How safe is cruising now a days

Lot of good info in this thread on current state ship protocol and passenger behavior regardless of cruise line, so nothing really to add there.

I would say, be respectful to yourself, fellow passengers and Crew and act appropriately as you would with any contagious illness (strep, noro, flu, etc).

Lysol spray and wipes coupled with good hand washing practices are always your friend in these environments.

Have fun!!

It's honestly not much different, although I will say I've noticed more attention has been given to the cleanliness of the ships. Maybe that was always there and I just never noticed it until now.

You all have hit the nail...hard....which explains why I spend my time playing outside in the dirt, and I've got a bunch of it to play in, or doing maintenance......at least I'm accomplishing something with my time, and avoiding inaccurate, and/or "bad" news....in both senses of the word..I prefer sports...old movies..now that spring is approaching, my attitude will improve with it. As far as cruising goes, we don't care how much extra we have to spend to insure a reasonable (to us) experience. But I have opined, more than once, that we're starting to rethink that..(((sigh))

WOW OPUS, way to go! But you better put on your bunker gear because you might start taking incoming fire from those who still believe that the talking heads on TV are all preaching gospel.

From my observations and experience, I'll put it this way:

There has never been an accurate representation of the safety of Cruising in the media.

The Mainstream Media doesnt care about healthy people, enjoying their lives.

Thats why all you hear about is Norovirus, COVID, and People Overboard in the news, when it comes to cruising.

Case, and Point:

I was on the December 18, 2021 Sailing of Symphony of the Seas.

The News reported 53 People on board, with positive COVID tests.

What they didnt say, was that 52 of the people on board that tested positive, were freshly on-boarded crewmembers that were in the 14-day onboard quarantine period.

The news hasnt been news for a long time, Its sensationalism, to make a buck.

Our last cruise (in January) it was "back to normal" compared to the first cruise out of Galveston when they were allowed to cruise. (we were on the first post covid cruise.) Elevators full, kids hands on food in buffet lines, no body washing hands, hot tubs and pools full, people peeing and sneezing in pools and hot tubs. Main dining room servers not wearing gloves handling food and a shocker on Dream servers clearing tables without gloves on and then bare handed bring the next table servings of food. Yes cruisin is back to normal. On Dream we saw a server standing near a table and sneezed with out coverning up the sneeze. We told the matre d about the sneeze and need to clear and wipe the table.. he said something to a waiter in his native tongue and we never saw the table cleared and wiped down. Yes cruising is back to normal per se, but cutbacks and shortened hours on things cruising will never be back to normal as we remember it

I think all the "as safe as" comments so far sum it up pretty well. I would just add, if you haven't already, please get vaccinated. That is THE biggest factor that will increase your protection and others.

Both ships have those "hand washers"! I just think they are the greatest thing! Some people walk by them and don't know what the are. On our last trip on the Vista, I found one near the back of the ship that I hadn't known about. We were with friends that hadn't used them yet. I stopped and just for fun washed my hands. Our friend was so impressed he hunted down all of the other ones on the ship. He actually missed the one in the Ocean Plaza until later.

Ignorance...stupidity...laziness...I could add a few more but they would be unprintable, but nontheless true...we try to wash...not 100% all the time, to be truthful, but we try...and we ALWAYS bring a small spray bottle of LYSOL...spray a bunch of things in the cabin...the phone, tv remote..cabinet pulls...its like a tradition..then, in all honesty, we're taking our chances like everyone elsde....

ALWAYS BAFFLED ME!! How many people don't wash their hands too! When I was on either the Carnival Vista or Horizon (I can't remember which) and they had the cool new hand washers, I thought surely there would always be people washing hands now! Well, I was wrong lol. That was something I also would scratch my head at when covid became widespread was the constant reminders to wash hands. As a teacher, I would always think "WHO'S NOT WASHING THEIR DANG HANDS!!!"

And hand grabbers at a buffet!!!!! DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED!!!