Carnival Magic’s scheduled call at Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic on September 1 did not go as planned, with unvaccinated passengers being denied debarkation and authorities requesting additional details due to confirmed crew member COVID-19 cases.
This comes as the situation with ports remains fluid and protocols continue to change to keep residents protected.
Carnival Magic Debarkation Delay at Amber Cove
The Carnival cruise ship arrived at Amber Cove in the Dominican Republic on Wednesday morning, September 1, at 10:30 AM, but the arrival did not go as hoped. Many guests went on social media saying that they were not being allowed off the ship and debarkation was delayed.
One passenger onboard told Cruise Hive, “We are on a 5-day cruise on the Carnival Magic. We are sitting at the dock at Amber Cove, and the government is not allowing passengers to disembark. Carnival’s Mardi Gras was at the port before we arrived and they were allowed to disembark. We were told by Carnival that all of their paperwork to disembark is in order, but the government refused us.”
One of the first places to go for guests to find out information is the Facebook page of Carnival Cruise Line Brand Ambassador, John Heald. In response to one follower asking what’s going on in Amber Cove with the Carnival Magic, Heald said, “Hello, I don’t have anything to say at the moment because this is still very much a fluid situation and I don’t have any details. Obviously we’re working very hard to rectify whatever the concern is and work with the port authority. We will let everybody know on board as soon as we can. Cheers”
Passengers were being kept updated on board of the fluid situation while the cruise line worked on resolving the issue. We did reach out to Carnival Cruise Line and it was confirmed there was an issue and the vessel needed to provide some additional information to Dominican authorities.
A letter was sent out to guests onboard confirming COVID cases among the crew. This resulted in the Dominican authorities asking additional questions. Carnival made it clear that the infected crew was fully vaccinated and a small number of the crew had mild symptoms. They are all in isolation and close contact under quarantine.
After the delay in allowing guests to leave the ship and enjoy their time in Amber Cove, a resolution was reached. However, guests who are not fully vaccinated were to remain on board the Carnival Magic during the port of call. According to passengers on board, there will be random testing and no beach visits allowed.
There are a small number of unvaccinated guests on each Carnival cruise ship who have been offered an exemption to be allowed to cruise. For these guests, there are already strict protocols in place and for ports, they are not allowed to explore by themselves. Unvaccinated guests can only disembark in a port if they are booked on one of Carnival’s bubble tours.
Also Read: Which Carnival Cruise Ships Have Resumed Operations?
Carnival Magic is currently on a five-day Eastern Caribbean cruise that departed Port Canaveral, Florida on August 30, 2021. Amber Cove is the ship’s first port of call during the voyage and with a departure time of 6:30 PM. The next call will be at Bimini in the Bahamas on September 3 before arriving back in Florida on Saturday, September 4.
