I always thought this was a great headline:
Anyway, the cruise industry is whining about new CDC guidelines for cruise ships, and chucklefuck DeSantis is responding by suing the government so that cruisers would get the same freedom as any other Floridian under his rule — the freedom to get sick and die of COVID. As long as part of the deal for anyone boarding a cruise ship in Florida is the understanding that you’ll be locked on board until 14 days after the last positive COVID test, I’m fine with the cruise industry running full blast. The lucky riders on one of these hell boats might hit the cruise ship daily double: COVID and norovirus. They can puke, shit and cough themselves to death.
With the widespread availability of vaccines in the US, the obvious solution is for the cruise industry to require that all passengers be vaccinated. Then, the only issues facing cruisers will be diarrhea and ennui. Instead, since their target demographic includes Foxtards who think vaccination is part of a Jewish/Chinese/Black/Brown replacement strategy, the cruise industry has to do this stupid dance instead.
Since I have no interest in being locked aboard a boat, I would just point and laugh, except for one thing: DeSantis’ lawsuit is part of a plan to minimize the impact of COVID. Republicans who ran states where lots of people died are going to use a two-pronged strategy of whatabout and denial, and by the time 2022 rolls around, they’ll have convinced their moron followers that our entire COVID response was a typical, weak liberal overreaction.
Albatrossity
DeSantis and Abbott are both clowns, not governors. They deny COVID when it is politically expedient to do so, and blame COVID when it is politically expedient to do so. And their states suffer because of the clownishness.
Jerzy Russian
It is hard to decide what would be the worst aspect of a cruise: the spattering of vomit, or the diarrhea part. Is the latter also spattered? If so, then that would be worse I suppose.
Baud
Jim, Foolish Literalist
/pours self a a cup of coffee…./ ‘think I’ll see what’s on Balloon Juice before I fix breakf….’
oh
mrmoshpotato
@Albatrossity:
Fixed. :)
lahke
@Baud:
Unfortunately, the only way I know of to get to Antarctica for the next solar eclipse is on a cruise ship out of Argentina; hoping that everything settles down by December.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Considered reported statements from MAGAtards while they were dying of The Virus they are already there.
Someone at Kos was trying to argue the Trump admin non-response the virus part of some subtle political strategy of Trump’s part. I don’t buy it, these GOPers are to lazy to do strategy beyond grifting for campaign donations and their Base thinks with their hind brains. In the MAGAtard mind disease happens to bad people, so since they are good, they don’t need to worry about the pandemic. The rest is just to their leaders trying to keep up.
mrmoshpotato
Oh to spend thousands of dollars to be trapped on a boat…
Mart
My sister and I were just discussing the totally unfair and likely unconstitutional governmental regulations that required proof of vaccines for me to go to South America and her to go to China. /s
Redshift
And FTFNYT is running yet another glowing profile of DeathSantis…
jonas
Cruise operators are sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place on this one. Norwegian, for example, wants to reopen by having all passengers and crew fully vaccinated. But they can’t technically do that now under the CDC rules. DeSantis wants them to reopen, but also doesn’t want them to require full vaccination for everyone. Given that the majority of cruise passengers tend to be retirees and older adults most susceptible to serious Covid illness, you’d think getting this right would be a priority, but hey, Florida, you do you.
rp
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: I agree with the person on Kos. My pet theory is that Trump knew on some instinctual level that he was better off downplaying the pandemic and taking an anti-lockdown and anti-mask stance because he’d be on the side of the people angry about job losses, etc. As a result, the pandemic and the economic problems it caused actually helped trump, and made the election closer than it should have been and increased his support among some groups like Latinos. I certainly don’t think it was some carefully considered strategy, but he has some primal instinct for survival that kicked in.
mrmoshpotato
@Mart: Other countries clearly hate FREEDUMB!
Hey Blue
FWIW at least one of the major cruise lines has announced that they will require proof of COVID vaccination before boarding a ship (should they ever actually start sailing again).
Almost Retired
I don’t know anything about boat-naming protocols, but whichever Celebrity Cruises marketing professional came up with the “SS Vomit-Spattered Diarrhea Boat” needs to be fired.
gvg
What do the insurance companies think?
What do the receiving countries think?
I think DeSantis has less power than he thinks, though more than I would prefer. I voted for his opponent.
