Thousands of people were stuck on the Carnival Panorama cruise ship in Long Beach, California Saturday while waiting for a passenger's COVID-19 results.
The cruise took a trip to the Mexican Rivieria and arrived back to Long Beach on Friday. Passengers said that an announcement was made on the intercom that a woman was taken to the hospital to be tested for the coronavirus. After more than six hours, the results came back negative. The passengers were released early Saturday morning.
"When he heard we were going to be held an extra day, or who knows how long, that I think really scared them," said Sarah Skeem, a passenger from St. George. "Like, what if we're stuck on this cruise ship for two weeks?"
The Skeem family isn't the only family from Utah to be stuck on a ship due to the virus. The Jorgensens of St. George and the Haerings of Tooele were quarantined last month on a ship off of the coast of Japan. Three out of the four people tested positive for COVID-19.
On Friday, a Utahn tested positive for coronavirus in Davis County and was likely exposed to the virus while on the Grand Princess cruise ship in California.
Despite all of the worry, the Skeem family says they have no regrets.
“We're going to live our life to the fullest. I mean, if it's meant to be that we catch a virus and it takes our lives, then I guess that's what's meant to be. But I feel like we don’t hold back and just sit there and worry. We want to live our life and enjoy it,” Skeem said.
