According to Cruise Law News, 38 crew members aboard Disney Cruise Line’s ship, The Wonder, have tested positive for COVID-19 and five have been taken off the boat for medical treatment.
This is in San Diego, where they have recently closed off the ports due to the virus coming in from cruise ships. Guests that disembarked from the Disney Wonder’s last sailing have been told to self-quarantine for 14-days and several guests have already tested positive.
The Wonder has been docked in San Diego since March 19th, “except when they go out to sea to discharge waste.” Well that has to be good for the ocean.
News of how many sickened cruise members was discovered yesterday, when the the captain made the announcement on the ship’s intercom, that 38 crew members had tested positive for the virus. This all happened at around 6:30 PM PDT.
Jim Walker, the author of the article from Cruise Line News, said that crew members are being told to keep it quiet. Well I’m not surprised. Bad press is like Kryptonite to Disney:
“All of the crew members who subsequently contacted me complain that they are under strict instructions from Disney not to speak to the media or post information like this on social media.”
This also comes as several cruise lines are facing backlash for some of the questionable practices of registering their ships in other countries, such as the Bahamas, to allegedly lessen financial responsibility and guidelines. Now, like the foreign-flagged Holland-American Zaandam and Rotterdam, the Disney Wonder is using the “medical resources of a U.S. port city.” But unlike the other ships, they aren’t getting criticized. People don’t seem to realize that the Disney ships are also sailing under the foreign flags too. Maybe some of those rules need to change in the near future?
Disney Cruise Line has cancelled their sailings through April 28th, but right now Port Canaveral has furloughed 50 of their employees, specifically, the ones that handle the cruise lines, until May 30th.
I don’t expect any cruise line to come back on line, in the United States, for at least a couple of months. It’s likely we will be seeing more cancellations.
What do you think? Comment and let us know!
Source: Cruise Law News
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