WereBear
@rp: I’m in agreement on tRump’s rat-like cunning when it comes to survival.
But the literal no-brainer part is that liberals believe in science, the common good, and not trying to kill people.
And so, the reverse inevitably becomes the utter opposite, and the course charted by MAGAt leaders.
geg6
You couldn’t have paid me go on a cruise before COVID. Disgusting plague ships, full stop. I’d rather drown than get in a cruise ship now. Pretty much how I feel about a state like Deathsantis’ Florida, too.
waspuppet
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: No, there was no subtle strategy; just I AM IN CHARGE SO EVERYTHING IS FINE.
There is no strategy, ever, beyond grab grab grab and maybe you lose a battle here and there but in the end you’ll end up with more than if you behaved like a decent person and a patriotic American.
And yes, I really hope people are preparing for the Republican 2022 platform (to the extent they do platforms, of course) to be “Trump was right the pandemic wasn’t that bad.” And for the Chuck Todds of the world to agree with them.
Betty Cracker
@Redshift: It’s absolutely mind-boggling, the pass that asshole is getting from Beltway outlets. The local dailies are doing the hard work of uncovering the multitude of fuckups and cruelties, but Politico sets the tone, I guess.
It’s driving me nuts, but I figure we’ll see one of two outcomes:
1) The Beltway outlets relentlessly fluff DeSantis until he implodes on the national stage due to having the approximate charisma and likeability of a bowl of moldy tapioca pudding. (I call this the Pawlenty outcome.)
or
2) DeSantis rides irresponsible coverage straight to the nomination, just like Trump did. It’s utterly terrifying to imagine that arrogant shithead with a non-zero chance of becoming POTUS, but I certainly don’t discount the possibility, and neither should anyone else
@gvg: Excellent points. I think it’s mostly performative, just like the other stupid shit he does, e.g., the “riot bill,” suing social media for muzzling TFG, etc.
dmsilev
According to some of the stories I read about deSantis’s lawsuit, he argued that “because the cruise lines are planning to require vaccinations, they should be allowed to sail”, and of course this is coming from the same deSantis who has been railing against vaccination requirements.
NotMax
Obligatory?
:)
Jeffro
We took an Alaskan cruise/tour package thingy in the summer of 2019 (you know, about a decade ago?)
It was one of the best trips we’ve ever taken. Still can’t believe we got it in under the wire.
I’ll likely never cruise again though, and definitely not on a cruise line that doesn’t require Covid vaccinations.
lollipopguild
@rp: With the other guy the plan was always “How can I be the biggest asshole?” His fans loved it.
rp
@WereBear:
True! And in a sane world and country we’d win ever election by 40+ points.
lowtechcyclist
FTFY, mistermix, and based on the NYT stories, the ‘minimize the PR impact’ part is already a whopping success, unfortunately.
Needless to day, DeathSantis doesn’t give a damn about the actual impact of Covid on people’s lives.
Barbara
@rp: I agree with this, which is why I don’t think it’s 100% clear that we can really take much away from changes in voting patterns in 2020.
Regarding cruise lines, I think it’s the child vaccine status, not anti-vaxxer refusal, that is driving the cruise industry’s position. We had tentatively signed up for an Oceania cruise this summer, which was nearly sold out when Oceania canceled. It was limited to individuals who had received vaccinations. The fact that my son is not yet old enough to get a vaccine right now was likely going to spoil our plan even if the cruise line had not canceled.
So the smaller ships that don’t have kid activities are going to require vaccines, and there are enough people who will seek out “vaccine required” cruises to fill up those ships. But this will never be enough to fill up the larger ships that are maintained by Royal Caribbean and others — as many as 6000 guests, never mind the staff. Even their “small” boats are three or four times as large as Oceania, and their sweet spot is catering to family vacations for people with kids under the age of 16. Those are a no go under the CDC policy. I am not complaining, but it’s not simply pandering to vaccine refuseniks.
Sphouch
I’ve been on two cruises and had a generally pleasant time each trip. Like many things, the negative trend to be amplified, but while it’s no love boat, neither have my experiences been Carnival Triumph.
All that said, I would be willing to cruise again, but not until there some confidence with corralling COVID, e.g. through traceable vaccine deployment.
Jeffro
It’s because he’s a shameless, lying bully just like his orange mentor.
