More than 100,000 crew members are still on board cruise ships around the world.
More than 100,000 crew members are still on board cruise ships around the world, and in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, it's unclear when they will be allowed back on dry land. Now, one of those trapped staff members has shared her video diary, confirming it's anything but a luxury voyage.
Melinda Mann, the youth director on Holland America's MS Oosterdam, shared an eerie scene on board.
"It's a ghost town," she said. The lights are turned off, furniture is covered with sheets to keep off the dust and restaurants are roped off.
Mann was so fed up she attempted to disembark the ship without authorization, and recorded what happened as security stopped her.
"We are not letting you off the ship!" they told her. "Stop being a silly little girl."
Mann said she has been stuck there for 50 days and counting, and spends most of her time inside a tiny room.
"I spend 21 hours a day in my cabin," Mann said. "I'm allowed out for three 30-minute meal breaks and, generally, an hour of fresh air or so. I spend most of my day in my cabin."
In the video diary she shot exclusively for Inside Edition, Mann showed a breakfast of omelette and sausages which was delivered to her room. Video of a designated outdoor area shows the chairs set more than six feet apart for social distancing.
"We can sit and breathe with a nice view of the ocean," Mann said.
Holland America told Inside Edition it is "deeply committed to getting our crew members safely home to their families and continue to make progress in their repatriation. We continue to disembark hundreds of crew members each day" and "continue to coordinate closely with the CDC on its requirements and regulations."
Meanwhile, lounge singer Ryan Driscoll is trapped on the Seabourn Odyssey off the coast of Barbados.
"We are all very very frustrated and confused and just wondering why we can't get off the ship right now," Driscoll said.
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