If you ever graduated from any college or university in America, then you are familiar with how these institutions now make money – after they long-ago stumbled past the point of “Go Woke, Go Broke”.
SPORTS is the big moneymaker – but not every alumnus shells out for tickets – much less ponies up the big donation bucks for a locker room to be named after their family.
For the “humanities” types, and the “cultured corporate elite” types, and most of all the “seniors with too much time and money” types, a different approach is needed.
Enter the “alumni cruise” racket.
For several thousand dollars each – not counting your air fare to the correct continent or port city – you can visit a half-dozen famous cities and see their most famous historic sites. And don’t worry if those cities are land-locked – you can take a river cruise to see THOSE, too.
Surely, if you went to college, and the college has your address, you get those slick brochures for alumni cruises as a heavy component of your “almost junk” mail.
In the past, these cruises were always a bit of a temptation, even though we really couldn’t afford one. Nonetheless, we were always on the lookout for THE ONE VACATION CRUISE that would get two thumbs up, as well as the whole obstacle course of reality green lights.
However….. before we ever got around to taking an alumni cruise…..
ENTER COVID-19.
COVID-19 was actually PROPAGANDIZED using a cruise ship – the Diamond Princess – which was helpful to the plotters in the short term, but not in the long term, as the ship turned into a laboratory which – in the hands of independent science – ended up debunking 90% of Faucism.
LINK: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2020/03/16/diamond-princess-mysteries/
ARCHIVE: https://archive.ph/ofJAo
Let me drop some of the SWEET graphs out of this thing, as a way of TEMPTING you to click the links.
But let us not digress into YET ANOTHER worthy critique of the “clot shot” itself.
Instead, let us note the following:
- cruise lines were one of the biggest victims of COVID-19 fear-mongering, and the universe of stupid policies it spawned, ceasing all travel for over a year.
- when travel on cruise ships was once again allowed, cruise lines were encouraged to be draconian in their policies for travelers, requiring vaccinations, masks, etc.
- the wicked media HOUNDED the cruise lines for months, jumping on every COVID case at sea, trying not only to prevent the cruise lines from opening back up, but insuring that the lines would thereafter adopt and cling to draconian measures.
NOW – here is the problem.
I have watched these stupid brochures, to see exactly how “COVID-woke” these cruises would be, because there is no way in hell that I’m going to get a COVID vaccination to travel – particularly with a vaccine that is very likely to aggravate my various post-COVID ailments and conditions.
Initially, the brochures attempted to use COVID fears as a selling point, BRAGGING incessantly about just how safe their cruise ships were, due to vaccine and masking requirements, which were in place for all travelers and crew.
Indeed, I was afraid for a while that this kind of thinking might spread, but my worries were unfounded, as just the opposite happened. I suspect that cruise lines initially got SOME takers for these “safety cruises”, but then quickly learned that the MASKY FEAR DEMS WHO WERE WILLING TO TRAVEL were in fact a small and hardly profitable minority.
Most of my “masky” and “vaxxy” Dem friends and neighbors are unwilling to go out to eat at a restaurant, much less take a cruise. There simply CAN’T be many takers for a cruise in that crowd.
Thus, it wasn’t too long, before “mask pride” and “vaxx pride” disappeared from alumni cruise brochures, only to be replaced by the back-fold section of “oh, by the way, you must be vaccinated” requirements.
That went on for a while, and it was fairly easy for me to quickly determine that – YES – there was still a vaccine requirement for all passengers and crew.
Now I thought THAT state of affairs would go on forever, but – surprise, surprise, surprise – I was wrong. It sure looks like there are NOT enough people willing to get vaccinated, for these alumni cruises to make the money they need. Because the next thing they did was to make the COVID vaccination requirement extremely tiny, hard to find, or both.
REALLY! You don’t say. Ashamed of your COVID vaccination requirement? Gettin’ in the way of the CASH? You have to DUPE old people with FINE PRINT that’s impossible to find, or to read without a magnifier?
