The Queen Mary 2 cruise ship, the flagship of the Cunard Line, has arrived to join two P&O vessels, the Aurora and the Ventura, off the south coast of England today.
The ship, which can hold more than 2,500 guests and more than 1,000 crew members, arrived in the bay off Weymouth and Portland this afternoon as the cruise ship remains in hibernation during the coronavirus pandemic.
It is one of three ships known as the Three Queens including Queen Victoria – now also docked off the coast of south England – and Queen Elizabeth – now docked north of the Philippines.
All three ships are no longer in service after Southampton-based cruise line Cunard, which is part of the Carnival group, cancelled its cruises on March 16.
Queen Mary 2 has been in the area for some time after arriving back off the coast of England last month but is occasionally seen moving around due to the weather forecast and for maritime operations, according to its owner.
RMS Queen Mary 2 transatlantic ocean liner, flagship of Cunard Line, arrives to join P&O ships Aurora and its sister ship Ventura in the bay off Weymouth and Portland today
Queen Mary 2 (pictured today) is one of three ships known as the Three Queens including Queen Victoria – now also docked off the coast of south England – and Queen Elizabeth – now docked north of the Philippines
Queen Mary 2 has been in the area for some time after arriving back off the coast of England last month but is occasionally seen moving around due to the weather forecast and for maritime operations, according to its owner
The vessel set off on its most recent cruise on January 10 this year. But it disembarked all of its passengers in Fremantle, Australia, after Cunard cancelled all its cruises.
Organisers told passengers they would have to leave the ship and fly home before the vessel sailed back to Southampton – even though no-one on board was diagnosed with the bug which has now killed more than 240,000 worldwide. It arrived back in England on April 17.
A British couple, from Bletchley Heath, Kent, were among those on the vessel when it set off from Southampton for Australia on January 10.
Dave and his wife Helen, who went on the cruise to celebrate their 70th birthdays, said they were ‘were under a silent quarantine for a time’ before it was revealed they would have to leave for home at Australia.
Dave said: ‘Someone said they were offered a first class ticket home. We have heard someone else was offered a holiday in Australia.
‘I don’t want to fly. I don’t like to fly that is why we take cruises. They brought us here by ship, they should take us back again.’
The couple were offered discounts on future cruises as compensation for the inconvenience.
The vessel set off on its most recent cruise on January 10 this year. But it disembarked all of its passengers in Fremantle, Australia, after Cunard cancelled all its cruises (it is pictured off the south coast of England alongside Aurora and its sister ship Ventura in the bay off Weymouth and Portland today)
The cruise ship, which can hold more than 2,500 guests and more than 1,000 crew members, arrived in the bay off Weymouth and Portland this afternoon
Queen Mary 2’s sister ships, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth, also struggled following the decision by Cunard to stop all cruises.
Queen Victoria sailed back to Southampton after an eight-hour stop in Port Everglades, Florida, on March 17. It arrived back in England on April 17.
But soon after arriving back it emerged it was dealing with an outbreak of coronavirus, and all nonessential crew members had been asked to remain in their cabins for at least two weeks.
The Queen Elizabeth on the other hand remains moored off the coast of the Philippines. It is anchored in Manila Bay on the west coast of the country alongside other vessels from Princess Cruises and Cunard Line.
There are thousands of crew members who still remain on vessels around the world and there is currently a huge effort in getting the majority of them back to their home countries.
Among the cruise ships seen recently near the Philippines were Carnival Spirit, Majestic Princess, Pacific Dawn, Pacific Explorer, Sapphire Princess, Sea Princess, Sun Princess, Spectrum of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas.
The Aurora and the Ventura, also docked off the south coast of England, had a similarly tough time during the coronavirus outbreak. Alongside the Britannia and the Queen Victoria – there are now between 800 and 1,000 crew on each of four vessels operated by Carnival brands moored in the port of Southampton.
A spokeswoman for Carnival told MailOnline today: ‘We have three ships in Dover and five ships in our home port of Southampton.
‘The ships do move off the berth though depending on the weather forecast (strong winds etc) or for occasional maritime operations.’
Despite the coronavirus lockdown and anchoring of cruise ships, the boss of Tui Cruises believes demand for cruises will bounce back to pre-coronavirus levels within as little as a year.
