stop testing people with no symptoms, especially since the requirement is that all guests and crew are to be vaccinated. Then it won’t be necessary to tell a guest they tested positive. If someone is sick with a cold or flu the ships don’t test everyone around them. If someone is worried about getting any type of illness, they are free to wear a mask. 

[mdpa]

20 minutes ago, Josephgray1 said:

Well hopefully the next step after getting rid of mandatory masks will be to stop testing people with no symptoms, especially since the requirement is that all guests and crew are to be vaccinated. Then it won’t be necessary to tell a guest they tested positive. If someone is sick with a cold or flu the ships don’t test everyone around them. If someone is worried about getting any type of illness, they are free to wear a mask. 

Excellent point…hopefully this burden to the cruise industry, guests, and crew ends very soon. No reason to test someone unless they have symptoms.

[andrcan]

No matter what cruise line policies, at the end of the day, we are responsible for our health ourselves and will have to deal with the consequences ourselves. The reality is, chances to get infected are non-zero everywhere: before embarkation, on board, in the ports of call, at the excursions... Having gone through self-isolation after my spouse's positive test upon debarkation earlier this year, I still wanna cruise and relax and have fun but also want to reduce the risks of being infected, and that will include having COVID insurance, disinfecting hands and surfaces, complying with policies, wearing mask when deemed necessary no matter what the policies are. It's just that I learned that getting positive test result in a country far away from home, urgently changing all travel plans etc is far more stressful than doing some extra homework in advance and performing more hygienic routines daily. And it's not a biggie: after all, I managed to stop making fuss about having to brush my teeth at the tender age of 3 or so)

[Josephgray1]

1 minute ago, andrcan said:

No matter what cruise line policies, at the end of the day, we are responsible for our health ourselves and will have to deal with the consequences ourselves. The reality is, chances to get infected are non-zero everywhere: before embarkation, on board, in the ports of call, at the excursions... Having gone through self-isolation after my spouse's positive test upon debarkation earlier this year, I still wanna cruise and relax and have fun but also want to reduce the risks of being infected, and that will include having COVID insurance, disinfecting hands and surfaces, complying with policies, wearing mask when deemed necessary no matter what the policies are. It's just that I learned that getting positive test result in a country far away from home, urgently changing all travel plans etc is far more stressful than doing some extra homework in advance and performing more hygienic routines daily. And it's not a biggie: after all, I managed to stop making fuss about having to brush my teeth at the tender age of 3 or so)

I totally agree with the stress associated with a potential positive test, especially when vaccinated, boosted and showing no signs of illness. And then the possibility of false positives doesn’t help. We’ve been required to do Covid tests 3x for trips to USVI and one prior to boarding Azamara in September. All caused anxiety.

 

 

[andrcan]

47 minutes ago, Josephgray1 said:

I totally agree with the stress associated with a potential positive test, especially when vaccinated, boosted and showing no signs of illness. And then the possibility of false positives doesn’t help. We’ve been required to do Covid tests 3x for trips to USVI and one prior to boarding Azamara in September. All caused anxiety.

Absolutely. One of our friends got false positive on the pier prior to embarkation and had to get the second test, almost 3 hours in limbo, and a couple from Australia got the second test positive and was denied boarding in front of him... And in our case double vaccination, booster, no symptoms ... but positive PCR - and Canada does not let my spouse in no matter what, and we have 10 extra days of forced vacation in Florida, God bless your state... and I get tested every other day, all negative but yes anxiety each time.