British cruise ship passengers ‘still in limbo’
PASSENGERS trapped on a coronavirus-hit cruise ship stranded off the coast of California say they are being left in the dark about plans for their release.
More than 3,500 guests and crew on the Grand Princess, which was originally due to dock in San Francisco on Saturday, have been left in limbo for days as they await instructions from the government about where and when they can disembark.
Guests were initially told that the ship would dock in Oakland, near San Francisco, yesterday, but this was later revised to today due to an order from the US government.
Yesterday morning its British captain, John Harry Smith, told guests: “We know this will be a disappointment to you and we share in that disappointment, however, we have to follow the government instructions.”
While the crew will be quarantined, tested and treated onboard, California residents will be treated in the state and passengers from other US states transported to their own local facilities, the government has not announced plans for the citizens of other countries, including 121 British people.
Michelle Bisell, whose 70-year-old mother Jackie, from Dartford, Kent, is among those trapped on the ship, said: “They have been told that when they dock, only American passengers will be able to leave the ship and be tested. My mum is still in limbo.”
Lisa Egan, from Colorado, whose father Cliff, 90, is also a passenger, said she was struggling to get through to the cruise company to alert them to his needs for prescription medication.
“He’s still feeling fine with no symptoms, so we’re hopeful he’ll test negative and be able to go home sooner rather than later,” she said.
Yesterday another ship from the same cruise company, the Regal Princess, was held offshore in Florida awaiting coronavirus test results for two crew members.
Both had previously worked on the Grand Princess but do not have symptoms.
Several passengers who were on the ship last month have subsequently tested positive for the virus, and one, a 75-year-old American, has died.