Cruise lines ready to sail again — a mourning family says not so fast

As cruise operators push for government clearance to set sail from U.S. ports after more than a year of being docked by COVID-19, a California family is among those demanding the industry be held accountable for its handling of deadly outbreaks of the disease onboard ships in early 2020.

"We want it so no other families have to go through the nightmare we had to go through," said Miguel Gonzalez, whose father, Lucio, become ill days after leaving a Grand Princess cruise ship operated by Carnival Corporation on February 21, 2020.  Hours after 73-year-old Lucio disembarked in San Francisco with his wife, Margrit, another group of passengers boarded the Grand Princess for a 10-day cruise to Hawaii. As it was headed for a stop in Mexico, the Grand Princess was ordered back to California on March 4 after a man who had been on the same trip as the Gonzalezes died of COVID-19.