Getting back to Normal–or at least the “New Normal”

 This week I saw a bunch of the same old posts again when looking at the Temptation Cruise groups to see who was going. Instead of the normal pics, flirting, and getting-to-know-you posts, I found lots of “Do we really have to wear a mask?” and “If I have to wear a mask, I’m canceling!” posts.

It was like a flashback to last August when we had 743 cancellations right before our Naughty N’awlins event because of the city-wide mask mandate that went into effect days before the event was to start. I heard the same stuff that I am seeing on the social media threads, so much complaining, and it’s all about nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Everyone is so worried that they will have to put on a mask. No one is complaining about having to put on a mask at the airport, in the taxi or Uber, on an airplane, or going into a restaurant, but if I have to wear one for 2 minutes on the ship… they are going to cancel. 

Give me a break.

No one had to wear a mask at Naughty N’awlins and no one is going to be wearing a mask on the Temptation Cruise. Stop complaining and just go already. Turn off your computer, stop looking at your phone and go enjoy your life.

Here are some photos from the recent Groove Cruise Charter which just got back.

 Look at these people having the time of their lives. They aren’t on Facebook, they aren’t complaining and guess what… they aren’t wearing masks.

Check out the Atlantis Oasis 30th Anniversary Cruise (annual gay cruise) charter that went out last week:

I see lots of people having fun… but no masks.

None of the charters are requiring masks, neither are any events I am seeing, nor resorts or hotels. Have you watched an NFL football game recently? 

Mardi Gras is coming up, in fact, parades have already started rolling, Jazz Fest in New Orleans just released their lineup (note: the initial lineup looks great!). Things are finally getting back to normal.

Does this mean Covid is gone?

No, in fact, cases are up and the Omicron strain has become the dominant one throughout the world. But the good news is that as fast as cases skyrocketed up, the amount of cases is falling just as fast. This is exactly what happened in South Africa and luckily, this strain is not nearly as deadly while there are a record amount of cases, hospitalizations and deaths are down.

Will this help us reach herd immunity faster? I’m not sure, but I do know that a LOT of people just got it and now they have the antibodies and this should help slow down the spread in the oncoming months.

We are all ready for “this thing” to be over with, but this is not going away, It is our “new normal”.

Covid will hopefully weaken and become more like a cold or the flu, and fewer and fewer people will be hospitalized and die. That’s the best we can hope for because the likelihood of another lockdown doesn’t seem possible. People have been locked up for nearly two years and I just do not think we can go back to that solution again. 

We will never go back to the normal that we knew before 2019, but I’m glad that there is some sense of normal finally starting to replace the old normal.

So please stop going onto Facebook and complaining about mask mandates that are not going to be enforced or crying because you have to wear one when you board a ship. You just wore one from California to Miami without batting an eye. You can wear it until you get onto the pool deck and you finally get that Pina Colada that came free with the Temptation Cruise.

It’s time to deal with a few minutes of inconvenience so you can get back to normal onboard the party boat so you can sail maskless through the Caribbean, sipping on rum drinks, while others are stuck back home complaining more on Facebook.

Because they canceled their cruise.

So they can stay home and be miserable.

Don’t be that guy.

 Don’t be a Karen.

 Be a Bob.

 It’s a lot more fun.