Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship Reports Dozens of Cases

U.S.|Royal Caribbean reports dozens of cases connected a cruise that near Florida connected Saturday.

• Dec. 23, 2021, 11:55 a.m. ET

Dozens of radical aboard a Royal Caribbean International cruise vessel tested affirmative for the coronavirus aft it acceptable sail from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., connected Saturday, according to the cruise line.

Fifty-five afloat vaccinated passengers and unit members connected the ship, the Odyssey of the Seas, tested positive, the cruise enactment said successful a connection connected Thursday, noting that the fig represented 1.1 percent of those connected board.

The ship, which was connected an eight-night cruise, volition not sail to Curaçao and Aruba arsenic planned and volition stay astatine oversea until it returns to Fort Lauderdale connected Sunday, Royal Caribbean said.

“The determination was made unneurotic with the islands retired of an abundance of caution owed to the existent inclination of Covid-19 cases successful the destinations’ communities arsenic good arsenic unit and guests investigating affirmative connected board,” the institution said. All of the radical connected the vessel who tested affirmative “are afloat vaccinated and mildly symptomatic oregon asymptomatic,” the cruise enactment added.

The Odyssey of the Seas, 1 of Royal Caribbean’s newest ships, made its maiden voyage successful July. It tin transportation much than 5,500 guests and much than 1,600 unit members.

The wellness occurrence was reported soon aft a akin 1 connected different Royal Caribbean ship, the Symphony of the Seas. The cruise enactment said this week that 48 radical connected that vessel tested affirmative for Covid-19 aft it acceptable sail from Miami connected Dec. 11. The vessel returned to larboard successful Miami connected Dec. 18 aft a seven-night Caribbean cruise.

Those cases were identified due to the fact that of interaction tracing aft a impermanent tested positive, the cruise enactment said, adding that 95 percent of the passengers aboard the Symphony of the Seas were afloat vaccinated against Covid-19 and 98 percent of the radical who tested affirmative were afloat vaccinated.

Royal Caribbean requires travelers 12 and older to beryllium afloat vaccinated against Covid-19 and to trial antagonistic earlier boarding. Younger children who are not vaccinated indispensable supply a antagonistic P.C.R. trial effect earlier sailing and trial antagonistic astatine the terminal earlier boarding.

The institution said that each of its unit members were afloat vaccinated against Covid-19 and were tested weekly.

At the opening of the pandemic successful 2020, outbreaks connected cruise ships sickened radical and upended the tourism industry.

Since the cruise manufacture restarted operations successful the United States this June, efforts to support the coronavirus astatine bay person been mostly successful. Most companies necessitate afloat vaccination for unit members and astir passengers, and they enactment strict wellness and information protocols successful place.

But arsenic the highly contagious Omicron variant drives up coronavirus cases in overmuch of the United States and Europe, and disapproval of cruise lines has mounted implicit a deficiency of transparency successful reporting affirmative cases to passengers and unit members, many lines person adjusted their rules for masking, investigating and vaccines.