Thousands of cruise ship staff are still aboard dozens of idled ships, trapped in place by both medical caution and bureaucratic fumbling, and for many, the situation seems unlikely to change soon, even as some cruise lines say they are ready to start sailing again in August.
The workers, who come from dozens of different countries, are guaranteed passage home as their contracts end, and nearly all have either ended or been canceled by events.
But that return, which normally simply means disembarking at a final port and flying home now has many more barriers. Many ports are closed to the ships altogether; others will only allow their own nationals to debark, and most insist that anyone leaving the ship must be isolated on shore and sent home by private transportation or charter flights, not mingling with anyone else along the way—and possibly facing quarantine on arriving home.
The situation does not appear to be affected by the fact that all of these crews have been isolated at sea now for far longer than a two-week quarantine; in some cases it is two months since the last person affected by the virus left the ship.
Frank Del Rio, NCL CEO, told USA Today the companies are "doing all (they) possibly can for our crew, and we are frustrated as they are about the difficulty in getting them home. Money is literally no object. We are willing to charter flights home, wherever home may be." He blamed the problem on "...dealing with a regulatory landscape that seems to change daily and forces us to adjust our plans just as frequently."
In this circumstance, with nearly a hundred ships still in this situation, it seems almost surreal to see daily announcements by Carnival that it will resume cruises in August, and from others that they are already selling tickets for later this year.
Canadian musicians, part of crew trapped on Sea Princess in Port of Manila
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