Royal Caribbean Ship Reaches Miami After Covid Outbreak

(Bloomberg) -- Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. said one of its ships arrived in Miami on Saturday with 48 passengers and crew members positive with Covid-19 after an outbreak onboard.

Cases aboard the Symphony were identified using contact tracing after one guest tested positive. Almost all -- 98% -- of those who tested positive were fully vaccinated, and 95% of the people onboard were fully vaccinated, the Miami-based company said in a statement Sunday. 

All guests who tested positive were asymptomatic or had “mild symptoms,” spokeswoman Lyan Sierra-Caro said. “We continuously monitored their health.”

The outbreak comes as the cruise industry tries to recover from last year’s Covid-driven shutdown and bad publicity in the early days of the pandemic after some nations refused to let exposed passengers disembark. 

Royal Caribbean’s shares fell 3.2% to $70.06 before the start of regular trading Monday in New York. The stock had lost a quarter of its value since Nov. 5, closing Friday at $72.51, in part as infections once again start to surge worldwide.

No future voyages of the ship will be affected, Sierra-Caro said. Sailing on the ship requires full vaccination and negative test results for people above age 12. Children who aren’t vaccinated must have a prior negative test and also test negative at the terminal before boarding, the company said.

Rival Carnival Corp. is due to report quarterly earnings Monday morning.

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