Celebrity Cruise performer, 24, has been forced to stay in her cabin on ship moored off Miami for a MONTH because firm refuses to arrange transport for her home (5 Pics)

A Celebrity Cruise crew member said she has been forced to stay in isolation on board a ship for 33 days, after a series of blunders have left her stranded at sea.   

Julia Whitcomb, a 24-year-old cruise ship performer from Illinois, has posted a series of heartwrenching social media videos from the Infinity liner, owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises, where she remains trapped off the coast of Miami.

Whitcomb said she has repeatedly been refused the right to disembark onto US soil despite the last passengers leaving and the crew's 14-day quarantine being completed weeks ago.

She is one of 954 crew members - including three Americans - who has spent more than a month holed up in a tiny cabin on the ship, while the CDC and the cruise company are reportedly stuck in a stalemate over who will take responsibility for their safe return home.   

Julia Whitcomb, a 24-year-old cruise ship performer from Illinois, said she has been forced to stay in isolation on board the Infinity liner, owned by Royal Caribbean Cruises, for 33 days 

More than 80,000 cruise ship crew members continue to be held onboard ships in US waters as the coronavirus pandemic rages on. 

'My anxiety has never been this bad before,' Whitcomb said in a byline penned for Cosmopolitan, where she described the ordeal.  

Whitcomb joined the Infinity back in early December when she landed her 'dream gig' as a singer, she said. 

On March 13, two days after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic and one day before the CDC issued a no-sail order, more than 50 cruise lines including Royal Caribbean announced they were suspending operations to and from US ports. 

Whitcomb said Celebrity announced all passengers would be disembarking in Miami but the crew were required to remain on board for a 14-day quarantine.

'At first, it was like a mini vacation. The pools, hot tubs, spas, and fitness centers were all open for our own recreational use,' she wrote in Cosmopolitan.

Whitcomb told how she and her boyfriend were forced to bunker in his 'windowless single room on a lower deck, without fresh air' (above) and she has repeatedly been refused the right to disembark onto US soil

But when someone who disembarked the ship tested positive for coronavirus, the crew were then forced to stay in tiny, windowless cabins for 24 hours a day, she said.   

'Isolation began March 28. We were told to remain in our cabins and that there would be a “zero tolerance” policy for leaving at any time,' she wrote.

Whitcomb told how she and her boyfriend were forced to bunker in his 'windowless single room on a lower deck, without fresh air' while meals were delivered to their door three times a day.

After repeated pleas for help, the couple were eventually allowed to move to a room with a window, she said.  

On April 10, the 14-day quarantine expired and the crew was told the ship would dock in Miami three days later where US citizens could get off.

The Infinity off the coast of Miami: Whitcomb is one of 954 crew members - including three Americans - who has spent more than a month holed up in a tiny cabin on the ship

However, Whitcomb said she was refused permission to leave because Celebrity said they were not able to transport her home. 

'Celebrity did arrange for a bus to take people to certain states, like North Carolina and Georgia, but my home state of Illinois was deemed impossible to arrange on such short notice,' she wrote.

'I waved goodbye to my friends who were able to get off the boat and went back to my cabin. It was one of the hardest moments of my life.' 

According to the Miami Herald, cruise company executives must sign an agreement with the CDC to repatriate crew from onboard their ships but many company officials have complained arranging transport is 'too expensive'.

This has left Whitcomb and many others stranded until the cruise company agrees to arrange to send her home.   

She has chronicled the ordeal on social media. Whitcomb was most recently told she could leave April 29 when the ship docked in Miami only to be told hours later she couldn't. The CDC and Royal Caribbean are reportedly stuck in a stalemate over who will take responsibility for the crew's safe return home

In an emotional Facebook video posted Wednesday, the Chicago native choked back tears as she said she had been told she could leave April 29 when the ship docked in Miami only to be told hours later by Royal Caribbean human resources the legal department had refused to agree to the CDC’s terms. 

The ship is now not scheduled to dock again for another two weeks.   

Whitcomb, who is now currently allowed to leave her room for three hours a day, said she is 'in desperate need of going home and being on land and being out of this environment'. 

DailyMail.com has reached out to the CDC, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises for comment.   

Whitcomb's shocking plight is one faced by thousands of cruise ship crew members who are stuck at seas around the US. 

Worldwide, more than 100,000 crew workers are still trapped on ships, with coronavirus outbreaks on at least 50 liners, according to a Guardian investigation.