Carnival Cruise Line rerouted one of its ships back to Cayman on Tuesday morning after talks with Deputy Premier Moses Kirkconnell.
Carnival Paradise had initially been scheduled to visit Grand Cayman Tuesday, but the cruise line had altered its itinerary to bypass the island. However, after talks with Kirkconnell, who is also the tourism minister, the cruise line changed its mind and the ship arrived after all.
The Ministry of Tourism on Tuesday dismissed reports circulating that Carnival Cruise Lines had dropped the Cayman Islands from its Western Caribbean itinerary.
“There is no truth to reports,” the ministry statement said.
“In fact, the Ministry continues to work collaboratively with cruise line partners and are adhering to established medical protocols with respect to the docking of cruise ships and landing of cruise ship passengers,” the ministry added.
The Ministry of Health, public health officials and the management of the Health Services Authority confirmed Tuesday there are no cases of the coronavirus in Cayman.
Carnival Paradise, with a 2,052-passenger capacity, was one of four cruise ships in port in George Town on Tuesday.
Despite bringing this ship to Cayman, Carnival has dropped the Cayman Islands from the itineraries of two of its other ships this week, according to Port Authority Director Joseph Woods.
“Carnival Cruise lines altered its itinerary for three of its ships, but after meetings with the Hon. Deputy Premier/Minister of Tourism, Carnival Paradise was rerouted back to Grand Cayman,” Woods told the Cayman Compass. It arrived in Cayman at 10am Tuesday.
Woods said two other Carnival ships that originally had been scheduled to arrive in Cayman on Wednesday and Thursday would not be calling here.
“We are all working in close collaboration with each other and perhaps itineraries of some ships have been adjusted, not because there are any passengers with the virus or infectious illnesses on board, but simply because they may be unable to meet Cayman’s requirements for those particular calls,” Woods said.
He added, “The ship for Friday remains unchanged; it is still scheduled to call,” and said there have been no cancellations for next week.
Woods added that only Carnival cruise ship itineraries have been altered.
The Compass reached out to Carnival Cruise Lines but no response had been received by press time.
Kirkconnell, in Tuesday’s statement, said the tourism ministry is taking “very seriously” the potential threat posed by the coronavirus.
“We are proactively working with industry partners and stakeholders to ensure compliance with the extensive protections put in place by the Ministry of Health to safeguard public health and protect the points of entry into our Islands. At the regional level, the Cayman Islands have also participated in discussions with CARICOM leaders and representatives from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) to co-operatively establish and implement minimum standards and protocols to help protect the Caribbean community from the coronavirus,” he said.
Last week, Cayman denied entry to the MSC Meraviglia after it was discovered that a sick crew member on board the ship had travelled to the Philippines within the last two weeks.
Over the weekend, all passengers from an Italian cruise ship, the Costa Luminosa, were allowed to disembark in Grand Cayman. Italians on board the ship had been restricted from landing when it docked in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, Friday.
The Jamaica Gleaner reported Tuesday that Jamaican health officials and Carnival were locked in a “stand-off” over COVID-19 protocols “with the cruise line threatening to bypass the country if the Government failed to soften its stance on safeguards against the deadly novel coronavirus”.
Woods, of the Port Authority, said the cruise line has “very stringent screening protocols in place in an effort to prevent the introduction or the spread of the virus on board their vessels and Cayman has well-established policies and requirements that have been tweaked to prevent and minimise our risk of exposure”.
CNN reported Monday that Carnival changed ship itineraries as some countries are not allowing ships to dock because of concerns over COVID-19.
The US news network quoted a Carnival statement which read, “A number of Caribbean destinations continue to work through their policies with regards to cruise ship visits. And while we are following all US CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and World Health Organization screening protocols and guidelines, we want to avoid any possibility of a visit to a destination where there is uncertainty or we risk being turned away.”
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