In this Monday, May 19, 2014 photo, the Carnival Cruise Lines ship Ecstasy leaves the Port of Miami as it passes Miami Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

MOBILE, Ala. (WEHT) — The Carnival Fantasy took off early Friday morning in Mobile after hours of delays due to fog. But some people scheduled to board say they were not allowed on the ship because of a new provision regarding coronavirus.

The customers, many who came from other states, say they were not allowed to board because of underlying health issues, including diabetes.

Passenger Ashley Maynor, says they came from Illinois to cruise out of Mobile, she says they weren’t told they couldn’t board because of the underlying health issue until 9:30 p.m. and weren’t given a hotel room until at least 7 hours later. She had six people in her group, four didn’t get on the ship, two did. She says those two tried to get off the ship, but couldn’t because of long lines at the guest services desks.

The ship left after midnight.

Carnival released new coronavirus guidelines earlier this month, saying that passengers who recently traveled to China would not be allowed to board the ship. Extra steps have been taken to sanitize the ship, and passengers are being screened before boarding.

Those with underlying health issues have been urged to avoid cruises, but Carnival did not say it would ban those passengers from boarding.

Mayor says she saw dozens of passengers be turned away because of pre-existing health issues because of what she says was a new policy that went into effect at midnight Friday.

The cruise line sent us this statement Friday morning:

Carnival Cruise Line has added new questions to its health screening form completed by all embarking guests fleetwide which are consistent with the industry discussions with federal officials. The questions include asking guests if they are age 70 or older, if they have been hospitalized in the past two months for or if they have a history of chronic or severe medical conditions. The CDC defines chronic conditions as an illness persisting for a long time or constantly recurring, such as diabetes, heart, kidney or lung disease. Additional severe medical conditions include: suppressed immunity (active cancer, taking steroids) or if the person requires oxygen for any reason. Guests with chronic or severe medical conditions will not be allowed to sail. Additionally, for this weekend’s departures, guests 70 years of age or older will not be allowed to sail, unless they have a letter from their physician confirming they are fit to sail. We apologize for the disappointment of our guests. These are extraordinary times and the requirements placed on us are changing by the hour and advance notice isn’t always possible.

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(This story was originally published on March 13, 2020)