SeaDream resumed its Caribbean cruises in November after successfully sailing out of Norway over the summer, with enhanced safety measures that included requiring guests to have two negative Covid-19 PCR tests before embarking.
On the cruise line’s first Caribbean cruise—which was also the first cruise to resume in the Caribbean more broadly—the ship had to return to Barbados after a passenger tested positive for Covid-19, and seven guests and two crew members have ultimately now tested positive in total.
SeaDream said Tuesday it would cancel its remaining sailings through the end of the year, as the company “spend[s] time to evaluate and see if it is possible to operate and have a high degree of certainty of not getting Covid.”
The company’s strict testing requirement “was not sufficient to prevent Covid-19 onboard,” SeaDream noted.
Though SeaDream did not have any reported Covid-19 outbreaks on its previous sailings, one of the company’s ships was docked in August and passengers were ordered to stay on board when a guest on a previous cruise tested positive after returning home, but there were no further cases reported.