Singapore cruise to nowhere cut short after positive Covid case
Passengers have now disembarked in Singapore from Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas after one passenger tested positive for Covid-19.
The short ‘cruise to nowhere’ was cut short after the 83-yer old passenger was given an additional test after falling ill.
"The passenger had reported to the on-board medical centre with diarrhoea, and underwent a mandatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test as part of on-board protocols. The passenger had taken a mandatory Covid-19 PCR test prior to boarding, and was tested negative," said Annie Chang, Director of Cruise at the Singapore Tourism Board.
Upon receiving news of the positive test, other passengers were confined to their cabins.
"Those close contacts have since tested negative following PCR testing, and further contact tracing is ongoing. All on-board leisure activities also ceased immediately and passengers were asked to stay in their cabins," Chang said.
The ship arrived back early Wednesday but passengers were unable to disembark for several hours.
This was because the World Dream ship was boarding passengers for a short cruise at the time, and authorities wanted to prevent any close contact between passengers or crew from both ships.
Royal Caribbean said guests will get a pro-rata refund for the missed day and any unused shipboard credit will be refunded.
A later test on the elderly man turned out to be negative, suggesting the earlier test may have produced a false positive.
Heath officials said a further test will be carried out on Thursday.
Written by Ray Montgomery, Asia Editor
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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