THAT was when I started having a good laugh.
GO WOKE – GO BROKE. YET AGAIN!
Hardy-har-har. The SCHADENFREUDE was most excellent.
But that’s not the end of it! Oh, no!
Oh, those silly old people with their PATIENCE, their TIME AT HOME, and their MAGNIFYING GLASSES. Apparently, microscopic print and bizarre, changing locations on the brochures were not enough to deter foolish old seniors from REJECTING cruises with vaccine requirements.
So what did the VACCINE CRUISE sellers do NEXT?
I am now seeing MYRIAD “artful dodges” of the COVID vaccination questions – almost ALL of which end up as follows:
- reader must go online and dig through numerous links to confirm that – YES, STUPID BARBARIAN – vaccines are required
- question is not answered, in such a way that….
- passengers must sign up, accepting moneymaker cancellation requirements
- requirements will be announced prior to the trip, too late to get all your money back, but with plenty of time to get the vaccine ahead of the “we don’t want them to drop dead on our boat” vaccination window of two weeks prior to embarkation
Here is an example of the FIRST case, where you get a link, go online, and get repeatedly redirected. Eventually, you get to HERE:
AH! So that’s the shift of responsibility. So go read more…..
LINK: https://www.uwalumni.com/travel/covid-update/
This is a long page with lots of nice, happy, and less than helpful information, and at the end you are told to go check with the individual cruise lines, thankfully provided as links.
Here is where one link goes – for Oceania Cruises.
LINK: https://www.oceaniacruises.com/health
At least THEY are direct, and don’t send you to a gazillion more pages.
Scroll down, click around, and eventually you get this:
Let’s include that as TEXT for our low-vision friends.
ALL INDIVIDUALS (GUESTS & CREW) MUST BE VACCINATED
All guests sailing are required to be fully vaccinated, at least 2 weeks prior to departure, in order to board. For embarkation from European ports, the EU definition of fully vaccinated is as follows:
A passenger or crew member who carries a proof of vaccination, and at least 14 days and no more than 270 days have passed since the last dose of the primary vaccination series or if the person has received a third dose.
Any guest whose primary COVID-19 vaccination will be beyond 270 days at the time of disembarkation from their voyage must have a COVID-19 “booster” at least 14 days prior to embarkation.
To visit our FAQ for the latest vaccine protocol information and accepted vaccines, click here.
So that’s it. You must be vaccinated.
Now, the SECOND type of DODGE doesn’t even resolve the ambiguity. This technique is absolute FOOT IN THE DOOR.
On the brochure, you find THIS, in fine print on the back page.
COVID-19 Health and Safety Protocols: The well-being of our guests and staff members on tour will continue to be our highest priorities. To maintain a healthy environment for travel, we will be establishing and adhering to a detailed set of health and safety protocols for all facets of your tour. We are committed to following the guidelines of the State Department, CDC, WHO, and authorities of respective countries regarding travel to a particular destination. Detailed protocols for this tour, based on conditions at the time, will be provided approximately 115 days prior to departure.
There is no way to make a SOLID assessment from this level of information. In fact, the only way to get a HINT is to search the brochure for information as to the identity of the cruise line itself, and to research that company’s current and likely future policies on vaccination.
SO – does it seem to you that “THEY” have now switched from LURING you into vaccination, to actually CORNERING you into vaccination?
That’s what it seems like to me.
Here is a simple message for these cruise lines, universities, and alumni associations.
We are NOT signing up for a cruise that does not PROMISE us that we don’t have to be vaccinated. We don’t care about testing – that’s a great idea on a cruise. You should be testing the VACCINATED people most of all. I’ll even explain the SCIENCE of that fact to the captain and chief medical officer at dinner.
But we won’t be getting vaccinated.
And if that means NO CRUISES EVER, well, then, TOO DAMN BAD.
No cruises ever.
Think about it, y’all. Think about it REAL GOOD.
There are plenty of other vacations out there.
W
