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Update: The case was a false positive. The passenger had two negative tests after returning to port.
As I reported last week, Royal Caribbean recently started cruising again on Quantum of the Seas out of Singapore. Unfortunately, despite all of the precautions and pre-boarding testing, this week a passenger on board was diagnosed with Covid. This should surprise almost no one. The ship had to return to port, and Royal Caribbean canceled the next sailing.
The passenger who tested positive was 83 years old. He visited the ship’s doctor with gastrointestinal issues.
Good News/Bad News
The good news is that passengers did not have to quarantine on the ship for weeks like what happened in March and April earlier this year. After returning to port, passengers disembarked and were required to be tested before returning home.
The bad news is, passengers had to remain in their cabins for the last day of the cruise. Crew members delivered meals to individual rooms throughout the day. That is not a fun way to spend a day on vacation.
It’s very unfortunate that this situation happened even with all of the precautions and low infection rate in Singapore. I do think that right now it’s inevitable that Covid will sneak on board. The cruising industry needs to figure out how to safely handle on-board Covid cases so that they don’t negatively impact everyone’s cruise. Until that happens, I don’t see cruising re-starting in the U.S. anytime soon.
Are you surprised at this development? When do you think cruising will re-start in the U.S.?
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Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
Rush Holidays, India’s leading online travel company was founded in the year 2005.
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Not surprised at all. I don’t see cruising as a viable option until 2022; and even then I’m skeptical.
Not surprised. We aren’t booked for a cruise until September It will take many months until the vaccine reaches into the general public worldwide and throttles transmission. Already UK is reporting anaphylaxis or anaphylactoid reactions.in sensitive folk, so dashed is the notion that vaccines will be one-size-fits-all or in-and-out-and-done. The best hope for the cruise industry is to cruise with virtually 100% vaccinated people or those who have already recovered from Covid-190. Boarding tested people, with real or fake test results, is just not entirely effective at stopping the virus.
I hope your September cruise happens. I have one scheduled for October.
You make some valid arguments. I’m just wondering how practical any approach will be. I guess on the hardcore side of things the cruise companies could have their own contracted companies do antibody tests a certain time frame before the cruise. That would be about as close to airtight as possible but would people go for it?