The CDC has added cruise ships to its list of Level 4 destinations to avoid due to high levels of COVID-19. More than 80 countries around the world have already included cruise ships in its list of unsafe destinations. Cruise ships are expected to pose some risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission, so it is crucial for people planning cruise ship travel to be up-to-date with their vaccinations and assess their risk. Many cruise lines have lifted their COVID-19 vaccine and masking requirements, and if a passenger contracts the virus, they offer medical treatment.
However, cruise lines still have safety protocols in place. The CDC is currently monitoring over 90 cruise ships for Covid-19, with an increase in cases since identification. Most cruise lines require adult passengers, and many cruise lines have dropped COVID-19 vaccine requirements and further eased testing rules in early September.
From July to November 2021, cruise ships accommodating COVID-19-vaccinated individuals implemented almost identical nonpharmaceutical protocols. However, COVID generally presents a lesser risk nowadays, with most people having some level of immunity from vaccination or previous infection.
The live map of affected cruise ships shows that many of the crew have COVID, and while they are offering refunds or credits to passengers who have not yet boarded, many are still going. The cruise contract still has verbiage alluding to what to expect, but there is no clear indication of what to expect.
📹 Covid-19: Cruise ship bookings drop dramatically
A travel agency says bookings for cruises have dropped by double digits, along with cancellations due to Covid-19. House of …
📹 COVID-19: The Inside Story Of The Diamond Princess Coronavirus Infection | Outbreak Onboard
In early February 2020, the Diamond Princess cruise ship was quarantined off the coast of Yokohama, Japan. Hundreds of …
Kudos to my uncle. He is one of the crew members in that said cruise ship. They were locked up in the ship for almost a month and he possibly got infected by one of his crewmates cuz he was one of the last people to got out of the cruise ship. He has no choice tho because they were told that they might get fired if they stop working and go into isolation. We were so worried rlly. After he finally reached our homeland he was even been quarantined again for another 3 weeks and found out he has covid. He got isolated on his family for 2 months, and thankfully he beat covid. He’s now currently taking a break as a seaman. I’m proud for my uncle. Thanks goodness he didn’t suffered very bad from it. It’s just glad to see him alive and well again after the first anniversary of this incident.
My friend was on this ship for over a month until she finally got evacuated to California where they were then quarantined again. When she tried to fly back to China (where we live) she was informed she was on a do not fly list. When she was finally allowed to fly China had banned foreigners so she has been literally trapped away from home for 6 months as a result of being on this cruise.
My grandparents were on this ship during this. My grandma had been diagnosed with heart cancer but did not tell us before going because she didn’t want us to tell her she couldn’t. When on the ship my grandma started to get sick. They were scared it was because of covid so they evacuated her off the ship with nearly nothing but her phone. My grandpa had to stay on the ship which meant that my grandma, with heart cancer, doesn’t know Japanese, and had barely anything was all alone. We shortly lost connection to my grandma because her phone had died and she didn’t know how to ask help from the doctors because none of them spoke english. My grandpa and my family were very scared because we had know that before they left my grandma was having health complications and didn’t know what they were doing to her. A few days into them being stuck my dad got a call from my uncle who is a doctor. I was sitting right next to him and the time and I could hear my uncle talking. My uncle got connections to my grandmas doctor and found out that she had cancer. That was really terrifying to hear. I was scared that she might die there. We could all tell that my grandpa was getting very depressed because he was stuck in his room all alone. We would call him and my dad would talk to him about basketball just to get his mind off of things. After a while my aunt connected to one of her friends who were in Japan to help my grandma. They were able to talk to the doctors and get her a charger for her phone so we could talk to her.
Them saying “we’re not ready to go home!” and then having to stay on board because of the COVID outbreak reminds me of how me and my friends were like “omg I hate school I hate this place I’d do anything to get out of here” school closed due to there being COVID cases around our area and uh yeah we never went back and regretted ever saying it. Be careful what you wish for.
Im in a nursing home. Weve been on lockdown for 8 months. We got word yesterday that, by appointment only, we are going to be allowed 15 minute in person, socially distant visits with family. Not gonna lie. I cried. I am so happy! It feels amazing to think I might be able to talk with my father without a pane of glass between us.
