Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas returned to Miami on Saturday after 48 passengers and staff members tested positive for Covid-19, according to the cruise company.
Symphony was on a seven-night Caribbean itinerary that departed Miami on Dec. 11 and visited St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Perfect Day and had three sea days before returning to Miami on Dec. 18.
A statement from Royal Caribbean said nearly 7,000 people were aboard the ship and those who tested positive for Covid "were identified as a result of immediate contact tracing after a guest tested positive."
"Each person quickly went into quarantine. Everyone who tested positive was asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, and we continuously monitored their health," the statement said.
Six of the affected guests got off the ship before it returned to Miami, it said.
The entire staff of Symphony of the Seas of the seas is vaccinated and are tested weekly, according to the company.
Royal Caribbean requires travelers who are 12 and older to have two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Ninety-five percent of those on the ship were vaccinated in that way, and 98 percent of those infected were vaccinated under those guidelines.
Royal Caribbean said Symphony of the Seas' schedule was not interrupted.
