You really should work on your reading comprehension. They did not reverse their policy in any manner due to DeSantis. They still require proof of vaccination to board the cruise ship if you claim you are vaccinated. As I outlined weeks ago -- there are two paths allowed for cruise lines to return to U.S. service they could: 1) Require that 95% of their passengers be vaccinated. 2) Perform "test cruises" with non-paying passengers at 10% capacity with CDC oversight with safety measures in place -- then get CDC approval to have a lower level than 95% of vaccinated passenger. Be very aware the CDC approval for Royal Caribbean conducting operations from U.S. ports still will require: 1) The tracking of how many passengers are vaccinated with proof submitted. 2) Possibly a lower threshold of vaccinated passengers -- possibly 70% -- rather than the higher 95%. This requirement is still very likely and will be based on the results of the test cruises and evaluation of the data. Bottom line: The cruise lines still require proof of vaccination (if you claimed to be vaccinated) and DeSantis is powerless to do anything about it.
Seeing that proof of vaccination is still required if you claim you are vaccinated -- this Tweet is junk. Let's get back to the Royal Caribbean statement -- “Those who are unvaccinated or unable to verify vaccination will be required to undergo testing and follow other protocols, which will be announced at a later date.”
Royal Caribbean reverses, won’t require passengers on U.S. cruises to be vaccinated hahaha.a.... Owned again, GWB. And with that, I'm off to a BBQ. Enjoy the day posting.
Enjoy your BBQ because it’s not like you are going to take a cruise from Florida anytime in June without having to provide proof of vaccination.
Let's see who the local Florida paper hold directly responsible for blocking the resumption of cruising from the state... Gov. DeSantis, get Florida back in the cruise business | Editorial https://www.sun-sentinel.com/opinio...0210603-pboi2h4kvjcgxdyskw4jxvfpw4-story.html Everyone who claims to favor the resumption of cruising in Florida is helping to make that happen — except Gov. DeSantis. There have been many encouraging developments since we editorialized on this topic three weeks ago, calling for the repeal of the state’s new law banning vaccine passports. The home port of Royal Caribbean’s new 4,284-passenger Odyssey of the Seas will be Port Everglades — the world’s third-busiest seaport. Royal Caribbean is working to start test cruises after the ship arrives next week. On June 26, Celebrity Edge will make the first “revenue cruise” from the port since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the industry. Royal Caribbean also owns Celebrity. The company got to these milestones by working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Because the Edge will meet the CDC guideline of having 95% of passengers and 98% of crew members vaccinated, it won’t need a test run. Edge caters more to adults. Odyssey of the Seas draws more families. Only children 12 and older are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Under the CDC guidance, if test sails show that measures to prevent the virus are working, a ship can qualify to resume normal operations. Royal Caribbean and Carnival dominate cruise business at Port Everglades. Royal Caribbean CEO Richard Fain spoke recently about negotiations between the company and the CDC. “Over the past weeks,” Fain said, “that level of dialogue has improved 1,000 percent and that dialogue has allowed us to understand their concerns. But in addition to that, dialogue has enabled the CDC to understand our concerns.” Fain’s comment reflects the industry’s position. Bari Golin-Blaugrund is vice president of public affairs for the Cruise Lines International Association. She told the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board that there has been “a great deal of progress in the last two months” between the CDC and the companies. Golin-Blaugrund cited several factors. There has been “more focus” on restarting cruise operations by the Biden administration and a “higher level of priority.” In addition, COVID-19 vaccinations have been increasing. Which brings us to DeSantis and Florida’s ban on companies requiring proof of vaccination. The law imposes a $5,000 fine for each customer asked to provide that proof. At that rate, with a full Celebrity Edge, Royal Caribbean would owe the state $14.5 million. By worrying more about his next job than doing his current one, DeSantis has boxed himself in. He urged the Legislature to approve the ban on vaccination passports so he could please Republican anti-vaxxers who will be key in the 2024 presidential primaries. That pandering, however, now threatens the governor’s stated goal of resuming cruise operations. Not surprisingly, the market also disagrees with the governor. In a poll by the website CruiseCritic.com, 80% of respondents said they want fellow passengers and crew to be vaccinated if they book a trip. Even longtime cruisers don’t want to be on the next Diamond Princess or Zaandam, two of the ships that were stuck at sea last year because of coronavirus outbreaks. DeSantis’ other unhelpful bit of grandstanding is the state’s lawsuit claiming that the state, not the CDC, has jurisdiction over cruise ships. Attorney General Ashley Moody could have ignored DeSantis and refused to file the litigation. But Moody — like her predecessor, Pam Bondi — prefers GOP political posturing to acting in the state’s interest. A federal judge referred the case to mediation. We don’t like the state’s chances. Even the sponsor of Alabama’s vaccination passport ban said the state can’t preempt the CDC. In addition, federal admiralty law requires cruise lines to take care of their passengers. Given all the lawsuits alleging that companies ignored safety as the pandemic approached, why would the industry want to appear weak on public health? DeSantis and other Republican governors have claimed that federal privacy laws protect individuals from disclosing health information. That is wrong. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) only prevents health-related entities from sharing an individual’s information. Nothing in the law bars questions about vaccination status and proof of it. Florida’s lawsuit has created uncertainty at the wrong time. Multiple sources tell us that there are negotiations with the governor’s office seeking a compromise. Though companies operate in several states, none matters more to the industry than Florida, where the industry supports an estimated 160,000 jobs. Momentum toward an industry restart finally is building. The director of Port Canaveral, the world’s second-busiest cruise port, predicts that one test run will suffice for ships that don’t meet the 95/98 threshold. “I think the ball is moving in the right direction.” Carnival just got CDC clearance to begin restarting operations at Port Miami and Port Canaveral. Vaccinations are key to continued progress. The companies understand that. On Aug. 1, Celebrity will drop its vaccination age requirement from 16 to 12. The case rate among the unvaccinated is nearly 70% higher than the national average. Deaths and hospitalizations rates also are much higher. Though the vaccines are very effective, they are not 100% effective. Ensuring public health is the cruise industry’s best strategy. DeSantis created this problem for Florida. If he won’t back down on the vaccination passport ban, he will have to find some way for cruise lines to work around it.
