© 2026 ABC News

\"VIDEO:
ABCNews.com
VIDEO: 4 cruise ship passengers die, others show symptoms en route to Florida
>

On Friday, the cruise line started the process to move some passengers, including Laura Gabroni and her husband, Juan Huergo, to its sister ship the Rotterdam, which was sent to deliver supplies and COVID-19 test kits, according to Holland America. The transfers were completed on Sunday.

\"We have been quarantined since the 22nd without being able to go outside,\" Gabroni told ABC News.

On Sunday night the ships finally made their way through the Panama Canal, which had previously blocked ships from entering, and both are bound for Fort Lauderdale awaiting permission from the U.S. Coast Guard to dock, the company said.

Jan Black, another American passenger who was moved with husband Chuck to the Rotterdam, said, \"They're trying to limit how much they interact with the passengers.\"

But others who are still quarantined aboard the Zaandam said they were unable to board the new ship because they showed symptoms of being sick.

\"We've just been told we will not be allowed off the ship because we were honest and said we had been coughing,\" Andrea Anderson explained.

Orlando Ashford, the president of Holland America, delivered a message to passengers on both ships overnight saying that their \"intention is for each of these ships to work in tandem, to try to protect the health of those that are healthy, and so that we can create room and space so that we can care for the ones that are sick.\"

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the ships need to submit a plan and it needs to be approved before these ships enter U.S. waters. Holland America has suspended all its global cruise operations for 30 days and end its current cruises as quickly as possible, according to a press release dated March 29.

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Travel/cruise-ship-awaits-coast-guard-permission-dock-florida/story?id=69869386","legacySlug":"/travel/story/cruise-ship-awaits-coast-guard-permission-dock-florida-69869386","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"17:10","publishDate":"03-30-2020","updatedTime":"17:56","updatedDate":"03-30-2020","socialImage":{"alt":"VIDEO: 4 cruise ship passengers die, others show symptoms en route to Florida","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/200330_gma_benitez_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"3/30/2020 17:10:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":69869386,"headline":"At least 4 dead on Holland America cruise ship","mediaAssetTitle":"SICK ONBOARD CRUISE SHIP","description":"The Rotterdam and the Zandaam cruise ships hope to dock in Fort Lauderdale.","duration":"2:30","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/03/200330_gma_benitez_fix_0731_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["69745224","69869700","69509720"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"March 24, 2020","headline":"'Not the honeymoon we anticipated': Cruise held at sea amid coronavirus finally docks","section":"news","slug":"/news/story/honeymoon-anticipated-ocean-cruise-held-sea-amid-coronavirus-69745224","id":69745224,"image":{"alt":"'Not the honeymoon we anticipated': Cruise held at sea amid coronavirus finally docks","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/norwegian-jewel-cruise-ship-ap-200319_hpMain_20200319-042008_3_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Joerg Sarbach/AP, FILE","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"video","date":"March 30, 2020","headline":"4 cruise ship passengers die, others show symptoms en route to Florida","section":"news","slug":"/video/69869700","id":69869700,"image":{"alt":"4 cruise ship passengers die, others show symptoms en route to Florida","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/200330_gma_benitez_hpMain_1x1_240.jpg","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"video","date":"March 10, 2020","headline":"Coronavirus explained","section":"news","slug":"/video/69509720","id":69509720,"image":{"alt":"Coronavirus explained","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Health/200310_vod_orig_coronavirus_explainer_hpMain_1x1_240.jpg","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"At least 4 dead on Holland America cruise ship","description":"The Rotterdam and the Zandaam cruise ships hope to dock in Fort Lauderdale.","duration":"2:30","uploadDate":"03-30-2020","publication":"03-30-2020","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/03/200330_gma_benitez_fix_0731_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/03/200330_gma_benitez_fix_0731_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/travel/story/cruise-ship-awaits-coast-guard-permission-dock-florida-69869386"}},"playlist":[{"id":"132054443","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132054798","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"132033010","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131912713","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131830583","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131834976","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131554765","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131554815","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131543053","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131432442","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131121474","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131247079","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131228784","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131178806","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131142257","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131046664","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131048076","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"131033212","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"130999943","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"130971027","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:travel:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"travel","title":"At least 4 dead on Holland America cruise ship","pubTime":"13:10","pubDate":"03-30-2020","modTime":"13:56","modDate":"03-30-2020","taxonomyTags":"none","id":69869386,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"At least 4 dead on Holland America cruise ship","mediaAssetTitle":"SICK ONBOARD CRUISE SHIP","videoId":69869386,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/travel/story/cruise-ship-awaits-coast-guard-permission-dock-florida-69869386"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/69869386","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/69869386","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};