Unlike airlines and hotels, cruise lines are having a hard time getting back into business this year.
Now even a so-called “cruise to nowhere” has been restricted. Royal Caribbean’s passenger cruise ship Quantum of the Seas cut its four-day itinerary on Wednesday and returned to Singapore a day early after an 83-year-old male passenger tested positive for Covid-19.
The cruise is part of a pilot project launched in November that allowed two cruise lines – Royal Caribbean and Genting Cruise Lines’ Dream Cruises – to conduct short round-trip journeys with no ports of call and mandatory Covid-19 tests for everyone on board.
A “hole” in the system
Passengers were required to perform a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test 48 to 72 hours before take-off, said Heidi Sarna, a cruise expert and co-founder of the Quirky Cruise travel site, which is currently on board the diverted cruise ship.
“I went on Friday to get my test and got [the results] emailed on Saturday, “she told CNBC.” The cruise left on Monday. “
Sarna admitted that this created “a hole” in the security protocol.
“I’ll take the test, then I’ll run around a few days before the cruise,” she said.
Passengers undergo elevated health protocols aboard Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas cruise ship.
Heidi Sarna | Quirky cruise
Sarna highlights a problem many in the travel industry face when trying to use tests to screen out Covid infections on flights and in hotels. Royal Caribbean relies on PCR tests, which must be carried out early on so that the results can be processed in a laboratory. Dream Cruises uses antigen testing on the day of departure. According to the company’s website, while these antigen tests are less accurate, they produce passenger results in about an hour.
Even so, Sarna was surprised to find out about the infected passenger. Singapore, a country of 5.7 million people, has had an average of less than one case a day in the past two weeks. This number does not include imported cases that are quarantined on arrival.
“It’s strange because there are practically no cases in Singapore,” she said. “That is the secret.”
Announcement in the middle of the night
At around 1:50 a.m., ship captain Sindre Borsheim announced that the ship would switch to quarantine mode and return to Singapore, Sarna said.
“You are suddenly woken up by that voice,” she said. “He didn’t mention Covid in that first announcement, but anyone could find out what that meant.”
We are at a different point in dealing with Covid, and Singapore is Singapore.
The ship docked in Singapore at around 8 a.m.
Although passengers aboard the cruise ship do not know when they will be departing, Sarna does not believe the ship will suffer the same fate as high profile incidents where passengers and crew are stuck on cruise ships for weeks.
“It’s a different situation,” she said. “We are at a different point in dealing with Covid, and Singapore is Singapore.”
The “Tracelet” tracing device from Royal Caribbean.
Heidi Sarna | Quirky cruise
She added that the order tracking on the ship was “amazing”. Passengers were required to tap cabin key cards throughout the ship, wear Royal Caribbean’s “Tracelet” traceability bracelet and use Singapore’s Trace Together app, which works via Bluetooth.
“It was all very thorough,” she said.
“The system works”
Passengers confirmed by Royal Caribbean are allowed to leave pending contact tracing results.
“We have identified and isolated all guests and crew members with whom we have been in close contact [the positive Covid] Guest, and each of those people subsequently tested negative for the virus, “said Jonathon Fishman, a company spokesman.” The ship returned to port today in accordance with government protocols and will bring guests on board after a contact tracing review is complete. “”
“The fact that we were able to identify this individual case quickly and take immediate action is a sign that the system is working as it was designed,” he said.
Quantum of the Seas is far from a crowded cruise ship and has fewer than half its usual passenger count.
Heidi Sarna | Quirky cruise
Quantum of the Seas carries 1,688 passengers, Fishman said, less than half of the 4,000 passengers it can hold.
For the most part, Sarna is optimistic. Passengers who have not been isolated are required to pass an antigen test before disembarking, which Sarna said was always required.
“Then we can all go home,” she said.
At around 3 p.m. today local time, Captain Borsheim informed passengers that the sick passenger had been removed from the ship and that the cruise line was working with the Singapore government and the Singapore Tourism Board to facilitate disembarkation for all remaining passengers. This process doesn’t necessarily have to be imminent as he also announced that dinner will be served at 7pm
The problems with testing
The passenger who tested positive had tested negative before boarding, said Annie Chang, director of cruises for the Singapore Tourism Board.
Although Covid-19 tests are increasingly being used to revitalize the competitive travel industry, tests are not fail-safe. Covid-19 infections are not easy to spot in the early stages of the disease, and tests cannot detect active cases either.
There are fast PCR tests that are both accurate and fast, but demand is outpacing production, said Dr. Shira Doron, Infectious Disease Doctor and Epidemiologist at Tufts Medical Center Hospital.
And even if tests work, passengers can slide through the cracks. A couple traveled to Hawaii last week after they both tested positive under United Airline’s preflight testing program. The couple have since been charged with reckless endangerment and have been banned from flying United.
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