Carnival cruise ship mishandled COVID outbreak, passenger says: "This ship was so unprepared"
Some of the passengers on a Carnival cruise from Miami to Seattle are in quarantine after a COVID-19 outbreak aboard the ship.
Carnival won't say how many of the approximately 2,100 passengers aboard were infected. The outbreak occurred during the ship's voyage between Miami, where it departed last month, and Seattle, where it arrived on Tuesday. Upon docking, all infected passengers were moved to area hotels for isolation.
Darren Siefertson, who has been on seven cruise ships since August, was among those who tested positive — and he is not happy with how things were handled.
"I literally stayed in this room for six days, with no telephone service, they wouldn't answer the phone," Siefertson told CBS News.
Siefertson says his travel companion and roommate stayed with him in the room despite testing negative, and that a list of names and cabin numbers of passengers who had the virus was posted near elevators.
Carnival notes that travelers were vaccinated and tested before boarding. In a statement to CBS News, the company said in part: "Our health and safety protocols exceed CDC guidelines" and "additional measures were implemented during the voyage."
But that brings little comfort to passengers like Siefertson.
"Unfortunately this ship was so unprepared and so mismanaged that many of us suffered greatly," he said.