Seven guests and two crew were found by Barbados health authorities to have contracted coronavirus during the line’s first voyage in the region.

SeaDream said despite multiple negative PCR tests being required before guests were able to board “this was not sufficient to prevent Covid-19 onboard”. 

The SeaDream I sailing had previously been paused on 12 November and the ship returned to Barbados after guest Covid tests “returned assumptive positive results”.

After receiving that information, SeaDream said it advised local health authorities and began its Covid response protocols to protect guests and crew. 

All guests and non-essential crew were placed in quarantine in their staterooms “in an abundance of caution”. 

In a statement announcing its cancellation of further 2020 itineraries, SeaDream said it had “successfully operated more than 20 sailings during the pandemic without any cases and further improvements were made to protocols before the Barbados season”.

“The company [SeaDream] will now spend time to evaluate and see if it is possible to operate and have a high degree of certainty of not getting Covid.”