Celebrity Eclipse disembarks cruisers at Port San Diego

   March 30, 2020 ,   Accidents

The RCCL-owned cruise liner Celebrity Eclipse is scheduled to disembark ~1500 passengers at Port San Diego CA on Monday, March 30, after South American countries denied port entries and debarkations due to Coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns.

The vessel first planned to offload travellers in Chile on March 15, after Celebrity Cruises officially suspended operations fleetwide. Chilean authorities didn't allow disembarkation but gave the ship permission to refuel and load provisions. It then continued to San Diego, with scheduled arrival on March 30.

On Sunday, March 29, San Diego County health officials said none of the 1500 passengers was showing virus symptoms. The liner was cleared by all necessary (health and maritime) agencies. All passengers will be screened for Coronavirus and then return to their homes for a 14-day quarantine (as directed by the US CDC). At least 17 cruisers are San Diego County residents. 

Celebrity Eclipse cruise ship

On March 20, Port San Diego put a temporary ban to homeported cruises. On March 23, the port declared a local emergency that allows it to request resources and assistance from government agencies. It will be able to ask disaster relief organizations to help with loss, damages, and other challenges.

Cruise ships arriving at Port San Diego must be cleared by the Port Authority, San Diego County health officials, CDC, USCG and US Customs and Border Protection.

For Coronavirus updates on cruise ship quarantines (infected passengers and crew) and top-pandemic countries (COVID-19 cases and deaths, daily updated statistics) see at CruiseMapper's Norovirus page....