In “Who Didn’t See That Coming” News, the SeaDream 1, the first cruise ship to sail with passengers through the Caribbean since the coronavirus pandemic shut down the industry, has now reported five of its passengers have tested positive for the coronavirus, CNN reports.
Operated by SeaDream Yacht Club, the ship holds up to 112 passengers and 95 crew. On this cruise, however, there were 53 passengers and 66 crew. Passengers and crew were notified of the positive tests by an announcement over the public address system.
The cruise marked the first one in the Caribbean after SYC completed a summer season sailing out of Norway, during which they had no positive coronavirus tests for passengers or crew. This ship sailed out of Barbados on November 7th to start the winter season.
Guests and non-essential staff were isolated on-board to prevent further spread of the virus while the cruise line gets permission from the government of Barbados to disembark passengers.
“After completing a successful summer season in Norway, we implemented even stricter health and safety protocols for our Barbados winter season. All guests were tested twice prior to embarkation and we are in the process of retesting guests,” said SeaDream’s Andreas Brynestad in the statement released on Thursday.