The Coral Princess has docked at Port Miami with 12 confirmed cases of COVID-19 aboard after being refused permission to dock in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Two have died so far.
Carrying 1,000 passengers and 878 crew onboard, the vessel had been waiting near Puerto Rico, outside U.S. waters, for permission to dock. She had been at sea for nearly two weeks after departing Buenos Aires, where only South American passengers were allowed to disembark. The Coral Princess remained in service longer than previously expected, until arriving at the Port of Miami, due to a series of port closures, airline cancellations and other actions taken, which impacted the onward travel home of the guests and crew onboard.
In response to this and other COVID-19-affected voyages, Princess Cruises issued a statement saying guest disembarkation began on April 4 and continues over the weekend, but is limited to those departing on chartered flights arranged by Princess Cruises to California, Australia and the U.K. Which means US passengers and crew were not allowed to depart the ship.
The cruise line reported as follows: “Princess Cruises continues to work tirelessly to adjust the repatriation plan to meet the new CDC requirements. This will unfortunately result in further delays in disembarkation and onward travel for many guests as we work through this complex, challenging and unfortunate situation.”
Meanwhile, all passengers are being screened as directed by the Centers for Disease Control (“CDC”) before disembarkation of the vessel. Even those passengers will be required to wear a mask during disembarkation and practice social distancing measures.
Those with symptoms, or who are still recovering, will remain on board until medically cleared by the ship’s doctors. Which puts them closer to other sick passengers.
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The Herd Law Firm. PLLC is accepting coronavirus cases of passenger or crewmembers from this or any other cruise ship, or from other commercial ships. If you have questions or would like to discuss this or any other legal matter, please contact us at Charles.Herd@HerdLawFirm.com or 713-955-3699.
This article is intended for general interest and does not constitute legal advice.
