The latest report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows two Disney Wonder sailings were affected by Coronavirus. The CDC report lists all cruise ships that had voyages with US ports, which are under US CDC jurisdiction where the CDC was notified about travelers who had symptoms and tested positive for COVID-19 within 14 days after disembarking the ships.
The two Disney Cruise Line sailings reported were both New Orleans departures in late-February and the other early-March aboard the Disney Wonder.
The Friday March 6, 2020, 14-Night Westbound Panama Canal Cruise from New Orleans to San Diego is the other sailing which is listed in the CDC’s Cruise ships affected by COVID-19 report. The Westbound Panama Canal Cruise is highlighted as a sailing where the CDC was notified about ‘COVID-19-positive travelers who had symptoms while onboard these ships.‘ On March 27th, Disney Cruise Line’s president, Jeff Vahle, sent a health advisory email to all Westbound Panama Canal passengers regarding COVID-19.
The February 27, 2020, 4-Night Western Caribbean Cruise from New Orleans is highlighted as a sailing where the CDC was notified about ‘COVID-19-positive travelers who had symptoms while onboard these ships.‘ This is in reference, I believe, to the report from Louisiana of a passenger who returned home and later tested positive. Unlike the Westbound Panama Canal Cruise, the February 4-night is listed as having passengers ‘who had symptoms and tested positive for COVID-19 within 14 days after disembarking.‘ The CDC states ‘since these travelers’ symptoms began after the voyage, the traveler might have contracted COVID-19 during the voyage; however, other sources of transmission after the voyage cannot be ruled out.‘
As of April 4, 2020, the CDC updated its recommendations to help US cruise ship travelers get home as quickly and safely as possible during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- CDC is working with partners as part of the Unified Command, including Coast Guard, Customs and Border Protection, port authorities, local and state health departments, and Department of State, to respond to COVID-19 aboard cruise ships.
- CDC recommends that cruise ship travelers with no symptoms or mild symptoms disembark as quickly and safely as possible at US ports of entry:
- Cruise line companies must get travelers directly to their homes via chartered or private transportation.
- Commercial flights and public transportation may not be used.
- Since February 2020, travelers on dozens of cruise ships have been affected by COVID-19 outbreaks. Cruise ships are often settings for outbreaks of infectious diseases because of the semi-enclosed environment and contact between travelers from many countries.
- Outbreaks of COVID-19 on cruise ships pose a risk for rapid spread of disease beyond the voyage. Aggressive efforts are required to contain spread.
- CDC realizes that it might be confusing for travelers when recommendations change during the COVID-19 pandemic response. The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States and globally is constantly changing. We will continue to evaluate and update our recommendations for returning cruise ship travelers as the situation evolves.
There will be many that want to play the blame game, and that is fine. I would just like to submit the following. Even on a ship that has a verified track record of being clean as reported by the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program, there is always a variable that cannot be controlled, the guests. A passenger could easily be asymptomatic, feel perfect, pass the screening at the terminal without even knowing. Why do you think even in better times, hand hygiene was stressed so much? What I do know is the Disney Wonder has back to back perfect inspection scores with a 97% average over the 40 inspections posted on the CDC’s website, which date back to September 1999.
CORRECTION: Descriptions from the CDC for each sailings were switched.
Because we know we cannot control people’s behaviors once on a cruise ship DISNEY CAN control THEIR behavior by weighing the risks and benefits of sailing DURING A PANDEMIC. So it’s worth the risk of people’s health and lives for profit and to continue to sail? Apparently Disney thinks so. Trips are continuing which is unbelievable despite CDC recommendations. Disappointing.
As of the March 6th Wonder sailing there was approx 200 cases of COVID reported in the US. I wasn’t declared a National Emergency until March 13th. Trips aren’t continuing only the crew remain. Make sure you have context before YOU GO ALL CAPS TO PROVE YOUR POINT.
Are you a special kind of stupid? Disney disembarked their final passengers on 3/20. The ship sailed on 3/6. When the ship sailed there were less then 100 confirmed cases in the US. Disney did an amazing job of keeping its vessels clean and sanitary. I applaud the Disney Corporation and Disney Cruise Line for all their efforts!!
