cruiseindustry

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line is seeking volunteers to test its cruises as it restarts voyages following suspensions during the coronavirus pandemic.

Why it matters

The US Center for Disease Control lifted cruise suspensions on Oct 31st, but cruise lines must conduct test sailings in the advent of new health protocols in the industry. Then cruise lines can officially begin taking passengers onboard.

What they say

Royal Caribbean’s Senior Vice President, Sales, Trade Support and Service, Vicki Freed, said, “We’re going to be doing a series of sailings using our employees and other volunteers to test out the new protocols and make tweaks and modifications to ensure that everything is running smoothly and still deliver that Royal Caribbean amazing vacation experience.”

What are the requirements?

• A volunteer will be you must be 18 or older.
• They must have written proof that they have no pre-existing medical conditions that would place them at high-risk for COVID-19.
• They must follow testing protocols, including rapid testing before embarkation and disembarkation.
• Volunteers must submit to the cruise ship’s monitored observation period
• Volunteer passengers will be informed of the “inherently risky activity” of their test sailing with untested health and safety protocols.

What’s being tested?

• Embarkation and disembarkation procedures, including terminal check-in
• Activities on aboard, including dining and entertainment venues; the ship must modify meal service and entertainment venues to facilitate social distancing during the simulated
• Private island shore excursions (if a port is visited)
• Evacuation procedures
• Transfer of symptomatic passengers or crew, or those who test positive for SARSCoV-2, from cabins to isolation rooms
• Quarantine of all remaining passengers and non-essential crew

Volunteers can sign up at https://www.facebook.com/groups/rcibackatsea/

Featured Image: Royal Caribbean Cruise

Five passengers aboard SeaDream-1 have tested positive for COVID-19. It is the first Caribbean cruise in the market to set sail since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

The ship set sail from Barbados last week Saturday, but the seven-day voyage was cut short after the first case was discovered. The ship re-docked in Barbados late Wednesday night after the discovery.

Gene Sloan, a journalist aboard the ship, broke the story.

Why it matters

• SeaDream 1 is the first line to make a comeback since March. It raises the question of whether or not cruises are safe as they attempt to return to the Caribbean. On its first cruise, there are cases.
• The Caribbean is the biggest cruise destination, thus cruise lines have been targetting a relaunch in the region.

The details

• The ship’s doctor and Barbados’ health officials performed further testing of the passengers and crew and confirmed the new cases.
• The ship contained 53 passengers and 66 crew members on board.
• The ship was anchored in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and was on its way to Grenada when the discovery was made.
• Passengers and nonessential crew members were asked to isolate themselves in their rooms.
• Passengers had to test negative for COVID-19 test several days before boarding the ship, and the day the ship set sail.
• A 3rd test was required yesterday, Wednesday 11th.
• Ship captain Torbjorn Lund announced that one passenger felt ill before the test.
• A doctor on board the ship and an assistant are testing passengers and crew using three Abbott ID Now testing machines that the vessel carries on board. The machines only can process one COVID-19 test every 15 minutes, which has made the testing process relatively slow.

What are passengers saying?

Ben and David Hewitt-McDonald, writers of a cruise blog who have been aboard the ship for nearly three weeks told The Daily Beast, “We are really upset because we really felt like the passengers, crew, and cruise line took COVID very seriously yet it still managed to get on board. SeaDream requires double the amount of the tests as the CDC will require going forward. So we ask ourselves is testing the way forward if it can still get onboard such a small ship?”

Featured Image: SeaDream website