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Test Cruises And Volunteering: 8 Need-to-Knows & Watch-Outs !
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Jan 28, 2025
You're about to discover why volunteering for one of the free test cruises the lines have to run in the United States may not be as good a deal as it sounds. I explore 8 things you need to know about the test cruises that all cruise lines are required to run in the United States before they can return to running regular cruises with paying passengers. PLUS some big watch-outs to help you decide if you should volunteer. BECOME A TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS MEMBER ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Become a Channel Member to get perks: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join Become a Patron on Patreon and get perks: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTs --------------------------------------------------------- Check out my T-Shirt range: http://bit.ly/TFTStore FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA --------------------------------------------------- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/garybembridge Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tipsfortravellers Instagram: http://www.instgram.com/garybembridge LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bembridge TikTok: @garybembridge
View Video Transcript
0:00
you're about to discover why
0:02
volunteering for one of the test
0:04
cruises the lions have to run in the
0:06
united states
0:07
may not be as good a deal as it sounds
0:10
i am gary bembridge and in this episode
0:13
of tips for travellers
0:14
i explore eight things you need to know
0:17
about the test cruises
0:18
that all cruise lines are required to
0:21
run in the united states
0:22
before they can return to running
0:24
regular cruises
0:26
with paying passengers plus
0:29
i'm going to give you some big watch
0:31
outs to help you decide
0:32
if you should volunteer first off what
0:36
exactly
0:37
are these test cruises and why do lions
0:40
have
0:40
to run them test cruises are the
0:44
second stage of a four-stage process the
0:46
u.s
0:47
centers for disease control and
0:48
prevention the cdc
0:50
requires cruise lines to go through to
0:53
get approval
0:54
to resume cruising in and out of u.s
0:57
ports
0:59
the first stage covers crew safety
1:02
building laboratory cover 19 testing
1:05
capability
1:06
and putting in place other physical
1:07
changes onto ships so things like
1:09
ventilation
1:10
medical center upgrades and even
1:12
isolation cabins
1:14
so once that's all done and signed off
1:16
by the cdc the cruise lines
1:18
have to run these test cruises to show
1:20
that they are able to
1:22
as the cdc puts it mitigate the risks
1:26
of covet 19 on board its cruise ships if
1:28
they pass
1:29
these test cruises they can then apply
1:31
to resume cruising
1:33
so these are really really important now
1:36
all of the lines
1:37
have to run these so for example
1:39
carnival corporation
1:41
will be running them for all of their
1:43
lines that they plan to operate
1:45
out of u.s ports so that's going to
1:46
include things like carnival
1:48
princess holland america and then even
1:51
for lines like
1:52
cunard that call into the u.s ports
1:55
because the cdc
1:56
includes any cruise ship carrying over
1:58
250 people
1:59
entering u.s waters to have to go
2:01
through this
2:02
now although most people have assumed
2:05
these will be cruisers
2:07
they may not in fact actually be
2:09
cruisers the cdc itself
2:11
does not require ships to set sail and
2:13
go out to sea
2:15
though the lines will decide of course
2:17
that some will as i'll talk about in a
2:19
minute
2:19
the cdc calls for and requires only what
2:22
they call
2:23
simulated voyages in their framework
2:27
for conditional sailing which lays out
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all the different rules they say i'm
2:30
going to quote here
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simulated voyage means a mock voyage or
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series of mock voyages
2:38
designed and implemented insofar as
2:40
possible to replicate
2:42
real-world onboard conditions of
2:44
cruising with measures in place to
2:46
mitigate the risk of covert 19.
