COVID Outbreak Overwhelms Alaska-Bound Carnival Cruise From Miami

SEATTLE, WA — A COVID-19 outbreak on an Alaska-bound Carnival Cruise ship traveling from Miami infected dozens of travelers and overwhelmed crew members.

Passengers say more than 100 people on the Carnival Spirit tested positive for the coronavirus when the ship docked Tuesday in Seattle, overwhelming staff and forcing many to isolate or quarantine in area hotels because of sickness and exposures, according to King 5 news. Some passengers say as many as 200 people fell ill during the trip.

After the ship left Miami, it sailed to the Panama Canal before heading north to Seattle. It will eventually make its way to Alaska, reports said.

Once the coronavirus outbreak hit the vessel, travelers described a chaotic cruise.

“They didn’t have enough staff to handle the emergency that was happening, period,” said Darren Sieferston, who is in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19, according to The Associated Press. “They were overwhelmed and they didn’t have a backup course in how to handle about 200 people affected with COVID. We all suffered.”

Another passenger, Walter Babij, traveling from Texas, told King5, "I think that they were unprepared. I think they were understaffed. I think that they were overwhelmed. I don't think they had clear guidance as to how to handle this."

Sieferston also claimed that those who tested positive were isolated in their rooms and faced long wait times for meals and meetings with medical staff on the ship.

“We couldn’t call anybody. ... Basically, we sat in the room, you call and it would ring, ring, ring and ring all day long,” he said.

Karin Ross, another passenger on Spirit, told Kiro 7 that her travel companion and roommate tested positive during the trip. She claims that despite being exposed to COVID-19 and sharing a room with someone who is ill, the ship’s medical center told her she didn’t need to be tested.

“I’m in a room with somebody who has COVID and you’re not interested in testing me?” said Ross. “I’m not a medical person, but it really seems wrong to let me run around that boat for 24 hours while rooming with someone who has COVID.”

Carnival told AP that there were no serious health issues connected to the outbreak. The company also wouldn’t confirm the number of passengers who tested positive.

The cruise line requires guests to be fully vaccinated and tested before any trip, according to its website. There are some exemptions with required testing and other protocols for unvaccinated travelers.

COVID Outbreak Overwhelms Alaska-Bound Carnival Cruise From Miami originally appeared on the Miami Patch