W.Va. cruise ship worker stuck at sea – WSAZ

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) — Cruise ships have suspended trips due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the crews onboard have been trapped in their cabins for months waiting to be allowed to go home.

Huntington native MaShawn Morton has been stuck at sea and quarantined in his cabin for two months since his cruise company suspended trips and made all passengers depart.

MaShawn Morton was a performer on the Sky Princess ship in the Bahamas. When he arrived with his crew on Feb. 29, he expected a normal time entertaining guests. However, on March 14, his company suspended trips, passengers departed and the crews were stuck onboard.

“When we first got the notice that we were suspending operations, it kind of felt like a vacation,” Morton said. “But then the weeks kept going and going and the extension kept getting pushed further and further away. Then the lockdown, the isolation started happening. It turned very dramatic very quickly.”

Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines have put everyone on the ship into self-isolation, Morton said. Everyone is confined to their cabins for 21 hours per day, only allowed to leave during specifically assigned meal times. Every time Morton leaves his cabin, he is required to wear a face mask and has his temperature taken twice per day.

“It’s been comfortable,” Morton said. “The company has treated us very well, in terms of keeping us comfortable and keeping us as well informed as they possibly can. But at the same time, it feels very jail like, a comfortable jail.”

Travel restrictions have prevented Morton and his fellow American crewmates from returning home. He said the CDC views them as a health risk and has implemented special guidelines to prevent them from traveling.

“We cannot enter an airport, we cannot fly a commercial flight, we cannot ride on public transportation, we cannot order an Uber or Lyft, we cannot rent a car,” Morton said. “Really, the only option to get us home is for the company to charter flights for us privately.”

Morton said plans are in place to get him off the ship and onto a private charter flight as soon as Saturday morning. He was recently transferred on a small tender from his original ship to another cruise ship that only has American crew members. This group will head on land to the Bahamas and to a private airport to fly to Atlanta, Morton said. Their families will then have to pick them up and drive them home to quarantine for an additional two weeks.

“I have basically been living in quarantine for two months, and then when I get home I have to quarantine for another 14 days, as opposed to the people who have just been out and possibly exposed more than I have been,” Morton said. “It’s really an interesting thought to process.”

Morton said he had to get in contact with elected officials to advocate to get off the cruise ship, and has learned when is the right time to speak up and fight for his rights.

“I am going to take away that it’s OK to say no and it’s OK to acknowledge when something is wrong,” Morton said. “We have been out here a very long time, and it has been very frustrating to be told no or be rejected by your country.”