It has brought into sharp relief how germs / bacteria / viruses spread. The best and saddest biology experiment ever. I can remember perusal the news and seeing this unfold. There was another ship as well where no-one was infected and they had to stay on board too. Condolences to everyone who lost their loved ones
This subject still gives me traumatic flashbacks. I had to stop perusal the news because my mental health was completely destroyed by everything that was going on. I remember the news about this ship on tv but I never really got deep into what happened. God, it hurts to see how really trapped we all were. All the deaths… All that unveiled. I’m glad to see happy stories from this terrible moment.
I am impressed by the speed you were able to put a documentary together of something that happened so recently. It was kind of surreal to watch it too. I am living in Japan, and I saw all of this unfold day by day on the news, yet perusal it now (not even half a year later) it sounds so far away, with all the infection data we have now and all the countries affected, that I am shocked to stop and think that yes, just five months ago things were like this
I was returning from a mini cruise from Amsterdam back to the UK on the 13th February and that’s about the time they started to do worldwide coverage of the Diamond Princess. In the morning as we were all waiting to get off, they were playing the breaking news about there being a death on board it and the quarantine of their cruise liner. There were about 250 people in this waiting area with the big screen projector playing this and we were all silent and scared. Little did we all know that would be the last part of normality we would see for a long time.
It’s funny how when I watch a documentary of an outbreak this big, it’s usually a thing in the past and I didn’t live through it, hence I could only sympathize and use it only as information. But now, I’m actually living it. This documentary gives me flashback of how intense and scared everyone all over the world was during this diamond princess cruise ship case. It was the first evidence outside China of how infectious the virus is; double that with the general idea of cruise ship being a petri dish of bacteria and viruses. I remember very well how cases started popping up in more countries all over the world, mostly in Asia first, soon after this cruise ship. It’s as if this cruise incident finally wakes us up to the horror of the reality that this virus has a high potential to cause a pandemic. I don’t just sympathize with it anymore, I can still remember the chills running down my spine during those months, every morning, when I woke up to another dreadful news about the virus.
We were on Royal Caribbeans Harmony of the Seas in February perusal what was unfolding on the Diamond Princess. How the hell cruise companies kept inviting passengers onto their ships at the end of February and beyond and the fact people still went was just incredible. And people were still desperate to cruise in April and May while cruise companies were giving them hope that it was possible. Crazy
One of the really interesting things with the whole pandemic is how important it is to recognise real danger early. Myself, I’ve been on one cruise and although it was enjoyable I’d never do it again, especially after now knowing the shocking conditions for the crew. And just knowing there is the possibility of being stuck on the ship is enough to put me off.
I work in hazardous waste and when we enter a contamination zone we are completely covered from head to toe and taught how to properly remove our PPE by going through a decontaminated zone so that we don’t get contaminated or bring contamination with us. What the professor from Japan said made so much sense to me. We would do drills with shaving cream. It is easier to understand how contamination is spread and how important it is to decontaminate. Try getting out of your PPE without getting shaving cream on you is easier said than done. They really needed to zone areas, but did not have the training. I feel in the case of the diamond princess it was the ventilation system as well as the improper decon of items that caused the spread in aerosol form and it kept re-infecting people. There was a case study done on a family from Wuhan had gone to a restaurant in Southern China and it was the ventilation system that caused people at other tables to get infected. This is so sad. 🙏🏻 prayers to all affected by this.
One of the reasons I will not go on a large company cruise ship is that at the end of the day, they put business ahead of humanity. They did not help their workers and even threatened to send their names to the company’s headquarters?!! They were AFRAID and woking tirelessly! Also, I don’t understand how that tiny windowless room with 4 people is even legal. I hope God Blesses all those who had to endure on this ship. Shame Shame Shame on Diamond Princess.
Working at saudi i was infected by corona virus march 23 2020 . I dont have travel history. Corona virus attack my body at nigth By: diarhea,backpain, legs pain, fever, cough, bloated, soarthroat, tiredness shortness of breath and lost of memory a severe infection . I nearly died. Luckily i survive i boost my immune system by eating a lot. To fight the corona virus. I treated my self by boiling water with 4 spoon of salt and inhale the smoke. Dringking turmeric, tea and exercise breathing, after i defeat the first infection. I infected again by second time, same treatment boil water with salt. So be carefull everybody corona virus will infected 2 or morethan that. Announce to everyone Keep social distantcing corona virus is not a joke.
