While the 100-day no-sail order issued to cruise lines by the U.S. Congress seems to suggest the ships would be docked and empty, many vessels are in fact out at sea, sailing in the maritime equivalent of a holding pattern. New reports indicate ships from Carnival (NYSE: CCL), Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings (NYSE: NCLH), Royal Caribbean (NYSE: RCL), Disney Cruise Line (NYSE: DIS), and MSC Cruises still have a total of approximately 100,000 crew trapped aboard. Some of the ships are docked in ports around the world, with their crews either not permitted or otherwise unable to get ashore. Others are sailing the Caribbean without passengers, awaiting permission to return to port and disembark their crews. According to numbers reported by The Miami Herald, the proportion of crews actually repatriated varies by cruise line, ranging from an estimated 23% of Royal Caribbean and 37% of Carnival crew members to 76% of MSC shipboard personnel. Image source: Getty Images. In the case of U.S. citizen crew, the CDC's requirement of using charter flights to transport people off cruise ships makes repatriation prohibitively expensive. In many other cases, countries have sealed their borders entirely, meaning crew who are citizens there must wait on board at the dock until the border closure is lifted. Carnival spokesman Roger Frizzell noted in one instance "we have 7,500 Filipinos on our ships in Manila, currently waiting to be allowed to go ashore." Long confinement on the ships has caused two workers to kill themselves by jumping overboard. COVID-19 continues to spread in the closed environment of some ships, infecting at least 578 crew and killing seven. Many are also currently unpaid or have received only reduced wages. 10 stocks we like better than CarnivalWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Carnival wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of April 16, 2020 Rhian Hunt has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Walt Disney. The Motley Fool recommends Carnival and recommends the following options: long January 2021 $60 calls on Walt Disney and short July 2020 $115 calls on Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source