What is your purpose to keep posting on this site and raging about DCL sailing the WBPC when there wasn’t a NATIONAL declaration of a Pandemic until the cruise was nearly over? What are you hoping to accomplish other than to cast aspersions at DCL who has always rated the top cleanest cruise line in the industry? It’s almost as if you’re trying to blame the entire pandemic on this particular trip!!
There’s simply no way passengers on board those two sailing, coming out of New Orleans no less, were completely virus free on board. Asymptomatic? Yes, absolutely, but no way 100% virus free. Conflicting reports from passengers themselves on the WBPC cruise saying people were and were not displaying symptoms on board. It all depends on who you knew on board and who you came in contact with. In all likelihood, guests carried aboard without symptoms, as the virus does.
I think you have the descriptions of the two Wonder sailings reversed. The asterisk indicates that the WBPC cruise was in the category for “COVID-19-positive travelers who had symptoms while onboard these ships.”
Yes, agree they are reversed
A correction has been made. Thanks for pointing this out.
I was on the Wonder on the 2/14-2/21 Western Caribbean sailing from New Orleans. The cleanliness of that ship is unprecedented. The doors to all the restaurants were more closely ‘guarded’ than usual, to ensure everyone was washing their hands or using the sanitizing wipes, though admittedly, the quick serve places (FQ lounge, Pete’s, Daisy’s etc) did not. Pubic bathrooms were constantly being closed for cleaning (so often, that apparently some people were complaining). Crew members were mopping walls and ceilings in the hallways, and our table mates walked into their room to see a surprise cleaning inspection. The supervisor was in the room with the hostess, on the ground with a flashlight inspecting their bathroom. In my book, Disney went above and beyond to ensure cleanliness, especially considering the number of reported cases at the time.
The biggest risk we all face is not from Disney, it’s from other guests. We love, and continue to value our many DCL experiences (currently booked on EBPC in Nov). That said, the consequence of offering only a credit and not a refund when folks cancel will put economic pressure on guests to sail when they shouldn’t. We sail only with DCL because the ships are clean (husband cancer x3), but because the world is at least 18 months from a vaccine, I believe that DCL will need to re-imagine some of the experience: no more self serve anything (long proven fact that those shared serving utensils are a transmission vector of a lot of nasties), face masks for everyone ? Maybe cute character ones ? Guests will need the ability to dine only with their family groups (we will not be seating with another family whose history we don’t know..sorry), The inability to maintain any social distance will need to be addressed in those areas of the ship where tightness is unavoidable (elevator lobbies and the main theater for starters), how do you perform the lifeboat drill ? Em and debarkation ( especially that horrible Galveston). particular to the wonderful folks who staff the boat, what safety measures are in place for them? (It was published that a cook in the employee kitchen was infected on the Princess boat that got stuck in Japan, spreading to the crew, then the passengers). Ports of call ? We won’t be getting off the boat in any of the impoverished countries the boat stops at…And, most importantly, a clear and transparent policy about what happens IF an outbreak occurs. DCL is flagged in the Bahamas so has no inherent right to either US coast guard assistance NOR any right to dock at a US port- which means neither do we as guests. Lots to consider now 🙁
We’ve already thought ahead to future sailings (which for us won’t be until after we get a vaccine proven effective). We will bring along food service gloves when touching anything in the buffet area, we will bring wipes and travel lysol everywhere we go, etc. DCL is akin to immaculate when compared to other cruise lines, but it’s not immune.
Is Disney clean? Yes, and they have awards to show that. Is Disney immune? Absolutely not! Plenty of people report getting sick with one thing or another on all sailings. You cannot control the gross factor of each individual person. I appreciate the lengths Disney goes to to try and do their best to keep all on board well, but they have no power over every single person or this virus. Disney is not a magical bubble that leaves all stress and sickness on the dock when they pull away. The sooner some of you realize that, the better of we all are.
Only on this website do I keep seeing the phrase “COVID-19-positive travelers who had symptoms while onboard these ships,” in regard to the WBPC cruise from March 6-20. I was on that cruise, can testify to the measures taken during all hours of day and night to safeguard passengers, and have a letter from DCL stating that absolutely no passengers presented to medical with any symptoms of COVID-19. As someone who developed symptoms within days of leaving the ship, I do not have a hard time believing people were compromised while onboard, but the medical staff can only work with information they have, and I am unaware of any provided to them that runs counter to the narrative they have already published.
