MIAMI – The omicron surge has caused the cancellation of a cruise that had just left Miami on a nearly two-week long voyage.
Several members of the crew tested positive for COVID-19.
Local 10 News’ Bridgette Matter spoke to Laura Leopoldo, a passenger currently on the ship, who said she planned the cruise two years ago but it was initially canceled because of the pandemic.
Now that ship, the Norwegian Pearl, has turned around after a day at sea because of Covid.
“We get an announcement today that we had 50 crew members that tested positive so they’re requiring us to go back,” said Leopoldo.
The ship was marked as yellow level which means the reported cases of Covid are enough for a CDC investigation.
The cruise was set to sail for 11 days to the Panama Canal.
Norwegian released a statement that said, in part:
“We made the difficult decision to cancel Norwegian Pearl’s January 3, 2022 voyage due to Covid related circumstances.”
Last week the CDC said cruises should be avoided regardless of vaccination status, listing travel risk at Level 4.
Leopoldo said she will be spending her vacations in the Sunshine State for now.
“We’ll stay in Florida, we’ll spend our tourist dollars here in Florida,” she said.
Leopoldo said the ship will could be back in Miami as early as Wednesday afternoon, and that passengers were told they will receive a full refund.