Their actually hero’s. Someone had to feed the people stuck on the ship. I’m sure it was a tough choice the cruise liner company had to make. Nobody from any government was going to come on board and do their jobs. They were already on the ship too. I just don’t think they should of had to work 13 hours a day
Nice documentary. I was really sad perusal this as I had the chance to cruise the Diamond Princess in Nov. 2018. It’s a beautiful ship and had lots of fond memories cruising with them. Both the Diamond and Ruby Princess are currently anchored in Manila Bay alongside two dozen or so other large cruise ships form Carnival, Costa, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, P&O, Cunard including the Queen Elizabeth, among others and most of the Princess Cruise fleet.
I am a crew member that was onboard during this whole period. I must say tha Princess Cruisess took extremely great care of all the guests and crew onboard. The guests were given everything and anything thay wanted for free. I strongly feel that two people from this article (Suryatapa Bhattacharya and Maggi Morris) do not have a clue about what they are talking and their facts are completely wrong.
This is a national disaster. I feel so bad for all of those people who got infected aboard the ship and around the world. I hope everyone gets better and that no one else gets COVID 19. I hope people keep on wearing masks, and keeping their distance even though it’s extremely hard on everyone. What a scary virus. Stay safe, everyone.
It’s so sad, from one human being to all those families who lost someone due to the covid19 I send you my sincere condolences and may the person who lost their lives may they rest in peace!!!! As I’m perusal this article I started to cry because I am so upset. I wonder if this was done because of the population of people that are growing around the world that maybe that’s why someone invented the coronavirus. Just imagine if there were no more wars, all countries worldwide would live in peace, love, and respect!!!
Such an amazingly REAL account of this snapshot of these peoples’ lives. It was hard to not become emotional while perusal this documentary. Now as we are coming to the end of 2021, it is surreal to see how our world has evolved to the needs associated with this virus that is still such a threat. It makes me wonder if we will ever get to the point where we can talk about this deadly virus in the past tense.
Really, Diamond Princess did all they could to keep the passengers safe, especially given that we didn’t know then what we know now about it. They did the best they could with *what they had*, and should be commended for doing all they could. As soon as the first case hit, they basically shut down, which is more than could be said for other ships, like the Ruby Princess.
The most insane thing about this cruise line is that I was on another ship in February 2020 right before the worsening of the outbreak and we actually saw the cruise like princess docked in the middle of the ocean (she was near a docking station but definitely nowhere close to letting passengers off). We were arriving at our final stop for the 7 day cruise actually. At the time my family and I hadn’t heard of the severity of Covid since we didn’t have signals on our phones during the trip, being in the middle of ocean and a foreign country primarily. That being said, when we returned and our lives resumed, so many people at work asked me about the Princess ship and I was like I only saw that she was seemingly isolated but we never got near her / nor her to us. Also, Covid qas suddenly serious and we had just gone on a 7 day cruise in foreign countries without masks. Thankfully no one in my family (still to this day) contracted the deadly virus. I am sorry to hear about that outbreak through. It’s crazy to think that we actually witnessed it firsthand and none of us had any idea what qas actually going on inside the ship itself. And for perspective, at the port we landed at, we were 1 of about 9 other ships. Princess was the only one not docked for passengers to exit. I remember thinking it was because they were leaving but also that didn’t make sense considering other cruise ships on different routes were docked with us.
On the last day the ruby was in port otago I took 4 crew for a wee trip up to larnach castle etc… was a lovely time…. a week and a half later everyone was in lock down and the ship was locked down with crew on it over 90 days later they finally got to go home. They were looked after so very well, and I’m happy to see all crew members I know survived. Doing tour dispatch when these ship arrive is always a treat x much love to princess lines…you will be back!!!
Let’s not forget the suicides by crew members during this time period. Apparently there were several. Can you imagine what they went through? I also can’t help but notice how they softened the fact that many of them were booking even when they knew how serious this virus was. Many went despite indications to the contrary.
I work in a hospital here in New York City. We were at the epicenter for a while. I met a patient 2 months ago. I don’t know what became of him. But he was trying to talk to me about a book he wanted of his that he had on a cruise ship. He kept choking and having problems breathing. He told me his mom died 2 months before. Both caught covid. I don’t know what cruise ship it was. But it broke my heart. The way he was choking and gasping and talking 😭. I had to leave cuz i felt like i was setting him off being there.
