Just Cruises Plus

Late last week, the CDC recommended that people avoid cruises regardless of vaccination status.  Are they right?  The CDC has a checkered past regarding previous recommendations.  Therefore, we must examine the latest recommendations regarding cruise ships with some caution.

The cruise industry has been at the forefront of creating safety protocols. Major cruise lines are requiring that all passengers be fully vaccinated and tested prior to boarding the ship and some test at points throughout the cruise. Cruise lines have been transparent in their reporting. No other industry has implemented such stringent rules.

According to the Cruise Lines International Association:

“The decision by the CDC to raise the travel level for cruise is particularly perplexing considering that cases identified on cruise ships consistently make up a very slim minority of the total population onboard—far fewer than on land—and the majority of those cases are asymptomatic or mild in nature, posing little to no burden on medical resources onboard or onshore. No setting can be immune from this virus—however, it is also the case that cruise provides one of the highest levels of demonstrated mitigation against the virus. Cruise ships offer a highly controlled environment with science-backed measures, known testing and vaccination levels far above other venues or modes of transportation and travel, and significantly lower incidence rates than land.”

CLIA adds that “many of our members have announced additional measures in response to the Omicron variant, including strengthening testing, masking and other requirements, as well as encouraging booster vaccine doses for those eligible.”  We at Just Cruises Plus have witnessed first hand the protocols that cruise lines have put in place and which they evaluate and adjust on an ongoing basis.

If you are already booked for a trip, we are keeping you updated on safety protocols. If you’d like to plan a trip and have questions about the current safety protocols in place for a particular cruise line or travel company, please give us a call at (215)364-3310.

We wish you a happy and healthy 2022!

Breaking News! The CDC is giving clearance to the cruise lines to begin sailing from US ports beginning in mid-July! While we await the specifics, come learn with us at a virtual event with Celebrity Cruises.

Celebrity will host the virtual event on Tuesday, May 4th, 4-5 PM ET. This event will focus on post Covid19 sailings. The event is for selected travel agencies and their clients. There will be an opportunity for you to ask questions of the Celebrity staff, so we encourage you to attend. Join us and learn with us as Celebrity shares its future.

Registration is by invitation only. Celebrity has reached out to us and we in turn are reaching out to our clients.

NOTE:
– When you register, please list Just Cruises Plus as your travel agency.
– You may leave the captain’s club number blank during the registration.

Click for More Information and Registration

Despite great news from pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, it will be many months before a significant portion of the population is vaccinated.  Meanwhile, masks are still the best defense against Covid-19.

If you intend to cruise in the next 18 months, we urge you to book your cruise before November 30^th.  If you book a cruise before  November 30^th, most of the major cruise lines are allowing you to cancel that booking at the last minute and receive full cruise credits.  This is in addition to the current policies in place.  Each cruise line has slightly different rules so you should call us so we can go over the rules with you.

Booking by November 30^th allows you to take advantage of these “cancel for any reason” options.

— Click here to view the full report —

The recommendations of the Healthy Sail Panel, sponsored by Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, are now available.  Here is a status update and summary of findings:

Healthy Return to Sailing – Status Update and Summary of Findings

The recommendations of the Healthy Sail Panel have been submitted to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in response to a request for public comment on the CDC’s current No Sail Order.  The Healthy Sail Panel, formed in June, consists of globally recognized experts experienced in various disciplines including public health, infectious diseases, biosecurity and marine operations.  The Panel has spent the last several months studying how to best protect the health and safety of guests and crew.

They’ve made 74 recommendations across the following five core focus areas that every cruise operator should address to reduce the risk of infection and spread of COVID-19* on cruise ships:

– Testing, Screening and Exposure Reduction

– Sanitation and Ventilation

– Response, Contingency Planning and Execution

– Destination and Excursion Planning

– Mitigating Risks for Crew Members

Among the recommendations are key strategies such as:

– Taking aggressive measures to prevent COVID-19 from entering a ship through robust education, screening and testing of both crew and guests prior to embarkation

– Reducing transmission via air management strategies and sanitation practices

– Implementing detailed plans for addressing positive infection onboard, including contingencies for onboard treatment, isolation and evacuation

– Closely controlling shore excursions

– Enhanced protection for crew member

It will take several weeks for the CDC to review the recommendations of the Healthy Sail Panel and to respond with feedback.

*Note:  The report references SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2). This is the virus that causes the disease COVID-19.

Click here to view the full report

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, Co-chair of the Healthy Sail Panel

When will it be safe to cruise?  To answer this question, the Royal Caribbean Group (Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Azamara and Silversea) and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (Norwegian Cruise Line, Regent Seven Seas and Oceania) have jointly formed a panel of public health, infectious disease, biosecurity, hospitality and maritime experts.  The panel is co-chaired by Dr. Scott Gottlieb (former FDA Commissioner) and Mike Leavitt (former Secretary of Health and Human Services).  You’ve probably seen Dr. Gottlieb interviewed on TV regarding Covid 19.  The group is called “Healthy Sail Panel”.