I forget where I saw it, but there was a piece about DeSantis running on ‘competent trumpism’, which is both a huge LOL and also a stunning indictment of trumpov himself, but still…why not just call it “white supremacy without all the self-owns and rage tweeting”?
germy
Good.
lowtechcyclist
@Betty Cracker:
Ever since TFG won in 2016, I’ve not discounted any possibility. I hope I live long enough for this country to have been sane for the couple of decades it’ll take before I’ll feel safe that something like this (or worse) won’t happen again.
Parfigliano
Smart people will be vaccinated. Dumb people won’t. I’m tired of caring about the dumb. Let them die.
germy
@Parfigliano:
Unfortunately the unvaccinated allow the virus to spread and mutate into variations that make the rest of us unsafe.
I’m scheduled for my second pfizer one week from today, but I won’t be throwing my masks away.
Baud
@germy:
?
NotMax
Not my cuppa but my understanding is Disney has (had?) keep ’em feasted and feted cruises down to a science. Including a fairly sizeable troupe of company-exclusive entertainers.
Kay
My husband took my youngest on a trip to Mexico this week- he took all of them on a senior year high school trip and my youngest speaks Spanish, so Mexico. They usually go on spring break of senior year but they weren’t both vaccinated at that time, so they waited at least that long.
I wasn’t in favor of it but obviously they did not listen to me. They obey most of my directives so, win some, lose some :)
germy
@Baud:
One less thing for the former guy to monetize.
Dupe1970
@Albatrossity:
To tour the Texas Governor’s mansion you must follow social distancing requirements and masks are strongly suggested. Weird.
NotMax
@Kay
Reverse caravan!
:)
germy
@Dupe1970:
My local sinclair station runs stories every day sympathetic to the “OPEN UP!!” protesters and business owners, but I notice the majority of their anchors still broadcast from remote (safe) locations.
NotMax
@germy
“Face it, it’s redundant. He couldn’t possibly be less intelligent.”
//
WaterGirl
@germy: That article is from February, and Biden had to sort of walk that back and say that it would be xx person who decides that?
zhena gogolia
@Kay:
I hope it goes well!
mrmoshpotato
Retracted.
WaterGirl
@Parfigliano: But they take other people down with them. That is the problem with the approach you are suggesting.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@Jeffro: We did an Alaska Cruise through Holland America that was fantastic, but we were only actually on the boat for two or three nights, which was plenty for me. Another day and I would have been going stir crazy. We took the inside passage from Vancouver up to Skagway where we got off the boat never to re-board, and then took a train over the pass that goes into the Yukon Territory, boarded a bus to White Horse, spent a night there, then took the bus to Dawson City, spend a couple days there, then a riverboat down the Yukon river to Chicken, Alaska, got back on a motor coach, took that to Fairbanks via a couple of small towns (Tok was one). Then we got on the Great Alaska Railway for a trip from Fairbanks down to Denali, then re-boarded for a ride the rest of the way down to Anchorage. This was round about 2009 and it was pretty great. That said had we been on the boat that whole time I would have gone bonkers. You have to like doing a whole lot of nothing but sitting around and eating to enjoy a long cruise.
Barbara
@NotMax: I have never been on a Disney cruise, but in general, they are relatively shorter (five days) and have more days at sea. It’s more like a floating theme park than a place that takes you to destinations of interest. And, of course, even more so than Royal Caribbean or Carnival, Disney caters to families with kids, who cannot be vaccinated at this point.
Kay
@NotMax:
He’s missing school for it, which I ALSO do not approve of- it’s a full scale rebellion.
They’re extroverts, both. They have suffered, my son in particular. IMO, people like that derive their energy from others and they’re….diminished and sadder without it.
JDM
I’ve done a few cruises and do like them, at least repositioning cruises. Really nice to arrive in Australia or Tokyo with zero jet lag. Zero.
okay, here’s the thing about MAGA types and of course this is just anecdotal. First cruise, pre-Trump, heard some rightwingers crap from fellow passengers. Second cruise, at the beginning of Trump’s term, one and only one – mind you, this one was dressed to cosplay, with the hat and the shirt and all. Third cruise, right in the middle of Trump’s term, dead silence from any rightwingers. Not a scrap of even overheard convo.
Delk
Let it flow, it floats back to you.
