Disney Dream Ship’s Test Voyage Postponed by Inconsistent COVID19 Results

According to Disney’s cruise division, their test cruise for the Disney Dream will be postponed after volunteers showed inconsistent COVID19 results.

Since the pandemic started, the cruise industry stopped its operation after CDC announced a no sailing order. The no sailing order eventually turned into a conditional sailing order and the health agency finally eased their health restrictions on the cruise industry. However, the health agency wants cruises to meet certain health guidelines.

To sail again, a vaccination threshold is required for cruises. 95% of crew and passengers should be fully vaccinated. If not, cruises will have to conduct a simulated voyage to test out COVID19 safety protocols. Several cruise operators planned to conduct their simulated voyages.

Initially, the Disney Dream was scheduled to do a test sail on Tuesday. Disney Dream was supposed to have 300 volunteers. Unfortunately, some employees had inconsistent COVID19 test results.

In a statement: “We are delaying our simulation cruise due to a small number of inconsistent COVID-19 test results, which are considered positive by the CDC. The rigorous health and safety protocols we have in place helped us identify the situation, though the test results were ultimately negative”.

Testing Positive on Cruises

One of the biggest challenges that cruises have to deal with is to keep the cruise COVID-free. Royal Caribbean recently dealt with two unvaccinated teenagers below 16 years old who tested positive on the Adventure of the Seas ship. 92% of the guests on the ship were fully vaccinated.

For ships that are sailing in Florida, it is also challenging since the state’s law prevents businesses from asking their customers to show proof of vaccination.  Celebrity Cruises already adjusted to Florida’s law. The cruise line will not require their passengers to show proof of vaccination. Instead, if they can’t show proof of vaccination, they can still board but will have to pay additional fees for testing and will have to follow additional protocols such as mask-wearing and social distancing.