MIAMI — Four days after the coronavirus-stricken Coral Princess cruise ship docked at PortMiami, some passengers are still stuck on board.
Princess Cruises, owned by Carnival Corp., has been moving hundreds of passengers off the ship on charter flights to comply with a new federal rule that cruisers not fly commercial. On Wednesday, passengers left in two private jet charters bound for Bermuda, Miami-Dade spokesman Greg Chin said. Five charter flights are scheduled for Thursday to Amsterdam, Mexico, Alaska via Los Angeles, and multiple stops in South America.
The company said in a statement Wednesday that it is working to get all passengers off the ship and on flights home by Thursday night, a change from the plan in place when the ship docked Saturday morning that called for 27 sick passengers to remain on board until they recovered. No passengers on board have flu-like symptoms, the company said.
The process of getting people off quickly has been complicated because passengers awaiting transfer aren’t being allowed to go to local hotels, the company said, which could help temporarily as Princess Cruises navigates customs and travel restrictions from several countries.
“We do not recommend that guests remain on the ship when it heads back to sea for marine operations and local authorities will not authorize the use of local hotels, making timely approvals for repatriation critical,” the statement said. The ship is on PortMiami’s dock schedule through 6 p.m. EDT Thursday.
An order from Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez allows hotels to accept reservations from displaced visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic. The mayor’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the discrepancy.
Princess Cruises said all crew members will remain on board the ship while the company works out a separate repatriation plan for them.
On Wednesday afternoon, Juan Pablo Rueda, 66, and Maria Isabella Ardila, 61, from Colombia, readied to spend their fifth night about the ship while it has been docked at PortMiami. They fear the longer they stay there, the higher the chances are they’ll become infected.
“Our health is good, but we are at risk because we know this ship is contaminated,” said Rueda. “At least we have electricity, air, a nice view, but we have spent 10 days in a 15 by 15 room. We need exercise, contact with other people.”
Rueda said the captain announced Wednesday that around 100 passengers remained on board, down from the original 1,020.
When the ship arrived Saturday, the company transferred five people in private ambulances to Miami hospitals. A sixth sick person, 71-year-old Wilson Maa from San Francisco, died at the hospital after waiting nearly five hours for an ambulance late Saturday night.
On Sunday, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue intervened and began transferring people from the ship to local hospitals.
Twenty-four more people from the ship have been hospitalized, including three people Tuesday with COVID-19 in critical condition, according to the daily report from the Emergency Operations Center.
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