At a meeting held yesterday onboard Freedom of the Seas shipboard employees were informed that the company will try to send non-essential personnel home in the following days.

Following the news after multiply media outlets reported that four people on board Rubi Princess tested positive for COVID-19 after getting off the ship, Princess Cruises said there are no positive cases on board.

In a letter distributed today among Rubi Princess crew members the company said:

One passenger tested positive for Coronavirus after returning home from a cruise on Carnival Imagination. CDC has informed Carnival Cruise Line about this individual and the company is taking additional precautions to protect its crew on board. In a letter distributed on March 18, Carnival Cruise Line informed the crew members about the passenger who tested positive as well as providing additional information about the current status on board Carnival Imagination.

Following the increased number of travel restrictions put in place around the world and the uncertainty related to the COVID-19 Carnival Cruise Line has decided to send all non-essential Carnival Spirit team members home. The disembarkation of the Carnival Spirit crew members will start on March 21, in Sydney the company said in a letter sent to the shipboard employees. All debarking team members will receive 30 days pay or through end of the crew contract, whichever comes first.

The cruise ship Costa Magica has been turned away by several ports in the Caribbean after two people tested positive for COVID-19 aboard the ship. Costa Magica is now anchored near Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe where one seriously ill crew member was medically evacuated today from the ship.

The cruise ship Mein Schiff 1 operated by the German cruise line TUI Cruises, is heading to Bridgetown Barbados, to disembark all 2800 guests after which all cruises are canceled until May 13. Following the recent developments, some of the crew expressed their concerns what will happen with their jobs. Addressing their concerns Mein Schiff 1 Captain Todd Burgman sent a letter to around 1000 crew members currently on board, sharing information what will happen in the following days.

A new study released by the CDC says that the crew onboard quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess were impacted by the spread of coronavirus. The study states that the crew working in the Food Service had the highest rate of reported positive cases of COVID-19.

Captain Gennaro Arma has finally returned home after three weeks spent in the port of Yokohama on the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess.

The disembarkation process of the crew from the coronavirus-stricken cruise ship Diamond Princess has started today at the Port of Oakland, California. First to disembark are around 400 Filipino crew members and 6 passengers which will be repatriated home with a 747 charter flight scheduled to leave late Saturday afternoon. Two more charter flights are scheduled on Sunday, from SFO for the remaining foreign national passengers and non-essential crew aboard the Grand Princess.

The luxury expedition cruise line Ponant will voluntarily suspend the cruise operations across the entire fleet as their ships are not able to continue sailing in the right conditions. Following this difficult decision the company sent a letter to all the crew members saying that a significant financial effort will be made out of solidarity to support disembarked crews.