Two passengers sharing a cabin on the Celebrity Millennium tested positive for Covid-19 during the required end-of-cruise testing, Celebrity Cruises said.<\/p>\n
Celebrity said the individuals are asymptomatic and currently in isolation and being monitored by the ship’s medical team. Contract tracing was conducted, and all of the close contacts tested negative and have been released from quarantine. Everything remains open and guests continue to enjoy their cruise, Celebrity said.<\/p>\n
The Millennium became the first large ship to operate a cruise
\n in North America in more than a year, departing Philipsburg, St.
\nMaarten, on June 5 on a seven-day sailing.<\/p>\n
The ship is sailing with fully vaccinated crew and guests and is following the protocols aligned with its destination partners, the line said.<\/p>\n
Celebrity informed passengers around 5 p.m. on July 10 about the positive passengers and by 6:45, the captain had said that more than 200 of the approximately 600 passengers had been tested and only the two original guests were positive, according to a report from Colleen McDaniel, editor-in-chief of CruiseCritic.com.<\/p>\n
“The announcement from the captain that two people tested positive didn’t send waves of panic through the passengers onboard. It didn’t shut down the cruise activities or even change plans for most people,” McDaniel wrote. “There’s a confidence in knowing the cruise lines have prepared for exactly this possibility. They have trained their crewmembers to handle cases if they come up. Protocols are in place, and they are following them.”<\/p>\n
All guests on the Celebrity Millennium were required to show proof of vaccination as well as a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours before sailing from St. Maarten this past Saturday, Celebrity said.<\/p>\n
“This situation demonstrates that our rigorous health and safety protocols work to protect our crew, guests and the communities we visit,” the line stated.<\/p>\n
Richard Fain, CEO of Royal Caribbean Group, Celebrity’s parent company, has said repeatedly that Covid cases on ships are not unexpected and that the cruise lines have learned to isolate them to prevent any spread.<\/p>\n
In March, he said that out of the more than 100,000 guests on over 150 cruises that the company had carried during the pandemic, only 10 people tested positive for the Covid-19 virus.<\/p>\n
“And all of them have been handled smoothly and without undue disruption of other guests’ cruises. And without undue burden on the communities and the governments involved,” Fain said.<\/p>\n