Cruise Industry Derailed By False Media COVID Reports

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Credit: Alonso Reyes/ unsplash

With 10,598 cruise passengers arriving in Sydney in every bed was taken on Celebrity Eclipse, Quantum of the Seas, Pacific Adventure and Viking Orion, today should have been cause for celebration. The number of ships underscore that cruise is back.

False News

False news reports once again made it a day of confusion for the cruise community, trying to point out that transmission on board is no worse than that on shore. Several news outlets reported that the Celebrity Eclipse arrived in Sydney with a suspected 1500 COVID cases on board.

The New South Wales Department of Premier and Cabinet said: “The Celebrity Eclipse arrived in Sydney on 9 December 2022. The number of positive COVID cases on board meant the ship was identified as Tier 2. While news outlets are now reporting more accurate numbers, there is still significant coverage of Celebrity Eclipse’s arrival, although few stories are sharing that the case numbers are as low as 100 cases and that passengers onboard are unbothered by the speculation.

Kerrie Gillard wrote on Cruise Passengers Facebook page: “We are on Celebrity Eclipse waiting to disembark. Only 100 have Covid not 1500 as reported on Channel Nine.” Veronica McDonald wrote: “Typical tv stations always exaggerate the numbers, they just want a big story…” But Celebrity isn’t the only cruise line suffering from confusion.

Princess Cruises passengers on Majestic Princess were this week given a notice from the Senior Doctor onboard that they will need to take a rapid COVID test within 48 hours of disembarkation. The notice read: “We have been informed by the New South Wales Health Authorities that all passengers are required to be tested for COVID-19 within 48 hours of disembarkation…” Majestic Princess is currently listed as a Tier 2 ship, which is described as COVID cases with a “moderate impact to vessel”, meaning 30-99 positive cases. 

Comments From Users

One user Jim Schottel wrote: “As long as they keep testing everyone, they will keep getting positive results and negative publicity. The general population is not being tested frequently so there is no comparison to reality…”

Sue Cochrane wrote: “It seems that anyone can fly into this country and our states without having to test. Numbers are not reported. No masks and definitely no social distancing on a plane. Why are cruise lines treated differently?”

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Source: Cruisepassengers