The number of people testing positive for COVID-19 aboard Celebrity Millennium’s Caribbean cruise restart remained at just the two passengers sharing a cabin, with everyone else testing negative.
The ship was carrying about 600 passengers, or 30 percent capacity.
Two positive cases fly home on private air
Everyone disembarked at Philipsburg, St. Maarten, Saturday, with the two people who tested positive flying home via private air, according to Celebrity Cruises spokeswoman Susan Lomax, who just returned from St. Maarten.
Closely watched first cruise
The cruise was closely watched as the first Caribbean sailing since the global shutdown, apart from SeaDream Yacht Club’s ill-fated attempt to restart from Barbados last November. Several reporters were on board, and national media covered the departure and what the experience is like now — remarkably normal, aside from the additional pre-cruise paperwork and testing and ‘bubble’ tours in one port — then, subsequently, the two COVID cases.
However, thanks to Celebrity’s vaccination mandate for crew and adult passengers and the effectiveness of the protocols, with no spread beyond the two people, the stories were balanced — even downplayed.
