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First Caribbean cruise cut short due to positive coronavirus test

The first cruise embarked from the Caribbean has been cut short after a passenger tested positive for COVID-19.

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Gene Sloan, who writes about cruses for the travel site “The Points Guy," reported that the captain on the SeaDream I announced the positive case, asking passengers to return to their cabins.

Prior to the voyage, everyone onboard was tested for the virus and had negative results. They were also tested at the pier prior to boarding, again with negative tests.

Passengers were taken to empty beaches and did not interact with locals when they stopped in locations in Saint Vincent, Canouan Island, Tobago Cays and Union Island, NBC News reported.

The ship was a COVID-19 bubble, Sloan reported.

A third test was planned, but the passenger who ended up testing positive went to the ship’s doctor after he felt sick.

The owner of the ship, SeaDream Yacht Club, said the test was an assumptive positive test, The Washington Post reported.

The company said all other tests have come back negative but is retesting all passengers.

The ship was four days into its seven-day trip with 53 passengers on board. It had an additional 66 crewmembers, according to Solan’s column. It had been scheduled to continue until Nov. 14 but returned early to its homeport of Barbados.

Major cruise lines are required to have mock cruises with passengers on board before they’re permitted to resume voyages, according to regulations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The Washington Post reported.

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