Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Broward County scrambles
Thousands may have had contact with infected dock workers
The dock workers infected by coronavirus at Port Everglades might have come into contact with more than 50,000 Princess Cruises travelers over three weeks.
Three of the first four people to test positive for the virus in Broward County work for Metro Cruise Services, which provides guest services for arriving and departing cruise passengers.
And chances are good that passengers of five Princess Cruises ships encountered at least one of Metro Cruise Services’ 150 local employees before or after any of 11 voyages that departed the port’s Terminals 2, 4 or 19 over 24 days beginning Feb. 12.
In a statement released Tuesday evening, Metro Cruise Services president Anthony Newman said the infected employees were all part-time workers who provided services to cruise travelers through the boarding process. The company frequently hires retirees in those roles.
“We were unaware that any of our part-time employees were sick until we were notified by the authorities,”
Newman’s statement said. “We then immediately notified all of our Port Everglades employees that one of their associates had tested positive and advised them that, if they have any symptoms, they should seek medical assistance and not report to work.”
Third-party contractors play important roles at ports, supporting both recreational cruise operations and industrial activities like loading and unloading container ships.
Metro Cruise Services workers greet newly arriving cruisers at the terminal, help guide them to the check-in counter, answer questions, validate tickets and credentials, and even fetch wheelchairs. At the end of the cruise, they help travelers find their luggage, guide them to their car or shuttle, and help figure out where their hotels are.
Metro Cruise Services is a subsidiary of Nautilus International Holding Corp., a conglomerate based in Long Beach, California, with subsidiaries at many of the nation’s major seaports.
Other subsidiaries are Metro Ports, an industrial servicer; Metro Events, which turns port facilities into temporary event spaces; and Terminal Security Solutions, a for-hire security service.
With only one ship docked Tuesday at Port Everglades, Metro Cruise Services employees were scarce at the port.
According to Port Everglades spokeswoman Ellen Kennedy, Metro Cruise Services worked only for Princess Cruises and not for any of the nine other cruise lines that operate at the port.
Princess, owned by Miami-based Carnival Corp., primarily operates out of the port’s Terminal 2 in the Northport section. But when the cruise line has two ships at the same time, it uses other ports.
Newman’s statement said the three infected workers worked at “various” cruise terminals.
If operating at full capacity, the five Princess ships that departed the port 11 times between Feb. 12 and March 6 carried 51,258 passengers and crew members on voyages of various lengths.
The five ships are Caribbean Princess (holds 4,340 guests and crew), Regal Princess (4,906), Sky Princess (5,006), Crown Princess (4,280 passengers) and Island Princess (3,100). Eight of the voyages departed Terminal 2. On Feb. 15, the Sky Princess departed Terminal 19, while the Caribbean Princess left out of Terminal 4 on Feb. 16 and March 1.
On social media sites, current and former Metro Cruise Services employees described a variety of functions, all of which involve direct contact with passengers. Many of the jobs are part time, and filled by retirees.
A logistics agent working for Metro Cruise Services in Long Beach described a hectic day, saying it’s “pure customer service, no sales involved.”
Duties are far-reaching, the employee said, and include “directing passengers throughout the terminal, checking and printing boarding passes, checking in guests and reviewing travel documents, assisting with setting up onboard spending accounts, aiding passengers with wheelchairs and escorting them to the ship when necessary, communicating guest issues with management for resolution, occasionally transporting luggage to or from the ship, retrieving or printing cabin keys, taking photos for guest onboard IDs … and explaining the boarding and check-in process to guests.”
Another posting on the job seeker website Indeed.com was pier agent, which involves greeting passengers arriving to and departing cruise ships.
An agent who worked with Princess Cruise passengers at Port Everglades wrote: “You arrive early in the morning and start welcoming the guests that are coming back from their cruise. After your break you go and now you welcome new guests that are going to take their cruise and wish them a great cruise.”
Winsome Dixon said she is not nervous about the virus. “I sprayed the Lysol in the bus,” said Dixon, a driver for another service, WD Transport. “I have had sanitizer.”
“I’m just praying and asking God to take care if this — to cure this pandemic.”
Several workers at the port said they received no information about the connection between coronavirus and Metro Cruise Services.
“Maybe they told someone, but not me,” said Lee Deges, an entertainment worker on the Regal Princess, the only ship in port Tuesday.
Gabriella Lino, a food service worker on the same ship, said, “We don’t have any information about that.”
Nicola Williams, a driver with One Love Transportation, said she is taking the virus threat seriously. She took out a can of Lysol and sprayed the door handles and inside of her transport van.
She said she is scared — scared she may come in contact with someone who has the virus and then go home and infect her parents and children.
Crew members feel the same way, she said.
“This is our livelihood,” she said. “It’s our very means of survival.”