Corona cases aboard rise, but cruising still on

Jesse Suphan and other passengers onboard the Carnival Cruise Line’s Panorama were denied access to the port of Puerto Vallarta on the fourth day of a seven-day Mexican Riviera cruise, as the growing number of onboard coronavirus cases. That was the first Suphan heard about the virus spreading even on the ship.
“The captain announced that five people had tested positive for Covid and were quarantining,” Mr. Suphan, a 39-year-old revenue cycle manager, recalled in a telephone interview. “But, then, talking to the crew, they told me there were between 100 and 150 crew members who also tested positive, but the captain didn’t mention that.”
Two days later, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told Americans to avoid travel on cruise ships, regardless of their vaccination status. The advisory, the agency’s highest coronavirus warning, came in response to a surge in cases in recent weeks, caused by the spread of the contagious Omicron variant.
But even as case numbers rise, and criticism mounts about the safety of cruising and over cruise line protocols in reporting cases to passengers, ships keep sailing and guests keep embarking, adamant that the onboard environment is safe because of stringent health and safety requirements, including pre-departure testing and vaccine mandates.