The crew member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was among the first batch of Jamaicans from the vessel to set foot on home soil following the closure of the country's air and sea ports to incoming passengers on March 24 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Her sentiments were echoed by Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, who said the processing of the first batch of Jamaicans from the ship went smoothly, telling reporters at the Historic Falmouth Cruise Port, where the vessel with 2,300 crew members — consisting of the Jamaicans and other nationalities — has been docked since Tuesday, that the process was completed ahead of schedule.

“From all reports, things went smoothly,” said Dr Tufton who, along with National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang and Western Regional Health Authority Director Errol Greene, toured sections of the multimillion-dollar port and met with other stakeholders.

“The captain of the vessel and other leadership, including the hotel manager, who is a Jamaican from St James, and all the reports from those persons indicate that things went extremely smoothly and they are very grateful to the Government, and they have asked me to pass on to the prime minister and the people of Jamaica their appreciation for the way things have gone to date,” said the minister.

“There were many waves and shouts of gratefulness, gratitude, relief maybe, from them on their balconies, and they are very content with the process as it has been announced; and even though they are not in the first batch to be dispatched, they are patiently waiting and seem happy to allow the time and the procedure to take its course,” Dr Tufton said.

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