CEO of Carnival Cruises assures public of measures to protect passengers

CEO of Carnival Cruise Corporation, Arnold Donald, has said that a number of procedures have been put in place to protect the health of their passengers against the deadly coronavirus.

He was addressing CARICOM heads at a press conference held yesterday.

According to Donald, the ships travel to over 700 ports a year and some of the highest priorities of the cruise lines are always excellence in safety, marine safety, health safety, environmental protection and compliance.

“We have a number of screening procedures and protocol for prevention…,” he stated. “We have to do this all the time.”

Donald continued, “Through the years there have been a number of diseases, issues and scares around the world, to name a few – Zika, Ebola…”

He said the protocols that are in place tend to serve the cruise lines well.

Donald encourages everyone to align with the guidance and procedures from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other global medical experts.

In addition to the cruise line’s usual procedures, the expanded protocols include:

• Guests who have been to China, Hong Kong or Macau in the 14  days prior to embarkation are asked to notify us ahead of their sailing.

• All guests must comply with standard pre-boarding health reporting at the time of check-in.

• Additional pre-cruise and in-terminal screenings and questionnaires will be administered, including pre-boarding medical evaluations, as needed.

• Crew members from China, Hong Kong and Macau who were scheduled to join any of our ships have been delayed from joining, and we are not booking any crew members on flights connecting through China or Hong Kong.

• While our international guests have already been screened upon their arrival to the U.S., we have implemented secondary passport checks prior to boarding.

• Enhanced on-board sanitation measures with non-toxic materials are in place, in addition to our rigorous daily cleaning regimen.

“Ultimately, any guest or crew member who has been to China, Hong Kong or Macau in the 14 days prior to embarkation will not be allowed to sail,” Donald explained. “The cruise lines on-board Medical Centers are staffed to handle a wide variety of staff and crew medical situations.  The crew knows to report any symptoms of respiratory illness to the on-board medical team, and guests are asked to do the same.”