The cruise ship Carnival Magic is preparing to welcome the Eastern European crew on board before setting sail on a long journey across the Atlantic. The plan to return as many crew members as possible was put in place since the company announced the extended pause in operations until June 27.
Carnival Cruise Line plans to use more cruise ships in order to bring back as many as possible crew members back home. After the company put in action the plan to repatriate Filipino and Indonesian crew from Carnival Splendor and Spirit, now an additional five Carnival ships will be used to expatriate the crew home.
The Brazilian newspaper Jornal Da Orla reported today that a cruise ship doctor has died in a hospital in Santos after testing positive for coronavirus.
The cruise ship Sun Princess which set sail from Australia in order to return its Filipino and Indonesian crew members back home is facing repatriation problems. Sun Princess is currently off the coast of Manila however some Filipino crew onboard report that they are not allowed to disembark the ship. According to them, the government is not allowing the disembarkation process to begin and they haven’t received any official announcement by the local authorities.
Today the last passengers disembarked the cruise ship Greg Mortimer which was struck by COVID-19 outbreak. The latest report shows that 128 crew and passengers tested positive for the virus. Greg Mortimer operated by Australia's Aurora Expeditions was sailing with a total of 217 people during the last voyage, is currently near the coast of Montevideo, Uruguay. The passages left the ship, however, the crew will remain on board the ship under quarantine.
The news media reported today that Royal Caribbean Cruises plans to lay off and furloughing a significant number of employees based in the United States.
Galapagos health authorities announced on Tuesday that 48 crew members aboard the cruise ship Celebrity Flora tested positive for COVID-19. The tests were carried out on all 69 crew members currently on board the ship, and 48 tested positive for the virus. The crew is isolated in single cabins and the ship is under quarantine. Authorities say this is a significant increase to the total number of cases in Galapagos Islands which had only 24 cases reported on the Archipelago.
On Saturday, April 11, the Brazil National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) proceeded with the disembarkation of the Costa Facisinosa crew in the port of Santos. 246 Filipino crew members were scheduled to disembark the cruise ship, however, only 227 were allowed to leave after 19 crew members tested positive for COVID-19.
The first phase of Costa Mediterranea plan to transfer Filipino and Indonesian crew from Costa Pacifica, as well as debarking the European crew, was completed successfully. After arriving at the port of La Spezia, on April 10, Costa Mediterranea received 408 crew from Costa Pacifica, and at the same time, 221 crew debarked the ship and transferred to Costa Pacifica. The vessel set sail from La Spezia on April,13 and is heading to the port of Brindisi, Italy.
A crew member was medevacked off the cruise ship Mein Schiff 5 on Sunday, April 12, at the port of Ierapetra, Greece. According to the Greek media, the 25-year-old Indonesian crew member needed medical assistance after experiencing symptoms of appendicitis.
