Celebrity Summit cancels berth in wake of COVID spike
The BVI Ports Authority (BVIPA) has announced the cancellation of the Celebrity Summit’s July 15 cruise call to the BVI – the second such cancellation in recent weeks.
The cruise was expected to bring more than 2,400 guests to the BVI’s shores, with Grandeur of the Seas expected to follow two days later on July 17 with a similar number of passengers.
The cancellation comes amid a stratospheric upsurge of COVID-19 positive cases in the BVI — a state that has led to a condition of advanced community spread according to health officials.
The territory marked its third death as a result of the virus days ago, and has since seen more than 1,200 active positive cases of the dreaded virus, with the majority of cases on the main island of Tortola.
Following the spike in cases, government moved to implement a sweeping 14-day nighttime curfew to help stem the deluge of cases that has severely impacted the territory.
In a release to the media issued yesterday, the BVIPA said: “As a result of the high numbers of active COVID-19 cases within the territory, the organisations involved agreed that it was in the best interest for all to cancel the call to port.”
Just last month, the Celebrity Millennium, a sister cruise to the Summit, was forced to cancel its calls to the BVI after experiencing a COVID-19 passenger scare, shortly after it had left a nearby Caribbean port.
Meanwhile, the Ports Authority promised to update the public and announce any returning cruises, but said it remained hopeful that once the territory’s COVID-19 cases are controlled, the ship will be able to resume its calls in keeping with the original schedule.
According to the BVIPA website, the Celebrity Summit is the next scheduled to make a port call to the BVI on July 28. It remains unclear if this too will be cancelled given the circumstances.
The cancellation comes amid a stratospheric upsurge of COVID-19 positive cases in the BVI — a state that has led to a condition of advanced community spread according to health officials.
The territory marked its third death as a result of the virus days ago, and has since seen more than 1,200 active positive cases of the dreaded virus, with the majority of cases on the main island of Tortola.
Following the spike in cases, government moved to implement a sweeping 14-day nighttime curfew to help stem the deluge of cases that has severely impacted the territory.
In a release to the media issued yesterday, the BVIPA said: “As a result of the high numbers of active COVID-19 cases within the territory, the organisations involved agreed that it was in the best interest for all to cancel the call to port.”
Just last month, the Celebrity Millennium, a sister cruise to the Summit, was forced to cancel its calls to the BVI after experiencing a COVID-19 passenger scare, shortly after it had left a nearby Caribbean port.
Meanwhile, the Ports Authority promised to update the public and announce any returning cruises, but said it remained hopeful that once the territory’s COVID-19 cases are controlled, the ship will be able to resume its calls in keeping with the original schedule.
According to the BVIPA website, the Celebrity Summit is the next scheduled to make a port call to the BVI on July 28. It remains unclear if this too will be cancelled given the circumstances.
