Earlier this month there were many stories about how authorities were recommending people not cruise right now. I remember reading many posts on message boards with people going on about how they would still go on a Disney cruise and they weren’t worried because of how clean they are.

But the cleanliness wasn’t the issue as much as what happens when all the ports close and you are stuck on a cruise ship?

That was the concern because they knew it was going to get worse and they weren’t going to be able to get people back quickly if it happened.

It seems that has indeed become the case for some people. Some of these ships also have Coronavirus on board. Now, it is important to note that Disney Cruise Line ships are not among the ones stuck, but they easily could have been had they not stopped when they did. Thankfully they heeded the warnings! A lot of people were upset about it, but they just saved those people a lot of trouble.

Right now Holland America and Celebrity cruises have boats out that are still sailing back. As of now the guests on the ones heading into San Diego Bay do not have reports of illness aboard them.

Unfortunately, the guests trapped on Holland America’s Zaandam ship have reported experiencing flu-like symptoms and is currently headed for Fort Lauderdale.

So far the Zaandam has 77 sick on board. 30 are guests and 47 of the sick are crew members. In total the ship has 1,243 guests and 586 crew members aboard. The ship left Buenos Aires, Argentina, on March 7.  The ship did dock on March 14 in Punta Arenas, and guests were told they could disembark and fly home, then they weren’t allowed to do it.  The cruise was supposed to end in San Antonio, Chile, on March 21.

During this time the ship did anchor in Valparaiso, Chile for restocking and fueling before leaving for Fort Lauderdale.  It is scheduled to meet with another ship, the Rotterdam Thursday night to receive extra supplies, staff, COVID-19 test kits and “other support.” Then the Zaandam will head to Fort Lauderdale to hopefully arrive on March 30th.

This situation was why they were urging people not to cruise. I saw so many mock others who said they would cancel if it were them. The virus wasn’t the issue so much as the logistics. So if they recommend cancelling in the future, I would listen.

Sources: CNN ,Sandiegouniontribune,