What happened with cruise ship Sky Princess this week (see related story) is intriguing. The vessel could not dock in St. Thomas Tuesday due to a COVID-19 outbreak on board and immediately continued to the next scheduled stop, St. Maarten, where it was received with open arms.
Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Roger Lawrence after discussing the matter with port authorities said that “last minute changes” led to a request to come early. He understandably focused on the benefits – in terms of earnings – passengers and crew staying on the island a day longer brought.
However, there is a public health aspect to consider as well. During the height of the pandemic strict protocols existed regarding the maximum infection rate for allowing occupants to disembark. It would be interesting to know whether these still exist and – if so – were applied in this case.
Cruise.com reported that entry denials have become increasingly uncommon as the COVID-19 crisis subsides. The ship’s captain also assured that the infections were mild and asymptomatic in nature, while the cruise line requires pre-trip testing for all passengers and a vaccination rate of 95 per cent.
There is thus nothing to be overly worried about, but the fact is that there was no official word regarding any adjustments of related local restrictions. Although this touches mostly people active in the industry, the general public too could be impacted and has a right to know.
