BVI News

‘Pilot run’ expected for proposed cruise bubble areas

As local authorities prepare for the reopening of the cruise industry, there will be a live trial exercise of the isolation area within which cruise passengers will be confined when they visit the territory in the next few weeks.

The territory has been closed to commercial cruises for more than a year because of the advent of COVID-19.

Addressing the subject during a press conference yesterday, May 26, Premier Andrew Fahie said: “The first few cruise liners that come in, there’s going to be a pilot run on the bubble and expand as we go.”

The Premier further said that up to yesterday morning, discussions were still being conducted with stakeholders about what the protocols of engagement with cruise passengers are expected to look like once cruise liners return.

Premier Fahie described the meetings as being fruitful and said the details were not being withheld by either party engaged in the discussions.

Some persons, the Premier reminded, have chosen not to vaccinate and some of the cruise liners reportedly don’t “have an appetite” to have their fully vaccinated crew and passengers engaged in any areas that are not vaccinated.

Protection measures to be adopted for passenger safety

According to the Premier, some cruises have agreed that if they are to go in areas where persons are unvaccinated, then those persons would have to agree to periodic testing to “ensure the safety” of passengers and that of the local populace.

Discussions, he said, remain ongoing not only about what all the protocols will be, but also where all the bubble locations are expected to be implemented.

Earlier this month, Fahie told Opposition Leader Marlon Penn that cruise lines are proposing that cruise passengers will not be permitted to independently arrange tours or freely move about the territory.

The Fahie administration has been continuously praised for keeping the BVI’s COVID-19 infections and death rate among the lowest in the world.

However, the government has faced heavy criticism for the protracted economic shutdown which has brought local tourism to a virtual standstill and exacerbated the economic hardship being faced by businesses due to restrictions placed on the community.

Cruise passenger ‘bubble areas’ being considered for tourists

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13 Comments

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  1. Resident says:

    as a person who has been on cruise tours why would i even leave the ship if i can’t see the country, this isn’t going to work long term, what should be done is stopping them from roaming the streets, if they leave the pier park it needs to be in a bus to their destinations and back again

    Like 12
    • small island says:

      I would also like a reliable schedule so that we can avoid the areas where they will be.

      • @small island says:

        I think it should be the other way around with the vaccinated passengers wanting to avoid where the unvaccinated residents are.

        Like 6
        Dislike 2
        • Wondering says:

          The cruiseship passengers are vaxxed, so are not threat to us, and unvaxxed BVI people are no threat to the vaxxed cruise ship passengers. THE END

          Like 2
          Dislike 1
  2. @resident says:

    you make no sense. you say you wouln’t leave the ship if you couldn’t see the country then propose telling people where they can and cannot go!

    Like 2
    Dislike 3
    • resident says:

      reading comprehension isn’t your thing I see so let me explain it so someone of your limited intellect can understand. I said that they can leave the pier park but only in an approved transport that would reduce the chances of them mingling with locals if they are unknowingly sick.

      Like 2
      Dislike 1
  3. Taxi driver says:

    Not vaccinated, no ride. Time to move on with this issue

    Like 1
    Dislike 3
  4. Why says:

    Why are island visitors required to test and quarantine when cruise ship passengers don’t. Bubble or not they will come in contact with locals. Stop this crap and just open up to vaccinated tourists. This government needs to get its head out of its ass.

    Like 10
  5. Cruise bubble says:

    It seems that Tortola has the most unvaccinated people so no cruisers on Tortola outside the Pier Park. No Tortola taxi tours for cruisers. No cruisers roaming around Road Town.

    The best bubble for cruisers is water taxi/ferry trips to deserted beaches on other islands so no contact with any people in the BVI. The taxi/ferry should provide all the drinks, etc. for these beach cruisers.

    Of course the water taxi/ferry crews all must be vaccinated as well as all the employees in the pier park.

    Like 4
    Dislike 1
  6. Ausar says:

    This is going to be the protocols going forward, because of a few, who will not get vaccinated.

    The problem I see is that those businesses, not covered within the “bubble”, who depend on tourists, how will they make money?

    This is a very serious situation worth thinking through, so as to not to cause many to lose precious income, after enduring a season of “economic nothingness”!

    Like 3
    Dislike 1
  7. Wondering says:

    Why is there so little faith in the Covid vaccines, actually working? If Covid vaccines don’t why are we being constantly nagged to get the jab?

    The risk is for the unvaccinated, and if they choose it, that is their choice.

    Worldometer shows 20 people died in all of NY State yesterday, 14 in NJ and 86 in FL, come on, man, Covid has 99.7% recovery and is mostly GONE, please stop the fear mongering and open the country.

  8. Just watch says:

    I see dem Romney’s now gon be in dat bubble business. No little man benefit.

  9. Windy says:

    Sounds like visiting North Korea. You can only see what they want you to see, but one can still smell the sewage in the streets

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