All About Cruises

Tag: rotterdam

  • What Do the New Outbreaks of Coronavirus on Cruises Teach Us?

    What Do the New Outbreaks of Coronavirus on Cruises Teach Us?

    Just this week, there have been outbreaks of the coronavirus on three different cruise ships: Coral Princess and two Holland America ships, Zaandam and Rotterdam. The three vessels quickly got to Florida to evacuate their passengers and get those who were sick to the hospital. Still, there were bumps along the way, particularly for the Zaandam and Rotterdam. No one wanted to take them. Whether it was Florida or Chile, they struggled to find a government that was excited at the prospect of a ship filled with potentially sick individuals docking in their state or country. While we don’t blame them, it ultimately led to the ships having to think quickly and spend more time on water when they could have been disembarking those who were sick.

    So, who is to blame here? Is it the cruise lines? Well, not really. Holland America had actually suspended operations far before anyone got sick on their two ships, but they were unable to find a place to dock their ships that were asea once this decision was made. So, they tried to do right, it was just made difficult. So, was it the governments, then? Again, not really. There’s not much reason in pointing fingers, as they were essentially following the ideal set forth that they should try to prevent the spread of the disease as much as possible. It’s also definitely not the fault of anyone on the ship. How could anyone who was sick realistically prevent spreading it while stuck in the confines of a cruise ship? Close quarters and non-hospital grade ventilation makes it difficult to not infect anyone else if you are already sick.

    Still, something clearly went wrong here. As we struggle with the question of how these outbreaks were able to happen, we must remember the golden rule of our new, modern era: stay away from other people. Being on a cruise ship does not constitute staying away from other people. While we can’t blame cruise lines, governments or travelers, we can pinpoint what went wrong here: people did not stay far away from one another, for a variety of reasons.

    These outbreaks have taught us an important lesson. The pandemic has reached the point where we need to take social distancing guidelines very seriously. Coronavirus spreads quickly and easily enough to where we all now have responsibility as individuals to mitigate the damage the disease can do as much as possible. Cruise lines should take these recent events as wake-up calls to suspend any itineraries that they may have planned for the future; travelers should now realize that their vacations need to wait for a bit until the pandemic eases up.

    These outbreaks have been awful, but we need to learn from them. Readers should keep in mind that we aren’t medical professionals, but rather concerned onlookers. Our advice is that, for now, we all need to stay at home. It doesn’t matter if places are still open, or events are still happening; do not take this as reason to still go out. Be as safe as you can be, and it will keep others safe as well.

  • Holland America Ships Suffer From Coronavirus, Dock at Port Everglades

    Holland America Ships Suffer From Coronavirus, Dock at Port Everglades

    The concerning story of two Holland America ships, the Rotterdam and the Zaandam, is reaching a close as they dock at Port Everglades. Since March 22, cases of sickness have been popping up on both ships, culminating in a total of 250 people complaining of respiratory issues and flu-like symptoms. Testing has, thus far, been relatively limited, but there have been nine individuals confirmed to have COVID-19.

    Once these symptoms were discovered, Holland America quickly realized it was time to get their ships docked, get those who were still healthy back home, and get those who were sick to a place where they could be properly treated. They set their sights on Fort Lauderdale as the place where they would begin to disembark, so they started heading there. Florida’s government, however, began to push back against the idea. Governor Ron DeSantis was initially only open to the idea of taking in local residents of Florida, which would have been just 52 people. To put that into perspective, there were 808 guests total on the Rotterdam, and 442 on the Zaandam.

    Following this, there was a series of arguments and negotiations that took place between the cruise line, Floridians, and both state and national governments. After intervention from President Trump, however, DeSantis appeared to have a change of heart, claiming it was the “humanitarian thing to do” to let the ship dock in Florida. Once this decision was reached, the ship was allowed to dock, and people began to disembark.

    The two ships arrived at Port Everglades on April 2 with the plan to get all healthy travelers off of the ship by April 3. They will be instructed to wear face masks and to head home to a safe place where they can self-quarantine for two weeks, as is customary for anyone who has been exposed to the coronavirus. Those who did get sick are going to be transported by ambulance to local Florida hospitals. Carnival, the parent company of Holland America, assured the public that they would be covering all costs, and have already paid for ambulance charges for those needing transportation.

    This outbreak comes after Holland America had announced that they would be suspending all new cruises. They actually attempted to disembark even earlier so as to avoid a situation like this, but their requests to dock were refused by the Chilean government on March 16. As symptoms began to develop among travelers, it became clear that they must port no matter what, but were still unable to in many cities. Port Everglades is the first to allow the ships access.

    While the spread of the virus on these ships is alarming, it will hopefully begin to calm down now that they are getting people off of them. It remains to be seen how many will develop symptoms in the coming two weeks, but the number will ultimately be less than if they had stayed on the ships, which is something we can be thankful for.

Skip to content