COVID, the Delta Variant, & Cruising
COVID, the Delta Variant, & Cruising
We’ve been getting a few concerned calls about COVID, the Delta Variant, & Cruising.
Let’s face it; you can’t turn to any media outlet without the Delta Variant being splashed all over the headlines.
Unfortunately, the media wants to sell newspapers and not necessarily bring you all the necessary facts.
As we all know, bad news sells.
No one is going to read an article about the number one seller of girl scout cookies. But talk about people dying, and people will read that. Right?
Where Are you Safest to Avoid COVID & the Delta Variant
If you are vaccinated and never leave your house or let anyone else in your house, that is likely the safest place to avoid COVID and the Delta Variant.
However, that isn’t very practical.
You will need a haircut, you might venture to the store for groceries, and heck, you might even get wild and crazy and go out to dinner. Right?
But when you venture out to these places, you have no idea of who you might come in contact with. Has that person in front of you in the line at the grocery store been vaccinated? Are you going to catch COVID from your waiter? Heck, are you safe in the doctor’s office?
Of course, that answer to all of that is: who knows?
Is a Cruise Ship the Second Safest Place on Earth to Avoid COVID?
Now, this might seem to be a stretch but go with me on this.
When you hop aboard a cruise ship, you have the confidence to know that everyone aboard that ship is fully vaccinated. Further, you know that everyone who hops aboard that ship has just received a negative PCR test. And further, you know that everyone aboard that ship is going to be tested every single day.
Answer me this: where else on earth can you go and know that everyone is vaccinated and that all have negative PCR tests?
I can’t think of anyplace. Can you?
So in my humble opinion, you have far more chance of getting COVID if you go shopping than you do hopping aboard a cruise ship.
But What About Breakthrough Cases?
I’m glad you asked. As I shared in last weekend’s COVID Update article, breakthrough cases are to be expected. However, the percentage of reported breakthrough cases is only .00004041%. The overwhelming majority of new COVID cases are happening among the unvaccinated.
Therefore, not to be nonchalant about the seriousness of the COVID virus, other than your home, you’re likely safest aboard a cruise ship.
Right? Is my logic flawed in some way?
So What’s My Point?
I understand that we all watched in horror back in the early months of 2020 as folks were stranded on cruise ships, with some of the passengers dying. It was horrific.
But the simple truth of the matter is that things have changed considerably.
Cruise lines have made significant strides in their onboard prevention. And with no one allowed on board without a negative PCR test and a full vaccination, an ocean cruise is quite likely the safest way to travel right now.
So while we would never aggressively argue this point with our clients, I think this needs to be pointed out and recognized.
If you would like to discuss this further, or perhaps you are now ready to book a fun ocean cruise, we’re only a phone call away.
For more information, please call Roaming Boomers Travel Services at (480) 550-1235 or use our convenient online information request (click here), and we’ll reach out to you.
Additional Reading: CDC COVID-19 Vaccine Breakthrough Case Investigation and Reporting
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I recently traveled on Viking for the Bermuda cruise, July 20 sail day. While all passengers were fully vaccinated. The crew was Not! They are working to achieve that status but they not there yet for the Orion. Perhaps other ships are fully vaccinated. As far as I know, there were no reported passengers that tested positive on our cruise. Once home I insisted we get tested again. Negative. Love Viking. That was our 10th cruise with them. We will cruise again, but might be awhile. Congrats on your recognition.
Why with all that
Viking has done with the safety measures they have taken to insure their ships are safe and extremely clean. Why on earth would they allow any of their staff to be unvaccinated? I don’t understand. How could this happen?
I am
glad the previous posters commented. THEY are correct. I called Viking 2x and was told the crew are not necessarily vaccinated. It is irresponsible to omit this fact when your target audience are older, potentially vulnerable boomers. Yes, if true, your article will sell cruises, but sadly, there are more crew than passengers as we all know. You may want to consult your business attorneys to see whether you should publish a correction.
Agree, the crew should be vaccinated. What is Viking’s position on this matter?
Good morning folks. When I wrote this article, there was purposely no mention of any particular cruise line. So, I’m not sure how this morphed into a conversation about Viking.
However, let me say this; all cruise lines desire to have their crews fully vaccinated. If a particular ship’s staff is not fully vaccinated, I suspect it is a function of getting the vaccine in the ship’s location. And, if that is the case, I’m further certain that there is an “all hands on deck” to get the vaccine.
Regarding Viking, I’ll reach out to our contacts to see how they are progressing with full vaccination for their crew. Stay tuned for that. And thank you for your passionate concern.
I received this reply from Viking regarding their crew’s vaccination status: “We are almost 100% with everyone on at least one shot. Fully vaccinated by Sept 8.” It is also worth noting that Viking also requires a PCR test every day from all crew and guests utilizing their onboard PCR labs.
Stumbled onto your website while doing a google search – great info I need to bookmark it! I appreciate you sharing this information regarding crew vaccinations. A group of us are scheduled to depart on a Viking cruise in October. Another concern we have is whether we will even be allowed off the ship at the different stops in various countries as right now it doesn’t seem so. Wondering if Viking will cancel and refund money vs. just a credit which expires? It’s not really the Viking experience if we can’t disembark and participate in excursions. Any thoughts?
Thanks for stopping by. Regarding the shore excursions, it really depends on where you are. We just returned from Bermuda, and Bermuda requires masks inside buildings, but outside we were fine.