48 people test positive for COVID-19 on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship that recently returned to Florida

• 48 passengers and staff recently tested positive for COVID-19 on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship.
• Everyone who tested positive was either asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, the company told Insider.

Forty-eight passengers and staff tested positive for COVID-19 on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship that returned to Miami on Saturday, the company said on Monday.

Royal Caribbean said in a statement to Insider that people who tested positive for the virus "were identified as a result of immediate contact tracing after a guest tested positive."

"Each person quickly went into quarantine. Everyone who tested positive was asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic, and we continuously monitored their health," the statement said.

The company's guidelines require travelers over the age of 12 to be vaccinated with either two shots of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Royal Caribbean said that 95% of people on the ship — and 98% of those who contracted COVID-19 — were vaccinated under those guidelines.

The Symphony of the Seas had returned to Miami after completing a week-long tour of a handful of Caribbean islands, the company said, and that its journey wasn't impacted by the outbreak.

There were just over 6,000 people aboard the cruise ship — one of the world's largest.

Royal Caribbean said that its staff aboard the ship are vaccinated and tested weekly.

Rising COVID-19 cases amid a spike in the Omicron variant has also prompted the cruise line to tighten its mask protocols, Cruise Industry News reported on December 18, the day the Symphony of the Seas returned to Miami. Now, passengers are required to mask up at all times unless they're eating, drinking, in an empty open-aired section aboard the ship, or in their stateroom, according to the cruise line's website.

Despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Royal Caribbean Group has seen rebounding demand for its cruises, the company said in its 2021 third-quarter earnings report. And by the end of the year, the cruising giant predicts its five cruise brands — which include Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea Cruises — will have accommodated over one million passengers.