https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2020/04/01/coral-princess-cruise-ship-heads-florida-with-sick-passengers-zaandam-awaits-its-fate-with-same-port/
April 1 at 6:13 PM
A Princess Cruises ship heading to Port Everglades — where authorities are already scrambling to figure out what to do with the Zaandam, a ship carrying passengers sick from coronavirus — has ordered its guests to stay in their rooms after some reported flu-like symptoms.
The Coral Princess, with 1,024 guests on board and an unknown number of crew, is expected to arrive at the Fort Lauderdale-area port in Florida on Saturday. Its approach and recent report of ill passengers adds another layer of complexity to a crisis that has commanded the attention of county officials, federal agencies, the Florida governor and President Trump.
Broward County commissioners spent much of Tuesday discussing plans for Holland America Line’s Zaandam, where four people have died, nearly 200 reported flu-like symptoms and two are reportedly in serious need of medical evacuation. Nine people have tested positive for covid-19, including two who died, according to an executive with parent company Carnival Corp., which also owns Princess Cruises.
Zaandam and a sister ship, Rotterdam — which took on some of the first ship’s passengers after the illness started spreading — are awaiting permission to dock at the port. They are expected Wednesday night or Thursday if they get permission, the port said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who has been vocal about not wanting people from the ship “dumped into South Florida,” backed off from that language during a press conference Wednesday and acknowledged that he was not in control of the port. He said he would “clearly” be willing to accept any Floridians, and said he understood there were plans underway to handle passengers from other countries.
“I did speak with the president this morning about it,” said DeSantis, who said he expected more developments Wednesday. “I think he would like to see a solution, and I think the administration has seen a lot of the cruise ships take up a lot of resources.”