CDC Issues The New Guidance for Cruise Ships on the Mitigation and Management of COVID-19

[wingatesl]

4 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

Agree. Much easier for the smaller lines with fewer ships to move faster. 😉 I’m sure that some of the lines that have ships placed all over the world and still need to figure out which ports/countries still require testing. I think that we will start to hear more next week. 

It is why I am patient, but almost anxious. Everyone knows that it will happen at some point. I am just hoping for it to happen sooner 🙂

[Babr]

1 hour ago, wingatesl said:

In a roundabout way, yes. The difference is that one (the taxes and premiums) being mandatory, with cruising being optional. 

 

It is a good example though as you can compare the cruise fares against their P/L and see a similar trend. I bet they are taking it all out of the food and beverage budget. That's why the UBP has gone up so much. 

 

I recognize the difference between public and private, but it seems to me the principle is pretty much the same - the whole subsidizes the cost for those who use the service/product. It is not a matter of required rather willing vs. unwilling.
 

Those who are willing to accept a compromised experience at higher cost are underwriting those who do not want to buy insurance or accept personal financial responsibility otherwise. When folks complain that they don’t get a price drop or OBC or the expected level of service, they have to remember they are paying for a lot of private jet rides and extended hotel stays, and - literally - a free lunch for somebody.

Edited July 22, 2022 by Babr

[Cruising89143]

4 minutes ago, wingatesl said:

It is why I am patient, but almost anxious. Everyone knows that it will happen at some point. I am just hoping for it to happen sooner 🙂

It can be tough. We decided back in March to cruise again (locally) and not worry about the virus. I don’t like testing but we do it. We use the home proctored tests but I will be glad to see it end. We canceled a cruise/land trip to Italy in May as we did not want to deal with all of the testing required  to cruise and fly back to the U.S. Luckily for us United and Celebrity were great to deal with. In the end we did not lose a penny for canceling. 

[Fairsailing]

14 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

Agree. Much easier for the smaller lines with fewer ships to move faster. 😉 I’m sure that some of the lines that have ships placed all over the world and still need to figure out which ports/countries still require testing. I think that we will start to hear more next week. 

RCL has an earnings call scheduled for Thursday at 10 am Eastern…..

[wingatesl]

3 minutes ago, cruisingator2 said:

It can be tough. We decided back in March to cruise again (locally) and not worry about the virus. I don’t like testing but we do it. We use the home proctored tests but I will be glad to see it end. We canceled a cruise/land trip to Italy in May as we did not want to deal with all of the testing required  to cruise and fly back to the U.S. Luckily for us United and Celebrity were great to deal with. In the end we did not lose a penny for canceling. 

 

We haven't done a cruise since the Oasis Return to Sailing cruise out of Cape Liberty last Sept. 

 

I am confident of 2 things. 

1. I am going to miss the occupancy level of that cruise. 
2. I am going to be happy to get back on a ship. 

 

We cancelled a EU cruise this year, last week actually. Well, rolled it forward and have 2 coming up.

[RoperDK]

On 7/21/2022 at 2:51 PM, Tolkmit said:

 

I'm not sure where you heard they don't force you to quarantine onboard for any other illness, but that's completely wrong. Cruise lines have always forced passengers to quarantine if they believe you have certain communicable diseases, like norovirus.
 

 

On 7/21/2022 at 2:56 PM, smokeybandit said:

Yes, you're right. Norovirus, which is extremely contagious and very easy to swallow a ship. So that makes sense.

 

But for any airborne upper respiratory virus, not as much.

People can and have been quarantined for a confirmed flu diagnosis.  The difference with covid is they can move you to another lesser category cabin.  I am hoping that they will now allow you to quarantine in your assigned and paid for cabin.   

[Ocean Boy]

2 hours ago, Babr said:

Isn’t that the same thing as RCL paying for quarantine expenses and transportation home?  $250 per night for hotel and $100 for food.

Not exactly what I was referring to.

[not-enough-cruising]

3 hours ago, Babr said:

Isn’t that the same thing as RCL paying for quarantine expenses and transportation home?  $250 per night for hotel and $100 for food.

Not at all the same 

[Rusty_lock]

So my 4pm EDT guess was wrong. 

[LinRon3]

On 7/21/2022 at 7:23 AM, Biker19 said:

Surprise, the new "guidance" looks very much like the discontinued guidance. Oh, how wonderful to have a gov't job that requires rehashing old ides to make them sound new.

