The last few hundred passengers who remained aboard the Pacific Princess cruise ship will be able to disembark at the Port of Los Angeles after the ship had docked on Monday. The ship was one of the last three cruise ships sailing with passengers to dock since the coronavirus pandemic temporarily suspended the cruise industry.
A spokesperson for Princess Cruises confirmed that the 119 passengers have tested negative for COVID-19 and will be able to disembark within the next few days and the cruise line organizes their returning flights. The cruise line has also recently announced that suspension of all voyages has been extended to June 30, 2020.
"Of the 119 passengers who remained on board, 109 were deemed, under IATA [International Air Transport Association] medical clearance guidelines, to be medically unfit to undertake a long-haul flight back to the United States from Australia (for reasons unrelated to COVID-19)" the spokesperson told Fox News on Tuesday.
Pacific Princess originally departed on a 111-day cruise from Fort Lauderdale on January 5. The ship was allowed to drop off a majority of its passengers in Australia in March.
"Pacific Princess ended a segment of the current cruise early on March 21, disembarking most guests in Fremantle, Australia," the cruise line said in a statement.
Along with Pacific Princess, cruise ships MSC Magnifica and Costa Deliziosa have also finally docked since being stranded at sea since January. Both ships had also been carrying passengers when they reached port.
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