One of two Disney cruise ships that arrived at the West Indian Company dock Thursday morning eventually left after its passengers were not allowed to disembark. Meanwhile, the inaugural visit of the Norwegian Joy scheduled for today was canceled.
Those events are a result of Covid-19 positive cases on the ships, according to a statement from Disney regarding its Fantasy cruise ship, which was turned away, and a separate statement from WICO concerning the Norwegian Joy. The Disney Magic cruise ship was allowed to dock and its passengers were allowed to disembark.
In a statement issued Thursday, Disney said, “The Disney Fantasy did not call on St. Thomas today due to both an increase in Covid-19 cases on the island and a small number of fully vaccinated Crew Members and Guests – less than 1% of those on board – in isolation for Covid-19. Those affected by these breakthrough cases are either asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, and we are following CDC protocols for managing cases on board. We continue to operate with multiple layers of health and safety protocols in place, such as requiring vaccinations, PCR tests at the port prior to embarkation for all guests, testing of our Crew multiple times per week, enhanced cleaning protocols and a requirement that masks be worn in all indoor spaces.”
Relative to the Norwegian Joy, WICO said, "The Norwegian Joy will not be docking at the West Indian Company Dock as scheduled on Friday, December 31st due to elevated Covid cases aboard the ship, primarily amongst the crew. Two other ships scheduled for Friday, Sky Princess and Norwegian Escape, are still scheduled to be in port."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday delivered a blunt warning to Americans: avoid cruise ship travel at all costs, even if you're vaccinated against Covid-19.
The federal health authority's warning comes as the Omicron variant continues to spread throughout the country, including confirmed cases on dozens of cruise ships. As of Thursday the CDC was investigating 92 cruise ships with reported cases of the virus.
"Even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading Covid-19 variants," the CDC s said. "The virus that causes Covid-19 spreads easily between people in close quarters on board ships, and the chance of getting Covid-19 on cruise ships is very high, even if you are fully vaccinated and have received a Covid-19 vaccine booster dose."
The Cruise Lines International Association, a group representing Norwegian Cruise Lines, the Royal Caribbean Group and Carnival Corp., expressed disappointment with the CDC's latest decision. “While we are disappointed and disagree with the decision to single out the cruise industry—an industry that continues to go above and beyond compared to other sectors—CLIA and our ocean-going cruise line members remain committed to working collaboratively with the CDC in the interest of public health and safety,” the group said.
The CLIA said that “cases identified on cruise ships consistently make up a very slim minority of the total population onboard—far fewer than on land—and the majority of those cases are asymptomatic or mild in nature, posing little to no burden on medical resources onboard or onshore.”
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