Around 3,000 passengers, crew disembark cruise in Singapore

July 20, 2021: -On Wednesday, nearly 3,000 passengers and crew are disembarking a Dream Cruises ship after being confined in their cabins when someone tested positive for Covid-19. All the passengers and crew aboard the three-night World Dream “cruise to nowhere” in Singapore required to isolate themselves in their cabins, with only essential crew members being allowed to move all over the ship.

Before boarding the cruise, the passengers took a rapid antigen test that came back negative, but contact tracing revealed the guest was in close contact with a confirmed Covid-19 case. The guest was then isolated immediately and tested positive for the virus on Tuesday, Dream Cruises, owned by Genting Cruise Line, said in a statement.

The other guests on the ship were confined to their rooms being at 1 a.m. local time, according to the report by Reuters. The travelers left the ship around 8:30 p.m.

The travel companions of guests have all tested negative for the virus and will disembark from a route separated from other passengers, along with those who came in contact with the guest. The person who tested positive disembarked hours before other guests and crew.

Contact tracing was done by tracking guests’ wearable devices, keycards, and CCTV footage.

All other guests are required to fill out contactless self-check-out forms before they left their rooms and must take an antigen test at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre Singapore as they disembark, the company said.

Dream Cruises said the guests must remain in their cabins until the crew calls upon them to disembark.

There were almost 1,646 passengers and 1,249 crew members on board the ship, Dream Cruises said.

The cruise line also canceled a two-night World Dream cruise that was scheduled to leave on Wednesday.

This is the cruise line’s first positive Covid-19 test since sailings from Singapore resumed in November 2020. World Dream has had 103 sailings with over 130,000 guests as of July 11.

Almost 1,700 passengers on a Royal Caribbean Quantum of the Seas ship were made to isolate in their cabins for over 16 hours due to a suspected Covid case in December.