Coronavirus: Canadian cruise passengers unclear on when they’ll get home

Canadian passengers aboard a Florida-bound cruise ship said it was still unclear Friday when they would get to come home, or even reach shore, as their counterparts aboard two other vessels began their journey back to Canada.

The Coral Princess was still heading north to Florida on Friday afternoon. Torontonian Gary Lyon said he and his fellow passengers were told the estimated time of arrival of early Saturday had been pushed back to some undisclosed time.

But even once they get to Fort Lauderdale, he said, uncertainties abound.

“The first hurdle is getting permission to dock,” Lyon said. “And then of course, to be disembarked and rushed as quickly as possible to the airport to a flight taking us directly back to Canada. That would be our goal.”

Global Affairs Canada said it didn’t have any information to share as of Friday afternoon.

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“Arrival and disembarkation plans for Coral Princess are being formalized and (are) under review by numerous local officials,” a spokesperson for the ministry said.

Lyon and his wife have been aboard the ship since March 5, and haven’t been on dry land in nearly three weeks, he said. The ship has been looking for a place to dock since March 13, but no country has allowed it.