Six passengers onboard Royal Caribbean Cruise test positive for Covid-19

Six passengers on Royal Caribbean International’s Adventure of the Seas have tested positive for Covid-19, the company said on Friday.

Spokesperson Lyan Sierra-Caro told USA Today the positive tests were part of routine tests taken at the end of the voyage so passengers can produce proof of negative tests required to return home.

Four vaccinated adults who were travelling separately tested positive as well as two unvaccinated children who were in the same party.

“These guests were quarantined and then retested with a PCR test to confirm their diagnosis,” Sierra-Caro said.

The cruise ship left Nassau on Saturday and is currently docked at Freeport, in the Bahamas.

Royal Caribbean said the six passengers would be medically evacuated from the ship and flown home on a private plane at the company’s expense.

Three of the adults were asymptomatic, as were both of the children, while one of the adults had mild symptoms.

The cruise company said some of the passengers on the ship were yet to be notified of the positive cases as of Friday morning. Close contacts have been alerted, and given PCR tests, it said.

Adventure of the Seas is due to disembark in Nassau on Saturday after completing a 7 day voyage.

The cruise company requires passengers over the age of 16 to be fully vaccinated and produce a negative test prior to boarding.

The six cases were detected after passengers were given rapid tests, and subsequent PCR testing confirmed they were positive for the virus.

All of the staff and crew onboard the ship are fully vaccinated.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is waging a legal battle against the cruise line industry who want to make vaccinations mandatory for passengers and crew.