A luxury cruise ship that had to drop off 10 people in New York City due to a COVID outbreak will not return to the city due to staff pressures caused by the virus.
Meanwhile, the outlook continues to worsen for the cruise industry as a whole, with 89 ships under some form of CDC monitoring for COVID outbreaks, an increase of nearly 20% in one day.
The Queen Mary 2 arrived in a Brooklyn port on December 20 after sailing across the Atlantic for the holidays. Upon arrival, 10 passengers tested positive for COVID-19 and were taken off the ship to isolate them in the city.
The ship sailed to Barbados and was due to return to New York on January 3. But according to passengers, they received a letter from the ship’s captain on Tuesday evening saying the ship will remain there while it brings in additional crew, before departing directly back to England next week.
Cunard confirmed the delay, which it said was a precautionary measure given the long journey back to England, and said it was working to get passengers from Barbados to New York next week.
“As a precautionary measure, the Queen Mary 2 He will take on additional staff in essential functions in Barbados before sailing back to the UK. Given the current situation for international travel, the ship will remain in Barbados until January 2. The extended stay means that, unfortunately, the ship will not be able to call in New York on January 3 if it is to maintain the return arrival to Southampton on January 10, 2022, “Cunard said in a statement.
All travelers on the Cunard ship, which the company lists as the “world’s largest ocean liner,” had to be fully vaccinated and screened for COVID just before boarding in Britain’s Southampton, suggesting that they were cases. revolutionaries.
A total of 1,473 passengers were on board the ship when it arrived in New York City, so infections at the time accounted for less than 1% of all passengers on board. The ship now has 1,575 passengers.
COVID outbreaks on cruise ships
COVID-positive passengers were supposed to be able to meet Queen Mary 2 on January 3, when she was due to return to New York City on the way back to England. It was not immediately clear how the company will handle the trips of those passengers.
The Queen Mary 2 It is not the only cruise ship affected by the increase in omicron. Almost 50 people on board the Symphony of the Seas than 7,000 Royal Caribbean passengers, which requires full vaccination for passengers 12 years and older, tested positive for COVID. They had been on a seven-night excursion to the Caribbean.
As of Monday, the CDC said it had 38 ships under investigation due to COVID outbreaks, another 48 already investigated and still under observation, and 3 more in monitoring status, for a total of 89, up from 75 on Monday alone.
The Queen Mary 2 it was listed as one of the investigated ships.
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