A dozen crew members test positive for covid-19 on first post-lockdown Greek cruise

Twelve staff members of a Maltese-flagged cruise ship carrying more than 1,500 people around the Greek islands have tested positive for the coronavirus, Greek authorities said, according to the Associated Press.

The Mein Schiff 6, run by the Germany-based TUI Cruises, set sail Sunday from the island of Crete, the first vacation cruise to take place on the Greek isles since the country imposed coronavirus-related restrictions, the Guardian reported.

But after less than 24 hours at sea, 12 members of the crew tested positive for the virus after 150 random tests were conducted on the 666 staff members aboard. All confirmed cases were asymptomatic and the infected had been isolated, Greek authorities said.

[Cruising is still canceled, but here’s what travelers can expect when it returns]

Health officials added that the crew members would be retested when the shiparrives in the port city of Piraeus on Tuesday.

On Monday TUI spokesman Kuzey Alexander Esener said that none of the 12 crew members were experiencing any symptoms, and that in a second round of tests most were now negative, though some results are pending.

Esener added that the ship would stick with its original itinerary and leave for Piraeus on Tuesday.

Several cruise lines canceled sailings into 2021, including the Carnival-owned Princess Cruises. The company canceled 29 sailings on two ships. British cruise line Cunard halted some sailings until May, and Miami-headquartered Crystal Cruises said it was canceling into January.

When the coronavirus began to spread across the world earlier this year, cruise ships were hotbeds for infection, seeing large outbreaks and assisting in carrying the virus around the globe.

While Greece largely avoided the outbreaks and death tolls experienced by some of its European neighbors, it has been seeing worrying spikes in cases since August.

Read more:

A cruise in Italy denied a family re-embarkation after they broke the ‘social bubble’

Cruise lines are working on their comeback. Some destinations say not so fast.

Has your travel bucket list changed during the pandemic? You’re not alone.