Cruise lines are not messing around when it comes to COVID-19.
A passenger on AIDA Cruises’ AIDAblu was not allowed back on the ship after violating COVID-19 protocols during a shore excursion in Catania, Italy, on Tuesday, the cruise line told Fox News.
A spokesperson for the cruise line said the passenger broke its protocols against the virus by leaving his travel group.
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“Our highest responsibility and top priorities are compliance, environmental protection and the health, safety and well-being of our guests, crew, shoreside employees and the people and communities our ships visit,” the spokesperson said via email.
Currently, guests on AIDA cruises are only allowed to participate in shore excursions organized by the cruise line.
“All guests are made aware of this protocol before the cruise and again before their shore excursion starts,” the spokesperson said.
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AIDA helped the passenger find a flight home after he was barred from re-boarding the ship.
This was the first cruise for AIDA since the coronavirus pandemic forced the German cruise line to cancel voyages.
AIDA and Costa Cruises are the first two Carnival Corp. cruise lines to return to cruising in Europe after their COVID-19 shutdowns.
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A Carnival spokesperson said this was the first case of a passenger being blocked from returning to one of its ships for breaking coronavirus protocols. But another cruise line, MSC Cruises, stopped a whole family of four from reboarding a ship in August after they left an organized tour in Naples and TUI Cruises booted two passengers who left a group to get beer in Greece, Cruise Critic reported.
The CDC has issued a no-sail order for cruises in the U.S. through at least the end of October. When cruises do resume in the U.S., passengers may need to follow similar health protocols.