Passengers forced to isolate in cabins after first Caribbean cruise since March reports Covid case

Cruise immediately returned to Barbados

Passengers stopped off at Tobago Cays (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The first Caribbean cruise to sail since March has reported a case of Covid-19 onboard, forcing passengers to isolate in their cabins.

SeaDream Yacht Club’s SeaDream 1 set sail from Barbados to the Grenadines on 7 November, with 53 passengers and 66 crew onboard.  

All those on the sailing had to take a coronavirus test several days before departure, and another on the day the small ship set sail.

Everyone tested negative the first two times.

A third test was slated for Wednesday, but prior to that a passenger tested positive after feeling unwell.

The vessel’s captain, Torbjorn Lund, announced the positive Covid case over the intercom and told cruisers to stay in their cabins, reports Gene Sloan, a journalist onboard the ship on behalf of The Points Guy.

Non-essential crew were also told to isolate, and the decision was made to curtail the sailing and immediately return to the ship’s base in Barbados.

Guests were delivered food in their rooms by masked crew, said Mr Sloan.

All crew were tested once more for Covid-19, using the ship’s three onboard Abbott ID Now testing machines, capable of producing a result in 15 minutes. No one tested positive.

“Lund said Barbadian health authorities would board the ship after it arrived in Barbados late Wednesday, and passengers and crew would likely be tested yet again by the local authorities,” said Mr Sloan.  

He added that, although the ship had docked at the St Vincent and the Grenadine islands of Canouan and Tobago Cays, passengers had not come into contact with locals, instead landing at empty beaches for swimming, snorkelling and sunbathing.

It follows several other cases of coronavirus on cruises after the industry started tentatively reopening.

A cruise in the Mediterranean was cut short after eight passengers tested positive for the virus.

The contained outbreak occurred onboard the Costa Diadema, which set off from Genoa on 28 September and finished its voyage on 12 October, before commencing a second sailing with many of the same passengers onboard.

On the first sailing, seven travellers tested positive for Covid-19 after excursions to the Greek islands, and had to self-isolate onboard before leaving the ship at Palermo on 10 October.

Although asymptomatic, they all tested positive again once on shore.

The ship finished its original itinerary, with stops at Sardinia and Civitavecchia near Rome, before setting off for a second sailing on 12 October.

However, a new contact tracing technology being piloted by Costa identified another passenger who could be infected.

The 78-year-old man also tested positive for Covid-19.