Royal Caribbean postpones early July cruise after 8 crew members test positive for COVID-19

[left-of-center2012]

Royal Caribbean has postponed a cruise that was scheduled to set sail from Florida in July after eight crew members tested positive for COVID-19. A simulated cruise that was scheduled to take place later this month has also been postponed. In a Facebook post, Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley said that the company was rescheduling the Odyssey of the Sea's inaugural voyage following the positive tests. The cruise was slated to depart from Fort Lauderdale on July 3.

Bayley said the rest of the crew would quarantine for two weeks and the company would continue with routine testing. Bayley did not say when Odyssey would set sail. He added that "guests and travel partners will be notified and given several options to consider. While disappointing, this is the right decision for the health and well-being of our crew and guests."

The delay comes less than a week after two guests aboard the Celebrity Millenium tested positive for the virus just days before the ship was slated to return to the Caribbean island of St. Maarten for disembarkment.

Florida in recent months, has pushed the federal government to restart the cruise industry, which has been idle amid the pandemic since early 2020. In April, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sued the federal government in the hopes of restarting cruises in his state.

https://www.10news.com/news/national/coronavirus/royal-caribbean-postpones-early-july-cruise-after-two-crew-members-test-positive-for-covid-19

[malaise]

2. Any word from DeathSentence?

That is all

[left-of-center2012]

4. What does that mean ?

[malaise]

5. Ron DeSantis

[left-of-center2012]

7. I get confused when folks make stuff up

[malaise]

8. This one has been around for a while

[left-of-center2012]

11. I'm on DU daily, for hours

Never saw it.

[malaise]

12. I believe you

I miss a lot of stuff and I'm here a lot

[NightWatcher]

3. Were people limping around refusing to take the polio vaccine wondering why they got polio?

Get a shot or two and don't think twice about it.

[Phoenix61]

6. They were working on it.

“Bayley says that the 1,400 crew members of the Odyssey received a vaccine dose on June 4 and were slated to reach full vaccination by June 18.”

[tanyev]

9. Crew members? WTH?

Yes, Gov. Abbott and DeSantis are being a$$holes about cruise lines requiring passenger vaccinations, but surely they would have all their crews fully vaccinated by now.

[Initech]

10. What could go wrong?

[RegularJam]

13. DeSantis needs to lift his policy or he is just going to harm the Florida economy.

and look like crap along the way. If a corporation needs to only serve those who have been vaccinated, as a safety protocol, they should be able to make the decision. An overwhelming number of business entities don't need such a requirement. Some are set up in such a way I don't know how they will move forward without one. You cannot go out on a cruise ship with 2,000 people with no vaccination requirement. Say it's on the low end of nationwide averages and 10% of one cruise are unvaccinated. That leaves two hundred people onboard without vaccination. People will be getting sick. These ships have destinations and the spread will continue. It just doesn't make sense. They also cater to an elderly population. They can't be put in such a situation even if they are vaccinated.

I would say that destination areas should refuse offboarding if a vaccine requirement isn't in place but then they risk losing significant resources. But it is one possible play.

[PortTack]

14. NIH says employers can insist ppl be vaccinated...waiting for them to weigh in on issues like

Cruise ships.

Cruise ship corps would be sooo foolishly not to insist passengers be vaccinated. Talk about throwing more money away

[liberal_mama]

15. These unvaccinated cruises from Florida are going to be a complete disaster!

Especially with the more contagious Delta variant going around. My health department announced that Delta variant was found in my county today. It's probably everywhere now.

[MineralMan]

16. Hello! Cruise Lines! Make Your Crews Get Vaccinated!

WTF? What are you thinking? Norovirus is nasty, but COVID-19 is deadly to your targeted customers.

Get some clues! They're on sale from the CDC!

[Treefrog]

17. That was my first thought! Are their crew not vaccinated?

There’s another reason you’ll never catch me on a cruise, as if I needed another reason lol.

[MineralMan]

19. On most cruise ships, crews are mostly not US citizens.

Or so I understand. So, it can be a bit harder to force things like vaccinations, although I can't see why it would be that difficult to manage.

Personally, I have no interest in going on a cruise ship. It just doesn't seem like a good sort of vacation to me. I prefer to explore my destination in my own way, without being time-limited. Cruise ships dock, you get off, and see what's near wherever it is docked, or go on shore excursions on a bus with a guide.

That just doesn't appeal to me. I went on a 14-day performance tour with an orchestra I played in to Europe. Granted, we had to perform 12 concerts, which also cut into tourist time, but we basically rode the bus all day, performed in the evening, and had very little time to explore the places we stopped. It was fun, because playing music in cathedrals and famous concert halls is fun, but it didn't turn out to be much of a vacation, really.

[Treefrog]

20. Yes, I agree that cruising is not the best way for traveling, at least not for independent sorts.

I think you’re right that most crew are not American citizens, but it seems the companies could provide the vax and make that a condition of employment. Seems that would work, but maybe not.

[LiberalFighter]

18. They really know what they are doing. sarcasm

[Vinca]

21. Why would any sane person want to board a floating petri dish? And pay for the privilege.