Passengers held on Grand Princess cruise ship over coronavirus concerns to receive full refund
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Passengers on the Grand Princess cruise ship, which is scheduled to dock in Oakland, Calif., Monday, will be receiving a full refund, Princess Cruises announced in a statement shared with Fox News.
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The more than 3,500 passengers and crew on the ship, which has been stranded off the coast of Northern California since Thursday due to multiple people testing positive for COVID-19, will receive a full cruise fare refund, which includes “air travel, hotel, ground transportation, pre-paid shore excursions, gratuities and other items" excluding jewelry and fine art, the press release read.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}CRUISE SHIP OFF CALIFORNIA AMID CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK TO DOCK IN OAKLAND ON MONDAY, OPERATOR SAYS
“In addition, guests will not be charged for any onboard incidental charges during the additional time onboard,” Princess Cruises shared. “Princess Cruises will also provide guests with a future cruise credit equal to the cruise fare paid for the voyage.”
Those crew members on the ship will also “receive their designated gratuities for the work performed.”
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The ship will begin offloading passengers once it docks at the Port of Oakland Monday, Alex Azar, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, told Fox News.
“[The passengers are] going to be offloading in a way that protects, first and foremost, the community and secondly protects those individuals," said Azar. "They'll be in an isolation quarantine environment. They will then go to facilities that we've arranged around the country for their own care. They will be tested. They’ll go into 14-day quarantine. We're going to be leaving the crew on board the ship, although we're surging medical staff. We already have put people on board the ship to isolate those individuals, make sure appropriate isolation and quarantine is happening on board that ship and we’re working very closely with Governor [Gavin] Newsom and the mayor of Oakland on all of these efforts.”
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Princess Cruises is also offering vouchers or refunds for passengers whose travel has been impacted by future cancellations. More information is available at the cruise line's site.