Wybcke Meier told The Telegraph that despite being forced to cancel dozens of cruises, she was confident the industry would bounce back.
‘We are convinced that in the long-term the demand for premium and luxury cruises will not change,’ she said. ‘We will see the demand for cruises return to pre-crisis level within 12 to 18 months.’
It comes as it was revealed last month that one-fifth of all global ocean cruise ships were infected with coronavirus, leaving at least 2,592 crew and passengers infected and killing at least 65, according to research.
Shocking new data revealed that cases of the deadly virus can be directly linked to at least 54 cruise ships, as they continued to travel the waters while the pandemic ravaged communities on land.
All four of the world’s largest cruise lines – Carnival, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and MSC Cruises – were struck by outbreaks, as well as several smaller lines.
At least 922 of those infected and 11 who died were crew members working on the ships.
Passengers stranded on board the coronavirus-stricken Grand Princess off the coast of San Francisco in March. New research shows that one-fifth of all global ocean cruise ships were infected with coronavirus, leaving at least 2,592 crew and passengers infected and killing at least 65
A worker in protective gear checks a passenger after she disembarked the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama in February
The stark findings, collated into a study by the Miami Herald using data from the CDC, cruise companies and passenger testiminies, show that the situation on board ships was far worse than official figures reveal.
It also raises further questions over whether the decision to issue a no-sail order came too light from the lines and the CDC.
As coronavirus cases and deaths increased worldwide, cruise ships fast became hotbeds for the killer disease and several ships were turned away by ports refusing to allow sick patients to disembark.
The study shows that being stuck on board a cruise ship was one of the most dangerous places to be as the pandemic worsened.
‘Here’s a situation where you have a global pandemic, and you’re running a business where you essentially have self-contained environments where this disease can proliferate quickly,’ Dr. Roderick King, CEO of the Florida Institute for Health Innovation, told the Herald.
King accused the big cruise lines of ‘closing your eyes’ to the dangers as they continued to pursue voyages as the crisis ramped up.
‘By closing your eyes to it, it’s not only detrimental to your business model and ability to bounce back, but it has huge implications on the broader population,’ he said.
The cruise industry has come under fire for its slow response amid the pandemic as it continued to send ships out to sea even after a series of outbreaks on board and repeated warnings from health experts that the high numbers of people in contained spaces on the ships can make them breeding grounds for the virus.
It was early February when the doomed Diamond Princess was ordered to stay at sea off the coast of Japan for two weeks after a deadly outbreak struck passengers and crew.
In the worst cruise ship crisis so far, 712 people tested positive and 13 died after being on board the ship.
Passenger Steven Smith goes through a health screening after leaving the Grand Princess cruise ship in California on March 11. Shocking new data reveals that cases of the deadly virus can be directly linked to at least 54 cruise ships
Grand Princess passengers wait to leave the ship.All four of the world’s largest cruise lines – Carnival, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and MSC Cruises – were struck by outbreaks, as well as several smaller lines
But despite the warning signs, on March 7 it was still business as usual with companies citing extra cleaning measures were being taken and Vice President Mike Pence telling Americans it was ‘safe for healthy Americans to travel.’
The next day – around a month after the Diamond Princess outbreak – the CDC issued guidelines that Americans do not travel on cruise ships.
Several ships still set sail after this time, with the Herald analysis showing that these risky moves led to another eight outbreaks on ships, including 309 cases and 3 deaths.
On March 11 – the day the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic – around 550,000 passengers were on cruises.
On March 13, more than 50 cruise lines finally announced they were suspending operations to and from US ports for 30 days and the CDC issued a no-sail order in US waters the following day.
Even then, cruise ships already at sea were still able to continue their voyages beyond this date.
It emerged last month that some companies had even deliberately downplayed the risks of coronavirus to customers in order to not have to issue refunds to worried passengers.
The Florida Attorney General launched an investigation in March into Norwegian Cruise Line after leaked emails revealed managers were giving sales staff phrases to tell customers dismissing the risk of contracting coronavirus on board ships to try to flog more holidays.
The emails, leaked to Miami New Times by a whistleblower, showed that staff in the Miami headquarters were being told to say phrases like: ‘the only thing you need to worry about for your cruise is do you have enough sunscreen,’ and ‘the coronavirus can only survive in cold temperatures, so the Caribbean is a fantastic choice for your next cruise’.