If you have evidence to the contrary, please present it so the public can gauge its veracity and I can determine if I want to join any of the myriad lawsuits that will emerge from mishandling. If you cannot, I will ask you to cease and desist so I don’t have to convey to DCL (and its army of lawyers) deliberate misinformation designed to undermine the value of its brand.
Brad,
The source for this information is CDC’s role in helping cruise ship travelers during the COVID-19 pandemic. An archive of the page was created and saved here.
I followed the link, which I had already seen before and contains absolutely NOTHING about “COVID-19-positive travelers who had symptoms while onboard these ships.” The CDC talks about compromised ships, to be sure, but there is nothing about when the passengers presented that contradicts Disney’s official version. I will again ask you to provide substantive evidence about symptoms that presented WHILE ONBOARD, so I can determine if the information DCL is providing was inaccurate. If you cannot, you risk the integrity of this blog, and (if TWDC’s legal brigade enters the process) perhaps its very future. Please clarify.
The list of ships above is a screenshot from the CDC website. There is an asterisk next to the Disney Wonder ship name on the lie for the 3/6 sailing. Looking at the footnotes to the table an asterisk indicates the following “*CDC was notified about COVID-19-positive travelers who had symptoms while on board these ships.”
I did follow your point, which is that the CDC is reporting that there were passengers that had symptoms on board. Passengers, ex post facto, reported to DCL and CDC that they had symptoms on board that they attributed to a cold or motion sickness or some other malady that they only later realized were indicative of Coronavirus. The point I’m making, however, is that neither you or I have presented any evidence that they told Disney at the time. My knowledge of the timeline is that, while a couple of passengers unknowingly displayed secondary symptoms (meaning no fever, which WHO maintained was what health experts needed to be looking for) while on board, they did not convey their concerns to the CDC until March 24th or 25th, which was 5 or 6 days after debarkation (depending on when individual passengers left).
The gist of the message contained on this page is that Disney must have known about the outbreak on their own ship despite their public denial. Moreover, in the very same paragraph in which you cite the CDC report claiming “*CDC was notified about COVID-19-positive travelers who had symptoms while on board these ships,” you also reference the 3/27 email from Jeff Vahle to all affected passengers, but in not specifically mentioning that the DCL president EXPLICITLY stated that no passengers presented while onboard, the implication is that the letter confirms what may ultimately be false information from the CDC. One can say that this is not the purpose of what was written, but all the irate comments betray that suggestion. One post is beseeching readers to wake up and recognize that what Disney published is untrue.
Whatever the intention, I believe that CDC and NIH have limited protection from defamation claims, if it turns out that there language was wrong and nobody actually presented with verifiable Covid-19 symptoms while onboard. This site is afforded no such protection if TWDC decides that the people making such spurious and, thus far, unproven claims are libelous. Moreover, because I am informing you of how whatever language you choose to use is being interpreted, you cannot even maintain that you were ignorant of how readers processed what you wrote. My suggestion so that the Disney lawyers (or all the opportunistic class action attorneys mounting on the other side) don’t drag you into a lengthy legal affair is that you further clarify your words. I would actually hope you would return to straight reporting on facts and halt the commentary. (e.g., DCL extending “an olive branch” to cancelled Guests, as though they wronged anyone in their lawful response to a global catastrophe.) You perform a genuine service here, so I would ask you to allow your readers to help you continue in that mission. Thank you.
Too many people have reported testing positive for the virus who were all on that sailing, that originated in what turned out to be a major hotspot in New Orleans. Have you been paying any attention as to how this virus operates? People can have the virus AND SHOW NO SYMPTOMS, especially children! That is what makes this virus so dangerous. And that whole time someone is asymptomatic (that means they don’t exhibit symptoms and feel fine but are infected) they are shedding the virus to others and onto any surfaces they touch. So no, please stop insisting no one on your sailing was sick. There are plenty of your fellow passengers reporting the complete opposite opinion, and they are correct- there is simply no way that 200 plus passengers (and now nearly 40 crew) somehow all got the virus after disembarking in San Diego. It’s just not possible. If people had the virus but showed no symptoms, what is there to report to the ship? And in all likelihood, anyone that may have felt ill could have been brushing it off as a cold or the flu (since our government at that time was still insisting that’s all this was) and didn’t report it, but realized after being tested at home it was coronavirus all along.