The job of the panel is to come up with procedures, guidelines and recommendations for the cruise lines to use to keep their passengers and crew as safe as possible.  The group is expected to come up with recommendations by August 30^th.  We’ll let you know as soon as they make their report.

Royal Caribbean has come up with a new and novel method to meet Safety at Sea requirements while keeping passengers safe from crowds.  The following (from their website) describes this innovative procedure.

“Royal Caribbean Group is replacing one of the least-loved but most important parts of a cruise vacation — the safety drill — with Muster 2.0™, an entirely new approach to delivering safety information to guests. The innovative program, the first of its kind, reimagines a process originally designed for large groups of people into a faster, more personal approach that encourages higher levels of safety.

With Muster 2.0, the key elements of the safety drill — including reviewing what to expect and where to go in case of an emergency, and instructions on how to properly use a life jacket — will be accessible to guests on an individual basis instead of a group approach that has been followed historically. New technology, eMuster^TM, will be used to help provide the information to guests via their mobile devices and interactive stateroom TVs. Travelers will be able to review the information at their own time prior to setting sail, eliminating the need for the traditional large group assemblies. The new approach also enables everyone on board to maintain better spacing as guests move about the ship, and it allows guests to enjoy more of their vacation with no interruption.

After reviewing safety information individually, guests will complete the drill by visiting their assigned assembly station, where a crew member will verify that all steps have been completed and answer questions. Each of the steps will need to be completed prior to the ship’s departure, as required by international maritime law.”

Of course, these procedures will be available to all companies that fall under the Royal Caribbean Brand:  Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, Azamara Club Cruises and Silversea.

Thank you, Royal Caribbean!

Throughout the pandemic crisis, our clients have been served with the utmost care.  Up until recently, our service had been strictly by telephone and email to meet the legal requirement of Pennsylvania.

On July 8th, after putting all recommended safety measures in place, we opened our office to in-person visitors.  Our pandemic office hours are weekdays from 10AM to 3PM.  Visits are by appointment only and masks are required.  If you need to come in at a different time, call and we’ll do our best to accommodate you.

Click here for the Destination Puzzle

We have not missed a beat throughout this pandemic crisis.  All of our clients are being served with the utmost care.  So far, our service had been strictly by telephone and email to meet the legal requirement of Pennsylvania.

We have some clients who like to plan their cruise in a face-to-face environment. Therefore, in accordance with state guidelines, we will be opening our office for visitors by appointment only beginning Wednesday July 8th.  We will wear masks and we ask that our visitors do the same.  Our pandemic office hours are weekdays from 10AM to 3PM.  If you need to come in at a different time, call and we’ll do our best to accommodate you.

In the meantime, we have been visualizing all of the destinations we look forward to experiencing.  We thought it would be fun to share with you a photo of one of our treasured destinations – in jigsaw puzzle format.  Once you complete the puzzle, email us (info@justcruisesplus.com) by next Thursday with the photo’s location.   We will select from all who respond with the correct photo location – the winner of the drawing will receive a $25 shipboard credit which can be used on a future cruise.

We are looking forward to seeing you and helping to plan your next travel adventure.  Until then, we are still here to serve you by phone and email!

As you well know, Covid-19 has been especially hard on the travel industry.  Airplanes are flying practically empty and cruise ships are not sailing at all.  In fact, there was a day last week when Norwegian Cruise Line indicated that they might not be able to survive. However, they secured loans enabling them to stay in business.

Just Cruises Plus has no debt and we are well capitalized so we will be here to serve your travel desires when this dastardly virus is no longer a threat.  Many of our phone calls in April were from people who needed to cancel a cruise.  If you were one of those people, you know that we were here to answer your questions and to explain your options.  We have heard horror stories from people who booked directly with the cruise lines and who called their cruise line and spent hours on hold trying to get someone to help them.

Some people think that they can get a better price by booking direct.  This is absolutely not true.  We offer the same or better “deals” and we give much better service.

Please keep in mind that the “Plus” in Just Cruises Plus means that we are here to meet your travel needs even when they do not involve a cruise.  We can get you on a safari to Africa, the Outback in Australia or the beaches of Normandy.

Currently, and because of the requirements of the government, our office is not open to visitors.  However you can reach us by telephone between the hours of 10AM and 3PM from Monday through Friday.  At other times, you can call and leave a message and we will get back to you within the above hours.  Our telephone number is (215)364-3310 and we welcome emails at info@justcruisesplus.com.

We wish you good health and look forward to serving you.

— Wayne Leese, Rachelle Leese and Terry Devlin