48 Cruise Ship Guests Test Positive For COVID-19; 98% Were Fully Vaccinated

A Royal Caribbean cruise ship returned to Port Miami in Florida Saturday with nearly 50 of its passengers and crew members testing positive for COVID-19, the company said.

A total of 48 people aboard the Symphony of the Seas tested positive for the virus and immediately went into quarantine, Miami Herald reported, citing a statement from the Royal Caribbean Sunday.

Six people who tested positive disembarked the ship mid-voyage and were transported home, the Miami-based company said. The other guests, meanwhile, received assistance upon the ship's arrival Saturday.

Of the 48 who tested positive for COVID-19, 98% were fully vaccinated.

All the cases were asymptomatic or had "mild symptoms," Royal Caribbean said, according to a report by NBC 6.

All COVID-19-positive people on the ship had their health "continuously monitored," the company added.

However, James Johnson and Connor O'Dell, an engaged couple from Orlando who was on the Symphony of the Seas with a group of 12 family members, claimed otherwise.

Johnson's aunt became very ill with an ear ache and a sore throat, which later developed into a strong cough, according to the couple.

The unnamed aunt allegedly received an oxygen and temperature check after testing positive for COVID-19 and was told that medical staff was too overwhelmed to monitor her more closely.

"We did our research and read [Royal Caribbean’s] COVID policies, on their site they say they have excellent testing capabilities, that’s why we thought it was safe to go. They failed their own safety standards," Johnson said.

The Symphony of the Seas set sail on Dec. 11 and embarked on its seven-night Caribbean trip with 6,091 passengers, 95% of whom were fully vaccinated.

All cruise ship crew members were fully vaccinated and tested weekly, Royal Caribbean said.

Travelers over the age of 12 were required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and had to test negative before boarding the ship. Children who were not vaccinated, meanwhile, had to provide a negative PCR test prior to sailing and also test negative at the terminal prior to boarding.

"I bought into the safety aspect. I was reading the literature they have online and thought, 'how much safer can you get?' Everyone’s vaccinated and has to get tested. And then you get on board and find yourself in the middle of the outbreak," said O'Dell, whose father also tested positive.

News of the Symphony of the Seas' outbreak came around six months after the cruise ship industry restarted operations.

Being on a cruise ship is the safest kind of vacation travelers can take at the moment because of the controlled environment where vaccines can be mandated, industry leaders said.

However, breakthrough infections — infections of fully vaccinated people — can reportedly put the cruise industry in a bad spot again.

The U.S. has reported 50,846,828 COVID-19 cases and 806,439 deaths as of Sunday, according to data provided by Johns Hopkins University.