Rescue workers transport patients after they disembark the Zaandam and Rotterdam cruise ships at Broward Health Medical Center in Fort Lauderdale. Cruise ships fast became hotbeds for the killer disease and several ships were turned away by ports refusing to allow sick patients to disembark
Passengers and crew leave the Zandaam. Companies continue to downplay risks, with Carnival CEO Arnold Donald saying passengers ‘are at far less risk in a cruise environment than other environments’
Even now the major companies have downplayed the risk on board their ships.
Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival, the world’s largest cruise company where 17 percent of ships have been infected, said last week that ‘very few’ ships have been affected by coronavirus and said passengers ‘are at far less risk in a cruise environment than other environments.’
‘We have really high standards on cruise ships in dealing with any kind of health risk,’ he said in an interview with CNBC on April 15.
‘You don’t go to many places where you have medical records, where there is temperature scanning, there’s lots of deep cleaning going on often and all the time.’
Passengers on board the ships tell a different story.
One passenger who set sail on Carnival’s Costa Luminosa cruise in Fort Lauderdale on March 5 said the company refused to give out refunds before the voyage despite the increased risks so he and his wife decided to go ahead with their holiday.
Emilio Hernandez told the Herald three days into the cruise a sick passenger had to leave the ship and be hospitalized in Puerto Rico with COVID-19.
In the worst cruise ship crisis so far, 712 people tested positive on the Diamond Princess after Japanese authorities imposed a two-week lockdown in Yokohama
A passenger waves as she walks with others on the deck of the Diamond Princess cruise ship in February. Japan was widely criticised for its handling of the ship, with one disease expert saying the quarantine was ‘completely inadequate’ after viewing the conditions on board
The ship was then refused to dock in Antigua and people were kept on board the virus cluster, which resulted in four passengers and one crew member dying.
Hernandez, 51, and his wife Barbara, 46, both caught coronavirus and his wife was hospitalized before recovering.
‘If the cruise ships don’t learn now, how many more people are going to die?’ Hernandez told the Herald.
‘They need to be held accountable for what they’ve done to their passengers and their crews. They decided that taking their asset back to Italy was more important than my health and the health of all the passengers. That decision has cost people their lives.’
One of the fatalities was Tom Sheehan, 69, who also boarded the ship in Fort Lauderdale on March 5 and died on March 30.
‘If the ship had told everyone what was going on, my dad and stepmom would have gotten off in Puerto Rico and flown home,’ his son Kevin Sheehan told the Herald. ‘But they didn’t tell them. So they stayed on the ship.’
Several crew members have also been killed after they were left with no choice but to keep turning up for work on the floating deathtraps.
Pujiyoko, 27, a Royal Caribbean housekeeper from Indonesia, became the youngest person in South Florida at the time to die from the virus on April 12.
Fears first mounted for cruise ship passengers and crew in February when in the worst cruise ship crisis so far, hundreds tested positive on the Diamond Princess after Japanese authorities imposed a two-week lockdown in Yokohama.
Passengers were confined to their cabins during the lockdown but several countries eventually lost patience with Japan and airlifted their citizens home.
Japan was widely criticised for its handling of the ship, with one disease expert saying the quarantine was ‘completely inadequate’ after viewing the conditions on board.
Japan had initially impounded the ship after a passenger who left the ship in Hong Kong in January subsequently tested positive.
At least 13 people have died after they were taken to hospital from the doomed vessel and 712 have tested positive.
Weeks later another Princess ship was struck by an outbreak, when two passengers and 19 crew members on the Grand Princess cruise ship tested positive for coronavirus in early March.
The ship docked in Oakland, California, on March 9 with 3,500 on board and people were repatriated and sent to army bases for quarantine.
At least 100 cases have been linked to the Grand Princess and at least two deaths.
In March, the Holland America Zaandam was stuck at sea after it set sail on March 7 and people began showing symptoms of coronavirus.
The ship was turned away by several ports in Latin America and Florida.
The Zandaam and its sister ship the Rotterdam – which had met the infected ship and taken healthy patients on board – were finally allowed to dock in Florida on April after Donald Trump waded into the matter.
Four people had died and more than 190 had flu-like symptoms by the time passengers and crew were allowed to disembark.
The CDC has since extended its halting of cruise voyages until late July.