Two passengers have died on the coronavirus-stricken cruise ship Coral Princess, which has just docked in Miami.
There are 1,020 passengers and 878 crew members onboard the ship, which set sail on March 5 for a South American cruise. Ninety-seven of the passengers and two of the crew members are Canadian.
“All of us at Princess Cruises are deeply saddened to report that two guests passed away on Coral Princess,” said the cruise line in a statement. “Our hearts go out to their family, friends and all who are impacted by this loss.”
Princess Cruises didn’t reveal how the two passengers died, but said they weren’t Canadian. On Thursday, the cruise line announced that, out of 13 people tested for COVID-19 on board, seven passengers and five crew members tested positive.
Canadian passenger Frank Béchamp, 71, said the ship’s captain delivered the news about the two deaths early Saturday morning.
“My wife and I, we just were dumbfounded. We didn’t know what to think,” said Béchamp, of Nepean, Ont., who’s travelling with his wife, Céline Charette.
“Our hearts went out to the poor families that are stricken. It must be terrible for them.”
Béchamp said the captain reported that the two individuals died overnight. He said passengers were told to pack their bags because the ship would dock on Saturday.
Passenger remain on the ship
According to a memo sent to passengers Saturday morning, they will undergo a health screening and go through customs at Port Miami and then return to the ship.
Princess Cruises said in a statement that disembarkation of passengers could take several days and those requiring medical treatment will be let off first. It also said that ill passengers not in need of urgent care will stay on the Coral Princess until they’re cleared for travel.
The cruise line said that passengers fit to travel will eventually be taken to the airport for arranged flights home.
“Our concern remains getting direct flights home, avoiding transiting in U.S. airports,” said passenger Gary Lyon, 64, of Toronto who’s travelling with his wife, Sue.
“Sue and l were profoundly sad to hear the news,” said Lyon in an email. “We wonder if they had been able to get off the ship earlier, would things have turned out differently?”
The Coral Princess cut its cruise short in mid-March amid the growing COVID-19 pandemic. But the ship struggled to find a port to let passengers disembark and return home after countries close by, such as Argentina and Brazil, shut their borders to foreigners.
Many passengers — including some Canadians — were able to disembark on March 19 in Buenos Aires to catch a flight home. But other passengers who had a flight departing the following day stayed on the ship — and then were stuck there after Argentina decided to close its borders to foreigners at midnight.
“After that, it became it became a nightmare,” said Béchamp about the cruise. “Nobody wanted to have us.”
After failing to secure access to a South American port, the Coral Princess set course for Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The ship was set to dock there on Saturday, but changed its plans on Friday to dock in Miami instead.
Earlier this week, Holland America Line’s COVID-19-stricken Zaandam ship was also set to dock at Port Everglades, but faced opposition from local officials, because there were many passengers on board sick with COVID-19. After U.S. President Donald Trump intervened by making a case on compassionate grounds, the ship was allowed to dock there on Thursday.