I say that the doctor who died from the covid19 if it weren’t for him to inform the public it would have been worse than it is now 9-11-2020. So I say to that doctor and all those other doctors who said something. And as for those who arrested those wonderful doctors who wanted to save the lives of the people, God bless your hearts ❤️ for being such a beautiful person. Rest easy, thank you,
Don’t think it was the cruise liners fault. These people said they’d heard about it before and didn’t think it was a big deal. China kept it a complete secret for while and are known to censor a lot. Then the passengers still decided to get on a confined boat off the coast of China where they’d be stuck with people for weeks. So it was every single persons decision to be there. In my opinion they are lucky Japan let anyone off the ship, including the sick. Other countries would’ve denied everyone entry. I think they actually got pretty lucky there.
Even without a pandemic, cruise ships are like Petri dishes. Anyone I have ever known to go on one comes back and is sick with something for the following 2 weeks when home. Like my in-laws — they are obsessed with going on these things, but they always act surprised and can never seem to understand how and why they got sick. It’s always someone at work getting the blame or extended family members that they haven’t seen in weeks despite going on these things for 1-2wks at a time. Everyone cramped into one location, mingling around each other, breathing in the same air as everyone else on the ship, touching the same surfaces that many others are touching (that have not been wiped down), swimming in the pissy pool, people sneezing and coughing without thinking much of it and then touching doorknobs and rails… If anyone on those get sick, it’s not like they can go home to get away from anyone to rest. They’re going to be there on the same boat as everyone else, spreading it to passengers and staff that they continue to come in contact with during the early days of a sickness when it’s more susceptible to spread… No thank you.
Now that we all know nobody knew how to handle the situation at that time, I believe Princess and all other cruise lines did as best as they could. Humans behaved like humans. Attention was given to cruise ships because it was a controlled environment, but what about planes, malls and hotels where people were in and out constantly. Hope a vaccine is found soon. Hope we all act responsible and lower the spreading.
The cruise industry has survived a lot, but I can’t see them bouncing back fully from this for a very long time. COVID is this invisible boogeyman that you cannot evade on a ship. How many families will be willing to risk that? Who wants to go on a cruise if you have to stay distant? The social aspect is the big draw for cruises. Also factor in that a huge chunk of affluent cruise customers are the high risk elderly and you’re looking at a big drop in revenue.
Princess cruise management suck . The utter callousness with how they treated the crew members …pathetic . I understand that covid 19 was such a new pandemic and no one really knew what the correct protocols were ….BUT after the diamond princess debacle, when it was the second highest with covid patients ….how the hell did the management and companies allow ruby princess and other cruises to set sail on later dates …knowing what the world knew by then . They should have just cancelled and postponed the cruises and offered refunds . Utter greed thats what . I hope they get innundated by law suits . They refused refunds at that time …can u imagine . Continued to make money knowing the situation. Shame .
Whats crazy is i worked on a cruise ship for Norwegian cruise lines and they always talked about how easily virus’s can spread on a cruise with everyone in tight quarters. So shame on the people running the cruise ships not to shut then down sooner! Money is why they did it or didn’t do it jn this case
I think cant blame the ship, the captain and the crew for the virus. They did all they could especially since it was the first ship that got infective by it. 👏 to the Japanese gov for their response and working with the ship. The cruiseline need to extend from going back to business. This is still to early to start the sailing again. There is no cure yet. The lives of the crew, the passengers and the potential of spreading are more important.
As a travel agent at the time, we knew about cases of covid starting beginning of Nov. This came directly from my clients who were scheduled for upcoming cruise around Asia and Italy. Unfortunately we were coached to encourage clients to still sail and not cancel their cruise. I had numerous clients on this sailing btw. Cruise lines threatened passengers stating if they cancel they would receive no refund except taxes since this was not the cruise lines fault smh and that also as an agent our commission would not be protected. I could go into more detail about each cruise lines policy at the time and it’ll show you how much they care
I’m a nurse we went on a 10 day cruise to Italy and Greece. My husband and I both had the COVID medicine with us. We also brought on antibiotics, Motrin n Tylenol. The NB was immaculate and they had a staff member in the cafeteria perusal to make sure everyone washed their hands. I commend the Breakaway for having such a clean ship. There were 500 people short, so it wasnt super packed and when you laid out people weren’t on top of each other. Also if we were on a bus for an excursion we’d wear masks just to be careful. We had a balcony room.