The love boat soon will be making another run…
Barbara
@WaterGirl: I honestly think that has yet to be determined. I don’t want to find out the hard way, and I am definitely on board for requiring the vaccine, but I doubt if there is a lot of mileage turning vaccines into the same kind of issue that happened with face masks.
Kay
@zhena gogolia:
So far so good. My son texted me “I keep getting lost!”
Oh, God. Don’t text me anymore. Better I not know.
Jeffro
Exactly this.
Jeffro
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: wow, that is not a lot of boat-time at all! Glad you had a great time.
I liked the shore excursions we did – sea kayaking, whale watching, visiting an Iditarod racer’s training facility – but just watching the landscape roll by while cruising was really, really cool.
(Also bought my first and only ticket to the Nenana Ice Classic ;)
Redshift
@Parfigliano:
Yeah, we’re better off with the vaccines, but there is still no scenario in which the smart are completely protected from the dumb. We need to keep pushing people to get vaccinated or we’ll live in a future where there are outbreaks sometimes and we have to keep getting booster shots, and the immune compromised and other at-risk people having to live in fear of dying from a new variant.
zhena gogolia
@Kay:
He’s having fun!
cynn
@Barbara: I have a 26-day cruise with Oceania booked for March of next year. Small Mediterranean and Adriatic ports. Couldn’t resist the fire-sale price. Still have until October to cancel if things go south.
rikyrah
I do not disagree with you on this. You are indeed correct.
Ksmiami
@germy: death for you- Whole Foods delivery for me… I guess
rikyrah
@Kay:
Well, they are vaccinated….so….that is that….as long as they both come back alive…don’t ask too many questions upon their return.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Where is the youngest going to college?
rikyrah
@germy:
I was looking for the lie.
see none.
scribbler
@Kay: So true! Hope you don’t get too many more “informative” texts and that they have a great time!
rikyrah
I have never been a fan of the cruise. The only one that I ever honestly wanted to take was a long one to Alaska. I thought it was the only way to see all that I wanted to see in Alaska.
With COVID, I don’t know if that will ever happen for me, and I have to admit, I’m sad about it.
Anyway
@Kay:
Where in Mexico did they go? When all this is over I want to go Mexico City and eat tacos…
Kathleen
@Betty Cracker: Beltway will award him bonus points for writing book defending racism and misogyny! (“Not since Donald Trump has a candidate intuited how to engage and fire up his base. Up until now. DeSantis has not only insert Pols**tico Rethug love mad libs but insert more Pols**tico mad libs”.)
Suzanne
@geg6:
WORD.
I just do not see the appeal, and never have. And now, are you kidding me?!?!
JaneE
If not for the crew needed on the ship, I would be happy to let the unvaccinated crowd together on a floating quarantine zone.
Another Scott
@lahke: There’s always a trek to the midwest in April 2024 instead – https://www.greatamericaneclipse.com/
;-)
Still, I hope you get to go. If so, send pictures!!
Cheers,
Scott.
JAFD
My mother (may she rest in peace) had seen An Affair To Remember too many times, so when they launched me off on my own, parents took a round-trip to Europe on the QE2.
Returning home, ran into full-bore North Atlantic gale. Tuned out Father was immune to seasickness. Mother, OTOH, spent the trip in stateroom dieting on crackers and broth.
They didn’t get divorced afterwards, but ’twas close…
JoyceH
@Suzanne:
I’ve never been on a cruise, but for some reason I’m on a mailing list for river cruises. Those look rather nice – because the boats are smaller! Like you can tour Europe or whatever and your hotel comes with you. But those great big cruise ships with all the levels – every time I see one of them I’m reminded of those big horrible public housing projects of the mid-20th. Take a cruise on the glamorous Cabrini-Green!
Sloane Ranger
Have a cruise booked for Christmas this year and another for mid 2022. I thought it was safer to wait for several months after cruising is due to re-start to see how things go before risking myself, even though I could have got a really good deal on earlier cruises.
I came late to cruising but I like it. There’s something about waking up in the morning to find yourself in a completely new place with no airport hassle! The downside are the sea days but I try to choose cruises with the bare minimum of them and the cruise lines fill the time with lectures and other activities so I can usually keep myself busy.
Mike in NC
@JoyceH: River cruises are great; 100-150 passengers. You really get to enjoy the local culture and food. On the other hand, those massive ocean-going ships that can hold 3000-5000 people are best avoided for many reasons.
