FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. The Holbrook family of Michigan were angry and frustrated after the Odyssey of the Seas returned to Port Everglades from its eight-night voyage.
Christopher Holbrook spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in his room in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19. Holbrook put his luggage in his truck to start his drive home.
Holbrook said he was exposed to someone with COVID-19 in the music hall of the ship. He had a headaches and was sweating profusely when he was tested for COVID-19. While Holbrook was confined to his room, his fiancée, Teresa Walatkiewicz, shared his cabin, and she was not asked to be tested until 2 1/2 days after Holbrook was found to have COVID-19. She said she didn't have the results.
The cruise ship had an outbreak of COVID-19 on its voyage from Fort Lauderdale. The Odyssey of the Seas had 55 confirmed positive cases among guests and crew members on Thursday, amounting to 1.1% of the total number of people on board. Passengers said a public announcement on the ship said the number had jumped to 69 confirmed positive crew cases and 18 passengers.
The cruise line did not respond to the Sun Sentinel's request for comment.
Nancy Holbrook, Christopher's twin sister from Michigan, said she was also tested Saturday evening, even though she had been with her brother during most of the cruise. Holbrook said she was tested by the cruise line on Saturday night and was not allowed to spend Christmas with her brother.
They did 600 tests last night. She said that people don't know the results when they get off the plane. I am going to wait before I do it again.
Early on in the voyage, there were signs of health concerns.
Lyan Sierra-Caro, a Royal Caribbean spokesman, told USA Today that the ship had docked at CocoCay, Royal Caribbean's private island in the Bahamas, but then returned to Port Everglades to disembark a passenger with COVID-19 one day after initially departing from Fort Lauderdale. The cruise left the port on December 18.
The captain of the cruise line announced that they would be returning to Fort Lauderdale for a sick passenger.
Sierra-Caro said that the guest who wassymptomatic before boarding tested positive for COVID-19 after reporting to the medical center. He and his close contacts were taken to Fort Lauderdale to be tested.
Holbrook said that doesn't explain how many crew members tested positive. The Odyssey of the Seas was fully inoculated against COVID-19, according to a statement from Royal Caribbean.
The mask worn by passengers was not enforced from the beginning. The passenger from South Florida said that this was the most frustrating part because they kept us at sea instead of bringing us home. I reported this to the hotel captain and he was notchalance. We became a floating incubator after staying at sea.
The Sun Sentinel was told by a group of passengers that there were no planned activities on the ship. The ship remained at sea, despite the fact that the remaining two stops were supposed to be in the Caribbean.
The cruise line said in a statement that the decision was made together with the islands out of an abundance of caution due to the current trend of COVID-19 cases in the destinations.
The ship can carry more than 1,600 people. Although it has not been operating at full capacity, it felt crowded for six days in a row. Silver said the family had been on cruises before and thought the ship would be reduced in capacity. She said that they took a chance because they are all vaccine free.
The family of Canada was exposed to someone who tested positive and spent the last night of Christmas in quasar. Kim said they are going to try to get a test. The family will stay in Florida until they know the results.
The most reliable COVID-19 test is the polymerase chain reaction test.
Kim said that she enjoyed the cruise and observed that most passengers wore masks indoors. She said that it was just as safe as going to the grocery store.
Barb Paulsen said she felt the same way. She said that when someone tested positive, they isolated. We have another cruise booked for the end of February.
The second outbreak of coronaviruses on a Royal Caribbean ship happened in less than a week. Royal Caribbean has a similar episode on its symphony of the seas that sailed from Miami. The cruise line said that 44 people on the ship tested positive for the disease. The ship returned to Miami after seven nights in the Caribbean.
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