Carnival cruise ship with ‘small number’ of Covid-19 cases book a new port after being denied entry
(CNN) – A Carnival cruise ship departing Miami with a “small number” of people on board tested positive for Covid-19 and it was denied entry to ports on two Caribbean islands, the cruise line said.
“Carnival Freedom is following all protocols and has a small number on board isolated due to a positive Covid test,” the Mathews statement read.
“Our protocols anticipate this possibility, and we implement them as necessary to protect the health and safety of our guests and crew. This is a vaccinated cruise and all. The guests were also screened before boarding,” the statement read.
Carnival Freedom departs Miami on December 18 and stops in Curacao on Tuesday. Its planned stops at the Caribbean islands of Bonaire on Wednesday and Aruba on Thursday have been cancelled.
Those stops have been replaced with a Friday stop in the Dominican Republic, and the ship will return to Miami as planned on Sunday, the cruise line said.
According to the statement, the shipping line is working closely with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health authorities in the destination they visit.
“The rapid spread of the Omicron variant could shape the way some destination authorities view a small number of cases, even if they are managed using our robust protocols,” the statement said. Mathews’ father wrote. “Some destinations have limited medical resources and are focused on managing the local response to variation.
“If it is necessary to cancel a port, we will do our best to find an alternative destination.
.