2:48
so amongst all that long complicated
2:49
definition note
2:51
the repeated use of the description mock
2:55
voyages so if you do decide to volunteer
2:58
for one of these
2:59
which some lines are already allowing
3:01
people to do
3:02
you should not assume you're signing up
3:04
for an actual cruise
3:06
and my watch out here is check and
3:09
carefully understand what is actually
3:10
being proposed
3:12
line by line as you look to volunteer so
3:14
for example
3:15
royal caribbean on their facebook page
3:17
where they call for people to express
3:19
interest in taking part in one of these
3:20
they call them and again i'm going to
3:22
quote here
3:23
simulated trial sailings and not
3:26
cruisers now most
3:27
of the over 40 000 people already in
3:29
that group
3:30
clearly are thinking these will be
3:32
actual cruises based on the discussions
3:34
i'm seeing in that group
3:36
now these simulated trial sailings may
3:39
not
3:39
leave the port and the ship could
3:41
actually remain at the dock
3:43
while the lines simulate and run through
3:45
the various procedures that are
3:47
required however some definitely will
3:51
set sail
3:51
for shauna in the cdc document they have
3:54
an option for cruise lines
3:55
to test out excursion protocols using
3:58
their private island shore excursions so
4:01
it's very very likely that at least some
4:03
if not all ships will
4:05
of course set sail for the likes of half
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moon key great syrup key or perfect day
4:10
at coco
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key some however could remain docked
4:14
alongside
4:15
for several days something you may want
4:18
to keep
4:18
in the back of your mind as you look at
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this whole area of volunteering
4:23
there are a number of restrictions on
4:26
who will be allowed to take part
4:28
in these cruises now here's what
4:30
criteria you need to fulfill
4:32
to be able to volunteer for one of these
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tests firstly
4:35
the cdc requires all volunteer
4:37
passengers to be at least
4:38
18 years old so no kids and family
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groups
4:42
they did not specify an upper age limit
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certainly i think as of yet now secondly
4:47
they require all their volunteers to
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have and again i'm going to quote this
4:51
a written certification from a health
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care provider
4:54
that the volunteer passenger has no
4:56
pre-existing medical conditions
4:58
that would place that individual at high
5:01
risk for covert 19
5:02
as determined through cdc guidance so
5:05
again a complicated
5:07
definition but it is worth noting that
5:08
the cdc already lists a lot of
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conditions
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as high risk in covert 19
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in their guidance today these includes
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obesity cancer
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diabetes copd pregnancy weakened immune
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system asthma and even
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high blood pressure they also repeatedly
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across their guidance have
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age as a high risk so we may see age
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limits become part of the final advice
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thirdly the volunteers must not be
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offered participation
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in return for employment or what the cdc
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call
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future reward so don't expect added
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future perks and discounts if you
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volunteer and take part because that
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is not allowed personally i also predict
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that volunteers
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close to ports running tests like miami
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port canaveral
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port everglades and so on are going to
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be those most likely selected
5:58
for simplicity and ease almost certainly
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with the current travel restrictions and
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state of the virus
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these will be for usa residents only
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i want to specifically call out that
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volunteers will have to wear masks
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on these tests as i know this is a huge
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huge issue
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for many cruisers this will definitely
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put some of you off
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volunteering both the cruise line
6:22
developed protocols
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and the cdc document have masks and face
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coverings
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required for embarking and disembarking
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for use inside the ship at all times
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other than when seated
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for dining and drinking and when not
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possible to have a six foot
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physical distancing out on deck so a lot
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of potential areas for wearing masks
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lines without a shadow of a doubt will
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be enforcing this
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on these tests because it's a really hot
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topic for the cdc there will of course
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be a raft of various other protocols
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that i've covered in other videos
6:55
and articles that you'll need to follow
6:57
as these of course are going to be key
6:59
to the test
7:00
on seeing what works and what doesn't
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work
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now these tests are not designed to be a
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vacation
7:08
these test voyages are exactly that
7:10
they're an opportunity for the lines
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and the cdc to assess their new health
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and safety protocols and all the
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different
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situations so don't expect a cruise
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where you're going to be able to go off
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and do your
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own thing all the time you're going to
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be required
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to take part in all sorts of activities
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and drills and as
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you will see that's going to include a
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period
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where you're going to be quarantined in
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your cabin
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now according to the cdc these simulated
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voyages
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will have to include test runs for at
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least six
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different things which everyone will
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need
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to take part in number one invocation
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and disembarkation procedures that's
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going to include
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terminal check-in and all the screening
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now this will include testing
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before boarding peer side and another
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before being able to disembark
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at the other end of the trial both will
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take
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much longer than pre-pandemic in europe
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where cruisers were
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operating with these new protocols have
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been running check-ins been taking
