Officers on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship, the Jewel of the Seas, reportedly are falsely telling guests aboard the ship that there are neither guests nor crew members on the ship who have tested positive for COVID-19. In truth, there are currently around eighty (80) crew members who have tested positive for the virus after testing today. Five additional people on the cruise ship, guests, also tested positive.

The ship has made no official statements via intercom to the guests regarding the number of  infected guests and crew. But when guests question the officers and crew, they are reportedly told that the ship is “clean” of COVID-19 and no one is quarantined on the ship.

This reality on the ship tells a different story, according to several guests, some of whom would prefer to remain anonymous and others who have posted comments on Twitter.

After one of the ports, Cartagena, prohibited the Jewel from porting a few days ago, as we last reported, the Jewel sailed on to Aruba and guests were eventually permitted ashore. Unfortunately, by the time that the ship finally reached Aruba, the CDC issued a warning against traveling to Aruba. This presented essentially a double whammy to the guests. Not only had the CDC warned against travel by cruise ship, whether you are vaccinated or not, the federal health agency also specifically warned against travel to Aruba.

Guests on the ship who we have communicated with talk of waiters who are obviously missing from the dining room and cabin attendants who are no longer showing up for cabin duty.  One guests informed me that:

“Don’t they not realize that people with common sense are noticing the shortage of the staff, as most of the infected crew are hotel workers, waiters, cabin attendants, bar servers. Many people are talking about dining room staff being very short. Officers are busing tables, tables are sitting for an hour dirty, … and the pool deck is sitting for hours dirty.

They are saying there are ZERO cases on board and no one is in quarantine.”

Another guest stated:

“On Jewel there is NO information being provided to guests about number of cases on board and when you ask we are told ‘Jewel is a clean ship, no COVID.’ Noticed crew disappearing at an alarming rate from all around the ship. Tables in the dining room left dirty for the entirety of dinner, and tables around ship left dirty for hours. Entertainment crew seems to be heavily affected as well.”

Another guests stated:

Room attendants have been dwindling on my floor which is or was almost full . . . . Forward cabins on 4 are closed (for quarantine) along with part of 3.”

Some guests are commenting on Twitter about the people are being quarantined on the Jewel:

One crew member informed me that guests are inquiring about the crew members not showing up to work in the restaurants, cabins and entertainment venues:

“People with common sense are certainly noticing the shortage of the staff, as most of the infected crew are hotel workers – waiters, cabin attendants, bar servers.”

The current status of the Jewel of the Seas is that the ship departed from Aruba earlier this evening headed toward Miami.  It is anticipated that, like other Royal Caribbean cruise ships, it will divert – possibly to Coco Cay – to transfer its infected / ill crew members to the Vision of the Seas which this cruise line is using as a floating quarantine hotel / hospital. In fact, some infected crew members have already received emails from the ship’s HR team about their upcoming transfer to Vision of the Seas before the Jewel return to Miami.

You can read about Royal Caribbean’s use of the Vision of the Seas as well as the Rhapsody of the Seas to warehouse at sea its ill and injured crew members in the article titled Vision of the Seas and Rhapsody of the Seas: Royal Caribbean’s “Plague Ships.”

We will report further when the Jewel unloads its infected / ill crew members onto the Vision in the next few days. Stay tuned . . .

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Image credit: Top – anonymous guest on the Jewel of the Seas; middle – respective Twitter users.