Woman has meltdown as she's kicked off Royal Caribbean cruise ship for testing positive for COVID - but claims she tested negative TWICE on her return home to NYC
A woman who had a complete meltdown as she was being kicked off a Royal Caribbean cruise for a positive COVID test, claims she has tested negative for the virus twice since she returned home to New York.
Laura Angelo, a 57-year-old from the Bronx, and her friend, Valerie, were removed from the Freedom of the Seas ship in Nassau, The Bahamas on July 7, an experience Angelo livestreamed to her Facebook and posted about on TikTok.
The cruise could range from $200 to $400, depending on the length of the trip.
Her videos have since gone viral, with one garnering more than 3 million views on the video streaming app, as she accuses the cruise line of falsifying her test result.
Laura Angelo, a 57-year-old from the Bronx, livestreamed the moment she was kicked off a Royal Caribbean ship for testing positive for the coronavirus
The video shows crew members in hazmat suits rolling her luggage, which is covered in plastic wrap, even though she insists she doesn't have COVID
In the first video, posted to TikTok on @amethyst216s profile, Angelo claims she and Valerie gave the Royal Caribbean staff a copy of their negative COVID test results before embarking on the ship on July 5, and 'they accidentally gave us a band for vaccinated people.'
The video shows her being wheeled down a hallway, as crewmembers in full hazmat gear clean out her room.
They remove her luggage, wrapped in plastic wrap, and cordon off her room, which she said she and Valerie were stuck in since they had to get a COVID test.
As one of the crew members wheels her into an elevator, she says she is 'going to get three COVID tests when I get home.'
She later demands not to be pushed down a ramp leading off the ship to an ambulance, asking members to speak to Keith Murphy, a hotel director for the ship, and demanding paperwork.
'I said don't take me out yet, until Keith signs the papers,' she yells, saying that if they come near her she's going to get out of the wheelchair, and if she gets injured they would be liable.
'I'm gonna be in charge of my own f****** life,' she yells,. 'I'm tired of Royal Caribbean telling me what to do as you're f****** lying to us.'
She then turns the screen back to her and screams: 'You're f****** lying.'
Immediately afterwards, she claims she is about to have a heart attack, saying she feels 'very dizzy,' and has chest pain - which are both also symptomatic of COVID-19.
'If I have a heart attack live on f****** Instagram, won't this be a story for the freakin' press,' Angelo says in the second video, which ends just as a staff member comes down to talk to her, and she calms down.
A man wheeled her down to a ramp, where she was kicked off the ship
Angelo said she was traveling with her friend, Valerie, who was also kicked off the ship
Angelo claims the Royal Caribbean staff falsified her COVID test to make it positive
She tells the man in another video the cruise ship required her and Valerie to get a PCR test before boarding, and when they went through the embarkation process on July 5, they were handed a purple wristband.
She said they asked if the purple wristband was meant for nonvaccinated passengers, and was told that it was, at which point she and Valerie followed others with the purple wristbands - which were actually meant for vaccinated passengers - onto the ship.
The next day, she said, Valerie noticed they were surrounded by security guards, and as they tried to get food, one guard stopped them and asked if they were vaccinated.
'First of all, that's against HIPAA,' Angelo said in the video, adding that the security guard then told her she would have to take another test that she 'knew' would come back positive because she was 'around vaccinated people who were not tested for COVID [who] could be a carrier, asymptomatic and not even know about it.'
She then said she offered to take another test, but wanted to stand there and watch the results come in, but was refused.
'What are they hiding,' she asked.
'I know I don't have COVID,' she continued, explaining that she had the virus three months before. Reinfection, however, is possible, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
The staff member then tells her that a jet is waiting for her and her friend, who would be sent back to Fort Lauderdale while she would be sent to LaGuardia Airport.
Many people on Reddit ridiculed Angelo for her behavior in the viral video
Those videos have since gone viral, with the first video receiving 257,200 views, the second video - in which she yells that she doesn't want to be rolled off the ship - garnering 3 million views, the third video netting 494,500 views and the fourth video getting 11,700 views on TikTok, where Angelo has about 13,900 followers.
Many of the comments ridiculed Angelo for her behavior, with some on Reddit saying the staff should have just forced her off the ship.
Ser_VimesGOT made light of her comments about having a heart attack, writing: 'Go outside then? You know, where the fresh air is and the f****** ambulance.
'Would have loved it if they just wheeled her out as soon as she said that,' he wrote, before imitating the staff members, saying '"Oh s*** guys, she's having a heart attack, quick get her to the ambulance.'"
Another user, the meatbridge, said he hoped it would end with them pushing her chair to the bottom and tilting her out of it, and RollsofCheese asked: 'How can someone get that old and still be so childish and stupid?'
Dr_Harlequin, meanwhile, wrote that it is 'the best Royal Caribbean ad I've ever seen.'
Royal Caribbean requires its passengers to be vaccinated at most of its ports, except those in Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis banned cruise lines from refusing service to unvaccinated patrons. It is still 'recommended,' however
The cruise line requires vaccines at most of its cruises, except those that depart from Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSantis banned cruise lines from discriminating against people who do not have vaccines.
The Royal Caribbean website says they are still 'recommended,' though, and that there would be events and venues that would be restricted to vaccinated travelers only onboard their ships.
As of July 1, the line also started requiring 'proof of insurance for coronavirus-related expenses.'
Angelo, though, maintains she did not have COVID, and that the staff made a mistake by giving her and Valerie wristbands for vaccinated members.
She said she tested negative two days before the cruise left the port in Miami and gave those results to the check-in agent at the Miami port.
And in the days since she's been home, she said she received at least two COVID PCR tests, which both came back negative, according to the Miami Herald.
'How ironic that they gave us the wrong bracelet and the test came back positive,' she told the Herald, 'that's baffling to me.
'I just wish they would own up to it,' she added, 'everyone makes mistakes.'
No comments