When the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020, cruise ships were one of the hardest-hit companies. Some people wondered how and if they’d ever travel aboard a ship again.

However, when vaccines became available and cases began to slow, cruise ships began to run once more, safely of course. Many protocols had to be in place, including many requiring vaccination and testing before being able to get on the ship.

Nevertheless, amid the Omicron outbreak that has COVID running rampant, COVID was somehow able to sneak on board some recent ships and running amuck.

During a recent cruise aboard the Carnival Freedom cruise were denied access to Bonaire and Aruba after an outbreak affected many of the people and crew on board. “Carnival Freedom is following all protocols and has a small number on board who are in isolation due to a positive COVID test,” a statement read. “Our protocols anticipate this possibility and we implement them as necessary to protect the health and safety of our guests and crew.”

Many passengers were unhappy with how the cruise line handled the outbreaks or felt like protocols weren’t communicated well.

One passenger named Ashley Peterson said that she learned about the outbreak from a scuba guide and then saw it on social media. It wasn’t until the next day that the ship told their passengers what was going on, but left out some details, like how many people were affected, and even pretending like they were still going to dock in their destination. “We were really kept in the dark,” Peterson said.

Passengers were able to get a $100 per room in onboard credit and were refunded for any excursions they had planned but couldn’t attend. Additionally, Peterson said that they were offered to play Bingo for a chance to win a free eight-day cruise trip. However, to play, you had to gather in a large theater. “I wish I was joking,” she said.

This wasn’t the only ship affected this week. Royal Caribbean had a total of 48 guests (98% who were fully vaccinated) out of over 6,000 guests and crewmembers test positive for the virus while on the Symphony of the Seas, aka the biggest cruise ship in the world. Anyone who tested positive was required to quarantine on board.

To hear more about how the passengers felt about how the COVID chaos was handled on board, plus info on these and other outbreaks that have happened in the same week, check out the video below.

What would you have done if you were on a cruise ship where there was a COVID outbreak? How do you feel about how the cruise lines handled the situation?