‘Everyone was hollering and clapping’: Grand Princess cruise with 21 coronavirus cases docks
Princess Cruises’ Grand Princess pulled into the Port of Oakland just ahead of noon local time Monday, beginning what is expected to be a multi-day disembarkation process. Twenty-one people on the ship have tested positive for coronavirus, including 19 crew members.
Guests who “require acute medical treatment and hospitalization” will be first to disembark. The number of passengers who will need to be transported to a hospital is unknown, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Sunday.
Grand Princess passenger Karen Schwartz Dever said it feels “awesome!” to finally be in the San Francisco Bay. The Port of Oakland was chosen for docking because of its proximity to an airport and a military base, Newsom said.
“Everyone was hollering and clapping as we entered the harbor,” she said.
Personnel covered head to toe in protective gear woke passengers early Monday to check whether they have symptoms of COVID-19.
Michele Smith, 57, of Paradise, California, said a doctor knocked on her and her husband’s cabin before dawn and asked if they had a fever or a cough. The couple on their annual vacation are healthy and, like the rest of the 2,400 passengers aboard, have been isolating in their cabins since Thursday.
Another passenger, Laurie Miller, of San Jose, said they were told that anyone who was getting off Monday had already received a written notice and luggage tags.
“Not us!” she said in a message. “This is an absolute circus.”
Nancy Conway and Kevin Sheehan, of Port Orchard, Washington, consider themselves lucky: they have a view of the ocean and no symptoms of coronavirus, reports the The Kitsap Sun, which is a part of the USA TODAY Network.
Conway says movies, along with crossword and sudoku puzzles, hellp pass the time between ship-wide updates from the captain. Her husband, a retired submariner, is teaching her cribbage. And since she brought her knitting supplies on board, she’s also making hats for the homeless.
Every few hours, crewmembers they never see deliver food and supplies to their door. A quick knock and they’re gone.
“They are all working very hard to keep us fed and comfortable,” Conway said.
Masks arrived at their room Sunday so that passengers can get “fresh air” time. Conway said she feels for those who cannot see outside the ship in interior staterooms. The couple has a balcony. She’d gladly give them her time so they could have additional time in the sunlight, she said.
Fences were installed at an 11-acre site at the port, as authorities readied flights and buses to whisk passengers to military bases or their home countries for a 14-day quarantine. Including crew members, there are more than 3,500 on the ship hailing from 54 countries.
The ship has 2,421 passengers and 1,113 crew members. Crew members will remain on the ship if they do not need immediate medical attention.
“We’re making every effort to get them off the ship as safely and quickly as possible,” said Dr. John Redd of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, who urged passengers to remain in their rooms.
The Department of State was working with the home countries of several hundred passengers to arrange their repatriation, including nearly 240 from Canada.
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One guest was disembarked Sunday for medical reasons unrelated to the coronavirus, Princess Cruises said in a statement provided by Public Relations Director Negin Kamali.
“All of us at Princess Cruises offer our sincere gratitude and appreciation to the federal, state and local authorities who are coordinating, collaborating and activating resources and personnel in support of this response to provide care and attend to the health and well-being of our guests and crew,” Jan Swartz, president of Princess Cruises, said in a statement.
As they wait for disembarkation, Princess will let guests step out for fresh air and sunlight, as approved by the CDC, “made possible in-part by instructing guests to adhere to social distancing.”
The cruise line delivered several hundred prescriptions to passengers over the weekend; it prioritized the most urgent. Princess is working on processing additional prescriptions and waiting for information on when those can be sent to the Grand Princess.
Passengers Steven and Michele Smith said they hope their time spent on the ship in quarantine will count toward the 14 days they are expected to isolate themselves. But they said officials have not yet provided an answer.
“We would love to get credit for the three or four days we’ve spent in our cabin,” Steven Smith said.
Princess Cruises will refund the full cruise fare for every Grand Princess guest, in addition to air travel, hotel, ground transportation, pre-paid shore excursions, gratuities and other items, save for jewelry and fine art. Guests will also not be charged for incidental charges accrued during their extra time aboard.
“Princess Cruises will also provide guests with a future cruise credit equal to the cruise fare paid for the voyage,” according to a statement provided by Kamali on Monday. “Princess Cruises also confirmed that although all gratuities will be refunded back to guests the company will ensure crew members will receive their designated gratuities for the work performed.”
Another Princess Cruises ship, the Regal Princess, is now docked at Port Everglades in Florida and set to disembark Monday night. The cruise line confirmed two crew members were tested for coronavirus and their results were negative.
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Contributing: Hannah Yasharoff, Jorge Ortiz and Morgan Hines, USA TODAY; Josh Farley, Kitsap Sun; Associated Press
