219 Saint Lucian cruise ship workers to return home

External Affairs Minister Sarah Flood-Beaubrun has announced that a group of 219 Saint Lucian cruise ship workers will return to the country in the coming days. Speaking at a press briefing today, April 6, Flood-Beaubrun said: “We have a total number of 219 cruise ship workers who are now making their way to Saint Lucia.. We are expecting that these 219 Saint Lucians will arrive here in Saint Lucia on the evening of May 8.” 207 of the returning nationals are from Carnival Glory and 12 from Caribbean Princess.

All the returning nationals will be placed into 14-day quarantine. Tourism Minister Dominic Fedee said that another batch will arrive in 2 weeks time — since their arrival had to be delayed due to insufficient quarantine space. Addressing the affected families, he said: “I want to thank all of the families that have been so patient with us because of the fact that for many weeks your children have been contacting you, letting you know that they were stuck overseas. So I’m very happy that this breakthrough has happened.”

The minister advised individuals against panicking when the cruise ship workers arrive. Cruise tourism, he stressed, is not open. “What we are doing is simply allowing only Saint Lucians to get off. The boat is going from island to island and it will be making its stop in Saint Lucia on Friday. So when you see the ships in the harbor, just know, don’t listen to any fake news, no voice notes, no social media.”

On April 21, a group of eight Saint Lucians employed with Norwegian Cruise Line arrived in the country from Barbados.