Disney Wonder at port in Cozumel, Mexico.

On March 6, 2020, 21 passengers on a California cruise ship tested positive for COVID-19. Simultaneously, on the other side of the country, the Disney Wonder set sail for their annual Westbound Panama Canal cruise from New Orleans, LA. Passengers and cruise staff alike had no idea what was in store for them. Cut off from most of the outside world, they were in a ‘bubble’ separate from the quick onset of the pandemic.

Every year, Disney Cruise Line has two Panama Canal crossings scheduled. One repositioning the ship onto the West Coast for their set of Alaskan cruises. The second placing them in the Atlantic for their Caribbean cruises. On a cruise that was originally supposed to have five port stops, only two were actually visited. The virus caused the ship to change its plans and resulted in 10 straight days at sea. The three ports that the ship missed were Cartagena, Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas.

“Things changed relatively quickly,” said Alex Johnston, a cruise staff member and DJ on the ship. “There was no real way to be ahead of it, because there was no way to know what was coming.” In order to protect both passengers and staff, Disney put guides into place following CDC and government regulations. Cruise staff were temperature checked every day before clocking in, if they coughed? They were sent straight to the med bay to get examined.

Kristen Sims, a veteran cruiser with Disney for 10 years, says “Disney handled COVID wonderfully. The ship is already incredibly clean, but they completely upped the ante and were cleaning every part of the 24/7.” For cruisers, not too much changed for their day to day activities. Before boarding the ship, they were required to have a temperature check. Then once the pandemic was announced on the mainland there were no longer self-serve food options. The buffet restaurant- Cabanas, all drink stations, and the ice cream machines were now sectioned off and manned by cruise staff.

One of Kristen’s favorite moments of the cruise. A photo scavenger hunt hosted by her cruise group.

With so many ports passed, that left no option for the on-board entertainment to switch out. After working with Disney for three and a half years, Alex had never seen something like this before. “After Cartagena, we started running out of things to do for the guests. We had to pull things out from the- metaphorically- dustiest parts of our storage rooms.” Jon Armstrong, a magician on this sailing, ended up performing a total of 11 shows for guests. In one of these shows, Armstrong and the two ballroom dance instructors- Willem and Natalia- to put together a never before seen show. One that will likely never be seen again, either.

Jon Armstrong Final Performance on the Disney Wonder

As the final port of call in San Diego drew near, both Kristen and Alex had the same fears. “While we were on the ship everything was going fine,” said Alex, “We knew California was one of the first areas hit, so we wondered what was going to happen at the port.” Kristen similarly feared the unknown of the cleaning standards happening off the ship. The cruise staff had made it a point to keep the passengers updated on their regulations and precautions, but the outside world was an unknown. Disney did all they could there, too, and scheduled shuttles from the port to airport terminal.

Sunrise from Deck 4 on the ship.

“The truth is, in general cruise ships are like sending kids to school. If one person gets sick it is easy to spread,” says Alex. There can be as many health and safety procedures in place as we like, but those do not change the fact that cruises are all about stopping at various ports. One of the biggest factors in returning to cruising will be surrounding the cleansing and sanitation of not only the ship, but the places where the ship stops as well.