Would you volunteer to go on a cruise ship again? Apparently, tens of thousands are eager to do so. One of the first trial cruises in the Caribbean did not go well.
The Center for Disease Control (CDCC) lifted its “No-Sail” order on cruise lines calling on US ports as of the end of last month. This does not mean, however, a return to business as usual. The CDCs is providing a “framework for conditional sailing” that requires cruise lines to run “simulated voyages” designed “to replicate real-world onboard conditions of cruising if they want to get permission to recommence regularly scheduled sailings.
CNN reports that the CDC framework also requires simulated cruise voyages to meet a series of requirements — including that passengers are informed in writing “that they are participating in a simulation of unproven and untested health and safety protocols” and, as mentioned earlier, “that sailing during a pandemic is an inherently risky activity.”
Volunteer passengers are also required to be at least 18 years old, and they must confirm they don’t have any pre-existing medical conditions that could make them more susceptible to coronavirus.
To attract potential volunteers the cruise giant Royal Caribbean recently created a “Volunteer of the Seas” Facebook group. Fox News quotes Michael Bayley, Royal Caribbean’s CEO and president, saying that 100,000 people have volunteered.
The first cruises next year may be short trips to CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas, Cruise Industry News reported.
Outbreak on SeaDream I
While there may be no shortage of volunteers, safe cruising is not guaranteed. Last week, SeaDream I, one of the first ships to resume cruising in the Caribbean reported that 7 passengers and two crew members tested positive for Covid-19. The ship was carrying 66 crew and more than 50 passengers when the outbreak was reported.
Passengers were required to have two negative Covid-19 tests prior to boarding the ship and had their temperatures checked daily. The ship embarked from Barbados on November 7 on a sailing that was meant to show that regular testing aboard the ship and other safety protocols could allow cruise voyages to take place safely during the pandemic.
Today, the ship’s owner, SeaDream Yacht Club, announced that it is canceling the rest of its 2020 cruises. The company released a statement which said in part, “The company will now spend time to evaluate and see if it is possible to operate and have a high degree of certainty of not getting Covid.”
Seadream.
End of current story by a captain who did it all to the “T.”
Trying to save/make money will cost people their lives!
Idiots!!!
You can be negative at the start. Yet it doesnt mean your not infected. It took 3 days for it to hit me.
@Willy
Hope you and those around you are not being hit too badly. Get well soon.
Was there words something like “The health and safety of our customers and staff is of great importance to us” in the corporate bullshit?
I had a co-worker who went on two cruises a year for multiple years and he came home, every single time, with cramps and the runs. Every single trip. He and his wife still swear by them.
I don’t know if they still go on the cruises as I have been retired for years now and not kept in touch.
William,
I worked in 18-countries and never got sick once. It’s what you eat and drink!
@Jean-Pierre Declemy. My infection was from someone from Boston breaking quarantine last Febraury. All of the family has had it and recovered. Even father in law whom is 93 survived it.