Actually seems stricter doesn't it?  CDC 'recommends' 24 hour window covid testing now...though 2 day and 72 hours also mentioned.  Isn't this all a ruse anyway, as CDC guidance has been 'voluntary' for some time now.  Same vulnerability to the cruise lines if they 'back off' from testing and outbreaks occur.  I think we'll be living with the pre cruise testing for some time yet [hopefully they'll relax the window a bit though].  But will places to get the testing start drying up?  Pharmacies already charging bucks now.  And we've had some quality issues with eMed in June.  So so so weary we all are; and we can see it in people's faces and behaviors [like road rage, that sort of thing].    

But 24 hours?!  Come on'...

[topnole]

6 hours ago, ECCruise said:

And some may think not allowing pharmacies to rip off a customer for a health test is a pretty awesome thing. 

A Covid test for the purpose of a cruise isn’t exactly a health test in the typical sense.  And it is the person’s choice to cruise.  So they are choosing to get tested as a condition of cruising.  It is absolutely a choice, not a necessity.   Plus, any person has options for where they go to get tested for a cruise including at-home proctored tests which are relatively inexpensive.  
 

So how exactly are people getting “ripped off” by pharmacies unless they are choosing to pay that price?  There are plenty of options for cruise testing. If anyone is getting ripped off that is on them. And what exactly is a rip off to a person?   How much do they cost to make, then deliver, what are the pharmacy costs associated with administering them, what are the lab costs ,and finally what is the price to the customer?  Just because something is priced at a level we don’t like, doesn’t mean it is a rip off.  Now maybe some places are priced really high, but we all have choices.  

[ChiefMateJRK]

16 hours ago, cruisingator2 said:

I’m sure that some of the lines that have ships placed all over the world and still need to figure out which ports/countries still require testing.

Shouldn't they have already been doing that?

[crzndeb]

14 hours ago, Rusty_lock said:

So my 4pm EDT guess was wrong. 

Hey, I was just excited you used the the correct abbreviation for daylight savings time. It’s the little things for me 😂😂😂

[DragonOfTheSeas]

16 hours ago, Fairsailing said:

RCL has an earnings call scheduled for Thursday at 10 am Eastern…..

I think that would be too late for my cruise next weekend. 

[Melcatfish]

Interested to see if any of the major players make announcements about the testing procedures in the next week. I am holding off ordering my tests for a week or so (we leave Vancouver on 21st August on the Serenade)

[rtazz17]

On 7/22/2022 at 4:17 PM, topnole said:

Out govt has been paying for it too.  Them and the insurance companies.  

Ours isnt anymore. Just fyi…. 

[rtazz17]

On 7/22/2022 at 5:03 PM, Ocean Boy said:

Oh some people get the free lunch, it is just simply paid for by someone else.

Yup,some people think free means free. Nothing is free and normally middle class pays for all the free things.

[exm]

So Royal... What's the word?

Edited July 25, 2022 by exm

[LEMJMcC]

No more testing!...no more testing!...no more testing!...no more testing!...no more testing!...no more testing!

 

Wish I could get a wave going!

[pyrateslife4me84]

What is odd is that we are checked in for August 14 Wonder and there is no longer any mention of testing. The pop-up has been gone since last week. It just says “checked in and ready ro sail.”

 

Time will tell. 

[exm]

31 minutes ago, pyrateslife4me84 said:

What is odd is that we are checked in for August 14 Wonder and there is no longer any mention of testing. The pop-up has been gone since last week. It just says “checked in and ready ro sail.”

 

Time will tell. 

 

When was the last time you checked? It disappeared for a while and then came back.

[pyrateslife4me84]

29 minutes ago, exm said:

 

When was the last time you checked? It disappeared for a while and then came back.

I’ve been checking daily for weeks. It only mentioned vaccines, then vaccines and tests, and last Thursday went away altogether. Others report the the same. 

[Saint Paul]

We sail the 21st Aug and the pop up is still there, however, it looks like you're sailing is in the Med. Our sailing is out of the US.

[smokeybandit]

None of the big name lines have said anything, which is a surprise

[exm]

19 minutes ago, pyrateslife4me84 said:

I’ve been checking daily for weeks. It only mentioned vaccines, then vaccines and tests, and last Thursday went away altogether. Others report the the same. 

 

I'm sailing on Odyssey out of Rome on 8/14 and I still see the testing requirements.