[dougjb]

For all of you lovers of cruise ships, I admire your loyalty. I think we all hope for a return to normal as soon as possible. But, I would also urge all of us to take a deep breath and realize if we are patient a bit longer and do not jump the gun, we may have gain a stronger semblance of normality.

But, for those of you full of such aching for a cruise, I urge you to hold back a bit longer and with till there is an all clear. Walk with me in the following scenario. Suppose cruise ships start their rounds again and for some reason they do not require vaccination passports or are otherwise negligent in their cleanliness (needless to say, norovirus keeps entering my thought pattern). Perhaps someone slips through the cracks. Then what happens if there is an outbreak, either major or minor on board. What might be the reaction? Is it possible that the ship will be quarantined with guests confined to quarters. Some of you may love cruises but for whatever reason, perhaps economics, restrict your expense by taking an inside cabin (sans windows). How many days do you think you could stand being locked in that floating coffin before you start thinking it was foolish to take the cruise that early until things settled down? Such an early failure of a return to normalcy can delay us for far longer than if we simply bit the bullet for a bit longer.

It's just a thought.

Nevertheless, there are a lot of so-called "experts" on this thread who think that by bellowing their information a bit louder or through caps, they are more convincing. I view these individuals as well meaning, but with unproven credentials. Reading a CDC release and cherry picking the information is not expertise. Instead, I will wait for those who have epidemiological credentials of the highest calibre to guide me as to when it might be appropriate to start traveling or cruising again. Even then, I might add on a couple of weeks or months after the all clear. I don't think I'd want to take the chance, even as a fully vaccinated person of infecting others or perhaps getting sick myself. I care about others. We are all walking this planet together and I will not be subject to selfish whims.

We have come a long way and sacrificed a lot of good times to destroy what semblance of normalcy is growing.