Two commercial cruise ships are hoping to drop more than 3,000 passengers off at the Port of San Diego by the end of the month, but will first need to be cleared by several local and federal agencies.
Holland America Line’s Maasdam is scheduled to disembark around 830 passengers at the port March 27-28, and Celebrity Cruises’ Eclipse is scheduled to disembark 2,500 passengers March 30-31.
Neither ship will be allowed to enter San Diego Bay without the approval of the Port of San Diego, the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Coast Guard or U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The ships must also notify the above agencies if passengers show symptoms of COVID-19 or any other illness. As of Monday, the ships weren’t reporting any sick passengers.
Both ships will also have to reports if any crew members’ services will be terminating at the time ships docks. The ships will not be allowed to give working crew members shore leave while the vessels are in San Diego.
The Eclipse will bring approximately 175 passengers to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, before coming back to San Diego in early April to resupply, according to the Port of San Diego.
In addition to these two ships, San Diegans will see several other ships docked or anchored in San Diego Bay in the near future.
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The port said it is cleaning and disinfecting the B Street cruise terminal before and after each ship. It also put out hand washing stations at the terminal.
On March 20, the port put a temporary stop to any cruise tours beginning in San Diego.
On March 23, the port declared a local emergency in response to the pandemic. The proclamation will allow it to request assistance and resources from the state and federal government, as well as other local government agencies. It will also be able to ask disaster relief organizations to help with damages, loss, and other challenges.
Visit the Port of San Diego’s coronavirus update page for more.
