The ship was denied entry to the island nations of Curacao and Aruba. It will remain at sea until its planned return on Dec. 26 to Fort Lauderdale, a Royal Caribbean spokesperson said.
The ship had docked on Sunday at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas. The remaining two stops on the eight-day cruise were supposed to be Curacao and Aruba.
On Saturday, another Royal Caribbean ship, Symphony of the Seas, had docked in PortMiami with at least 48 cases of COVID-19 among passengers and crew.
The spike of cases of COVID-19 in Florida comes as the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly around the world, causing a worrying number of breakthrough infections among the fully vaccinated. The latest variant, which only emerged in America on Nov. 22, is now the dominant strain.
Earlier in the worst of the pandemic that began in March 2020, outbreaks on cruise ships brought the cruise industry to a standstill for over a year. As the omicron threat looms, cruise lines based in South Florida so far are not canceling voyages.
Source: La Nación
