Days after nearly 50 passengers and crew members aboard Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas ship tested posted for COVID-19, another Royal Caribbean vessel skipped docking at two island countries after 55 passengers and crew tested positive for the virus.
The Odyssey of the Seas departed Fort Lauderdale, Florida for an eight-day voyage on Dec. 18, and was slated to make stops in Curacao and Aruba, The Washington Post reports. However, after the COVID-19 outbreak among the 5,000 vaccinated people aboard the ship, the decision was made to avoid those islands “out of an abundance of caution due to the current trend of Covid-19 cases in the destinations’ communities as well as crew and guests testing positive on board,” said a statement from Royal Caribbean.
The ship is reportedly carrying 3,587 passengers and 1,599 crew, and 95% of them are said to be vaccinated.
“During routine weekly testing of our fully vaccinated crew members, there were test results that came back positive for COVID-19,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday night, USA Today reports.
Everyone who has tested positive “are fully vaccinated and mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic,” according to Royal Caribbean. “Close contacts were also identified and they each immediately went into quarantine.”
“We are sailing with a layered set of health and safety measures in place to make our cruises the safest vacations possible,” the statement said. Those who tested positive are reportedly being monitored by an on-board medical team.
The same day Odyssey of the Seas left Fort Lauderdale, the Symphony of the Seas returned to PortMiami after 48 people tested positive for the virus on that ship, theGrio reported.
Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas ship, one of the world’s largest cruise ships, required COVID-19 vaccination for the nearly 7,000 passengers and crew who set out on a seven-night Caribbean voyage that departed Miami Dec. 11.
The ship made stops at St. Martin, St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Bahamas before returning to Miami Dec. 18 after an outbreak of four dozen COVID cases, the Miami Herald reports.
A statement from Royal Caribbean said the 48 passengers who tested positive “were identified as a result of immediate contact tracing after a guest tested positive.” They were either asymptomatic or had mild symptoms, per the report.
“Each person quickly went into quarantine. Everyone who tested positive was asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, and we continuously monitored their health,” the statement said.
Royal Caribbean requires all passengers ages 12 or older to be fully vaccinated. Crew members are fully vaccinated and tested weekly. Masks must be worn except when eating and drinking or participating in certain activities.
In August, 27 people tested positive for COVID-19 on a Carnival cruise just before the ship made a stop in Belize City, The Associated Press reported.
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