COVID-19 outbreak hits another Bay Area cruise ship voyage

Scores of passengers aboard the Ruby Princess cruise ship became sick with COVID-19 on a San Francisco to Hawaii voyage that ended last week and followed a trip to Panama in which dozens of passengers also were stricken with the virus on the same ship.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health said 143 passengers aboard the Ruby Princess’ San Francisco to Hawaii round trip that ended April 11 tested positive for the virus, nearly twice as many as the 73 reported sick with COVID-19 after the ship’s March 27 return to San Francisco from Panama.

“It was quite clear that there were a large percentage of passengers that were sick, but unless you self-reported, you were free to keep going and infect other passengers,” said Ted Vomacka of Antioch, who said he was among the passengers who tested positive on the ship and was forced to quarantine in separate quarters from from his wife, Larisa, who eventually tested positive after they returned home.

Vomacka and other passengers said they weren’t told about the outbreak as it was spreading on board, and there were no screening tests for the virus to identify other potentially infected passengers without symptoms.

“It was obvious from observing all the coughing and hacking that some form of infection was going around,” he said.

Cruise ships, where some of the pandemic’s first outbreaks were reported in Japan and the Bay Area in early 2020, continue to be stricken as ever more contagious variants of the virus circulate.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there are 100 cruise ships participating in its COVID-19 cruise ship program, and its online tracker indicates 52 of them currently are under investigation for outbreaks. Only 21 of them reported no cases.

Both of the recent Ruby Princess outbreaks triggered investigations by the CDC under its program for controlling COVID-19 aboard cruise ships.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health said the crew and passengers of the Ruby Princess’ Panama Canal and Hawaii trips were 100% vaccinated, and that “the vast majority of individuals who tested positive for COVID experienced mild or no symptoms.”

Only one person on the Hawaii trip was hospitalized, the department said, “which speaks to the incredible efficacy of vaccination.”

In March 2020, early outbreaks had prompted the CDC to issue a no-sail order that ended last June with new health and safety requirements. But the CDC in December, at the height of the surge in cases driven by the omicron variant, advised travelers to avoid cruise ships even if vaccinated.

The CDC currently advises that even the vaccinated can become infected with the virus aboard cruise ships and that travelers make sure they are “up to date” on their vaccines, with one or two booster shots if eligible.

Princess Cruises said in a statement in response to questions about the recent Ruby Princess outbreaks that “the protocols that have been established work.”

“When cases are identified because of the testing onboard, cruise ship protocols help to maximize onboard containment with rapid response procedures designed to safeguard all other guests and crew as well as the communities that the ships visit,” the cruise line statement continued.

The measures include a CDC requirement of having at least 95% of guests prove they’re fully vaccinated at least two weeks before the trip, with the exception of children under age 5 not currently eligible for the shots, the cruise line said. Crew members are vaccinated and will receive a booster dose in accordance with CDC guidelines.

Guests also must provide proof of a negative viral COVID-19 test taken before or at embarkation, and those on back-to-back voyages disembark the ship at the end of each trip and receive a complimentary test for COVID-19, the company said. They cannot board the ship again unless they receive a negative test result. Protocols for testing, it said, are based on CDC guidance, and onboard COVID-19 medical care is available free of charge.

San Francisco health officials said they have additional agreements with cruise lines embarking or disembarking in the city requiring them to arrange private transport and onshore housing for quarantine of infected passengers or crew. Cruise lines are also required to have private agreements with medical facilities to treat positive passengers or crew, in the event hospitalization is required.

None of the recent cruise ship outbreaks were at the highest “red” level that would trigger additional health measures such as requiring testing to screen passengers and crew for the virus, mandating mask wearing and notifying passengers on the current, previous, and subsequent voyages.

The CDC investigates outbreaks affecting at least 0.3% of passengers or crew members. The 951-foot-long Ruby Princess, which took her maiden voyage in 2008, can carry 3,080 passengers and 1,200 crew members.

According to CruiseMapper.com, she’s due back Saturday in San Francisco from an Easter trip that began April 16 down the California coast to Ensenada, Mexico.