This documentary was very well done, especially considering how quickly it was produced after the initial circumstance of outbreak. perusal this program evoked a few questions in my head (and I am no novice to cruising). – The family in the interior cabin; SURELY not all exterior staterooms were booked? You’d think during the quarantine that the cruise line would’ve relocated them to an outside stateroom? Even if not right away, as more cabins became vacant. – During this period there would’ve been TENS of Thousands of cruises sailing the high seas; Isn’t it telling that the ships origins and ports of call were all based in Asia? No news of Carnival cruises in the Caribbean, Royal Caribbean off Mexico, Cunard in the Atlantic or Costa in the Mediterranean having outbreaks. Not to mention the freight ships and cargo carriers elsewhere. It is no mystery that this virus came from Asia. – Certain lines attract specific ages, Princess being the over-60 bracket. Age and pre-existing medical conditions clearly played a role in the spread. – In all my cruises I recall getting ‘slightly ill’ once (Liberty of the Seas; March 2015) & I am pretty sure it was my own fault for overindulging during a specific breakfast (lol). – The Crew on this ship should be awarded medals from the Emperor of Japan. – I pray that, unlike aviation killing Ocean Liners, that Sars-Cov 2 doesn’t do the same for Cruising. I for one, will not be scared to sail again.
It’s crazy so many things happened in such a short time and at the time of this article being released a vaccine hasn’t been made available yet (from what the researcher said). I’m getting my first dose of vaccine (moderna) on the 12/6/21 and my 2nd on the 24/6. Wishing everyone out there all the best, stay safe and remember to wear a mask when you go out no matter what your safety and others❤️🙏
The Ruby Princess was allowed to dock in my town in New Zealand days before we went into full lockdown, and well after it was known that cruise liners were hotbeds of Covid. I still don’t understand how that was able to happen, and I’m thankful there wasn’t a serious outbreak here because of it, especially when the woman who takes tourists from cruises on tours around town passed Covid to her elderly husband who was in a rest home… Where there was then a small outbreak. We’ve been so lucky, and my heart goes out to all those crew members and their families
I’ve never understood the attraction of cruising. Being stuffed into a liner, with thousands of people is my idea of hell. It’s a breeding ground for infections, food poisoning and other bugs. There were a few thousand cruise ships all around the world and everyone demanding to be landed. I’d call that unrealistic.
Honestly I went to the doctors office specifically an ENT because I was having horrible ear pain that was in end of may 2020. Being the stupid me, I get there none of the workers were wearing a mask nor did anyone have there temperature checked outside of the door. The waiting room had a bunch of people sitting next to each other, I was so desperate to be seen I didn’t leave and just sat probably almost a 30 min wait. When the Dr saw me he wasn’t wearing a mask. My BIGGEST regret today is not taking a picture of his office and the staff and reporting them!!!! Who knows if anyone caught covid including me!!
Such dramatic narration. Fine, there are victims, but they dont even describe the experience of those who got over the virus. What was the level of their symptoms? What about the wife of that guy who had had the kidney transplant? What was her experience? Or that family from Australia whose daughter had tested positive? If the other family members were fine, that would give us a clew as to its level of contagion, especially being confined in that tiny cabin. All I hear is the devastation of infection in the narration. 17% of the passengers had tested positive — of course! They were all confined in a confined space! And this is the model that public health officials in the UK and the US used to base their projections for everyone else in their respective countries — on land. Absolutely ridiculous! Terrible that they were made to stay onboard for that long. That just made it worse. Isnt it also the ship had just upgraded their wifi network? What about the possibility of EMF radiation? It’s now June, even after all the research, we still dont really get the full context surrounding this “pandemic”. No doubt there’s a virus, but, still, the details and reactions to this situation has been very strange.
Be careful in your judgement perusal this article. Those that ran to the media looking for attention told a tale of horror, no communication from the crew, no idea what was happening. BUT there was those that contacted the local health departments without running to the media that told them the crew acted very professionally, kept them well informed and did their best to help passengers. I took so many calls from the latter. I can tell you which group I believe was telling the truth, and it wasn’t the first group… It was the same as the Ruby Princess in Australia…
Here we are, a year and a half later, and we have a vaccine, but there’s now A new strain, as usual, and now we’re opening back up, only to shut down again. This may never end. I was, still not afraid, of Covid-19, I’m more afraid for my family. People who had to die alone just breaks my heart. Thankfully my grandma went home on hospice, not COVID related and she passed away peacefully with my mom, my aunt and myself. But the last months of her life were lonely in her senior living apartment, wasn’t allowed to leave. Broke me
We were on the infamous Diamond Princess and I just want to correct something said on the article. We WERE given thermometers to monitor our temperature and given instructions to call and report any symptoms or fever over 37 degrees Celsius. And we were the guinea pigs for the COVID 19; the captain and crew performed outstanding since there were no guidelines for this disease.
