Copernicus
Industrial Grade Linguist
The CDC recently removed most health safety restrictions on cruise ships, and the cruise industry rushed to take advantage of that. No more masks for passengers, and even vaccination requirements are being dropped where port destinations do not require them. Although my wife and I have never had COVID before, we decided to risk a quick 7-day cruise from Seattle to Alaska just to get out of the house. We knew that masks were optional, except for the crew, but we still decided we would be reasonably safe if we kept wearing masks. That worked well in the past, but not this time. By the end of the cruise, we were the only passengers still wearing masks. That made us stand out, but we didn't care. At least the crew were all wearing masks.
We sailed on the Royal Caribbean Quantum of the Seas, which had roughly 4,000 passengers. To our surprise, almost no one was masked up or making an effort to keep social distance. There was a lot of singing, shouting, revelry--everyone having a good time. Still, we wore masks almost everywhere. Unfortunately, masks are more for effective against spreading the disease to others than protecting against infection. So I ended up testing positive when we got home, although my wife did not. I've never had COVID before, so now I have to quarantine and hope that it won't develop into long COVID. The doctor wrote a prescription for Paxlovid, although he said it might actually do more harm than good. Paxlovid can lead to relapses, and all it does is prevent the spread of the virus in the body. It doesn't actually kill the virus. So I don't think I'll fill the prescription. I haven't had so much as a mild cold since the beginning of the COVID epidemic, but I my symptoms are still mild compared to what they probably would be, if I were not vaccinated.
What mainly worries me is that cruise ships and airplanes are now once again becoming vectors for spreading the plague. There was a breakout on that ship, but nobody knows how widespread it was. No one is keeping track of infections, and most of the 4,000 passengers on my ship headed for the airports after debarkation, not really knowing whether they would be infecting others. Before getting on the ship, everyone was required to have a negative test in order to board, but false negatives are not uncommon, especially with the quick antigen tests. Since many came by air travel after their tests, a certain number would have been infected on the way to the cruise. While aboard the ship, many got off at ports where they would be exposed in shops and restaurants. So it seems that we are entering a new travel era in which people will simply ignore the problem as long as they can. I just hope that we don't get a really lethal mutation of the virus in the future.
We sailed on the Royal Caribbean Quantum of the Seas, which had roughly 4,000 passengers. To our surprise, almost no one was masked up or making an effort to keep social distance. There was a lot of singing, shouting, revelry--everyone having a good time. Still, we wore masks almost everywhere. Unfortunately, masks are more for effective against spreading the disease to others than protecting against infection. So I ended up testing positive when we got home, although my wife did not. I've never had COVID before, so now I have to quarantine and hope that it won't develop into long COVID. The doctor wrote a prescription for Paxlovid, although he said it might actually do more harm than good. Paxlovid can lead to relapses, and all it does is prevent the spread of the virus in the body. It doesn't actually kill the virus. So I don't think I'll fill the prescription. I haven't had so much as a mild cold since the beginning of the COVID epidemic, but I my symptoms are still mild compared to what they probably would be, if I were not vaccinated.
What mainly worries me is that cruise ships and airplanes are now once again becoming vectors for spreading the plague. There was a breakout on that ship, but nobody knows how widespread it was. No one is keeping track of infections, and most of the 4,000 passengers on my ship headed for the airports after debarkation, not really knowing whether they would be infecting others. Before getting on the ship, everyone was required to have a negative test in order to board, but false negatives are not uncommon, especially with the quick antigen tests. Since many came by air travel after their tests, a certain number would have been infected on the way to the cruise. While aboard the ship, many got off at ports where they would be exposed in shops and restaurants. So it seems that we are entering a new travel era in which people will simply ignore the problem as long as they can. I just hope that we don't get a really lethal mutation of the virus in the future.