MIAMI (WSVN) - The Norwegian Pearl cruise ship arrived at PortMiami after multiple crew members tested positive for COVID-19.
Fully vaccinated passengers and crew members were said to be on board the ship that left the port Monday.
The ship was supposed to be sailing toward the Panama Canal, but the ship returned to port early after COVID-19 cases were reported among the crew.
“We just came back from a really nice dinner,” said Anne Amato, a passenger.
Passengers Anne Amato and Chuck Butwill made the best of it. They are staying one more night on the ship before going back to Punta Gorda.
“We planned this trip last year, a year and a half ago, ’cause we thought by now everything would be OK. Surprise, surprise,” said Amato and Butwill.
Wednesday afternoon, they heard an unexpected announcement.
“He goes, ‘Bad news, there’s COVID on the ship, and we have to turn around,'” said Amato.
Not even two full days into their trip passengers were told the Norwegian Pearl was going back to Miami. Some people disembarked as they docked.
“They announced that several members of the crew had come down with COVID symptoms and tested positive, so they cancelled the cruise on us,” said Thomas Gaughan, a passenger.
Those crew members immediately quarantined. The cruise line wrote in a statement: “We will never compromise on health and safety and we will of course, continue to take all appropriate action to ensure everyone’s wellbeing and to protect public health.”
“It’s good that they’re really serious about safety,” said Gaughan.
CDC officials recently recommended people to skip booking cruises for the moment due to the increase in COVID-19 cases.
“We took precautions, washing hands, new face masks all the time,” said Gaughan.
After this happened, some passengers plan to hold off going on another cruise, at least for now.
“Probably wait a little bit ’til this surge passes, and then we’ll see. We’ll definitely go on them again,” said Gaughan.
According to published reports, NCL has also canceled the Getaway voyage that was set to take place on Wednesday.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.