I went on a cruise ( the Pacific Dawn ) some years ago and unknowingly caught Swine Flu. We were disembarking and out of nowhere I began to feel as if I had a cold. By the time we reached the street, I thought I had the flu. We got into the hire car and headed for home – it was Sunday morning and there was little traffic. My head was pounding and my nose was blocked and streaming so I lay with my head in my husbands lap. Thank goodness it was only a half hour trip. From that point on everything was a blur. It literally hit me like a ton of bricks. Fast and no warning. I found out later other people on the cruise contracted it as well. The ship was deep cleaned several times but it kept happening and eventually the company sold it, without being able to find the source. It was the worst flu I ever had.
I’m thinking to myself, In a way history is repeating itself because everyday passed is history and bad things happen all the time. I am more confused as to how something so deadly has caused such wide spread death and how it has “specifics” in terms of how covid affects our bodies. RIP to any souls lost so far.
The sad thing is nobody speaks about how many of those who died were crew members. And nobody speaks about how cruel the crew is treated onboard. For the passengers is fun and adventure, for the crew is modern day slavery just to earn some money to those that miss a bread on the table…When booking for a cruise, think about those poor souls working sometimes up to 14 hours per day with contracts that last 6-9 months…
I remember my coworkers inviting me for a party out in beach wherein covid started, but they dont care about it. I was like using many excuses not to go. But they were insistent. The news of that covid in my country was like 1 to 2 people but i always believe numbers would eventually multiply same as what happened to other countries. They laughed at me for panicking and perusal news those coworkers who said that ate the words and our manager warned us not to stay in office anymore. company decided to work from home. Worse case, its easy to spread the virus here cause the area is populated with people(manila),people rely on trains and buses which is always always, cramped with people.
I have a question? If anyone knows… can you lmk? Did the people in the hazmat suits change out their gloves after each individual swab??? And yes their suits gonna prevent them from catching the virus. But what if they went in a room where it was contaminated, then because of them going to every room their after affected more areas…? But it’s the gloves for me. They should have changed it out after every individual swab. (Cause I believe those peeps was quarantined in there… 6ft away too.) I’m thinking that’s were it was transferred from one to another…
It has been three years since this was aired. Regretfully, it appears that many blame the Japanese Ministry of Health & Princess Cruise line but why aren’t there any to point blame to the source of the creation of this mess. PRC wouldn’t allow people in their country during this time but they sure as hell were not putting enough effort in preventing their people from fleeing mainland either even they created it.
We were stuck in the bahamas when the outbreak occurred and saw many cruise ships sitting off the coast with crew stuck on board because no country would let the ships port in their country. They just anchored off shore or coast very slowly. This went on for many months. It was sad. To get back to the USA, 6 months later, we had to charter a private airplane from Florida to come get us and take us back to the USA. That was the only way we could get back. All public transportation into the USA was halted.
I don’t know how I would deal on that ship. I know I wouldn’t have took enough medication for that long stay, I need to drink 2 liters to a gallon a day for my dry frail little kidneys. Thank God for the staff even though it wasn’t favorable conditions for them 🙁 if they didn’t continue to work, people probably would have starved and Covid would have spread more from people trying to find something to eat.
Don’t forget the Chinese government knew about this problem since November 2019 or even before. We can only prove November so far. Put the blame where it lies. It’s safer to keep everyone contained in such a situation rather than let people spread it to other places… sacrifice a few to save them all type thing..,
We have cruised since in May 2023 and April 2024, and on both cruise ships, there have been outbreaks of covid. May 23 Alaska cruise, over 200 of 6,000 passengers reported on FB group (not every passenger was on FB), and they contracted covid, including me. April 24, a 17 day cruise with bad weather the last 5 days requiring guests to be inside, several hundred of 2,200 passengers got sick with respiratory virus, not all positive for covid but other respiratory viruses were included some requiring hospitalization. Cruise ships are not designed for adequate ventilation to prevent the spread of any viruses.
