Carnival Cruise Ship ‘Overwhelmed’ By COVID-Infected Passengers: ‘I Did Not Feel Safe’

A Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) ship has docked in Seattle with more than 100 people aboard infected with COVID-19.

Passengers told KING-5, an NBC affiliate out of Seattle, that the cruise ship was “overwhelmed” by the number of COVID cases. Carnival has not confirmed exactly how many people had tested positive for the virus, only saying there were a number of positive cases, the news outlet said.

According to KING-5, multiple people are in hotels across the Seattle area, quarantined after testing positive or being exposed to someone with the virus.

Passenger Darren Sieferston, who is quarantined at a hotel after testing positive for COVID-19 while on the cruise ship, told KING-5, “As soon as I got diagnosed with COVID, I did not feel safe.”

He continued by saying the experience was chaotic onboard. “They didn't have enough staff to handle the emergency that was happening, period. They were overwhelmed, and they didn't have a backup course in how to handle about 200 people affected with COVID. We all suffered.”

Other guests felt the same way.

Walter Babij, who was also a passenger on the ship, told the news outlet, “I think that they were unprepared. I think they were understaffed. I think that they were overwhelmed. I don't think they had clear guidance as to how to handle this.”

Passengers complained about long waits for meals, not being about to get ahold of medical staff, and not being properly isolated, KING-5 said.

Other issues aboard the ship included a public list of the names and room numbers of people who had tested positive for the virus, which Sieferston called an invasion of privacy.

“It’s just unacceptable,” he said.

Carnival did tell KING-5 that there were no serious health issues aboard the ship during the 16-day sailing to Panama Canal and that most passengers were asymptomatic. It also said that all health and safety protocols were closely followed, including vaccination requirements and pre-cruise COVID testing for all guests.

In a statement to the news outlet, Carnival said:

Our protocols are designed to flex up as needed and additional measures were implemented during the voyage, including mask requirements for guests.

In addition, all guests who were scheduled to continue on with the ship’s next cruise to Alaska were tested and any guests who tested positive were disembarked.

Carnival provided transportation and lodging support for guests who needed to quarantine per CDC guidelines. The ship departed on its next cruise on Tuesday afternoon as scheduled.

The Carnival ship’s next sailing is to Alaska.

As of Thursday's premarket hours, shares of Carnival were trading at $17.46, down 27 cents or 1.52%.