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between one and a half to three hours
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two on-board activities will of course
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take place including
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using dining and entertainment venues
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with all the new physical and social
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distancing measures it might include
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things like
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venues having limits on capacity
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possibly booking to attend
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served buffet dining all those kinds of
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things
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three evacuation procedures this will
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greatly be
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changed where you'll be testing the new
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e-master drill this is fantastic because
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you now use
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in-room video and the cruise line app
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but there will of course be a drill
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simulating uh having to evacuate an
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emergency so that's one drill you'll
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have to take part in the fourth
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thing is a drill covering the transfer
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of what
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can be identified as symptomatic
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passengers and crew from their cabins to
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isolation rooms
9:03
the fifth thing is quarantining of all
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remaining passengers
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and non-essential crew to their cabins
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they don't say yet for how long this
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quarantine drill
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will be on these test cruises the sixth
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thing
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is for those that are sailing uh testing
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out the private island shore excursions
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there will be a number of cover 19 tests
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and screenings especially
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as the cdc wants a lot of data to help
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make the decision
9:30
on off if all these new protocols are
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actually working
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now this is going to include based on
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the cdc framework a minimum
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of two tests which i touched on earlier
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one before boarding the ship on the pier
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and again before being allowed to
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disembark the ship
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you may also have to do one as part of a
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screening
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before leaving home to join the test
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cruises this is mentioned specifically
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in the document now importantly these
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tests will be
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the laboratory-based pcr swap tests
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and not the rapid tests that uh are
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being spoken about a lot
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now the reason being the lab tests has
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much lower scope
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for false negatives and positives and
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they're more able to pick up
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asymptomatic cases now this is something
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that's really important it was
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highlighted by the sea dream outbreak in
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november
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they were just using the abbott
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laboratory fast test and it didn't pick
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up
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asymptomatic passengers of course one
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additional thing to consider
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is that the cdc say they will require
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the cruise ship operator to
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immediately end the simulated voyage if
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covert 19
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is detected during the simulation now
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there's as much as we saw happen with
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the outbreak
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in sea dream in the caribbean in
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november as soon as an outbreak
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end of the cruise now despite a lot
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being known about
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these tests as i've covered there are
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three key unknowns
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that will evolve over the coming weeks
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as i see it
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firstly exactly when they will take
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place
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line by line based on the steps that the
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lines are going to have to take
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these voyages will almost certainly only
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take place in early 2021
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the sun lines are hoping to try and get
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some in right before the end of the year
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this is why for example we've seen lines
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like carnival
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cancel all their schedule cruises to the
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end of january
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already secondly in terms of unknowns is
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how long the tests will be
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at this stage despite repeated inquiries
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the cdc has not publicly said
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how long they will need to be so this is
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something we're still waiting for
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thirdly what the final numbers who and
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how the volunteers will be chosen
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and what costs the volunteers will have
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to incur like getting tuned from the
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ships and it's not actually 100
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clear these will be free cruises at the
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moment the lions are starting to let
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people like you
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sign up to show interest the royal
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caribbean site has had over 100
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000 people sign up so far so this is
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the key watch out that you need to know
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that i hope help you decide
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if you should volunteer for these
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required
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test cruises as the opportunity arises
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i hope it helped clarify things
12:10
if you found this interesting why not
12:13
enjoy another
12:14
of my tips for travelers episodes packed
12:16
full of cruising
12:18
updates tips and advice right now
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