Royal Caribbean Cruises LTD. announced today the company will suspend cruising in the United States. Beginning at midnight tonight, Royal Caribbean is pausing the fleet's U.S. sailings for 30 days.
The company is communicating with their shipboard employees to resolve any issues they have regarding this difficult decision.
Princess Cruises announced today it is suspending voyages on all 18 of its cruise ships due to the global spread of the coronavirus. Princess Cruises has made a difficult decision and said the company will voluntarily pause global operations fleet-wide for two months (60 days), impacting scheduled voyages departing from March 12 to May 10.
The US Coast Guard medically evacuated an ill man on Wednesday evening, from the cruise ship Carnival Magic. According to reports the man was suffering from a suspected heart attack and needed urgent medical attention on land. A passenger onboard Carnival Magic says that the man was a crew member working in the ship's main laundry.
United Arab Emirates Transport Authority announced that all cruises operating out of the UAE have been suspended. The latest precautionary measure announced Tuesday night come as a response to stop the spread of coronavirus the government said.
Today the Italian cruise line Costa Cruises, announced they will not allow embarkation of passengers from Italian ports until April 3. The cancelations come after the Italian government imposed travel restrictions across the country. Voyages currently underway will stop in Italian ports only to allow guests to disembark and return home, the company said in a statement.
The cruise ship MSC Opera has canceled the next 12-Day Mediterranean voyage departing from Genoa, Italy and the vessel will remain in port until further notice. According to MSC Cruises, the cancelation of the March 10-21 cruise on MSC Opera comes after the Italian government announced new restrictive measures that affect the entire Lombardy region and 14 other provinces in northern Italy.
Grand Princess crew will stay onboard after all passengers disembark the ship at Port of Oakland, California on Monday, March 9. Once disembarkation of the guests is completed, Grand Princess will set sail with all crew and most probably will remain off the coast of California. Plans for a crew quarantine are still being determined as the US authorities decide what to do. Is this the right decision to keep the crew isolated on the ship? Only the time will tell.
The non-profit organization World Central Kitchen, established by chef José Andrés and his wife, started delivering pre-packed meals and food supplies to the coronavirus-stricken cruise ship Grand Princess which is still off the coast of California.
Princess Cruises has canceled the March 7, voyage on Royal Princess. The cruise ship was scheduled to depart from Los Angeles (San Pedro), California on a 7 Night Mexican Riviera cruise, however, it was canceled at the last minute notice as the guest had already arrived at the cruise terminal.
During a press conference, after meeting with the cruise line executives in Port Everglades, Florida, Vice President Mike Pence said they are tracking another cruise ship that may have shared crew members with the Diamond Princess or the Grand Princess. Vice President Pence who is in charge of a task force to manage the U.S. response to the Coronavirus outbreak didn’t say which specific cruise ship the state authorities are tracking.
