Not a good sign for cruise ship industry return before vaccine

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cozcharlie

Contributor
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Location
Cozumel, MX and Houston TX area
# of dives
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Very small (53 passengers + 66 crew) cruise ship tried to do a test run from Barbados that included pre-boarding testing and on ship testing. Had to abort mid-cruise and return to Barbados due to virus outbreak.

Cozumel will probably have to limp along until vaccines widely available (hopefully 90% efficacy holds up, or at least doesn't go to 50%). As I have said many times before--I don't like most cruise ships, but island economy desperately needs the return of at least some of the ships. People are limping along they best they can with giant hole in economy.


[https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/caribbean-cruise-seadream-1-covid/index.html]
 
Mexico will take any ship that is willing to dock there. The big problem is literally everywhere else cruise ships go. Basically every stop EXCEPT Mexico requires onerous testing and other protocols for entry. The cruise industry is going to need to do a lot of work to figure out how they'll ever be allowed to stop in those places again.
 
Very small (53 passengers + 66 crew) cruise ship tried to do a test run from Barbados that included pre-boarding testing and on ship testing. Had to abort mid-cruise and return to Barbados due to virus outbreak.

this sounds odd to me. i can only assume that whatever protocols were put in place were faulty or not executed properly.

my humble opinion.....if a passenger is required to submit a negative test result "X" number of days prior to boarding, if secondary screening is done while boarding, every crew member provided a negative test and has isolated on board well before any passengers are allowed on, and if social distancing, hand sanitizing, and mask wearing is practiced on board, then how do you get an "out break" ?
 
this sounds odd to me. i can only assume that whatever protocols were put in place were faulty or not executed properly.

my humble opinion.....if a passenger is required to submit a negative test result "X" number of days prior to boarding, if secondary screening is done while boarding, every crew member provided a negative test and has isolated on board well before any passengers are allowed on, and if social distancing, hand sanitizing, and mask wearing is practiced on board, then how do you get an "out break" ?

It just takes one unreliable test result...
 
this sounds odd to me. i can only assume that whatever protocols were put in place were faulty or not executed properly.

my humble opinion.....if a passenger is required to submit a negative test result "X" number of days prior to boarding, if secondary screening is done while boarding, every crew member provided a negative test and has isolated on board well before any passengers are allowed on, and if social distancing, hand sanitizing, and mask wearing is practiced on board, then how do you get an "out break" ?
Ports. The "bubble" pops as soon as the first passenger sets foot ashore.
 
Very small (53 passengers + 66 crew) cruise ship tried to do a test run from Barbados that included pre-boarding testing and on ship testing. Had to abort mid-cruise and return to Barbados due to virus outbreak.

Cozumel will probably have to limp along until vaccines widely available (hopefully 90% efficacy holds up, or at least doesn't go to 50%). As I have said many times before--I don't like most cruise ships, but island economy desperately needs the return of at least some of the ships. People are limping along they best they can with giant hole in economy.


[https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/caribbean-cruise-seadream-1-covid/index.html]

:shocked:
 
Ports. The "bubble" pops as soon as the first passenger sets foot ashore.

silly me. i guess i just assumed people would follow proper protocols especially when on shore. but i suppose **** happens right ? or maybe people just don't follow them. thats the chance you take i guess.

i wonder if any cruise lines considered offering on shore activities that would only be for those on board? to try and keep that " bubble" intact. not very practical though.
 
My reading indicates that no ports were visited. One person tested positive - spread quickly to seven causing the ship to turn back to Barbados. Two negative tests per passenger were required to disembark.
 
silly me. i guess i just assumed people would follow proper protocols especially when on shore. but i suppose **** happens right ? or maybe people just don't follow them. thats the chance you take i guess.

i wonder if any cruise lines considered offering on shore activities that would only be for those on board? to try and keep that " bubble" intact. not very practical though.

Carnival has plans to take their passengers to separate isolated beach areas for shore excursions to prevent them from roaming around where they stop. Sounds fantastic.
 
My reading indicates that no ports were visited. One person tested positive - spread quickly to seven causing the ship to turn back to Barbados. Two negative tests per passenger were required to disembark.
They left on Nov. 7. The itinerary was stops the next 5 days at ports in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, then one day at Grenada, then back to Barbados. The first diagnosis was Wednesday, at the 4th port of call.

Interesting. I found this from a travel writer who is on board: The first cruise ship to resume sailing in the Caribbean is having a COVID scare

In addition to Union Island [where they were when the first positive test was returned], SeaDream 1 has visited St. Vincent and the Grenadine islands of Canouan and Tobago Cays during this voyage. But passengers on the vessel have not come in contact with locals on the islands. In order to maintain a COVID-free bubble on board, off-vessel activities have focused exclusively on landings at empty beaches for swimming and sunning, and catamaran trips from the ship for snorkeling.

Passengers have not visited any island towns.

If you read this his first article - I just boarded the first cruise ship to sail in the Caribbean since March. This is what the process was like - which covers the extensive safety precautions taken prior to embarkation, it's hard to avoid the conclusion that cruising will be essentially impossible to perform safely until general vaccination had been achieved.
 

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