We hope to take the Viking “Mediterranean Odyssey” when cruises become doable again. It goes from Barcelona to Venice and runs about 13 days.
Ken
@JoyceH: The big cruise ships look so topheavy to me, I always wondered how they prevented a re-enactment of The Poseidon Adventure. Then the Costa Concordia happened, and the answer turned out to be “not completely”.
Brachiator
Took a three hour cruise once. Ended up stranded on an island with a movie star, a rich couple, and some other folks.
Soprano2
@JoyceH: We did a river cruise in 2015 – it was fabulous! I don’t think I would do 2 weeks again, I think I’d do 1 week though. We went through Holland, lots of Germany, some of Austria. It was the Rhine, the Mein and the Danube rivers. I’d do another one in a heartbeat – great shore excursions, fantastic food, and NO KIDS! I was in my mid-50’s, and I think I was the youngest passenger onboard.
scav
See, those dirty sud Americans, coming here with all of their germs and plagues, that’s gotta be stopped! Posthaste! Pasta la Vista! Not to be en-durred. But good ol’ patriot germs, Freedom germs, The Plague of Liberty for all!! microbes, now those carriers must be catered to. They’ve the god damned right to get on those cruises to Mexico and beyond with nary a minute wrinkle in their red carpeted gangway.
Kay
@Anyway:
Oaxaca.
The trips are supposedly “educational” although as far as I can tell they’re pretty random. He took one kid to London and another to Montreal.
This kid does speak Spanish though. We go to a Mexican-owned grocery store because I like their super-fine cornmeal for frying fish and also extremely sugary and childish candy- my favorite. He chats up the whole place, which they really seem to like. I would think they would be judging his fluency but they don’t- huge smiles when he makes the attempt.
Brachiator
@Mike in NC:
A short video about river cruises popped up among YouTube videos a few days ago. I’ve never been, but it sounds like fun.
The video cautioned that sometimes cruise schedules are disrupted if water levels are too high (especially if the ship has to pass under bridges) or too low.
Also, I think they advised not to get cabins too close to the water line.
But good things about food, esp getting off the ship to eat locally, and other issues, and I think, the absence of kids for the most part.
Another Scott
@JAFD: In our long eastern Canada vacation a few years ago, we took the CAT high-speed ferry from Yarmouth back to Portland, ME. It was supposed to be smooth and comfortable. And it kinda was. But it had this weird fast side-to-side oscillation that made me sick. About a dozen of us hug out at the stern in the wind to try to keep our stomachs inside…
I see they are using a different ship now:
Hmm…. ;-)
It looks like the INCAT 059 is in China now.
Cheers,
Scott.
burnspbesq
DeSantis’ lawsuit is frivolous.
It’s time for DOJ to aggressively pursue Rule 11 sanctions against these fuckers. And file bar disciplinary complaints.
Make ‘em pay.
J R in WV
@Suzanne:
Our cruise with Nat Geographic Sea Bird, had 65 passengers and 20 odd crew. Daily expeditions, whale visiting, they nearly climb into the Zodiak to meet people, amazing topography of Baja California, seals, kayaks, snorkeling, decent food, good bar with local native entertainers.
Lindblad adventure travel. Their larger ships are under 200 passengers, which would be about our limit.
Will do another one, all vaccinated.
Repositioning cruise idea mentioned above sounds good. Cunard does trans-Atlantic so one could go to Europe via a ship as in olden times, no jet lag there either.
Less expensive than first/business class flight, if you can spare the time. Food as good as Air France, probably, which is a high bar, actually. Not at all interested in 4-6,000 passenger ship with a carnival on top!
Cassandra (fka mostly a lurker)
I don’t want to feel this way (it goes against everything I believe and try to into practice with respect to empathy), but my first reaction, whenever I hear stories like this, or of Republicans refusing to get vaccinated, is “good! let them all kill themselves off so the rest of the country can get to work on fixing things in peace, sans obstructionists.” Then I feel guilty for thinking that (plus bad karma and all that), but it’s just really hard to control when they’re doing it to themselves, and foisting their utter disregard for the common good on the rest of us.
lahke
@Another Scott:
Already planning on Texas for that one–remember to book early!
Jimmy
Jeez, a cruise vacation can be a very nice thing, at least pre-COVID. Posts like this are the 2021 version of the 70s “I don’t even own a TV.” So easy, so cheap, so elitist.