I feel like you missed my point about those who presented symptoms after leaving the ship. For sure, having driven directly home from San Diego, I would testify that I was infected onboard but I didn’t have evident symptoms while I was on the cruise and DCL is asserting that nobody else went to sick bay with symptoms. I was subsequently tested and just finished my quarantine, so NOBODY has to impress upon me or my family the urgency of a pandemic that likely could have been stopped in its infancy.
If you read back over my post, you’ll see I never said, nor would I ever say, anything as asinine as “no one on [my] sailing was sick.” What I said is that DCL is maintaining that anything they saw was not consistent with, nor recognizable as, Covid-19. Moreover, I went to medical when my daughters ankle was injured and I can attest that the staff down there on Deck 1 were especially attuned to these particular issues. So, if you have proof that Disney covered up people that were sick with Coronavirus, please present it, otherwise I would ask you to cease and desist in promoting conspiracies, in the interest of calming the public. Thank you.
This information doesn’t seem too shocking as Louisiana has over 15,000 confirmed cases and 500 deaths as I write this. If the virus really has up to a 14 day incubation period, then many unconfirmed cases were spreading well before the shut down. Wishing everyone affected a speedy recovery.
I was on the WBPC sailing also. Regardless of who was or wasn’t showing signs of sickness, the Disney Wonder, lead by Captain Henry, did everything they could humanly do to keep us safe. Did I get Covid-19 after the sailing, yes. Do I blame Disney? Absolutely not. Will I be party to any lawsuit. Absolutely not. This is the state of the world. I believe that i was infected from contact with people who were visiting NOLA prior to sailing. It is what it is. You all can argue this or that but you CAN NOT argue that the Disney Wonder’s staff did an amazing job with proper sanitation. I wish the rest of the effected passengers and crew member a very speedy and full recovery. Thank you Disney Wonder team for an amazing and interesting cruise!!
Hear, hear! The stewards and servers were amazing in keeping ahead of extra safety measures. And how many times did we all see crew sanitizing all the rails?
@Brad The amount of additional cleaning that I saw was insane. Over my many DCL cruises, I’ve seen every inch of the ship cleaned on a consistent basis. This cruise I saw the same spots cleaned 2 and 3 times a day. Every railing, every door touch point, the walls in the elevators, the deck chairs, everything. Not only did Disney step up their game in this cruise, they were setting a standard for all other cruise lines to follow.
My future cruise plans have been scaled back. The other 3 cruises that I had booked for this year have been canceled. It’s going to to be a while before my next sailing. I can tell you for a fact that my next cruise will be on Disney. Unfortunately it won’t be till next year assuming the ships are sailing at that point.
I wasn’t on the WBPC but I have done 2 previous crossings, and I have been monitoring the news and information about this matter intensely and while am absolutely not a medical expert, I do find myself questioning many of the statements, especially alluding to DCL and specifically The Wonder’s crew “knew” that they had infected people on board but did nothing about it. Then that bombshell article written by someone that runs a legal firm that specifically files suits against cruise lines that created a lot of alarm and panic among passengers from the 2020 WBPC. It was done for no other reason than to drum up potential clients to file a lawsuit against DCL for “mis-management or malfeasance”. Logically could there have been people who were asymptomatic on board the WBPC crossing, Yes, possibly. But the sudden glut of positive tests have been revealed WELL after the typcial incubation period for the virus, and on top of it all, all the crew that have suddenly tested positive did so after the multiple docking’s at San Diego since the WBPC disembarked final passengers on March 7th. My point in all of this is, we might never really know if there were any transmission of the virus on board the WBPC crossing, and considering the methods of transportation many people utilized once they did leave the ship, there’s entirely every possibility and probability that exposure happened during transit. Again I’m not claiming any specific knowledge, but I think it just requires some critical objective thought about this and realize DCL did the BEST they could with the information and abilities that they had at the time. Disparaging them will do no good and serve no real purpose.