Carnival Executives Knew They Had a Virus Problem, But Kept the Party Going

[marmar]

Carnival Executives Knew They Had a Virus Problem, But Kept the Party Going
More than 1,500 people on the company’s cruise ships have been diagnosed with Covid-19, and dozens have died.

By Austin Carr and Chris Palmeri


(Bloomberg) The news, when it reached the Grand Princess early on March 4, barely registered at first. In a letter slipped under passenger cabin doors, Grant Tarling, Carnival Corp.’s chief medical officer, announced that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control had begun “investigating a small cluster” of Covid-19 cases in California that might have been linked to the ship. Thirteen days after leaving San Francisco for Hawaii, the vessel would be skipping a scheduled stop in Mexico on its return voyage and sailing back early to its Bay Area port.

That day, passengers noticed new hand sanitizer stations and crew members wearing gloves, but life on the Grand Princess, which advertises 1,301 cabins, 20 restaurants and lounges, about a dozen shops, and four freshwater swimming pools, otherwise went on as normal. Guests prepared for a ukulele concert, played bridge at shared tables, and took line-dancing classes. That night, Laurie Miller and her husband, John, attended True or Moo, a show featuring an emcee in a cow costume; the following morning, John joined about 200 other passengers in the ship’s Broadway-style theater for a lecture on Clint Eastwood movies. “I’m surprised they’re even letting this event happen,” he whispered to a nearby friend. “This is a big crowd.”

Around lunchtime on March 5, the ship’s captain, John Smith, announced a quarantine over the ship’s public address system. All 2,422 passengers needed to go to their cabins to shelter in place. Laurie Miller was in the Da Vinci dining room eating chocolate peanut butter ice cream. “Oh my God,” she remembers thinking. “This is real.” Then she ordered more ice cream.

Other passengers ambled to the ship’s stores and dining areas, too, to take advantage of the perks while they could. “Evvverrrybody went to the buffet,” recalls 61-year-old Debbi Loftus, who was traveling with her parents. “I just thought, Oh, crap, the ukulele concert is going to be canceled.” Crowds of elderly guests filed to their cabins through narrow hallways and down the stairs of the ship’s 17 decks. Sixty-nine-year-old Karen Dever tried an elevator only to find it packed with fellow passengers. “So much for social distancing!” she joked aloud. ........(more)

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2020-carnival-cruise-coronavirus/

[at140]

1. Bloomberg ? Fake News.

I was on Carnival cruise ending on Feb 29th. Zero problem on ship. Maximum fun on ship.

[marmar]

2. Yours wasn't the only ship in the ocean, n'est-ce pas?

[at140]

5. I forgot how many ships troll the oceans every day

but it is a LOT. Then add up all the passengers on all ships who contracted covid-19. Then compare those deaths with how many die in car accidents every year not to mention 200,000 injured every year in car accidents. So why is the speed limit 70 & 80 mph? B ut by golly if 100 people got sick combined on all hundreds of cruises, WOW that is huge problem.

[3Hotdogs]

7. As they also say in France, Viola.

[Dustlawyer]

3. Thanks to their political donations (bribes) the cruise industry got laws passed that only allow

people to sue them in South Florida even if they sailed out of Galveston, Texas. It is very difficult to go after them since they have their own venue rules.

They have had a problem with Norovirus for many years causing diarrhea and vomiting. They are used to not having to pay very often for their neglect.

[at140]

8. I got news for you.....

Me and the wife and the 2 kids have been on more than 100 cruises combined. No one ever got norovirus. But I have gotten sick a few times eating in restaurants in town. I have spent almost 200 days and nights on cruise ships. I get back stronger and healthier every time because of all the walking exercise and better food than restaurants in town.

[customerserviceguy]

4. Even before C-19

Carnival's name was most often attached to any sad story about a cruise ship trip going bad. I stopped feeling sorry for people who signed up for a Carnival cruise several years ago.

From now on, only the kinds of people who are truly addicted to this sort of vacation will continue to use this business.

[Docreed2003]

6. How ironic that the ships captain shared the same name as the captain

Of the Titanic!