After Seven Months, Stranded Cruise Ship Worker Finally Going Home

A Royal Caribbean cruise ship worker is finally going home to Peru after seven months of being stranded in the U.S. and living in Florida hotels.

Paul Cordova, 48, came to the states in January of 2020 to receive treatment for a back injury he reportedly suffered while working for the cruise line. He had previously had back surgery in 2018 and came to the U.S. for follow-up treatment.

Then the coronavirus pandemic hit, and Cordova’s life since then has been a daily nightmare of living out of hotel rooms while his pleas to Royal Caribbean to get on a repatriation flight back to Peru were either deemed unfeasible at the time of the request or, worse, allegedly ignored.

Finally, the Miami Herald newspaper became involved and did a story on Cordova’s plight.

Now Royal Caribbean says Cordova will be home in three weeks.

“We have been working with Mr. Cordova to get him home in a challenging international travel environment and currently understand the next opportunity to do so is on Sept. 1,” company spokesperson Jonathon Fishman said in an email to the newspaper. “We all share the same goal of getting him home as quickly and safely as possible.”

But that hasn’t necessarily been the case, at least when it comes to getting Cordova home quickly.

The Herald reported that five repatriation flights have left Miami International Airport for Peru since April, with more than 1,000 passengers. None left with Cordova onboard.

The situation has been stressful for all involved.

In fact, some 12,000 crew members still remain on cruise ships in U.S. waters, some of whom have been stranded since March and many of whom have not set foot on land in months.