SAN DEIGO (KGTV) - A San Diego man who is on board a cruise in the Caribbean where two passengers tested positive for COVID-19 is sharing his experience from sea.
“We love to cruise. It's just a great way to travel and see new places,” said San Diegan Curt Sterling on Friday from his cabin inside the Celebrity Millennium cruise ship.
The ship made history in Barbados this week as the first to sail in North America with paying customers since the pandemic started.
“Once we got on board, they said that you don't have to wear your mask because everyone's vaccinated so it was kind of just a surreal moment after having to wear the mask so often at home in San Diego,” he added.
The cruise line says that the ship is sailing with a fully vaccinated crew and guests and that all guests were required to show proof of vaccination and a negative test 72 hours before the ship left St. Maarten last Saturday.
Everything was smooth-sailing until Thursday night when Sterling and his partner got a message from management.
“What they asked us to do is stay in the room and they were going to send a nurse up to do PCR testing on us because they had done contact tracing and we were around this couple,” he added.
According to Celebrity Cruises, two passengers who were sharing the same cabin tested positive during required end-of-cruise testing.
“Details are unknown, right? [Were] these passengers not vaccinated? I don't know,” said Sterling.
A statement released to ABC 10News reads in part: “The individuals are asymptomatic and currently in isolation and being monitored by our medical team.”
“We did have to stay in the room but they treated us very well and brought us champagne and chocolates and a full meal and a nice bottle of wine and everything we could ask for,” added Sterling.
He got his negative test results on Friday and resumed his normal onboard activities.
He's not dissuaded by the experience.
“If you're comfortable and you like cruising, I’d say to get back on a ship as soon as you can,” he added.