I understand the allure of these cruises but I can not help but think of poor staff recruited from backwater villages in places like the Phillipines. They are hired by agencies and sign contracts based on the company and not on any humane working laws. They’re paid horribly, treated expendable and neglected by the company. So when I see the all u can eat all day buffet or the endless desserts or room service coctails 247 scattered over 15 restaurants and 30 bars, I think about these people. It would be slavery if they wernt being paid crumbs.
Yeah I do feel badly for the crew. But… they were under essential workers. Millions of people such as myself were placed into that category and told go to work and be in direct contact with the public. We all were terrified. But our jobs were vital to keep people alive. That’s how I managed through it without going insane with fear was think of the fact that I am keeping people alive and society calm. Or as calm as it could be. I got sick with it. Many of my employees got it. We just dealt with the shortage and kept going. Many of us were placed into situations by people that would be as close as being in a cruise ship. Because people didn’t listen. I know of a few people that left for vacations the first week of March full knowing that bad was coming. I don’t feel a ton of sympathy for passengers in this time period. The cruise lines should have stopped being greedy and closed off cruising during that time period and asked for financial assistance to get through.
16 mo later and my country (South Africa) is back on level 4 lockdown. We are currently in our 3rd wave with the new Delta variant. Out of SA’s 9 provinces, Gauteng boarders have been closed for travel for the next 2 weeks (only transporting of goods and business allowed – afraid to strain our economy) Schools are being shut tomorrow. Even with the vaccine available, we are only this week making it available for 50yrs and above. (it was for 60 and above for some time and frontline workers/ teachers…) Still feels surreal, perusal this article and thinking of how much has happened in the last year and a half and how we thought it would be over by now. The people on that Diamond Princess, followed them in the news, never thinking it would be by us on the 1 March 2020 and experiencing our own strict lock down 23 March 2020. And to think – There are still people out there who don’t believe Covid is real!!
Most of the western world was in denial that this could reach them, until it did. I remember colleagues saying that they didn’t think it would affect us since where we loved was spread out (never-mind that we live in the 4largest city in the US). 2 weeks later we were ordered to work from home. I’ve been WFH ever since. I don’t miss the commute. I never got COVID, even though my husband got it 2x (he didn’t have the option to WFH). His lungs are now 25% collapsed. In hindsight, it would have been better to at least move the people from the interior windowless rooms out and into some sort of temporary shelter off the ship. Keeping them quarantined in tight airless quarters turned the ship into a Petri dish.
This was early days with the Covid pandemic, on the whole I would say the Japanese health authorities handled the Diamond Princess situation well. Some, even the doctor in the clip say that they should have repatriated the passengers and crew earlier…..How, it is not as easy as it sounds. First of all, in the recieving country quarantine facilities have to be arranged. Then flights have to be arranged, and along the way measures taken eg airport areas, vehicles etc so others are not infected. So when infected, stay put. Do not move around and in the mean time get tested and isolated.
This makes me so angry my partner and I were on the diamond princess in Japan just before covid hit,he was a nurse and is so particular about washing your hands, the staff were standing in the doorways with sanitiser and people just kept walking by and he was angry and he complained to the staff that it’s not good enough and someone was going to get very sick and of course they just laughed it off,in the end he was so angry he was telling people to go back and sanitise your hands or your going to make us all sick of course most looked at him like he had 2 heads and probably couldn’t understand English,he complained to a few staff but nobody did anything,so a few weeks later what happens?covid hit I can’t help but think what if someone had listened could it have saved even one person,we are avid cruisers but never princess again .
Why doesn’t anyone hear what the scientists say? This scenario is NOTHING new, there should be protocols in place for such cases. Seriously it’s ridiculous. Knowing now from various sources but the most noteworthy being Ioannidis and his study showing the death rate being under 0.2% makes this scenario even more ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong, every death is a loss. People dying close to us is very sad and we shouldn’t diminish those feelings at all. Nonetheless what we see here is a cruise ship full of people being scared and in panic! It’s totally against what someone should do during those situations. Fear is making our immune system weak, cause you are in constant fight or flight mode. Basically they traumatized all those people because of theire actions in this situation. You can’t tell people they might die and then let them hanging like that This situation could have been handled a lot better from all sides! As a scientist myself seeing everything that happend there it’s horrible, information is the most valuable thing for people in this situation and they don’t get anything!