This morning the captain (master) of the Jewel of the Seas announced that the Royal Caribbean cruise ship was barred from porting in Cartagena due to the presence of COVID -19. A knowledgeable crew member informed me that fifty-one (51) crew members, and three (3) guests, tested positive for COVID-19.

There are 755 crew members and 1351 guests on the ship at his time.

The cruise ship is now heading toward Oranjestad, Aruba where it will dock overnight.

In the past ten days, the Jewel of the Seas has offloaded crew members who tested positive for COVID-19 to both the Vision of the Seas (25 infected crew) and the Rhapsody of the Seas (21 crew) which Royal Caribbean is using as floating quarantine hotels and floating hospitals to avoid many ports’ COVID-19 reporting requirements. This cruise line also saves substantial money by transferring its infected and/or ill crew members to these two idle ships in its fleet. It is likely that the Jewel will again transfer its infected / ill crew members to one of these ships before its returns to Miami onJanuary 9th.

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Image credit: Top –  Jewel of the Seas – Royal Caribbean Press Center.

Jaauary 5, 2022 Update: The Jewel didn’t port in Aruba lasy night as the passengers were initially told. Passengers are nor saying that the ship has been sailing in circles and they have been in the dark. The ship is now saying that it will port in Aruba late this afternoon: