The Seven Seas Mariner cruise ship operated by Regent Seven Seas Cruises and sailing from Miami and Key West to Cartagena was allowed to dock in Colombia’s Caribbean port city, but crew and passengers were not allowed to disembark after seven crew members tested positive for COVID-19.
The Seven Seas Mariner, with a capacity of 445 crew and 769 passengers arrived in Cartagena at 7:00 am on Wednesday, but given health protocols, both Mayor William Dau and the district’s Health Secretariat Johana Bueno, took the decision to not let passengers leave the ship.
According to local news sources the infected crew members are stable and do not require transfer to a health center. It has been confirmed that all the crew and passengers on board Seven Seas Mariner are vaccinated with complete schemes. On Wednesday, Colombian Health Minister Fernando Ruíz confirmed the first cases of the Omicron variant in persons visiting Cartagena and Santa Marta. Two of the patients in Cartagena were staying at a local hostel.
On Tuesday, 48 passengers on board Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas, and world’s biggest cruise ship, also tested positive for COVID-19. The Symphony of the Seas was on a week sail throughout the Caribbean with some 6,000 passengers and crew.