"DeSantis for the win" - Rebekah Jones controversy bring's DeSantis' data problems back into the spotlight The controversy over the so-called “case line data,” came into focus again last week when the Miami Herald published a report detailing what the Department of Health knew when it claimed it was reopening the state at the direction of Gov. Ron DeSantis based on data. As the Herald had previously reported, DeSantis’ decision was contradicted by DOH data and sworn affidavits from DOH leaders obtained by the Herald as part of a confidential whistleblower complaint with the Florida Commission on Human Relations by former DOH staffer Rebekah Jones amplify those findings. Case line data is the open health data published by the Florida Department of Health for the public — mostly researchers and public health experts. The affidavits from DOH officials acknowledge Jones’ claim that she was told to remove data from public access after questions from the Miami Herald. A statement filed by DOH also challenges the centerpiece of DeSantis’ pandemic victory narrative: that his strategy to reopen the state was created in a “very measured, thoughtful and data-driven way.”
Governor DeSantis is jizzing his pants that a vocal critic of his has been temporarily de-platformed. I thought he opposed de-platforming -- didn't he just sign a Florida State bill fining tech companies for de-platforming people. Guess he only supports de-platforming when people he opposes are "de-platformed" Typical example of his duplicity. Twitter suspends Rebekah Jones https://floridapolitics.com/archives/434287-twitter-suspends-rebekah-jones/ Twitter on Monday suspended Rebekah Jones, a former Department of Health data curator who made national headlines after being fired from the department for insubordination from its platform. While it is unclear why Twitter suspended the account, the social media giant typically sidelines accounts after they violate “Twitter rules.” Jones reportedly told E.W. Scripps the suspension is in response to a recent Miami Herald story she overshared. The account, she added, would likely be reinstated soon. (More at above url) DeSantis Praises De-Platforming of Covid Critic Rebekah Jones, Just 1 Week After Signing Bill Against De-Platforming https://www.mediaite.com/politics/r...-after-signing-a-bill-against-de-platforming/ Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is praising Twitter’s decision to suspend Rebekah Jones from its platform in a statement released Monday. Jones is of course the former Florida state employee who claimed that the DeSantis administration was fudging the numbers regarding the states Covid-19 infections and deaths, and later accused DeSantis of sending Florida police — or as she called them, claimed she was fired for not manipulating the numbers. Jones has since been officially labeled a “Whistleblower” which gives her legal protection, but inconsistencies in her reporting have done reasonable and serious harm to her reputation. It is not yet clear why she was suspended, but DeSantis’s office did not delay in celebrating the decision, in a statement that said it was “long overdue.” “Rebekah Jones is the Typhoid Mary of COVID-19 disinformation and has harmed many hardworking DOH employees with her defamatory conspiracy theories,” the statement read. “I hope someone will ask Ms. Jones why she thinks she got suspended — will she allege that Governor DeSantis is somehow behind Twitter’s decision? That would be deeply ironic if she tried to spin that falsehood into her conspiracy theory, given the Governor’s stance on Big Tech.” Followers of Governor DeSantis know that he has been a vocal critic of “Big Tech,” and alleged “cancel culture,” so much so that just two weeks ago he signed a bill that punishes social media companies who suspend accounts for users longer than 14 days. That bill is expected to go into law on July 1. So to recap: Governor DeSantis is delighted that a vocal critic of his has been de-platformed, though he is opposed to de-platforming, so much so that he has signed a bill into law that punishes “Big Tech” from the “cancel culture” wedge issue that he so dearly clings to.